Golfsmith International Holdings Inc. is a golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

 and tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 specialty retailer based in Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

. The retailer distributes golf and tennis equipment, as well as other related services. CEO Marty Hanaka has stated, “Our purpose is to inspire golfers to play better and love life more.”

Founded by Carl and Barbara Paul in 1967, Golfsmith began as a custom golf club

Golf club

A golf club is used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a clubhead. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety of shots; Hybrids that combine design elements of woods and...

 components supplier. As of August 2010, the company had expanded to comprise over 75 retail stores in 21 states, selling golf clubs, tennis racquets, balls

Tennis ball

A tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis,approximately 6.7 cm in diameter. Tennis balls are generally bright green, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...

 and accessories, performance apparel, skills improvement products, etc. Golfsmith generated net revenues of over $338 million in fiscal year 2009.

History

In 1967, Carl Paul and his wife Barbara

Barbara Paul

Barbara Paul is an American writer of detective stories and science fiction. She was born in Maysville, Kentucky, in 1931 and was educated at Bowling Green State University and the University of Pittsburgh, among others....

 founded Golfsmith in their Edison, N.J.

Edison, New Jersey

Edison Township is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey. What is now Edison Township was originally incorporated as Raritan Township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1870, from portions of both Piscataway Township and Woodbridge Township...

 home. Inspired by a custom club maker who had built him a tailor-made set, Carl recognized an unfilled niche in the golf industry: the design and distribution of custom golf clubs and their components, along with instruction about how best to assemble them. Beginning with a typewritten, hand illustrated catalog, Golfsmith first became successful by helping transform club repair shops across the country into custom golf club makers.

In the early 1970s, Carl’s brother Frank joined the family business

Family business

A family business is a business in which one or more members of one or more families have a significant ownership interest and significant commitments toward the business’ overall well-being....

, and it moved to Austin, Texas. The first Golfsmith storefront was a components showroom

Showroom

The word showroom has two distinct meanings including:-Marketing location:A showroom is a large space used to display products for sale, such as automobiles, furniture, appliances, carpet or apparel. The World's most famous locations for a showroom are the Champs Elysees in Paris or the 5th Avenue...

 housed in 6000 square feet (557.4 m²) of unused army barracks. In 1975, the Pauls embarked on their first consumer retail expansion by creating The Golfsmith Store accessory catalog. In 1976, the company first grossed more than $1 million.

Golfsmith operated primarily as a catalog-based business until 1992. That year the company moved to its present headquarters location, a 40-acre campus that includes the corporate offices, a practice range, a 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²) Golfsmith store, and 240000 square feet (22,296.7 m²) of shipping and distribution facilities.

Golfsmith’s retail expansion began in 1995 with the opening of retail stores in Houston, Denver and Dallas. Golfsmith’s initial public offering of stock was in June 2006. As of August 2010, Golfsmith operated 76 stores in 21 states.

In October 2002, Golfsmith sold a majority share in the company to First Atlantic Capital. On June 15, 2006, Golfsmith International Holdings Inc. made its initial public offering

Initial public offering

An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...

 and since has been traded under NASDAQ

NASDAQ

The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...

 symbol GOLF.

On June 17, 2008, Golfsmith named former board chairman Martin Hanaka its chief executive officer

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

. As of August 2010, other corporate officers included: Sue Gove, EVP, COO and CFO; Matthew Corey, SVP, Marketing and Business Development; Steve Larkin, SVP, Direct; Eli M. Getson, SVP and GMM; and James A. Eliasberg, VP and General Counsel.

Golf Products and Services

Golfsmith offers new and pre-owned golf clubs, other golf equipment and accessories, and apparel, as well as skills improvement and educational services for golfers and custom golf club makers.

Vendor Brands

Golfsmith offers golf clubs, apparel, accessories and practice gear from brands like Adams Golf

Adams Golf

Adams Golf Inc. is a NASDAQ listed golf club manufacturer based in Plano, Texas.In 1983 Barney Adams joined Dave Pelz Golf in Abilene, Texas. When Pelz's Preceptor Golf went bankrupt in 1988, Adams bought the assets and started Adams Golf...

, adidas

Adidas

Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...

, Bridgestone

Bridgestone

The is a multinational rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese....

, Bushnell

Bushnell

-Locations in the United States:* Bushnell, Florida* Bushnell, Illinois* Bushnell Township, McDonough County, Illinois* Bushnell Township, Michigan* Bushnell, Nebraska* Bushnell, South Dakota-People:...

, Callaway

Callaway

-People:* Ann Hampton Callaway, musician* Catherine Callaway, news anchor* David Callaway, nanophysicist* Dean Callaway, Australian rugby league footballer* Frank Callaway, Australian music educator...

, Cleveland, Cobra

Cobra

Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...

, ECCO

ECCO

ECCO Sko A/S is a Danish shoe manufacturer and retailer founded in 1963 by Karl Toosbuy in Bredebro, Denmark. Originally established as a footwear manufacturer, the company has since expanded into leather production and leather accessories....

, FootJoy, MacGregor

MacGregor

-People:* Alasdair Alpin MacGregor , writer and photographer* Andrew MacGregor, WWI flying ace* Chummy MacGregor , jazz pianist and songwriter* Clark MacGregor , U.S. politician...

, Mizuno

Mizuno

Mizuno may refer to:* Mizuno Corp., a Japanese sportswear and sports equipment manufacturer* Mizuno , a political family in Japanese history* Mizuno , a World War II aircraft manufacturer, see also Mizuno Shinryu...

, Nike Golf, Odyssey

Odyssey

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...

, OGIO, PING

Ping

Ping is a computer network administration utility used to test the reachability of a host on an Internet Protocol network and to measure the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer...

, Scotty Cameron

Scotty Cameron

Don T. "Scotty" Cameron is an American golf club maker primarily known for marketing putters.Cameron was born in Glendale, California. He later moved to Huntington Beach, where he attended Edison High School. Having started making putters in a machine shop owned by a friend of his father, he later...

, SkyGolf, Srixon

Srixon

Srixon is a brand owned by SRI Sports Limited, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., specializing in golf and tennis. Srixon is most well known globally for its golf balls, holding the largest number of golf ball patents worldwide, and having previously supplied other leading...

, Sun Mountain, TaylorMade

Taylormade

Taylormade or Taylor Made may refer to one of several things:*TaylorMade-adidas, a golfing products company**TaylorMade KSB Open former name of the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup golf tournament*Taylormade Media, a New Zealand media graphics company...

 and Titleist

Titleist

Titleist is a brand name owned by Fila for golf equipment and apparel products produced by its subsidiary called the Acushnet Company, which is headquartered in Fairhaven, Massachusetts....

.

Proprietary Brands

In 1998, Golfsmith secured a $30 million private placement with DLJ Investment Partners. The private placement helped fund the acquisitions of Lynx Golf Inc., Black Rock Golf Corp. (maker of Killer Bee golf clubs) and Snake Eyes Golf Clubs Inc. In 2003, the company acquired Zevo Golf. In May 2009, Golfsmith acquired the intellectual property

Intellectual property

Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

 rights to MacGregor Golf

MacGregor Golf

MacGregor Golf is a sports equipment company based in Albany, Georgia which specializes in golf, producing a full range of golf clubs, accessories and clothing....

.

Alongside products from external manufacturers, Golfsmith offers complete golf clubs, component club parts, apparel and golf accessories under its own Lynx, MacGregor®, Killer Bee®, Snake Eyes™, Golfsmith®, XPC®, Zevo®, ZTech, Tour Trek, Profinity and MaggieLane brands.

Clubmaking

Beginning in 1970, Golfsmith offered the first golf club maker training programs to teach custom club fitting, assembly and repair. Golfsmith now conducts clubmaking schools throughout the year, at three levels of expertise: the Complete Clubmaker’s Training School, the Advanced Clubmaking, Fitting and Repair School, and the Master Craftsman School.

In 1980, Golfsmith established the Golf Clubmakers Association (GCA) to support and guide the growing number of clubmakers around the world. The GCA offers three levels of professional accreditation: Accredited Clubmaker, Professional Clubmaker and Advanced Clubmaker. In 1988, Golfsmith hosted the first GCA International Conference.

Golfsmith Learning Center

In 1993, Golfsmith collaborated with teacher Harvey Penick

Harvey Penick

Harvey Morrison Penick was an American golf professional and coach, who coached many Hall of Fame players. Late in life, he became a best-selling writer. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002, seven years after his death.-Golf career:Penick was born in Austin, Texas...

 to develop the Austin-based Harvey Penick Golf Academy, which instructed golfers in the methods and philosophies of the “Little Red Golf Book” coauthor. The academy was renamed the Golfsmith Learning Center in 2009.

Partnership with GolfTEC

In 2004, Golfsmith formed a partnership with GolfTEC

Golftec

Created by Joe Assell and Mike Clinton in 1995, GolfTEC is the nation’s largest golf instruction company and teaches more than 25% of golf lessons annually in the United States. Currently GolfTEC has 148 locations across the United States and Mexico. The Green Room, a Canada-based golf instruction...

, a Denver-based national chain of golf instruction

Golf instruction

Golf instruction involves the teaching and learning of the game of golf.Proficiency in teaching golf instruction requires not only technical and physical ability, but also knowledge of the rules and etiquette of the game...

 facilities. As of August 2010, GolfTEC provided golf lessons in 57 Golfsmith stores.

Tennis Products and Services

In 2003, Golfsmith acquired six San Francisco-based Don Sherwood Golf and Tennis stores and began offering a wide selection of major-brand tennis merchandise. As of August 2010, the company sold tennis gear in over 55 of its stores nationwide, as well as online and via direct-to-consumer marketing. Golfsmith also offers tennis racquet restringing by technicians certified by the United States Racquet Restringers Association.

Stores

As of August 2010, Golfsmith operated a total of 76 stores in Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

.

Golfsmith stores have putting greens, driving range

Driving range

A driving range is an area where golfers can practice their swing. It can also be a recreational activity itself for amateur golfers or when enough time for a full game is not available. Many golf courses have a driving range attached and they are also found as stand-alone facilities, especially...

s and digital swing analysis equipment inside most locations, and tennis court

Tennis court

A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...

s inside some.

In 2009, Golfsmith introduced the Golfsmith Xtreme brand of superstores, which is larger, with more interactive features like indoor tennis courts and sand bunkers.

Website, Mobile Devices and Social Media

Golfsmith’s website, golfsmith.com, offers online shopping, product reviews by customers, streaming videos about products, and services such as golf handicap

Golf handicap

A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability based on the tees played for a given course. It is used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms...

 tracking, tee time scheduling and live online customer service.

In 2007 and 2008, golfsmith.com was cited for exemplary customer service in the E-tailing Group’s annual Mystery Shopping Survey. In 2009 and 2010, Internet Retailer put golfsmith.com on its “Hot 100” list of the best e-commerce sites.

In 2010, Golfsmith launched a new mobile website and iPhone

IPhone

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

 application. The company uses both Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 and Twitter

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

 to reach customers.

Catalogs

Golfsmith publishes and distributes multiple print catalog titles throughout the year, including a general golf equipment catalog, one for custom golf club makers and one offering only tennis products. The company was the first golf retailer to publish a catalog of equipment and fashion exclusively for women.

International Operations

Golfsmith operates Golfsmith Canada LLC, a club components distribution center in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

External links

• Official Site
• Company History at golfsmith.com
• Clubmaking Schools at golfsmith.com
• GCA Membership at golfsmith.com
• Store Locator at golfsmith.com
• Catalogs at golfsmith.com