Nick Sherburne, one of the co-founders of Club Champion, sits down for a Q&A on how club-fitting has evolved, the success and growth of Club Champion, relationships with OEMs, and the future of golf retail.

The Internet is changing sales tactics everywhere and as Amazon becomes a bigger force in retail, it is affecting nearly every vertical and category — golf included.

NGF’s annual update on off-course golf retail store supply tracks the changes in number of doors and square footage of regional/independent and national retailers.

It’s undeniable there have been more golf course closures than openings in the U.S. over the past 13 years. But do you realize that more than 720 golf courses have opened around the country during that period? That total, during what’s looked at as a “down period” for the industry, is more than the entire golf course supply in nations such as Scotland, Ireland, Spain and South Africa.

PGA TOUR Superstore President Dick Sullivan is the first executive from the golf retail side of the industry to ever serve as chairman of the NGF’s Board of Directors. In an in-depth Q&A, Sullivan talks about Superstore’s momentum and growth, the evolution of golf retail, the impact of Amazon and EBay on golf, and challenges facing the golf industry.