How Pro Shop capitalized on golf’s boom

“Golf is a good walk spoiled,” said Mark Twain apparently (though this is generally considered to be misattributed). If that’s true, then around 7 million young adults in the United States ruined a perfectly nice stroll last year according to the National Golf Foundation.

That data upends the stereotype of the average golfer as an older man in a stiff-collared shirt at a stuffy country club. In recent years a younger and more diverse set has become enamored with a game that is both “deceptively simple and endlessly complicated” (that was Arnold Palmer, for sure).

“It’s more popular than ever and it’s cool now,” said golf journalist Michael LoRé. “It isn’t this old, rich white guy sport and so you’re seeing a lot of different people who are playing the game.”

Golf media and entertainment company Pro Shop is harnessing this growing interest to create programming, live events, and merchandise that resonates with the modern-day golf fan. Football fans can think of it as akin to the NFL’s 2022 partnership with Skydance Media, which was an opportunity for the league to broaden its content and reach.

Eagle-eyed

Launched in 2024 with a $20 million Series A, Pro Shop acts as a holding company operating Skratch, a digital media brand that produces editorial and social video content; GolfWRX, a community website for golf enthusiasts; Pro Shop Studios, a production entity that created Netflix’s Full Swing documentary series and partners with the PGA Tour; and Sugarloaf Social Club, a golf-focused apparel and lifestyle brand.

“We’re really focused on the media entertainment side of the sport,” said Pro Shop CEO Joe Purzycki. “When we think about how we engage and potentially monetize this audience, I think all modern media companies are looking at the best ways to diversify revenue across a number of different segments.”

Purzycki explained that there isn’t one key revenue driver between all of Pro Shop’s entities, rather they’ve all experienced growth since coming under the parent company. Sugarloaf Social Club, for one, has grown 275% since Pro Shop acquired it in 2024.

“Our acquisition of Sugarloaf was: Can we build a company that takes all of our media assets and pushes people down funnels to different purchase points, exposing them to advertising along the way?” Purzycki said.

Purzycki says one benefit from being focused on golf as a category is the opportunity for repeated spend from advertisers, or as he calls them, “endemics.”

“The folks who tend to spend in golf continue to spend in golf in a meaningful way and so we’re really tapping into that,” Purzycki said.

Range of opportunities

While advertising is a big part of Pro Shop’s revenue structure, the company is also getting bullish on live events, which it got more into in 2025 and has plans to expand this year. Live events offer Pro Shop a way to generate revenue in multiple ways, such as ticketing, merchandise, and food and beverage sales.

For example, last November, Pro Shop hosted a revival of the skins game—the lowest score on a hole wins a “skin” or monetary reward—on Prime Video. In addition to owning ticketing and concession sales, Pro Shop’s Sugarloaf Social Club created an apparel collection for the game.

“We look at those opportunities where we can bring the whole company together around one thing,” Purzycki said.

Finding new fandom

There’s never a bad time to double down on a renaissance for any activity, especially at a time where rival sports have been catapulted into the popular consciousness (Nike recently swooshed in to sign pickleball phenom Anna Leigh Waters as that sport continues to explode).

Golf’s unique selling points arguably are its rich history, iconic players, and cultural ballast. Its longstanding lack of diversity seems also to be improving: Year-end data for 2024 from the National Golf Foundation showed more than one-quarter of US “green-grass” golfers identified as female or as members of the Black, Asian, and Hispanic communities—the highest proportions recorded in the sport’s history.

Michael LoRé says Pro Shop is demonstrating the growing diversity in golf and highlighted its revival of The Skins Game after a 17-year hiatus as strategically key.

“What they’re doing is showing that golf isn’t just for your grandfather, [or] your uncle. Golf is for everybody,” LoRé said.

For LoRé, there’s a ton of opportunity, and lowering the barriers to entry will allow newcomers to access the sport.

“It’s culture, it’s fashion. It isn’t just, ‘Here’s what Scottie Scheffler shot on somebody to win the American Express,’” LoRé said.