As you would expect from a gathering of more than 100 award-winning golf professionals, merchandisers and retail experts, the 2026 PGA Merchandiser of the Year Conference included discussions on areas such as consumer trends, product innovations and golf shop sales. This year’s invitation-only gathering, however, went deeper into topics like telling stories through merchandising, creating unique experiences and using cutting edge technologies to improve efficiency and performance.
The 19th annual PGA Merchandiser of the Year Conference included a mix of expert presentations, panel discussions and breakout sessions build around a theme of “Selling the Game: Understanding Today’s Consumer.” Held Jan. 17-19 at Mission Resort + Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, the event served as a running start for the 2026 PGA Show and a way for attendees to get ready for another successful season.
“We’re hearing from you that your customers are seeking unique experiences on the course and in the golf shop, and that’s impacting product decisions and retail trends,” said Brian Folino, President of PGA Magazine, at the outset of the conference. “Everything from golf lessons to tournaments, travel and junior programs are driving sales, which is changing the way merchandisers are approaching buying and selling.”
As such, the conference was geared toward topics like apparel trends, using tournaments and outings to spur sales, finding a big impact in smaller items like accessories and training your staff to create unique experiences on and off the course.
These topics were front and center during a fireside chat with the 2025 PGA Merchandiser of the Year Award winners: PGA of America Golf Professionals Matt Adamski of Sweetens Cove Golf Club (public facilities), James Ondo of the Apawamis Club (private facilities) and Danny Rainbow of SentryWorld (resort facilities).
Adamski discussed how Sweetens Cove’s unique circumstances – a nine-hole public course with a 225-foot shack for a golf shop – has helped it drive experiences that lead to strong retail sales.
“We start with a unique golf experience, where we sell day passes instead of tee times for an all-day experience with a shotgun start,” Adamski said of his facility in Tennessee. “We tie all of our merchandise into our unique landscape, and we have 50-plus logos that are playful and fun. It’s really more like selling concert merchandise, like people had gone to a Dave Matthews Band concert than to a golf facility.”
Experiences are also at the heart of Rainbow’s success at SentryWorld, where the facility chose to go to an all-inclusive model with a boutique hotel to bring in a new clientele to a resort with a four-month golf season in Wisconsin.
“We went from $100 green fees to $400 with a different guest and a different experience, and it’s a constant process to keep dialing it in,” Rainbow said. “Everyone plays our course in peak condition and having the time of their life. Our shop is open year-round, so we get creative keeping the shop fresh and planning really carefully on quantities for our less-busy times. But that’s helped us do about $700,000 in sales on just 8,000 rounds a year.”
Ondo discussed how providing a memorable experience to the membership at his club in Rye, New York, means building lasting relationships.
“As the saying goes, ‘How do you spell love? T-I-M-E.’ And we spend a lot of time with our members,” Ondo said. “Our staff plays more than 100 rounds a season with our members, we travel multiple times with them every year, we have 500 youngsters in our junior program. This gives us a chance to hear what they want out of golf operations, tournaments, staffing and the golf shop. Building those relationships by spending time and listening allows us to learn and change.”
The three 2025 national PGA Merchandiser of the Year winners headlined an esteemed group of attendees that included nine present and past national PGA Merchandiser of the Year honorees and 95 PGA Merchandiser of the Year awards earned at the PGA Section level. In all, attendees represented buying influence at more than 70 unique facilities with nearly $172 million in gross sales last year.
Attendees participated in breakout sessions that allowed them the chance to share best practices, identify trends and pick up ideas to take home to their facilities.
“I picked up some great nuggets for our business, especially in tournaments and corporate outings,” said Jared Henzlik, the PGA Director of Retail at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri. “In our jobs, we’re always going to be challenged to do better than we did the year before. The way we do that is by improving the experience, and the sales flow through that.”
The 2026 PGA Merchandiser of the Year Conference also included time for attendees to network and learn from each other in more casual settings, including a football-themed dinner party held at Mission Resort + Club.
Presenting partners of the 2026 PGA Merchandiser of the Year Conference included Antigua Apparel, Golf Genius Software, Mission Resort + Club, the PGA of America, Pukka, Revo and Williams Athletic Club. Supporting partners included Bauer, BN3TH, Ghurka and Sterling Cut Glass.