By ED TRAVIS
Seasoned retail executive Troy Rice took over as CEO of PGA Tour Superstore following the retirement of golf-industry leader Dick Sullivan last summer and in an exclusive interview at January’s PGA Show he talked about the company and what the future holds.
Rice told me at the beginning of our conversation, “Customer relationship to us means great customer touch points while focusing on running a great business by building on the fantastic foundation that has been built.”
That simple statement was revealing of both his approach to the business and how he plans to move forward in the hypercompetitive golf retail business.
This quickly changing world certainly calls for insight gained by experience and Rice began as a management trainee at The Home Depot which was co-founded by Arthur Blank. Presently Blank is owner of Blank Family Businesses who in 2010 purchased the then 10-store PGA Tour Superstore chain.
Over the years Rice has held a series of positions of increasing responsibility first at The Home Depot and subsequently other retailers with the most recent as CEO of Total Wine & More. There he led sales growth from $2.5 billion to $6 billion, 165 to 274 store locations, and an online sales increase of $700 million.
Rice was quick to point out the key to growth now is the same as it always has been…building ongoing customer relationships while integrating the wants and needs of the 1 million golfers in the PGATSS customer base into the day-to-day operations of each store.
The current count of 80 stores will increase to 86 by the end of the year and he expects to open eight to ten more in each of the next two years, pushing the total over the century mark. Locations will stay in the current size range of 25,000 to 50,000 square feet with noncommission salespeople emphasizing club fittings to ensure players of every skill level have the proper equipment.
In addition to multiple store openings 2026 will see a major investment in Trackman, the sophisticated launch monitor system. Rice said that all the fitting and practice bays in each store will be refurbished, and new launch monitors will be added to all the practice bays, making PGATSS the largest customer-service user of the Trackman system.
This $20 million investment exemplifies Rice’s firm belief that the company must be “Championing our customer from avid golfer to beginner.”
This customer experience mindset regardless of playing skill, whether veteran or aspirational, is reflected in the emphasis on interactive areas in each store. Upon entering customers first encounter a large practice putting green lined with the newest putters for testing and as many as seven hitting bays running the depth of the store each with Trackman.
Fittings are key to PGATSS selling clubs and over 65,000 club/shaft combinations from the best manufacturers are offered. Also, in each store there are certified teaching professionals for lessons and other services such as regripping and club repair are available. To give some idea of the scope of their services PGATSS recently passed some real milestones with 90,000 lessons and 70,000 fittings plus more than 2 million clubs regripped.
Year over year Rice said 2025 showed strong sales growth and while not revealing any numbers since the company is privately owned, he pointed out online sales growth significantly outperformed instore growth. The upward trends included ball sales, package sets and high-tech items such as rangefinders and launch monitors.
Asked about the application of artificial intelligence or Ai in the business, Rice said they will lead the way in using Ai “to personalize customer involvement from avid golfer to those just starting in the game.” He also was firm in stating, “It’s important to understand all the Ai systems being employed are to improve customer relationship and not replace people in the stores.”
This may seem like a lot but it’s only part of the story and there will also be further use of sophisticated software behind the scenes. “Ai can be a big benefit, and we are working hard to implement it in a number of areas like inventory control and the assortment of merchandise store by store and by geographic area.”
Some may say Rice’s responses to my questions were the usual party line but, in my experience, it is obvious he clearly sees what he wants to do and is excited about taking this category leader to the next level by closer involvement with their customers.
