Chris Rowe, PGA,Director of Golf,Whispering Pines Golf Club,Trinity, Texas
In Texas, where college football borders on religion, Chris Rowe found a way to bring that same passion into the golf shop. The PGA of America Director of Golf at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity has created a retail concept that blends school spirit with club identity (pictured) – and it has become one of his most successful annual initiatives.
“With Texas being such a football-crazy state, we’ve introduced merchandise with our logo alongside collegiate logos,” says Rowe, the 2013 Southern Texas PGA Section Merchandiser of the Year for private facilities. “We chose schools (including Baylor, Southern Methodist, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Christian and Texas Tech from the Lone Star State, plus Alabama, Louisiana State and Oklahoma) where most of our members had attended and built a full line of items they could order from. When football season kicks off, we send an email with the options and the response is incredible.”
Rather than carrying large amounts of stock, Rowe keeps the program simple and efficient.
“We display one shirt from each school represented in our collegiate line, and members place their orders through the shop,” he explains. “Just like our member-only merchandise, we sell the product without ever carrying the full inventory.”
The standout items are the hats – featuring Whispering Pines’ signature pine tree logo reimagined in each school’s colors.
“For example, our pine tree might be burnt orange, and we’ll put ‘Hook ’Em’ on the back of the cap (pictured),” Rowe says. “Those University of Texas hats absolutely fly off the shelves.”
The results speak for themselves.
“Texas and Texas A&M are huge rivals, and they make up the majority of our membership,” he says. “Our members are going to buy university-logoed gear somewhere, so why not make it unique with our logo, too? Sales are strong every year, and it generates a lot of excitement.”
Rowe says the best part is seeing that club pride travels beyond the property. “My wife’s an Aggie,” he says with a smile. “It’s always cool to see one of our Whispering Pines hats being worn at Kyle Field during an A&M football game.”
