Callan Wins Private Merchandiser of the Year
Riverside, Iowa – Chad Callan of the Briarwood Golf Club has been named the 2019 Iowa PGA Private Merchandiser of the Year. This award is presented to the PGA Professional who demonstrated superior skills as a merchandiser in the promoting of golf at a private facility.
“I am incredibly humbled and honored to be awarded the Private Merchandiser of the Year award by my fellow PGA Professionals.” said Callan, “I strive every day to provide the best experience for my members and guests. With everything we do in our profession I want to be the person my members come to for expertise.”
Having a great stocked golf shop is something that not only his members enjoy but his General Manager / Board of Directors will benefit/profit from having a successful shop. In his third year at Briarwood Golf Club sales have increased by 133% in the past two years with a 26% profit margin. Briarwood Golf Club Golf Shop is less than 500 square feet.
Callan knows that in order for him to succeed it must be a partnership. That partnership includes the sales representatives and his staff that includes PGA General Manager John Dinnebier.
“Chad is a golf enthusiast, hard worker, expert club-fitter and loves this great game.” Stated Dinnebier, “He enjoys playing and serving our members. He is a true PGA Professional.”
Now with regard to reps, we all know what you order and what you get can be two different things from time to time. So, having a good-relationships and getting feedback with trends they are seeing on the road is key. I would like to highlight one rep, Joel Logan, who has really helped me expand our club fitting process this year. We are able to do everything they do at the Taylor Made Kingdom in Carlsbad; with his help I have been able to purchase/sell 105K in wholesale product just alone from Taylor Made.
“Keeping up with the ever-changing inventory and making sure the shop has a fresh new look is truly a talent.” said Logan, “Being a member at Briarwood I get to see firsthand his abilities to make sure all the members and guests that come out there are impressed when they walk in the door. As a sales representative I am impressed on how the shop is merchandised but as a member I am proud to bring people through that door.”
Chad is not only devoted to the Iowa PGA Section and its members, but he takes great pride in running one of the most successful golf shops in Iowa. He also won the award in 2015. We are happy to announce Chad Callan as the 2019 Private Merchandiser of the Year.
Schall Wins Public Merchandiser of the Year
Riverside, Iowa – Ken Schall of the Ken Schall Golf Performance Studio has been named the 2019 Iowa PGA Public Merchandiser of the Year. This award is presented to the PGA Professional that demonstrated superior skills as a merchandiser in the promotion of golf at a public facility.
“I am extremely fortunate that I get to go to work each day and do what I have a true passion for, which is teaching and club building.” said Schall. “There is always something new to learn in my business.”
The Ken Schall Golf Performance Studio has now been opened for nearly 4 ½ years. Schall specializes mainly in Teaching and Club fitting. His operation resembles a hybrid between a Golf Tec and a club building operation like Cool Clubs or Club Champion.
Ken also has the ability to get heads only from manufacturers like Callaway, Taylor Made, PXG and pair them with high performance shafts. This is what sets him apart from others in his market. He can custom fit and custom build on the spot and sometimes his customers love watching them make the build and learn what goes into it. He uses state of the art Mitchell equipment with electronic shaft analyzers and data from his Trackman machine. Since 2017, Ken Schall Golf Performance Studio has been recognized by Golf Digest as one of the Top 100 Clubfitters in the United States. He has also been recognized by both Ping and Mizuno as one of their Top 100 club fitters nationally.
He has also partnered with EKGolf to add fitness trainers to his operation. Along with his wife Connie and Club-Fitter Jon Cornish their passion is to help golfers get better through instruction, proper equipment and now fitness. They believe that they are still growing because they truly care about our golfers getting better.
Ken Schall has had a rewarding career. He has won the Teacher of the Year award in 2017 and 2018 and was a 7-time Iowa PGA Section Player of the Year. He has won the 2003 Horton Smith award and the 2007 Private Facilities Merchandiser of the Year and the 2007 Golf Professional of the Year.
Ken is not only devoted to the Iowa PGA Section and its members, but he takes great pride in teaching his students. We are happy to announce Ken Schall as the 2019 Public Merchandiser of the Year.
Haas Wins Resort Merchandiser of the Year
Riverside, Iowa – Bryan Haas of Blue Top Ridge at Riverside has been named the 2019 Iowa PGA Resort Merchandiser of the Year. This award is presented to the PGA Professional that demonstrated superior skills as a merchandiser in the promotion of golf at a resort.
“We truly appreciate the recognition and honor of this award.” remarked Haas, “Our Professional Staff takes pride in providing a well-rounded golf shop and are dedicated to providing a great experience to each of our Resort Guests. I appreciate all of the time and effort that each of our Professional Staff members put into making the Blue Top Ridge Golf Shop a contender for this award on a daily basis.”
Due to the poor weather that Iowa experienced early in the golf season, Haas’s year started out slow. His creation of a PopUp Golf shop in 2018 allowed them help minimize the slow start in 2019 and created retail sales that he otherwise would not have. Haas’s retail sales are up 7.5% year to date. He credits his strong Professional staff that work to maintain a premium level golf shop that offers a great mixture of merchandise for this year’s success.
The Blue Top Ridge golf shop is divided into three even sections with three prominent clothing vendors. This creates a defined look to the store and creates unique marketing and brand opportunity with each of their vendors. In addition to his shop’s sectional layout, Haas creates displays that capture golfers, which creates a need for them to come back to the store after their round.
Another great aspect that drives the golf shop at Blue Top Ridge is its inventory mix. Its current mix consists of three clothing vendors, FootJoy, Under Armour and Travis Matthews. In addition to clothing, the Blue Top Ridge golf shop also features equipment from a variety of different vendors, including Titleist, Callaway, Ping, TaylorMade and Cobra.
“Our merchandising philosophy is simple and is truly a part of a bigger picture.” stated Haas, “Providing a great shopping experience for each of our guests is our end result.”
Their Commitment Statement reads: Blue Top Ridge is committed to exceeding our guest’s expectations by providing an unprecedented resort experience. We will succeed through a combination of professional training, teamwork, integrity and respect while creating a fun environment. We will strive to operate efficiently by balancing our business with the highest quality services and amenities.
Bryan and his staff focus on creating a great shopping experience for each person that walks into the Blue Top Ridge pro shop. It is clear that they have achieved that goal yet again, as this marks Bryan’s fifth time (2008, 2009, 2011 and 2018) winning the 2019 Iowa PGA Resort Merchandiser of the Year.