I don’t care much for golf.

Candidly, I find it boring. When I was younger, I didn’t really “get” the game. It wasn’t until I saw Robin Williams do his standup routine on how golf was invented that I finally understood what the fuss what about.

But, if you tell me I can make $10 million in a day selling golf gear, I’ll change my name to Arnold Palmer.

This is exactly what the merchandise sales bring in at Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Exclusive items available only at the event drive the jaw-dropping number. These include limited edition polo shirts by Peter Millar. They also include golf memorabilia and the coveted Master’s garden gnomes.

You might say these sales numbers are because the Masters experience is one you file under “once in a lifetime.” I agree. But maybe, this is part of a bigger force in golf retail.

Enter the Chief Executive of Centroid Investment Partners, Jinhyeok Jeong.

Who is he? He owns a golf operation called TaylorMade. Adidas ditched the brand in 2017. An investment firm in New York turned it around. Jeong bought it in 2021 for $1.7 billion.

TaylorMade has spent most of its existence cranking out golf equipment. They have also become very good at marketing the equipment to customers. The secret being: people like to use the clubs that their favorite player uses. So, it would make sense that if you use the same clubs as Scottie Scheffler, you would like wear the same clothes.

As such, the plan is to expand into apparel. It just so happens that this is the brand that Tiger Woods has partnered with to develop his Sun Day Red apparel line. Right now, apparel makes up 2% of TaylorMade’s revenue. Jeong thinks it can be 30%. Much of that will come from selling to the golf-crazed consumers of South Korea.

Although, I wonder to what extent this will actually work out. The apparel line still needs another two years before launching in Asia. Also, the unveiling of the Sun Day Red lineup wasn’t very awe-inspiring. We wrote about this in a previous edition of the newsletter. If Sun Day Red can perfect its product mix and make it less boring, then Jeong may have a chance of reaching that 30%. Tiger Woods as the face of the brand will have an impact on initial sales. But, the product has to be exceptional in order for the brand to gain traction. Also, if golf is becoming more popular with young people and women, how will TaylorMade tap into this new market?

I’m asking a ton of questions. But, I think we’ve seen enough bogeys from new apparel brands to justify them. If it all fails, golf fans can get another gnome from the Masters golf shop next year.