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Dicks lays offs all its Pga Pros

ddec said:
That stinks. I like the pro at one of our nearby Dicks. Interesting about the TM mention and check out the comments below the article.
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Good old Gerry? He's been at Dicks FOREVER. I bought a Cleveland Launcher driver from him a bunch of years ago, and he was the first person to tell me I had a good swing (that's a fireable offense right there, but I digress). Normally I'd say he's a well known commodity with a good reputation and will land on his feet...but where in this area? I'm not so sure.
 
blugold said:
It's a huge loss for the really good PGA Pros that lost their jobs.
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If you were working at a Dicks or GG as a PGA Pro and not running the store or a regional/district manager then it wasn't a very good job anyways. I can't believe they put the time in to be a PGA Pro to work at a Dicks lol. Probably a stepping stone for most of them if they were younger or if they were older the last place they could work or finish out some time before retirement.
 
Vegan702 said:
If you were working at a Dicks or GG as a PGA Pro and not running the store or a regional/district manager then it wasn't a very good job anyways. I can't believe they put the time in to be a PGA Pro to work at a Dicks lol. Probably a stepping stone for most of them if they were younger or if they were older the last place they could work or finihs out some time before retirement.
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Benefits can be a very strong motivator in terms of where to work. While the golf aspect of working at Dick's might not have been as attractive as working at a golf course, I wonder if Dick's provided health insurance (probably) and a retirement plan, both of which might not have been available at a local golf course. It's the same way in an article I read recently about graduates from cooking school, many of them want to take a job working at a supermarket in order to get the benefits instead of working in a restaurant that may not offer those benefits.
 
Ya know, the more this sinks in, the more numbers you read (especially 500 people losing jobs) it just gets worse and worse and worse.
 
arydolphin said:
Benefits can be a very strong motivator in terms of where to work. While the golf aspect of working at Dick's might not have been as attractive as working at a golf course, I wonder if Dick's provided health insurance (probably) and a retirement plan, both of which might not have been available at a local golf course. It's the same way in an article I read recently about graduates from cooking school, many of them want to take a job working at a supermarket in order to get the benefits instead of working in a restaurant that may not offer those benefits.
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I could see working there for benefits if they were very good. But aside from that unless they were getting commission from equipment sales I can't believe they would be making more then any kid working in a cart barn or as a caddy. My area may be a little different since we have so many tourists playing here but these kids in the cart barns are making $100+ a day in tips plus health insurance at most courses here and a small hourly wage. Unless the guys working at Dicks and GG are booking a lot of lessons I don't see them making more, probably less. It's sucks they lost their jobs, but I don't feel any different for them vs any other group of people who get laid off. From the comments in this thread most didn't have a very good experience with them in the stores. Hopefully they all find work somewhere else.
 
Vegan702 said:
If you were working at a Dicks or GG as a PGA Pro and not running the store or a regional/district manager then it wasn't a very good job anyways. I can't believe they put the time in to be a PGA Pro to work at a Dicks lol. Probably a stepping stone for most of them if they were younger or if they were older the last place they could work or finish out some time before retirement.
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It was a job that many of them used to put food on the table. Some of them enjoyed their job, I'm sure. I find it pretty petty that you want to put down their job. You're making a generalization that is not cool. Not everybody gets to have an amazingly fashionable job. The PGA Pro at the Dick's in Green Bay was an assistant professional at Harbor Town. He moved back home to be closer to his family. That sounds like a pretty good job to me.
 
That sucks, I just imagine it's going to be hard for 500 professionals to find jobs anytime soon.
 
It is a trend for golf at the moment. I think it may tighten up product lines of some major club manufacturers.
 
KPop said:
It is a trend for golf at the moment. I think it may tighten up product lines of some major club manufacturers.
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What I don't get is, I'd Dick's is losing money on all the new equipment how are the Club Manufacturers not losing money? I swear every month it seems I see an ad for another release of a new club.
 
rlewis1323 said:
Ya know, the more this sinks in, the more numbers you read (especially 500 people losing jobs) it just gets worse and worse and worse.
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Dicks must want to go bankrupt. They pissed off the entire hunting/shooting market early last year in response to the Sandy Hook shooting, and announced at the end of last year that their earnings were down which resulted in their stock value going down as well.

Now they want to piss off the golf community. You know the people at the top of the Dicks food chain are going to continue to pay themselves what they are used to. I'm all for capitalism, but that includes no complaining or tax dollar sponsored assistance/loans/buy-outs when those individuals make poor decisions.

And a little off-topic, but as others have stated, golf companies charge too much for items in general. And I believe that the majority of that money is funneled to a handful of people at the top of the chain. There was an episode of undercover boss on Mark King/Taylormade. All the employees in the show were presented as the typical worker for the company and were vocal, but not negative, about their financial struggles. The employee from the one of TM's assembly plants in the states was fresh out of high school with no degree. I can't imagine they are paid much after watching that show. And it's not an attack on Taylormade. I suspect all of the big club makers are set up identically. And most big businesses in America are set up this way.

Again, I believe in letting CEO's/BOD's/etc. run their companies however they want. But trimming the fat at the top of the chain in order to lower budgets and ultimately lower sales prices seems like an easy way to improve revenue through added sales volume.
 
That's a tough pill for PGA Pros, but in my experience with a few Dick's PGA Pros, they shouldn't have been hired in the first place and the fact that some of them are PGA Pros does not bode well for PGA standards. Also, I'm not surprised that golf golf equipment sales are down. It's an expensive game/hobby/activity... too expensive for most. There is no reason for a Drivers to retail for $399, when it probably cost the manufacturer $25/50 to make it.... beyond forever recouping R&D and paying/giving equipment to the Top Pro Golfers. Dick's certainly isn't making near the profit made by TaylorMade, when they pay around $300 for that club. The big names in golf equipment will be the cause of their own demise, unless they make golf affordable.
 
malemotives said:
That's a tough pill for PGA Pros, but in my experience with a few Dick's PGA Pros, they shouldn't have been hired in the first place and the fact that some of them are PGA Pros does not bode well for PGA standards. Also, I'm not surprised that golf golf equipment sales are down. It's an expensive game/hobby/activity... too expensive for most. There is no reason for a Drivers to retail for $399, when it probably cost the manufacturer $25/50 to make it.... beyond forever recouping R&D and paying/giving equipment to the Top Pro Golfers. Dick's certainly isn't making near the profit made by TaylorMade, when they pay around $300 for that club. The big names in golf equipment will be the cause of their own demise, unless they make golf affordable.
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Any proof of this? Or just a hunch?
 
Vegan702 said:
If you were working at a Dicks or GG as a PGA Pro and not running the store or a regional/district manager then it wasn't a very good job anyways. I can't believe they put the time in to be a PGA Pro to work at a Dicks lol. Probably a stepping stone for most of them if they were younger or if they were older the last place they could work or finish out some time before retirement.
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The pay is a lot higher than you imagine. Benefits were very good. You are way off base and are lacking knowledge.
 
To everyone complain about prices, the cost of a premium end driver is the same it was in the late 90s. Explain why now it is an issue.
 
blugold said:
Any proof of this? Or just a hunch?
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It's my personal opinion based on first hand experience with a Dick's Pro here in Washington and another down in Arizona, where I winter. In addition to some problems with fitting, including grips disaster, I found it curious that there was very little about fitting and golf swings that these two shared. These day's, after those experiences, I learned to grip/re-grip my own clubs, and invested in the equipment to do so properly. I've no doubt there are some great PGA Pros out there, but I equally have no doubt there are some that need a new day job in another field.
 
malemotives said:
It's my personal opinion based on first hand experience with a Dick's Pro here in Washington and another down in Arizona, where I winter. In addition to some problems with fitting, including grips disaster, I found it curious that there was very little about fitting and golf swings that these two shared. These day's, after those experiences, I learned to grip/re-grip my own clubs, and invested in the equipment to do so properly. I've no doubt there are some great PGA Pros out there, but I equally have no doubt there are some that need a new day job in another field.
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I don't think that is a dicks issue though. I think as a whole PGA pros are hit and miss. Some are great best guys you will ever meet . others have no business working with the public. I think the job is much more demanding than many think and for some it is just overwhelming.
 
fupresti said:
To everyone complain about prices, the cost of a premium end driver is the same it was in the late 90s. Explain why now it is an issue.
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I see no problem with equipment costs. Nothing has changed in a long while other than maybe more high end shaft options that cost more. But on that note you are getting more for your money now I feel because most clubs come with a quality shaft option. That was not always the case.
 
malemotives said:
It's my personal opinion based on first hand experience with a Dick's Pro here in Washington and another down in Arizona, where I winter. In addition to some problems with fitting, including grips disaster, I found it curious that there was very little about fitting and golf swings that these two shared. These day's, after those experiences, I learned to grip/re-grip my own clubs, and invested in the equipment to do so properly. I've no doubt there are some great PGA Pros out there, but I equally have no doubt there are some that need a new day job in another field.
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So you have no real knowledge of how much a driver actually costs to make or what the profit for the OEMs actually is?
 
blugold said:
So you have no real knowledge of how much a driver actually costs to make or what the profit for the OEMs actually is?
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Info is hard to come by. Per one 2008 article manufacturing costs on a "titanium" driver were between $27-$65. That's old data and doesn't include all costs (ie, R&D, endorsements, etc).
 
Wow, that is rough to say the least. And with jobs at a premium....hopefully some are employed elsewhere asap.
 
lightningbolt44 said:
I don't think that is a dicks issue though. I think as a whole PGA pros are hit and miss. Some are great best guys you will ever meet . others have no business working with the public. I think the job is much more demanding than many think and for some it is just overwhelming.
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I agree. I haven't had any dealings with PGA Pros working for other golf stores/shops. But I have had some with PGA Pros working Golf Courses. My opinion of them, from a consumer standpoint, may be harsh. I base it on the high standards set and met, by a local PGA Pro at a course I often frequent, who I think of as the "poster child" of what a Professional should be, and how far below that standard I experienced with Pro at Dicks.
 
Guys, even at a common level golf has been around for hundreds of years. It's not going anywhere. The industry and manufactures will change, but golf is not in great trouble.

The same things that drew people to golf will draw them still. Everyone said golf would die after Bobby Jones retired and the depression hit--courses went bankrupt or unfinished in a much greater percentage than today (per capita). It didn't, but it did launch the viability of commercial radio.

Golf can weather decades of growth and decline. Not all manufacturers or manufacturing models, and not all golf clubs/courses will, but yes the game will make it.

This is sad news, but it's much more a diagnosis of what's wrong with the model behind the manufacture and retail of costly equipment than the viability of golf as a whole. Manufacturers don't want to change. They're going to clang the bells and speak of the death of golf!™ if you don't go out and buy that new $400 driver and buy five rounds this week. There's just no good evidence that this is true. The manufacturers and retailers will change, but the game will be around for our lifetimes and more.
 
That sucks, a lot of people loosing their jobs.
good luck to them, hope they find something soon.
 
This is sad to see - never good to see people lose their jobs. That said, it sounds like the golf section at some of the other Dicks stores is very different than the one nearest me. I've never seen a custom fitting being done there, and most of the people I've seen we're buying off the rack. If this was the case at most of the stores, the decision can be understood, and maybe they're trying to further differentiate between the golf section at dicks and golf galaxy.

Still, both the pro and his staff were extremely helpful and did good repair work, which they'd often do for me while I waited. Definitely preferred to take my clubs there over the local golf galaxy.
 
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