Going for the Green

Roger Maxwell's museum-like golf shop may draw sightseers by the busload -- but will anybody buy?

The First Tee. In the world of golf, the 18th hole at Pebble Beach is hallowed ground. One of the most challenging final holes in U.S. golf, the 525-yard, par-5 18th cuts a dogleg around an inlet of Carmel Bay and typically requires three well-struck shots to reach the green. The venturesome golfer, on the other hand, may be tempted to pull out a three wood and play the second shot across the water. But doing so requires the ball to carry 230 yards through a stiff sea breeze. It makes for demanding and risky golf.

Figuratively speaking, last September Roger Maxwell found himself on the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach, reaching for his three wood. He had just opened his specialty store, In Celebration of Golf (ICOG). Five bankers had already turned Maxwell down, telling him that retailing in this economic climate was too risky. They also told him he lacked retail experience, even though as director of golf development for Marriott, he had overseen course and pro-shop operations at 23 resorts. Maxwell thereupon plowed $1 million of his own money into the shop. That sum amounted to his total net worth.

The Drive. At a mall in Scottsdale, Ariz., ICOG's sun-splashed entry, beneath a soaring arched facade, creates the sense that what is being offered here is not access to a shop but passage to a shrine. Inside, the space is huge -- 13,000 square feet divided into nine areas, each area a different treatment of some aspect of the game. Maxwell calls each area, with its category of merchandise -- gifts, art, equipment, apparel, antiques -- a "celebration." The theme unifying them all is the rich and storied game of golf. "We are trying," he explains, "to protect and enhance the traditions of the game in a retail setting."

Each visitor to ICOG is greeted by a clerk wearing white coveralls, identical to those worn by caddies at the fabled Masters Golf Tournament -- and even supplied by the same uniform maker. (No shortcuts here.) A glass case nearby holds, among other things, the silver trophy won by Tom Weiskopf at the British Open in 1973. The "claret jug," about 11 inches high, is unpretentious as prizes go, yet to cognoscenti it is one of the most coveted in the world. Around the corner sits the store's in-house artist, rendering in watercolor a famous golf scene. Down the way a wood-paneled antiquities room features old trophies and wood-shaft clubs.

ICOG is rooted in Scottsdale, in the midst of golf heaven. Surrounding Maricopa County is home to 244 golf courses, with another 33 currently under development. Last year 9 million people visited the Phoenix-Scottsdale area, and 2.2 million of them brought their clubs. In a sense, Maxwell might as well be peddling nicotine. People who know the game invariably admit to its addictive nature. Visitors to ICOG typically spend an hour or more there. Erik Pedersen, vice-president of sales for the western division of Izod Club, says, "To some people, golf is a religion." And through ICOG, Maxwell aims to be the high priest to such folk.

The Player. ICOG's proprietor grew up within an easy six iron of a public course in Oklahoma City, where he caddied and subsequently learned the game. He went to Oklahoma State on a golf scholarship and became a teaching pro. Maxwell landed the job as head pro at Marriott's Camelback Golf Club, in Scottsdale, and from there went on to become a vice-president for Marriott Golf, responsible for the development and operation of Marriott's 23 golf facilities in the United States, a $65-million business.

Maxwell is well known in his circle. In 1993 Golf Digest named him one of the 36 most powerful people in the golf industry. Four times in the past 17 years the Professional Golfers' Association has named Maxwell its "merchandiser of the year" for the Southwest section.

While Maxwell considers merchandiser a complimentary term, he also has purer motives. "I've been collecting memorabilia from the game for 25 years," he says. He has a good eye and good sources, and he knows how to get his hands on unusual golfing items. It's that skill as a buyer that Maxwell seeks to forge into a competitive edge for ICOG.

Erik Pedersen says Tom Weiskopf's claret jug is "really impressive," the sort of touch that would draw serious customers into the store, earn their trust, and then loosen their grip on their wallets. Arranging such details requires not only a feel for and knowledge of the game but good contacts and a lot of shoe leather. Maxwell travels to five large gift shows a year, looking for the one golf-related gift item a vendor might produce. He is regularly in touch with various galleries and brokers that deal in old golf prints. He sells one-of-a-kind golf bags, supplying unusual fabrics to bag makers. The store's gift certificate is a replica of the gallery tag issued to fans at the 100th U.S. Open, to which Maxwell bought the exclusive rights. "That felt and smelled 'golf' to me," says Maxwell. "I can't believe they let that go."

On the Course. These are boom times for the game of golf. According to the National Golf Foundation, a 6,000-member industry trade group headquartered in Jupiter, Fla., in each of the last three years more than 350 new courses have been built in the United States -- versus an annual average of 110 from 1983 to 1985. According to Alan Crittenden, whose company publishes 25 specialized trade journals dealing with topics such as golf, real estate, and banking, prices for existing courses have risen by 25% in the past couple of years, and a number of pension funds and real estate investment trusts are pouring money into golf-course acquisition and construction. "There's an excess of cash chasing these properties right now," notes Crittenden.

While he sees the pace of course construction slowing in the next few years, he believes the growth in the golfing population will not slacken. A 1994 survey done by the National Golf Foundation revealed that golfers over the age of 50 play an average of 38 rounds a year, versus just 15 for younger golfers. Golfers over 50 also spend at least 50% more on equipment and apparel than younger players do. Furthermore, in the United States today someone turns 50 every 8.4 seconds. By the year 2000, that will happen every 6.8 seconds. Equipment sales at the wholesale level have soared 45% in five years, while apparel sales have risen 30%, according to industry sources.