ORLANDO, Florida — Johnnie-O, with its subtle laid-back clothing line, always makes a statement at the PGA Show. And this year was no different.
While its product is in an amazing 2,400 golf courses across the country, the company continues to expand by announcing the addition of more brick-and-mortar locations.
Johnnie-O-branded stand alone stores coming soon include Westport, Connecticut, and a second store in Nashville, Tennessee. That will bring to 10 the number of new stores expected in 2026, according to Braxton Lloyd, the company’s brand marketing manager.
Those openings come on the heels of recently launched locations in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Tysons Corner and Virginia Beach, Virginia, that bring the total of stand alone stores to 20 across the nation.
"Our retail team is growing and that's also allowing us to really own the consumer experience, get direct feedback from them," said Lloyd from the Show floor Thursday at Orange County Convention Center.
One piece of feedback includes the Johnnie-O women’s clothing line, which launched in 2024 after the company had been exclusively men’s products since being founded more than two decades ago.
"A lot of it's just all about brand awareness," says Lloyd, who pointed out that Johnnie-O was dedicating a specific budget this year to support women’s golf clothing. "In the women’s space it is certainly something new for us. Women maybe heard of Johnnie-O and bought it for their husbands in the past, but we now need to convert them to start thinking about buying items for themselves.”
Lloyd estimates the women’s line to be about one-third of the men’s sales.
"When we first launched it there were a lot of statement pieces," Lloyd says. "What we've really learned is that golf and performance fabric is where the biggest demand is to this point. So really expanding that golf collection, making sure that product is great is our focus for women, and then we’ll come back and eventually build out the other collections."
Lloyd notes that post COVID-19 clothing fashion has changed as new work environments became relaxed.
"Office dressing has gotten a little bit more casual, so I think our customer is looking for something they can easily wear to the office and then seamlessly go play nine holes after work," he says.
“The Johnnie-O secret sauce is our blend of golf and lifestyle. What we've really figured out through some research is that the consumer base does see us as a blend of both of those two categories. A lot of our competitors, they're either all golf or all lifestyle. That’s one thing that sets us apart, we're a full closet brand."
GENIUS MAY JUST CRACK THE PUTTING CODE
When Brad Faxon stops by to test out your new product at the PGA Show you may be on to something.
Regarded as one of the best putters in PGA Tour history, Faxon was testing the newly launched Genius golf ball with brand ambassador Dave Stockton Sr. by his side on Thursday in front of a crowd of onlookers.
The first-of-its-kind golf ball features embedded electronics that capture crucial putting data and is the only regulation-size, regulation-weight smart golf ball that looks, feels and rolls like a premium Tour-quality ball.
Its core contains a sophisticated sensor array that identifies the moment of impact, plus skid and roll of the ball, resulting in precise data that external devices cannot reliably detect.
Crucial performance metrics like velocity, launch angle, side spin, skid distance, roll characteristics, deceleration pattern, consistency across strokes and green speed are captured and, using proprietary algorithms, processed and delivered via Bluetooth to the Genius app on a user's Smartphone.
Genius golf ball technology CEO Mike Jordan says the ball took seven years of research and development, and will become available for shipping in June. Pre-orders are being accepted now.
"Putting has always been an art in a field game," Jordan says. "Golf has really had a drive towards becoming objective and quantifiable. A lot of the things they’re doing around putting are still things that are observed as opposed to things that are measured."
Genius is effective outdoors on practice greens and indoors on mats, floors and carpets. There is no need for setup, face stickers or alignment rods. Just drop a ball and start rolling putts.
The Genius ball boasts a battery life of around 10,000 putts or 18-24 months. When a ball nears its end-of-life, the Genius system will automatically detect it as long as a user's subscription is active and ship a free replacement.
Three Genius balls, a carrying case and annual app subscription cost $240.
"We want to arm golfers with the data to help them become better, and a way to do that is measure what happens," says Jordan, who confirmed that the overwhelming PGA Show reaction to the new product has been humbling.
Genius has also created a stroke scoring system, which compiles four of the key metrics to help golfers become better putters.
"Think of it as a handicap for putting," Jordan says. "If I’m an 18 handicap you have an idea what kind of a golfer you are. The Genius stroke score is on a scale of zero to 100. The higher the score, the better you are. So Dave Stockton is about a 90, and I’m about a 65, so I have some work to do.
"But the beauty of it is, once you get that data we focus on the areas that you need to work on. We have built in video tutorials from Dave Stockton Sr. and Dave Stockton Jr. as well as drills focused on those areas to help improve your game. So it's a bit like having a PGA pro in your pocket to help you improve your putting game."
PUTTING TREES TO GOOD USE
A bad storm knocks over a tree on your favorite course and the wood is hauled off by the maintenance staff to be cut up and disposed.
No one gives it a second thought.
Not so fast.
Scott Peterson, of Scott Golf in Payson, Utah, who has been making custom putters for more than two decades, may be a buyer for that lumber.
Peterson began making a putter within the last year called "The Woody," which is designed with a wooden insert into a modern head.
"It incorporates modern golf technology with an old-school feel and the beauty of wood in the face," Peterson says. "They are one-of-a-kind putters — every single one of them."
Peterson was displaying one of the putters at the PGA Show in Orlando, Florida, which featured a leather grip, hickory shaft and a Birdseye Maple insert, a rare wood with a distinctive pattern that resembles tiny, swirling eyes.
Peterson has crafted less than 100 of the revolutionary wood insert putters so far with a price starting at $850 and up.
He has designed putters so far using inserts of maple, oak, redwood, birch, cypress and African blackwood. There is even a wood called tigerwood.
The wood insert is 2½ millimeters thick, and goes through an extensive treatment process for lasting strength.
"We have to be able to dry it and then we have a method that keeps the wood from having any more air pockets in it so it can't soak up water," Peterson says. "We then vacuum seal it with a product that is like an epoxy resin, which takes out any possibility of it heating, shrinking, soaking up water, expanding, blowing out or cracking so that all the things that wood normally does won't happen."
Peterson has a few dream courses he believes would become instant hot sellers.
"There’s always a lot of storms on the West Coast that knocks over trees, so maybe we can find one at Pebble Beach," he says.
