Top 100 Businesses in Golf: FAQs - National Golf Foundation

The following are the businesses included in the latest version of the NGF GOLF 100, an effort to highlight the vitality, size and diversity of a $102 billion-a-year industry. This is an alphabetical list, not a ranking, of companies and brands that deliver products and services primarily targeted to commercial golf and conduct all or a majority of their business within the U.S. Find an issue with a company profile? Whether it’s information, staffing or logo that needs to be updated, please contact our editorial director, Erik Matuszewski, at erikm@ngf.org.

Top 100 Main Page

Full List

Equipment

Course Management/Development

Apparel & Accessories

Media & Technology

Retail

Turf & Course Suppliers

Frequently Asked Questions

The NGF’s Top 100 Businesses in Golf is a first-of-its-kind list created by the NGF to recognize the size and diversity of the recreational/commercial side of the golf industry. A strategic fit with the foundation’s unique position as the only association focused on the entire business of golf, the platform is an effort to better celebrate the most successful, influential, innovative, and impactful businesses in the game.

The Top 100 Businesses in Golf is intended to be a biennial effort. The previous edition was released in 2023.

Included in the list are companies and businesses having direct involvement with the recreational and commercial side of the golf industry that conduct all, a majority or a significant portion of their golf business within the U.S.

Associations, agencies and major partners (business and broadcast) for the professional golf tours aren’t included, even as many have a significant impact and influence within the U.S. golf market. The intent of this change is to put greater focus on the wide variety of businesses with products or services geared more toward the recreational game.

A variety of criteria are considered in order to provide multiple pathways for the NGF Top 100 Businesses in Golf, ensuring the list doesn’t simply include the “biggest” companies in the game. Among the factors weighed during the evaluation process:

Revenue
Influence or Clout
Contributions to the Growth and Vitality of the Recreational Game
Innovation
Growth Rate & Success
Leadership (within a particular sector)
Prominence (within the golf industry overall)

The NGF’s editorial board is ultimately responsible for the make-up of the Top 100 Businesses in Golf initiative, with the assistance and input of experts from each sector of the golf industry. While the criteria are transparent, the selection process is not intended to be purely scientific and is at the discretion of the NGF editorial board, which is the ultimate arbiter.

At its essence, the NGF’s Top 100 Businesses in Golf demonstrates the depth of successful businesses in the game. Not all of them can make the list, with some of those coming up just short in very competitive sectors and receiving Honorable Mention recognition. Others may be positioned to be on the list in coming years. The reality is that lists always generate 19^th hole discussion and, ultimately, the intent is that this is a positive for golf. Input is always encouraged.

Businesses and organizations are identified by the NGF’s editorial board and grouped into a range of different sectors: Apparel & Accessories, Equipment, Management & Development Companies, Media & Technology, Retail, and Turf & Course Suppliers. A number of portfolio companies are also recognized — having several brands from different sectors under one parent company — while there is also a “miscellaneous” category for businesses that don’t necessarily fit in one of the other segments.

Companies that have active Executive Member status with NGF are permitted to use the official Top 100 branding in advertising, on social media and on their website. NGF retains rights to branding for the initiative. Non-members are invited to contact Greg Nathan at gnathan@ngf.org to learn more about the many benefits of executive membership.

The intent of the NGF’s Top 100 Businesses in Golf is to celebrate businesses making an impact on the industry and demonstrating success, growth and innovation within their sector, not to debate the merits of who should be No. 1. Invariably, one company or organization might rate highly in one set of criteria, while another has significant prominence in another measure. The NGF works with leading brands throughout the industry on a daily basis, so there is an understanding that comparing Syngenta with Srixon or Toro with Titleist is a futile exercise. As the only trade association that covers all verticals in golf, the NGF has opted to simply list Top 100 companies alphabetically by category.

Our editorial staff has chosen to group together businesses that fall under the ownership of a single parent company — Topgolf Callaway being a prime example, with other notable brands such as TravisMathew, Odyssey and Ogio also falling under that umbrella. When different brands are involved from a variety of categories, we’ve termed these “Portfolio Companies.”

Similarly, there are other individual companies that would be probable, or certain, top 100 candidates as standalone brands — such as GolfNow under Golf Channel, or FootJoy and Titleist under Acushnet. FMC was previously a Top 100 golf business on its own prior to being acquired by ENVU.

In other instances, it may be collective relevance of several brands under a parent company that pushed them onto the list.

The intent of almost any good list is to generate dialogue or debate. This is particularly true when looking at such a diverse industry such as golf and trying to evaluate and weigh the accomplishments, innovations and successes of businesses in very different sectors. The criteria for the NGF Top 100 Businesses in Golf intentionally extends well beyond revenues, so innovative companies that have created a niche in the market or greatly contributed to the growth and vitality of the commercial side of the game may get recognized for that significance. Golf in many ways is fortunate and unique in having so many meaningful businesses, far more than most major sports.

No. However, around 80% of the businesses and associations represented in the Top 100 Businesses in Golf have membership affiliation with the NGF to some extent. The NGF is unique in that it is the only trade association involved in all sectors of the golf industry, and it is supported by myriad golf-related businesses in every category. These companies – and NGF member courses, clubs, associations, management groups, golf architects and media, not to mention non-endemic businesses with ties to the golf industry – rely on NGF research and resources to support and influence their strategic planning and decision-making. It’s another reason the Top 100 Businesses in Golf is apropos to the NGF’s mission.

Thousands of members rely on the NGF.

But don’t take our word for it.

“Without the statistics and facts of golf courses, golf rounds, and all the information provided by the NGF… we’d be lost without them.”

Dick Sullivan

CEO, PGA Tour Super Store

“The NGF has been a reliable source of quality industry data and trends that have helped inform and stabilize the industry for nearly 85 years.”

Dan Murphy

President & CEO, Bridgestone Golf

“I like your approach to education. Much more modern than you usually see. The only regret I have today is that I didn’t become involved with NGF sooner. You firmly have our support with the quality of work you produce moving forward.”

John Brown

CEO, GreatLIFE Golf

“When someone asks me a question and I don’t know the answer to it, I’ll call and ask. I have a lot of confidence that somewhere along the line, NGF has already asked that question and has an answer for me.”

Cathy Harbin

PGA Master Professional, Owner of Pine Ridge Golf Course (TX), Founder of OnCourse Operations

“We constantly get media inquiries about the status of the game, facilities and rounds, so you want to be informed and be able to communicate with factual data. The other aspect is to educate our golf members and help keep them apprised of the industry, letting them be advocates for the game and be able to articulate some of this data as well.”

Tom Hantke

Executive Director and Foundation CEO, PGA Connecticut Section

“I started going to the NGF for research, mostly to inform my owners — not only about the battles we have, but the battles we share with mostly everyone in the country. I was looking for valuable information that I could pass on: This is what’s happening in the industry now, this is how we got here, and this is where we need to try to get to. ”

Randy Bensley

General Manager and Head Golf Professional, Shalimar Pointe Golf Club (FL)

“For us, it’s more about the data helping focus our efforts. Being a family-owned company, the old way we used to do things was locating our branches based on feel. Now, we use NGF a lot to know the number of courses and golf supply in a given area, and to have a general sense of which way the golf business is going. It’s great data because it’s national and we’re a nationwide company.”

Steve Sakurai

National Golf Sales Manager, Ewing Irrigation

“We’re a relatively new member NGF, only about a year or so, but have already found the reports to be very helpful. The updates NGF was putting out during the pandemic were great to have and provided a lot of information for us.”

Christine Kane

CEO, Audubon International

“We really love the data and current trends. For what we do, it’s terrific to share with our clients, our leadership team, and our associates. I send a lot of this down so they know what’s happening in the industry. We use the golf course lists, I love Joe Beditz’s e-mails and updates, and periodically we use the market research for our clubs specifically.”

Whitney Crouse

Co-Founder, Bobby Jones Links

“What I find valuable with the NGF is that the data is very clear, concise, well-presented, up-to-date, and with the Symposium, there’s a snapshot of what’s going on in the industry. It’s not ‘our members’ versus some other contingency. It’s just what it is and there’s a very strong place for that in the business.”

Jerry Hinckley

CEO, Leisure Financial Group

“We use NGF as a thought-leader within our firm, including the insights with Dr. Joe and some of the things you see, we relate to our own data. The biggest thing is NGF provides context on a national level from a golf standpoint, a set of customers we don’t have a lot of data on.”

Dr. Jim Butler

CEO, Club Benchmarking

“NGF is an amazing partner and, given the current environment, the information and data generated by your organization may be more helpful and impactful than ever before. We have always appreciated your support, but even more so today. Thanks again to you and your entire team for being the leaders in golf content.”

Charlie Schuyler

Director of Golf, Saucon Valley Country Club (PA)

“Golf tourism is about the experience, from the product and customer service to the value. The NGF’s in-depth research on the U.S. golf travel market is instrumental to businesses like ours in the industry as we look to connect with existing and new consumers as well as the next generation of golfers.”

Bill Golden

CEO, Golf Tourism Solutions

“I share monthly reporting with our club professionals and GM here, and regularly share your reports with our partnership and the ownership of our resort. It’s really a way to compare our performance to everyone else in the industry.”