Pro Am Golf at 50: How Golf Merchandising, Customization, and APIs Are Reshaping the Incentive Market

Here is another in an ongoing RRN profile of incentive, reward, and recognition suppliers.

Golf’s Enduring Popularity in Incentives, Rewards, and Recognition
The Return of Merchandising Expertise
Small-Quantity Customization Changes the Game
APIs Become the New Battleground
Experiences Become Part of the Merchandise Strategy

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For 50 years, Pro Am Golf has navigated dramatic shifts in both golf and the incentive, recognition, and loyalty (IRR) industry. What began as a regional golf retail and driving range operation in St. Louis evolved into one of the early pioneers serving the corporate market long before golf merchandising became a staple of incentive catalogs. Today, as golf experiences another surge in popularity, the company sees a new transformation underway—driven by customization, real-time APIs, and a renewed focus on merchandising expertise.

According to Ryan DeGrand, son of one of the founders, Pro Am Golf entered the corporate market decades before many of today’s major players. The company’s early relationships with large corporate accounts and promotional agencies helped establish golf merchandise as a premium category in the incentive industry long before online redemption platforms existed. Today, DeGrand believes, the golf category remains one of the strongest emotional and aspirational merchandise sectors in the IRR market because golfers are deeply connected to brands, performance, and identity.

Golf’s Enduring Popularity in Incentives, Rewards, and Recognition

The resurgence of golf since the pandemic has further strengthened demand. Participation has expanded beyond traditional avid golfers, while simulator experiences, entertainment venues, and social golf formats have introduced the game to younger and more diverse audiences. That growth is translating directly into merchandise demand across incentive and loyalty programs.
According to DeGrand, golf balls remain the single largest category in corporate golf merchandising, led overwhelmingly by the Titleist Pro V1 line, which he says has dominated sales for decades.

The appeal goes beyond performance alone. “There’s a strong emotional and status component to golf equipment,” says DeGrand. Golfers often want the same equipment they see professionals or better players using, even when the technical benefits may exceed their own playing level. That psychology helps explain why golf products continue to outperform many generic merchandise categories in recognition and loyalty programs. The products carry identity, aspiration, and storytelling value that simple cash-equivalent rewards often lack.

After golf balls, DeGrand says the hottest categories are drivers and putters because they are the products golfers believe can most improve their games. Gloves, apparel, headwear, bags, wedges, and rangefinders also remain strong performers depending on market trends and player demographics.

The Return of Merchandising Expertise

One of the biggest changes DeGrand sees in the IRR industry is a growing realization that merchandising still matters. For years, many online catalogs evolved into largely automated product feeds with limited curation or category expertise. But golf, perhaps more than almost any merchandise category, requires guidance and storytelling because equipment selection can be highly technical and brand-driven.

“Each golf brand tells a different story,” DeGrand explains, noting that successful golf merchandising requires understanding player preferences, brand loyalty, and product positioning.
That creates opportunities for experienced category specialists who can help incentive companies determine not only what products to offer, but how to merchandise them effectively. Golf also presents unique catalog complexities because of product variations including handedness, loft, shaft flex, length, and customization options. DeGrand says modern redemption platforms have improved significantly through dropdown configurations and more sophisticated product structures that simplify the buying experience for participants.

Small-Quantity Customization Changes the Game

Customization has become one of the most important trends in golf merchandise. Golf balls remain the leading customized product, followed by apparel and golf bags. But DeGrand says one of Pro Am Golf’s biggest differentiators has been its ability to customize products in extremely small quantities—even down to a single unit.

That flexibility represents a major shift from earlier decades, when manufacturers often required minimum orders of six or twelve units, making many custom programs economically impractical.

Pro Am Golf helped push the industry toward smaller customization runs by maintaining inventory that could support both corporate logo programs and individualized orders simultaneously.

The result is a significantly more personalized experience for users, especially in recognition and loyalty programs where recipients increasingly expect individualized options rather than mass-produced rewards.

Today, customization extends beyond traditional embroidery and logo placement. Putters can now feature logos on club faces or soles, while premium golf bags, apparel, and accessories can be tailored to specific events, clients, or recipients.

APIs Become the New Battleground

Perhaps the most significant trend emerging in golf merchandising—and the broader IRR industry—is the shift toward real-time API connectivity in catalog technology. DeGrand says incentive companies increasingly want direct API product feeds instead of relying solely on traditional batch-upload catalog systems.

The reason is simple: real-time connectivity dramatically improves the user experience. With APIs, users can see accurate inventory, current product options, customization choices, and updated specifications instantly. Instead of redeeming gift cards and searching elsewhere, users can locate the exact golf equipment they want directly within the platform.

According to DeGrand, this significantly improves engagement and merchandise redemption activity. The transition also mirrors broader retail trends, where consumers increasingly expect seamless digital shopping experiences comparable to major e-commerce platforms; yet, many IRR platforms still lag behind retail in API adoption. That creates both a challenge and an opportunity for suppliers capable of supporting real-time integrations. For companies like Pro Am Golf, APIs also simplify operations by enabling direct connectivity between suppliers and hundreds of catalog platforms without constant manual updates.

Experiences Become Part of the Merchandise Strategy

Another major evolution is the blending of merchandise with live experiences. Pro Am Golf increasingly supports experiential events involving club fittings, simulator activations, pop-up shops, and on-site gifting experiences at tournaments, trade shows, and corporate events.
These experiences can include private club fittings, temporary retail environments, branded simulator competitions, or event-based merchandise redemption opportunities. Importantly, these experiences appeal even to casual golfers because they combine entertainment, social interaction, and aspirational products.

As the IRR industry continues shifting toward emotionally engaging rewards rather than transactional incentives alone, golf appears uniquely positioned to benefit because it naturally combines merchandise, experiences, competition, personalization, and social identity. For Pro Am Golf, the company’s 50th anniversary arrives during a period when many of the industry’s oldest strengths—premium brands, storytelling, and merchandising expertise—are becoming strategically important again.

The difference today is that those strengths are now being amplified by APIs, personalization, and modern digital commerce infrastructure. And after five decades in business, DeGrand believes the companies that succeed in golf merchandising will be those that combine technology with genuine product expertise rather than treating golf merchandise as simply another catalog category.

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