Premium trolley manufacturer Stewart Golf has reported an extraordinary surge in sales in the USA as American golfers start walking the course following the introduction of social distancing measures.
Many courses in the United States have remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but social distancing guidelines have meant that the use of rented buggies is either not allowed or restricted to single-rider use, so walking has been the only option left to those who wanted to continue playing.
The result has been a surge in demand for trolleys, which was even featured in the prestigious Wall Street Journal under the headline “We’re out of Toilet Paper, Hand Sanitizer – and Golf Pushcarts?”
Stewart Golf’s USA website sales for the months of April and May were up by 886% to a level of sales that was more than double the entirety of 2019. The first nine days of June were tracking 1,898% up year-on-year, despite all trolleys being on an 6-8 week lead time.
Stewart Golf established its American subsidiary in 2016 after a successful debut at the Orlando PGA Show where its X9 Follow was featured on The Golf Channel. US sales have doubled every year since launch, but this leap in sales means that a record 2020 is already assured despite not yet being halfway through the year.
CEO Mark Stewart commented: “Obviously, we’re overjoyed with the level of sales in America. Establishing our own business in the USA has been key to our growth: our X9 Follow model has been particularly popular with American golfers as more and more either upgrade from carrying or pushing, or switch from riding in a buggy.”
When golf was closed in the UK and Europe at the start of the COVID crisis, Stewart Golf closed its factory. Three weeks later it was fully operational again and has since doubled its production staff in an attempt to keep up with demand. The company has also made plans to increase production space by more than 33% in the next 12 months to help meet the company’s rapid growth.
