Rory McIlroy may have departed the PGA Championship with the Wanamaker Trophy, while the world’s number-one player joined his teammates to stage a stunning comeback to keep the Ryder Cup for the Europeans. But Cutter & Buck was able to leave both venues with its own sense of triumph, having sold more than 40,000 units translating into nearly $3 million in retail sales.
Moreover, as part of the company’s agreement with The PGA of America as the lead apparel partner for its spectator events, Cutter & Buck outfitted all the volunteers for both the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, S.C., in August, and Ryder Cup at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club late last month. At the Ryder Cup alone, Cutter & Buck provided custom outfits – shirt, pants and jacket—for the event’s more than 5,000 volunteers.
The thousands of fans who poured through the Medinah Country Club gates during Ryder Cup week spent more than $2 million with Cutter & Buck, which was housed with some 40 other vendor companies in the massive 35,000 square-foot merchandise tent. The Cutter & Buck team, according to Jake Rawson, Cutter & Buck’s global director of sales, was on site at Medinah for more than two weeks, and sold in excess of 90 percent of its merchandise beginning the weekend before the event, as well as from 8 a.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. Sunday during Ryder Cup week.
“From the time the gates opened on Tuesday morning there was no calm before the storm,” Rawson said. “Thousands of fans from all over the world packed the course each day. It was a phenomenal week for the game of golf that was orchestrated so well by the PGA of America and Medinah Country Club. It was an honor for Cutter & Buck to participate in such a world class event.”
At the Ryder Cup, Rawson said Cutter & Buck – which had the largest amount of floor space in the merchandise tent—sold more than 30,000 units from its men’s and women’s line, including its popular ANNIKA line. The top-selling items were polo shirts, followed by jackets and overknits.
Rawson added that Cutter & Buck’s retail sales at both The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in May and at the U.S. Open in San Francisco in June exceeded expectations.
“It was truly a banner year for us,” said Rawson, who noted that Cutter & Buck also outfitted all the volunteers at both the PGA Championship and the Senior PGA Championship, which was held at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich.
For more information about Cutter & Buck, call (800) 713-7810 or visit its website at www.cutterbuck.com.
