PrideSports
Corporate Headquarters: Brentwood, Tennessee
Website: http://www.pridesports.com
Category: Miscellaneous
LEADERSHIP
Keith Bornholtz – CEO, Gathr Outdoors
Joe Henderson – President, Recreation, Gathr Outdoors
PrideSports is known in the industry as “the manufacturer of golf’s essentials,” providing some of the most ubiquitous and widely-used components in the sport. While the average golfer may not be familiar with the parent company’s name, they would probably be familiar with its primary subsidiaries: Softspikes, CHAMP, and Pride Golf Tee.
Today, PrideSports remains a world leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of wooden golf tees, plastic cleats, and cleat insert systems for the golf industry, while printing the most golf scorecards and golf accessories in the world.
Pride Manufacturing was founded in 1930 and originally produced wooden mouthpieces for cigars. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the company started to produce golf tees and the Pride Golf Tee Company was born. After years of success in the industry, Pride Manufacturing purchased Softspikes (an industry leader in golf spikes) in 2003 and the new entity of PrideSports was formed. Ten years later, it merged with MacNeil Engineering, the maker of CHAMP spikes.
PrideSports sports, along with SoftSpike, CHAMP, and Pride Golf Tee, is part of the Gathr Outdoors portfolio of companies after MacNeill Pride Group rebranded in 2022 to reflect its position in the outdoor gear industry.
The various PrideSports brands (Image courtesy: MacNeill Pride Group)
PrideSports is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee but has offices across America, Europe, and Asia. PrideSports remains the largest producer and distributor of golf tees in the world while Champ and Softspikes are leaders in the plastic golf spikes industry.
In the meantime, CHAMP’s PiviX, Zarma, and Stinger cleats, as well as Softspikes’ Pulsar, Silver Tornado, and Stealth models, are some of the company’s most popular designs. Both brands have won top awards from Golf Digest, GOLF Magazine, and key media outlets. The spikes are also a favorite among professional golfers and have strong presence among major champion caliber players.
PrideSports reach expands beyond the golf industry. CHAMP and Softspikes are used by athletes around the world and can regularly be seen at high-profile events such as the Olympics, World Series, Super Bowl and the FIFA World Cup. Currently, products are designed for sports such as golf, soccer, baseball, football, and track and field, while technologies and applications also extend into cycling, fishing, ice sports, and industrial segments.
PrideSports also offers a custom products division that supplies custom text or logo imprinting. Products that PrideSports is able to customize include golf tees, you can order personalized ball markers, repair tools, brushes, towels, shoe bags, bag tags, and pencils.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
From essentials like tees to scorecards and plastic cleats, PrideSports has its niche of the golf industry well-covered.
PrideSports has also become a leader in the marketplace by working with shoe manufacturers throughout the design process. In these instances, the inclusion of one of the company’s proprietary locking technologies assures that only CHAMP or Softspikes spikes will be worn throughout the life of the shoe.
The effective banning campaign of metal spikes through the adoption by several major golf associations in 1993 created a rise in demand for plastic golf cleats. The replaceable technology, utilized by both Softspikes and CHAMP, revolutionized the golf industry and remains one of the most widely-used golf inventions of the 20th century.
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