GolfTEC decides not to replace Myrtle Beach instruction business lost with closing of Golfsmith

GolfTEC is not seeking a new location for its instruction business that was located inside the now-closed Golfsmith Xtreme retail store in Myrtle Beach, so the company has left the Grand Strand golf market after a more than three-year run at Golfsmith.

Golfsmith was acquired late last year by Dick’s Sporting Goods in partnership with liquidator Hilco Global, and Dick’s implemented a plan to close about 60 stores, including the Myrtle Beach location, while keeping 30 open.

GolfTEC recently had as many as 200 locations in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Korea, but more than 80 of those were in Golfsmith stores. Andy Hilts, GolfTEC’s Vice President of Instruction and Education, said the company is now down to about 170 locations but expects to be back around 185 in the near future.

“The challenge for us as a thriving business was to be a partner with one that wasn’t thriving,” said Hilts. “It’s been a challenge for us to pack and move because we don’t want to lose students.”

GolfTEC is based in Colorado and utilizes patented technology and cameras in its instruction. It had three locations in South Carolina, but those in Myrtle Beach and Columbia have been shut down and only Greenville remains.

“Our business there [in Myrtle Beach] wasn’t spectacular, and we’ve tried to prioritize where our businesses performed the best and strategically choose where we can rebuild,” Hilts said. “It’s been challenging for us where you have a lot of transient people and there is a lot of competition for instruction in that market.”

The Myrtle Beach location employed up to three instructors and had two just prior to its closing, including PGA-certified coach Josh Slawiak. “I would imagine we would revisit [the market] in the future, but not at this time,” Hilts said.

A Golfsmith store in North Myrtle Beach that was a former Golf Dimensions store was shut down on Oct. 23 as part of a proposed Golfsmith reorganization plan following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in September.

It was one of 20 stores out of 109 U.S. locations that were closed as part of the plan, and all but the remaining 30 have since been closed or are closing. The NMB Golfsmith did not contain a GolfTEC business.

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 6:54 PM with the headline "GolfTEC decides not to replace Myrtle Beach instruction business lost with closing of Golfsmith."