FOR EDITORIAL INFORMATION:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 20, 2005

2005 Off Course Golf Channel Report Offers In-depth Analysis of Retail Trends

Portland, OR – Longitudes Group today announced the release of its 2005 Market Trend Report on USA Off-Course Golf retail. The research tracks the growth and contraction of the off course retail market analyzing the last year’s state-by-state changes both in the number of doors and total square feet.

The 2005 report provides a complete assessment of average square footage growth and contraction for the industry by categorizing store segments based on size from Big Box down to Boutiques. In the overall off-course retail segment, the trend shows the large format retailers are aggressively opening stores across the country, putting some smaller stores "out of business".

The retail research was conducted by Longitudes Group, LLC, first in 2004, and replicated in 2005 by contacting over 1,800 retail locations categorized in various databases as off-course golf retail. The calls to retailers were conducted via Longitudes Group outbound research and call center, based in Stillwater, Oklahoma. These phone surveys established a baseline count of stores, store size and product categories carried. Retailers that had gone out of business, moved locations or were incorrectly categorized as brick and mortar stores were removed or updated. In 2005, the outbound calling process was replicated by doing a random sampling of approximately 40% of the 2004 stores. Additional sources were then utilized such as on-line yellow page list services, in-market personal interviews with industry participants, press releases, real estate sources and company websites.

Key findings include:

- 8.7 Million square feet exist in the off-course channel today in the US marketplace

- Square footage in the channel nationwide grew this year by 4.5%, while the number of new doors expanded by only 1%

- Big Box stores over >10,000 square feet represent 11% of the doors, but nearly 40% of the square feet in the market.

Significant regional differences were uncovered with a number of states indicating that there may be new opportunities for off-course retail expansion. Each state represented a unique mix of supply and demand variables indicating any number of influences that can impact the success of a location and local/regional market dynamics.

Sara Killeen of Longitudes Group said, “The research indicates that local variables such as the public/private golf culture, the number of avid golfers, golf participation rates and the cost of commercial space influence average store size and the number of stores that are serving the golf population.” Killeen also stated that a thorough 5, 10 and 15 mile market analysis would be key to identifying the impact of these variables, along with measuring local rounds played, the strength of on-course retail and chain sporting goods to determine a location's viability.

The 2005 Off-Course Retail Market Trend Report is an invaluable guide for initial due diligence research and a comprehensive market overview showing macro and state-level trends. Manufacturers, retailers, real estate professionals and many in the business of golf will discover it as a one-of-a-kind report analyzing this important channel of distribution. The report is available for purchase through Longitudes Group website, www.longitudesgroup.com.

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