GBR Weekly | Newton Golf - The 70% Margin Golf Company
Connecting the dots across golf’s business, media, and professional landscape.
Hello GBR community,
A quieter week so far in the golf industry is no doubt reflective of the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow.
Nevertheless, there are still stories to report, and one I have found interesting is the Nicklaus versus Nicklaus drama that’s been raging for the last couple of years. Jack Nicklaus ultimately won his battle against Nicklaus Companies, and now, Nicklaus Companies has filed for bankruptcy.
The National Golf Foundation reported a slower pace in October’s number of golf rounds played across the country. The blip is figures is attributed as much to poor weather more than anything else (something I know a lot about wrestling with the unpredicatble Scottish weather all year round!).
Our big read shines the spotlight on American company, Newton Golf, who are creating a strong following within the PGA Champions Tour and NASDAQ.
We take a closer look at who Newton Golf and their path to success.
To all our American readers I wish you and your families the happiest of Thanksgivings, and we’ll catch up again next week.
U.S. GOLF ROUNDS DIP 2% IN OCTOBER AS WETTER, COLDER WEATHER SLOWS PLAY
The number of golf rounds fell about 2% year-over-year in October in the U.S., a modest decline attributed to significantly wetter and cooler weather nationwide, according to the latest monthly data compiled by Golf Datatech and the National Golf Foundation.
All eight geographic regions recorded higher precipitation totals than in October 2024, including sharp increases in the Mid Atlantic (+250%), South Central (+250%), New England (+248%), and East North Central (+106%), with temperatures down across the board.
Weather impacts were most pronounced in golf-dense states such as New Jersey (-12%), Pennsylvania (-10%), New York (-5%), South Carolina (-10%), North Carolina (-5%), Georgia (-4%), Illinois (-5%), Michigan (-4%), and Ohio (-4%). Despite the October dip, the first monthly decline of more than 1% since May and still under 3%, national play levels through ten months remain up 1.1% and ahead of last year’s record-setting pace, leaving 2025 on track to become the fourth record year in five, barring major drops in the lower-volume months of November and December. October’s figures can be viewed in more detail here.
GALVIN GREEN AND 59CLUB EXPAND PARTNERSHIP TO U.S. WITH DEBUT AT SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Galvin Green and 59club, the global specialist in customer service and performance measurement, have expanded their long-running partnership from the UK & Ireland into the United States.
The collaboration is set to make its first major appearance at the 59club USA Service Excellence Awards on January 22 at The Hampton Social in Orlando, alongside the PGA Show. Under the agreement, 59club’s U.S. team will be exclusively outfitted in Galvin Green’s DRYVR™ waterproofs and INTERFACE-1™ windproof garments as they travel nationwide to support more than 150 golf facilities, including TPC Sawgrass, Whistling Straits, OMNI PGA Frisco, TPC Scottsdale, and Reynolds Lake Oconee.
“After such a positive start with 59club in the UK, we’re thrilled to extend this partnership across the U.S.,” said Lou Delfino, General Manager of Galvin Green North America, noting the brands’ shared commitment to performance and sustainability. Co-founder Mark Reed added that the collaboration “truly celebrates the best in the golf industry,” with 59club’s U.S. team now equipped with Galvin Green’s most advanced outerwear. Further details of the partnership between Galvin Green and 59club can be found here.
INRANGE EXPANDS U.S. FOOTPRINT WITH FOUR NEW PARTNER VENUES
Driving range technology specialists, Inrange, have added four new U.S. partner venues, strengthening its nationwide network as operators increasingly seek data-rich, multiplayer, and gamified range experiences.
Westwood Golf in Washington and North Columbus Driving Range in Iowa have newly integrated the Inrange system, while entertainment chain Pinseekers has upgraded its existing facilities in Tiffin (Iowa) and DeForest (Wisconsin) to the platform, marking a significant expansion of the brand’s presence.
Co-founder Nick Longley said Pinseekers’ decision to upgrade both venues “shows that the years of work to deliver our end-to-end player experience for our partners is paying off.” The new sites join an Inrange network that now includes 79 facilities, such as Launchpad, Clermont National, Chelsea Piers, Dobson Ranch, and Montauk Downs, with an additional 20 installations scheduled for the first half of 2026, underscoring the rising demand for technology that appeals equally to avid golfers, social players, and corporate groups. More details of Inrange’s new venues can be found on their website here.
NICKLAUS COMPANIES FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
Nicklaus Companies LLC has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, weeks after a Palm Beach County jury awarded Nicklaus $50 million in a defamation lawsuit.
The 2023 suit, brought by Nicklaus against the company, executive chairman Howard Milstein, and executive vice president Andrew O’Brien, focused on allegations published in a separate New York lawsuit that falsely claimed Nicklaus sought a leadership role with LIV Golf. Jurors found Nicklaus Companies liable for participating in the dissemination of those false statements, which were circulated to reporters, clients, and industry contacts, though Milstein and O’Brien were not found personally liable.
In announcing the bankruptcy filing, the company said the move would “protect its employees, clients, and ongoing business operations” while allowing it to “proactively address” the verdict; it also indicated it would “explore” an appeal. The statement added that operations would continue uninterrupted and that the company’s “tradition of excellence” would be maintained throughout the restructuring process. Angie DiMichele’s article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel can be read here, and replicated in Yahoo Finance here.
SMARTSCORE GLOBAL TO SHOWCASE GOLF TECH ECOSYSTEM AT 2026 PGA SHOW
Smartscore Global has confirmed its participation in the 2026 PGA Show in Orlando, where it will present its rapidly expanding, fully integrated golf-technology ecosystem built around Golf Tech, Golf Platform, and Golf O&M.
Held January 20–23, the PGA Show marks a major stage for Smartscore following its recent Excellence in Innovation award at the 2025 Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF) Awards, recognising the company’s fast growth across Asia and its accelerating expansion plans for North America, Japan, Australia, and Europe.
CEO Yeom In-wook said, “The PGA Show represents the centre of innovation for the global golf industry, and it’s an honour to introduce Smartscore’s digital transformation solutions on this stage,” adding that the company aims to connect course operations and golfer experience “through one integrated platform.” Smartscore already powers 500-plus golf courses and 3.7 million golfers worldwide, and its PGA Show showcase will highlight its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)-based operations suite (GPS cart management, tee sheets, payments, F&B integration, caddie assignment), its golfer-facing platform delivering digital check-in, scoring, rankings, and community tools. Details of Smartscore’s participation in January’s PGA Show, and exhibitors confirmed so far, can be found here.
Why Newton Golf’s Physics-First Shafts Are Gaining Market Attention
Golf equipment tends not to produce genuine newcomers. For decades, the rhythms of product cycles, tour endorsements, and retail dominance have been controlled by the same familiar manufacturers. Innovation arrives, but usually through incremental refinements to long-standing models, not through entirely new companies stepping into the arena. This is what makes Newton Golf an unusual presence in the industry: it is a small-cap, publicly listed challenger built around the idea that the most important physics in the golf swing does not occur at the clubhead — and therefore that the traditional structure of golf-equipment manufacturing is ripe for reinterpretation.
Where Newton Golf Comes From
Newton Golf began life in 2018 under the name Sacks Parente Golf, a company founded by Steve Sacks, Richard Parente, Timothy L. Triplett, and Akinobu Yorihiro. Their ambition was modest but focused: design putters and shafts that would behave according to measurable physical principles rather than marketing fashion. The business built slowly at first, developing a market of technically inclined golfers before rebranding as Newton Golf Company and taking the significant step of listing on the Nasdaq under the ticker NWTG.
