A founding member of PXG’s original R&D team is out and so is VP of Sales Mike Sherman. The timing, with PXG’s first big-box retail launch on the horizon, is interesting.
A bit of “inside-baseball” industry news for you: Late last week, MyGolfSpy learned that PXG has parted ways with Chief Operating Officer Brad Schweigert. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, Schweigert has been with PXG since the beginning. He and Mike Nicolette were the original PXG R&D and engineering team. MyGolfSpy has also confirmed VP of Sales Mike Sherman is no longer with the company.
When reached for confirmation, a PXG spokesperson told us, “Brad is no longer with the company. We’re grateful for his many contributions over his years of service.”
That’s the official explanation in its entirety. I wouldn’t expect much more.
From PING engineer to PXG’s boardroom
Before PXG, Schweigert spent a dozen years at PING. In 2013, Bob Parsons convinced him and Nicolette to leave PING (not a long commute, geographically speaking) and start building golf clubs in Scottsdale, Ariz. Schweigert was at the center of PXG’s product story from the original 0311 irons until now.
Last November, PXG promoted him to COO, giving him oversight of product, operations, marketing and sales. He also landed a seat on the company’s newly formed board of directors alongside Bob and Renee Parsons, Steve Gabbay and CIO Jill Davis. At the time, Parsons said Schweigert and Davis had “proven themselves as leaders who get things done.”
A year later, he’s out.
The timing is interesting
In every industry, people come and go. That’s the nature of the beast. That said, the timing of this one is interesting, to say the least.
In early October, PXG hosted a media event at Scottsdale National ahead of the launch of its upcoming Raptor woods and Patriot irons. Schweigert was front and center. He gave the presentation and served as the key spokesman for the business side of PXG. Sherman was on hand as well (he fitted me for Raptor woods). From where we sat, there was no indication anything was brewing.
About a month later, both are gone.
PXG’s next chapter
PXG is a private company so it doesn’t share sales numbers and it’s difficult to speculate with any sort of accuracy about the size or performance of its club business. What we do know is that the company recently entered a new chapter.
In April, PXG announced it would sell its products at PGA TOUR Superstore. It started in select locations, and by August, PXG was in every store nationwide. Other large retailers are part of the mix as well and we expect distribution channels will continue to grow. For a brand built on direct-to-consumer sales and its own fitting locations, that’s a significant shift.
With that, the upcoming launch will mark the first time new PXG products hit the market alongside the industry leaders on the shelves of major retailers. Simple as it may sound, being available where golfers actually shop is a major part of PXG’s strategy moving forward. It’s also the kind of strategy that leans pretty heavily on whoever runs operations and sales.
How the shakeup impacts those plans, and who will take the reins, is very much TBD.
Not PXG’s first shakeup
To be fair, PXG’s history has been more volatile than most.
In 2020, the company made what it called “strategic changes” to its PGA Tour operation. Billy Horschel and Chez Reavie left the staff and its longtime tour rep was replaced. A few years later, PXG laid off 125 employees (roughly 10 percent of its workforce) across its retail operation and Scottsdale headquarters in what Parsons described as “right-sizing.” Along the way, the company moved from ultra-premium, direct-only pricing toward more accessible price points and, eventually, traditional retail. And with Bob Parsons at the top, PXG has never been a company that does much of anything quietly.
Even by those standards, parting ways with one of its original employees is arguably PXG’s biggest shakeup to date.
PRS
6 seconds ago
Maybe they are switching entirely to resellers and abandoning their direct stores?