Captain of retail

Al Morris on the 18th tee at St. Andrews, the home of golf.

From humble beginnings at Roger Dunn Golf Shops, Al Morris now leads a chain
of stores across the country

    Beginning with a summer job and rising through the ranks to President and CEO of a nationwide company with 83 locations, Al Morris’s ride in the golf retail business may seem as plausible as a golfer recording two holes in one in the same round, which he has done. But his success and the rise of the Worldwide Golf Shops — which operates Roger Dunn Golf Shops and The Golf Mart here in SoCal, along with five other brands nationwide — has been anything but lucky. It’s based heavily on hard work, paying attention to customer needs, and grinding day after day to continually get better. 
​    We caught up with Morris between meetings and a cross-country flight to learn about his career and a remarkable day he had on the golf course that few of us will ever experience.

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    When and how did you become involved with Worldwide Golf Shops? In 1984, I was looking for a summer job in San Diego when I was off from college. I got a job at a The Golf Mart store in San Diego that just opened up. In 1986, I became the regional manager, and in ’89 I became the general manager of all The Golf Mart stores, including Northern California. We bought Roger Dunn Golf Shops in 1993, and that’s when I moved my family to Orange County to start running Roger Dunn. I became president in 2000.

The Roger Dunn Golf Shops flagship superstore is located in Santa Ana.

    What’s the biggest thrill operating 83 stores across the country? Retail can be tough, but the people I work with are really my extended family. Besides my immediate family, these people are my closest friends, and a lot of them I’ve  spent more than 20 years working with. 
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Having worked in golf retail more than 35 years, what do you most enjoy about it? We’re competitive, and I think golf teaches you to be competitive even when you don’t have your best stuff. Working in retail, you work a lot of holidays and long hours, but it’s new and different every single day. There’s always new product, and there’s always that challenge of trying to help our customers play better golf and love the game even more. I enjoy trying to be better every day.
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What sets Worldwide Golf Shops apart from other retailers? I’ve been told by many of the golf equipment manufacturers that we have the best managers in golf. Our average store manager has probably been at their shop for 15-20 years – they get to know their customers on a personal basis. We feel like coming into one of our stores is like visiting your personal pro shop. The biggest factor that sets us apart from everybody else is our 90-day satisfaction guarantee. 

Harry Arnett, former Senior Vice President of Marketing at Callaway Golf, talks with Al Morris in 2015.

What are some of the most significant changes you’ve seen in the golf  retail industry over the years? From a product standpoint, certainly the change from woods to metalwoods and spiked shoes to spikeless or plastic. From a retail perspective, it has absolutely been e-commerce. That transition has been by far the biggest change I have seen. Thankfully, the customer still needs to come into the stores to get properly fit.
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What excites you most about golf right now? The most exciting thing to me is how athletic golfers have become. When I started playing golf as a kid, people thought I was a nerd. Now the guys we see playing on the PGA Tour are true athletes, and that carries down to amateur players.

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What is your fondest memory on the golf course? Without a doubt, it’s making two holes in one in the same round at Kapalua. It was September 9, 2012. I made my first-ever hole in one on the eighth hole, and then about 30 minutes later, I made my second one on the 11th. That was my 30 minutes of fame. I had never had one before, and I haven’t had one since. That will be a hard memory to top. The guys at Kapalua put together the two pin flags, golf balls and clubs I used on those two holes, along with the scorecard in a great frame that’s hanging in my office. It’s absolutely my most treasured golf possession.
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What are some of the things you love about the game? It’s the hardest game out there. You don’t have teammates to rely on, and you can’t blame anything on anyone else. It’s just you against the golf course. 
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What might someone be surprised to know about you? I love to go downhill skiing. I’ve played golf all over the world and at some of the best courses, but I just really enjoy skiing. Similar to golf, I try to stay out of the trees and keep it down the middle of the fairway!

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