Fresh off the Nova Scotia golf trip, I couldn't resist a golf-inspired case study. This one's particularly relevant—it shows how timing and operational discipline can turn a distressed asset into a 9x return.

Pre-Adidas Ownership (1979-1997)

Founded in 1979 by golf salesman Gary Adams, TaylorMade made its name by introducing the modern “metalwood” drivers to the golf world, which was then dominated by “persimmon wood” drivers. 

With more distance and more forgiveness, the TaylorMade metal clubs quickly gained massive adoption. Riding that success, Adams sold the company to French sports conglomerate Salomon in 1984. Adidas later acquired Salomon in 1997, bringing TaylorMade under its wing.

Adidas Era (1997-2017)

Under Adidas, TaylorMade became one of the leading golf brands, topping $1.7 billion sales by 2012. Along the way, the company acquired smaller brands such as Adams (exactly…you’ve probably never heard of this brand or maybe you’ve seen one sitting in your dad’s garage) and Ashworth (clothing brand).

Then came the slump. Between 2012 and 2016, sales fell 70% to $500 million. Golf participation declined and brands waged discounting wars. By 2017, TaylorMade was losing $7 million in EBITDA, and Adidas offloaded the company to KPS for just $425 million—half in cash, half in debt and contingencies.

1. Catching the Golf Participation Bottom–Luck or Skill?

Unknown to Adidas, golf participation in 2017 was the bottom. 

It’s impossible to tell as an outsider if KPS proactively had a thesis around rebound in golf participation. But there were signs.

While on-course participation was declining, golf was experiencing an off-course boom (think Topgolf). The off-course channel was quietly building a massive pipeline of golfers that’d commit to purchasing their own golf sets to play on the field.

And this pipeline was bursting–the number of new on-course golfers jumped in 2017, and it was a matter of time before the on-course golf participation decline bottomed out. Luckily for KPS, it was the same year they bought TaylorMade.

2. R&D and Inventory–Addition by Subtraction 

The golf industry is notorious for introducing “new” technologies and brands every year. The marketing tactic works great for upselling golfers, but also significantly increases the risk of inventory obsolescence in downmarkets. TaylorMade fell into this trap.

Between its peak in 2012 and trough in 2017, TaylorMade churned out six driver models and nine iron lines—cluttering operations and inflating R&D costs.

When KPS took over between 2017-2021, they cut it down to two main driver families and a tighter iron lineup:

Fewer SKUs meant simpler manufacturing, better inventory control, and lower marketing spend.

3. E-Commerce Channel–Direct-To-Consumer and Online Customizations

Having simplified the portfolio, TaylorMade found other ways to improve margins and increase average order value.

First, they doubled down on e-commerce and tripled e-commerce revenue during 2017-2021. Not only did the e-commerce channel result in higher margins (vs. going through big-box sporting retailers), but it also enabled TaylorMade to offer customizations online which drove higher average order value.

Selling direct improved margins, gave them control over pricing and promotions, and enabled online custom fitting—boosting average order value.

4. Sponsorships-Staying Culturally Relevant

Earlier in 2017, TaylorMade had signed top golfers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to equipment deals. Instead of shedding these sponsorships to save cost, KPS doubled down.

Under KPS, TaylorMade’s sponsorship roster included Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Collin Morikawa, and Tommy Fleetwood among others. By creating the “Team TaylorMade” brand, it was able to regain the #1 market share in drivers and also became the most popular driver on the PGA Tour.

KPS understood that golf was a brand game (no “new” technology has fixed my game!).

5. Expansion Into Asia—Gearing Up for Centroid Sale

KPS treated Asia—especially Japan and South Korea—as priority growth markets and backed regional initiatives across product, retail, and supply chain.

These moves gave TaylorMade a sturdier, higher-margin Asia base (premium retail + fitting + earlier post-COVID recovery) that helped power the broader turnaround KPS executed—positioning the company for its 2021 sale to Seoul-based Centroid.

Through these key efforts, TaylorMade achieved a phenomenal turnaround—going from a $7 million EBITDA loss in 2017 to more than $100 million* by 2021 under KPS. Market share climbed from 17% to 22%, driven by both favorable industry tailwinds and meaningful operational changes.

*Note: EBITDA estimates vary by source and definition. The key point: KPS drove a massive turnaround from negative to positive territory.

When Centroid paid $1.7 billion in 2021, I thought they were buying at the top. Having just worked on the Topgolf-Callaway merger at Providence, I was keenly aware of COVID-driven participation spikes.

But the numbers proved me wrong. Revenue climbed from ~$950 million in 2020 to ~$1.5 billion today. EBITDA doubled to ~$220 million. Sponsorships expanded to target younger and more diverse players—new sponsorships include LPGA player Nelly Korda for the female audience and YouTube golfer Grant Horvat for the younger audience—and golf participation hit an all-time high of 47 million in the US.

Centroid’s next buyer will have to bet on whether this is a cyclical peak or a new normal. For KPS, it was textbook buy-low, sell-high.

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