Dick's Fires All PGA Pros at Stores Countrywide

Dick's Sporting Goods has laid off all PGA professionals employed at golf departments across the country, adding up to more than 500 fired.

The company has yet to comment on the situation, but earlier this year, CEO Ed Stack did acknowledge that total golf sales under-performed by more than $30 million.

A boost consumers turning towards shopping marks one cause for declining sales.

National polls also show that recreational golf has been on a falling trend over the past decade (though there was a slight uptick in 2012).

Still, some golf professionals say Dick's Sporting Goods made a poor decision with the la offs.

"I think Dick's is making a big mistake. I think it's going to cost them even more revenue in the long run," said Dave Smith, a PGA teaching professional in Erie. "What Dick's is going to end up with is someone who has very little experience in the golf industry, if any," he said.

Already, it leaves some customers are questioning the reliability of service that will be available at Dick's without the PGA golf pros.

"Golfers that are serious about golf want to be fitted with the right clubs. I was planning to go there to get fit with a driver, and now that I know they (the PGA pros) are not going to be there, I'm not going to go," said Doug Villella, a lifelong golfer who was at Whispering Woods Golf Club on Wednesday.

The Erie Sports Store says that increasingly, golf sales are composed of custom club orders - and it requires someone with extensive knowledge of the sport and the products to provide high quality customer service.

"I think it's going to be very difficult for them to have employees who are trained properly," said Jeremy Kenyon, golf department manager at the Erie Sports Store. "We do detailed fittings so there's a lot of time involved in really understanding what that means for the customer," he said.

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