Michigan-based SuperStroke, a maker of oversized rubber grips for putters, has seen "several high-profile PGA Tour victories and strong finishes" by players using their product, and the success has company Owner Dean Dingman "planning to move into grips for other clubs," according to Bill Shea of CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS. Dingman purchased the brand in '09 for $750,000, and has turned it "into a business forecast to post revenue" of $30M this year. SuperStroke in '09 "sold 5,000 grips for $700,000," and last year "sold 1.5 million grips" for $15M. Dingman has "made the right choices in which pro golfers he paid to endorse his grips," including 20-year-old Jordan Spieth and '13 PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner. Dufner lost the '11 PGA Championship in a playoff, and the "attention on him and his equipment was heightened" because it was a major tournament. SuperStroke also "got a boost last year when Phil Mickelson won the British Open while using the company's grips," although he is "not a paid endorser." One quarter of PGA Tour players in a given week's tournament "are using SuperStroke putter grips, and the company is airing commercials on the Golf Channel featuring Dufner and Spieth touting the product." SuperStroke also "has industry interest," as Callaway Golf "has a deal with Dingman to put the 15-inch SuperStroke as the standard grip on its Tank Cruiser counterbalanced putters in its ultra-popular Odyssey line." The "colorful grips -- they feature a prominent logo easily seen on TV -- come in a variety of styles and sizes." Like "much golf equipment, the grips are manufactured in China, and SuperStroke this year opened a Beijing office." Thirty percent of the firm's sales "come from golf-mad Asia." Dingman said that half of its sales "are in the U.S.," and 20% are in Europe (CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS, 6/9 issue).
