20 Years After an Open, A Coach Tees Up Again

By Larry Dorman

An Appealing Pitch

Although this will be something of a home game for the Seattle-born Fred Couples in the Senior Open, there is nothing regional about Couples's appeal as a pitchman. The makers of Ecco shoes have found out that Couples appeals to shoe buyers of all ages and will be using this week's Open to build on the success they had with him wearing their "Golf Street" sneakers at the Masters.

Before the Masters, the company had forecast selling 2,000 pairs of the style for the entirety of 2010. The company increased production of the shoes afterward and said it would deliver close to 100,000 pairs this year in the United States and also that it had increased its international projections by "tens of thousands of pairs."

Couples Behind Golf Industry's Surprise Best Seller

By Darren Rovell

When professional athletes in branded gear make a big splash, sports marketing insiders can’t wait to comment on how big a particular line of clothing or shoes will sell because of it. More often than not, I check back months later to find out it was not as big as it was made out to be.

Freddie Couples didn’t win this year’s Masters. But what happened to the shoes he wore in Augusta through, and the subsequent demand for them, will be part of sports marketing lore.

The fascinating story has its roots at a sales conference in January, when Ecco unveiled its spikeless Golf Street shoes.

It was a hybrid product made to be different.

But knowing that golf shoe history had only bad things to say about these types of ideas, the company understandably played it conservatively.

Sales projections for the $140 shoe in 2010? 2,000 pairs.

It's Gotta Be The Shoes

Not long after Fred Couples stepped onto the tee at a Champions Tour event in January wearing sneaker-like shoes with bright orange soles, phone calls and emails began coming into the Ecco footwear company. You’re not alone if you want a pair of Golf Street Premier shoes Couples has been wearing. Demand was so high this spring that golfers were putting their names on waiting lists at retail stores.

Style. Art. Performance.

Ecco Men’s and Women's Golf Street and Casual Cool II GTX are featured in April 2010 edition of The Hackers Paradise Magazine!

Fred Couples Adds Some Funk

Golf knows no age, 50-year-old icons can pal around with the most-skilled thirty somethings on the course and even give them a run for their money. Fred Couples proved that this past weekend with a stellar performance at the Masters. Granted, Couples walked off No.18 seven strokes shy of eventual champion Phil Mickelson, but he did remain in contention all four rounds and receive tons of TV airtime.

Two Sponsors Have A Very Good Round

The Masters had two early winners this week: Ecco, which makes the spikeless, sneaker-like shoes worn by a sockless Fred Couples on Thursday, and Bridgestone Golf, whose spokesgolfer Matt Kuchar was paired with Tiger Woods, and played well. Bridgestone's other pitchman: Mr. Couples, who led after the first round. Bridgestone estimated the value of the free air time was $2.3 million.