Ashworth is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

clothing

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

, currently owned by Newtimes Group since 2019.TaylorMade Golf’s Ashworth Brand Acquired
by Mariel Concepcion on San Diego Business Journal, 11 Sep 2019 The brand is focused on a wide range of clothing such as

t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are generall ...

polo shirt A polo shirt, tennis shirt, golf shirt, or chukker shirt is a form of shirt with a collar. Polo shirts are usually short sleeved but can be long; they were used by polo players originally in India in 1859 and in Great Britain during the 1920s. ...

hoodie A hoodie (in some cases spelled hoody and alternatively known as a hooded sweatshirt) is a sweatshirt with a hood. Hoodies with zippers usually include two pockets on the lower front, one on either side of the zipper, while "pullover" hoodies ...

s, cardigans,

sweater A sweater ( North American English) or pullover, also called a jumper (British English and Australian English),

pants Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and dr ...

jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and pate ...

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

jacket A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which ...

coat A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...

s, and

gilet A gilet () or body warmer is a sleeveless jacket resembling a waistcoat or blouse. It may be waist- to knee-length and is typically straight-sided rather than fitted; however, historically, gilets were fitted and embroidered. In 19th-century dre ...

s, among others.

History

The company was founded in 1987 by Gerald Montiel and John Ashworth as Charter Golf, Inc, from an office in the Los Angeles garment district. Ashworth was a golf enthusiast and Montiel ran a sporting goods store. Montiel hired Ashworth as a buyer for the golf department in 1985. They observed that golf fashions in the 1980s could use more style. After the sporting goods store went out of business, Ashworth started designing the clothes while Montiel raised money for his idea. Eventually he raised $685,000 by early 1988 and the company was launched as Charter Golf, Inc. Sales started modestly, reaching $374,000 in the first year, but grew quickly, reaching $2.14M in 1989. Montiel took it public in 1990 under the symbol CGOL. Using stock grants as an incentive, they signed celebrity endorsers, starting with golf tournament pros Fred Couples, later John Cook, Scott Verplank, Mark Wiebe, Ernie Els, Dave Stockton, and CBS announcer

Jim Nantz James William Nantz III (born May 17, 1959) is an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the National Football League (NFL), NCAA Division I men's basketball, the NBA and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. He has anchor ...

. Mr. Couples later signed a lifetime endorsement agreement, in exchange for incentive stock, in 1994. Growth continued through a secondary offering in 1992 that raised $10.9M, helping fund expansion. That transaction valued the company at $44M on $28.8M revenues. In 1994 it formally changed the name to Ashworth, Inc. Growth was healthy until 1995, when the company suffered some growth pains due to unexpected difficulties transitioning to a new management information system (MIS). Montiel had promoted Rick Werschkul in early 1995 from COO. He resigned early 1996, possibly over problems with an MIS implementation that caused problems meeting orders. Montiel took over management until late 1996 when he hired Randy Herrel from Quiksilver, Inc. Mr. Herrel rejuvenated the company's operations and product line, getting it back on a growth trajectory. From $2.1M in 1989, they reached $74.5M by 1995, stalling in 1995-1996, then growing again to $89M in 1998. John Ashworth left the company in 1997, citing "philosophical differences." His sister, an English teacher in San Marcos, continued to introduce herself as the sister to John to new students. He later joined Quiksilver, Inc. in 2001 after expiration of his non-compete agreement to start a competing line of Golf apparel called Fidra. Gerald Montiel retired from the company end of 1998. The company continued to perform well under CEO Randy Herrel's leadership. In 2001 it entered a licensing agreement with

Callaway Golf Company Callaway, legally Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp., is an American global sports equipment manufacturing company that designs, manufactures, markets and sells golf equipment, more specifically clubs and balls, also including accessories such as ...

to design, market, and distribute a line of apparel under the ''Callaway'' name. Sales reached $173M in 2004 and $204M in 2005. However, competitive pressures stalled revenues at that point, and the company posted its first loss since going public in 1990. CEO Randy Herrel resigned in early 2006, and the company started a search for a new CEO and chairman. Meanwhile, in 2006 revenue only reached $210M with profits under $1M, and in 2007 revenues fell to $202M and profits to a $14M loss. They hired Allan Fletcher, founder of Fletcher Leisure Group, a Canadian Golf apparel company and Ashworth partner, in late 2007. However, his tenure as head of an independent company only lasted until late 2008. On Oct 13, 2008,

TaylorMade TaylorMade Golf Company is an American sports equipment manufacturing company based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The company focuses on the golf equipment market, producing golf clubs, balls, and clothing. TaylorMade Golf is currently ...

(an

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a sam ...

by then) agreed to acquire Ashworth for $72.8M, including $46.3M in debt, giving the transaction a value of $26.5M to shareholders. In May 2017, it was announced that Adidas sold its golf brands to

KPS Capital Partners KPS Capital Partners is an American investment company that manages KPS Special Situation Funds, a family of investment funds. KPS specifically invests out of two funds raised in October 2019: KPS Special Situations Fund V ($6.12 billion) and KPS ...

.ADIDAS TO SELL TAYLORMADE, ADAMS GOLF AND ASHWORTH TO KPS CAPITAL PARTNERS
Herzogenaurach, Germany / Carlsbad, CaliforniaWed, 10 May 17 On September 9, 2019, Ashworth was acquired by YGM Trading Limited.

Target market

Ashworth focuses on both modern and traditional clothing geared towards use on the course.

Sponsorships

They currently sponsor

Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples (born October 3, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has competed on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. A former World No. 1, he has won 64 professional tournaments, most notably the Masters Tournament an ...

Justin Rose Justin Peter Rose, (born 30 July 1980) is an English professional golfer who plays most of his golf on the PGA Tour, while keeping his membership on the European Tour. He won his first major championship at the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Clu ...

Sean O'Hair Sean M. O'Hair (born July 11, 1982) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life O'Hair was born in Lubbock, Texas. Rather than play college golf, O'Hair turned professional in 1999 after his junior year at high sc ...

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has twelve career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. Early years Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Leonard graduated ...

Ryan Palmer Ryan Hunter Palmer (born September 19, 1976) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life and amateur career Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Palmer graduated from Amarillo High School in 1995. He played college ...

Rory Sabbatini Rory Mario Trevor Sabbatini (born 2 April 1976) is a South African-Slovak professional golfer. Sabbatini won six times on the PGA Tour between 2000 and 2011 and was runner-up in the 2007 Masters. He spent 21 weeks in the world top-10 in late-2 ...

, and Johnson Wagner.

References

External links

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on Newtimes Group of Companies website {{Sports equipment brands Clothing brands of the United States Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Sportswear brands Manufacturing companies based in California Companies based in Carlsbad, California Clothing companies established in 1987 1987 establishments in California Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq American companies established in 1987 2008 mergers and acquisitions