Community

The Waste Management Phoenix Open

Oakley made another hole in one this year at the Phoenix Open!

Oakley has been a part of The Open for years now, and this year Oakley’s presence was unmatched. We sponsored the most infamous hole in golf…the 16th at TPC Scottsdale. The 16th hole has become so big that they actually built stadium seating around the hole to accommodate more than 25,000 people, turning the normal quiet golf surroundings into mayhem, with cheers if you make it on to the green, and boo’s if you don’t. We also took over the Oakley Greenskeeper, which other then the 16th hole, is the top hangout spot for those who aren’t watching golf. It was tough to be anywhere on the entire course and not see Oakley branding.

The Open allowed us to showcase all aspects of our retail side, from eyewear and watches, to apparel, footwear and accessories. In past years, the O Lab has been set up in various spots around the course, but this year we were the last vendor in the expo tent. During the week over 460,000 people passed by the Oakley set up allowing us to double last year’s sales in eyewear alone.

This event also allowed us to bring in key accounts and reward them for great sales and their constant support of the brand. Oakley rented seven houses for our top accounts to store luggage, shower, and occasionally sleep.

Having the O Lab in the expo tent created an Oakley style atmosphere with great music and tons of product for sale, including a custom eyewear bar and a spot to check out all of our new golf gear. Of course, the Lab was also there to provide the educational side of HDO for local accounts and the general public.

The Lab also created a great place for people to meet and congregate. We had quite a few big names come through the Lab to check out HDO. Former big league All Star Mark Grace, World Series champion Jerry Hairston and his brother Scott Hairston, and NFL quarterback Colt Brennan just to mention a few.

This event was a perfect example of how every aspect of Oakley can come together to support each other and make one big dominating unit.

As far as thanks go, there were so many pieces to this puzzle that made it whole. We would like to thank the Thunderbirds and everyone at TPC. Al Janc, Pat Mac, Ryan Evert, Chris Long, and Ted Li for their efforts and support. A BIG thanks to Joe McNulty, Sean “The Man” Abeyta, and Kirk Schultze for their knowledge and sales support. A Train, Donny, and Rizy for all of their hard work and a huge thank you to Rich Weis. Rich was a big help in pretty much every aspect of this event, all the way down to the golf cart. And to anyone I might have missed, thank you too. There is no way this event could have been so amazing with out everyone’s help.

We truly put the FU back in FUN!