Pebblehurst - Homewood, AL

There are plenty of places to buy golf equipment, but the best golf shops tend to have a personality of their own. Pebblehurst in Homewood, Alabama, is certainly one of those places, and for Wellington Golf Co., it is also a shop that has been part of our story from nearly the beginning.

I first met Pebblehurst owner Ron Smith before the shop ever existed, when we worked together through RMR 4x4 in Birmingham. A few years later, Ron opened Pebblehurst in Homewood while I was living in Birmingham, and I quickly became a regular. Part of that was because of the products he carried, but a lot of it was simply because it was a fun place to stop in, talk golf and see what Ron had found next.

That approach to the shop comes directly from Ron's own relationship with the game.

He first learned golf as a kid in his Grandad's front yard, and the two went on to spend years traveling around the Southeast playing together. Later, after his Grandad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, they decided to finally take a trip they had always talked about and headed to Pebble Beach. They followed that with another trip to Pinehurst. Those two destinations eventually became Pebblehurst, a name that serves as a tribute to the trips they shared.

Owning a golf shop had always been Ron's dream. At the time, he was traveling extensively for work while he and his wife were starting a family, and those trips helped push him toward finally giving the idea a shot. Pebblehurst began online with a simple concept: find premium, unique and new-to-market golf products that weren't always easy to find and bring them together in one place. The website was intended to eventually support the brick-and-mortar shop Ron had always wanted to own. That vision is now on full display in Homewood.

Pebblehurst doesn't really feel like a traditional golf store. The space is filled with a mix of new equipment, apparel and accessories alongside vintage clubs, old golf bags and memorabilia Ron has collected along the way. There is a putting green surrounded by racks of clubs, and seemingly every corner has something worth stopping to look at. There is also a hitting bay and secret bourbon collection in the back! Ron has always had a knack for finding interesting products and brands before they become widely known, and the shop reflects that.

It is not just about the retail side, either. Pebblehurst offers in-house club fitting and building along with PGA-certified instruction, making the shop a place where you can get properly fit for a new set of clubs, work on your game, pick up some new gear or just hang around and talk golf for a while.

One of the best events Pebblehurst hosts is their Masters Watch Party that they put on annually. They cater local bbq, provide some local drinks, and provide a space for like mind golf fans to hangout and enjoy The Masters.

That same willingness to seek out and support smaller brands is also where Pebblehurst became an important part of the Wellington Golf Co. story.

When WGC was just getting started, I turned to Ron for some advice on producing our first hats. He connected me with his sales representative at Imperial, helped facilitate our first order and gave us an introduction into a part of the golf business that was completely new to me at the time. When those hats were finally produced, Ron went a step further and stocked Wellington Golf Co. at Pebblehurst, helping put our products in front of golfers around Birmingham and spreading awareness of a brand that was still very much finding its footing.

For a young company, having someone established in the golf industry willing to make an introduction, answer a question or give you some shelf space can go a long way. Ron did all of that for WGC, and over the years he has continued to be a friend and supporter of what we are building.

I had the chance to stop back in Pebblehurst this past Friday, catch up with Ron and the crew, and spend some time looking around the shop again. A lot has changed since those first Wellington hats landed on the shelves, but Pebblehurst still feels very much like the shop Ron originally set out to create.

It is personal, a little different, and clearly built by someone who genuinely loves golf.

For Wellington Golf Co., we will always be grateful that Ron made a little room in it for us along the way.