Fescue & Dunes co-founders Tim Neill (seated, left) and Joe Petrucci.
Fescue & Dunes
Fescue & Dunes cofounder Tim Neill keeps a red wine-stained white polo hanging in his closet—a memento of the spill that ultimately inspired his e-commerce platform for destination golf courses.
The spotted shirt traces back to a trip to Ireland’s Portmarnock, where the difficulty of replacing a piece of club-branded apparel once he returned home stayed with him. On a visit to the Emerald Isle a couple of years later, he ran into a similar obstacle—this time after finishing a late afternoon round at Ballybunion. The pro shop was closed for the day and he was unable to make a purchase.
That missed opportunity, combined with his earlier frustration, ultimately compelled Neill and business partner Joe Petrucci to create a platform—a kind of gap wedge for pro shops—helping clubs capture sales they would otherwise lose.
Neill spent more than two decades as a digital marketing executive, working with major brands across consumer products and hospitality—including Coke, Marriott, Hilton, and Nando’s. Meanwhile Petrucci built his career in Silicon Valley and later founded an agency focused on highly targeted, data-driven marketing. Launching Fescue & Dunes was hardly a leap into the unknown. The mechanics of the operation were already in their wheelhouse, but the extent of the opportunity only became clear as they began chatting with club professionals.
A Seasonal Business With Year-Round Demand
Colin Starrett, head pro at County Sligo Golf Club in northwest Ireland, was an early client. Like many courses in the region, he said the club effectively compresses a full year’s business into six or seven months and operates with a largely seasonal staff—complicating efforts to manage both in-store and online sales.
“We’re trying to do 12 months’ business in six or seven,” Starrett said. “Minding inventory online as well as what you’ve got in store is such a challenge…when Fescue & Dunes came along, it was like, wow—you are solving a huge headache.”
Before partnering with Fescue & Dunes, County Sligo’s online offering was limited and often out of sync with in-store inventory—more an afterthought than a true extension of the shop. Managing both channels proved challenging. The partnership alleviated that strain while helping capture demand that had previously gone unrealized.
“We would have people emailing us saying, ‘I finished my round at 9 p.m., the pro shop was closed, I really want to buy something,’” Starrett said.
Fescue & Dunes effectively takes that burden off operators—handling fulfillment, shipping, and customer service while ensuring product and branding remain consistent with what’s sold on-site. For Starrett, that shift has translated into incremental revenue rather than simply shifting existing sales online—while also helping international customers avoid unexpected tariffs and additional delivery charges, particularly in the U.S., which accounts for roughly 75% of the club’s visitors.
From Missed Moments To Measurable Revenue
The impact is already showing up in club revenues—even among partners that have been on the platform for just over six months. Neill said some of their top partners are on pace to generate between $110,000 and $140,000 annually through the platform alone.
“[Previously] the only time you could buy from these clubs was when you were physically standing in the pro shop,” Neill said.
By extending that window indefinitely—and beyond the course itself—the platform acts as a force multiplier, turning a single visit into a longer tail of purchasing.
That extended window can stretch years beyond a single round played.
“We’re selling to people who were there seven, eight, nine, ten years ago,” Petrucci said.
Rather than being limited to the golfers on property on any given day, the platform allows clubs to reach a much broader audience—past visitors and their networks—effectively expanding the addressable market well beyond the course itself.
That growth is beginning to show in the company’s footprint. Neill said Fescue & Dunes is currently working with 33 clubs and expects to reach roughly 60 by the end of the year as it expands into new destination golf markets beyond the U.K. and Ireland.
Equally important is how the model eliminates cross-border friction. For years, clubs would ship merchandise directly to international customers—often reluctantly. As tariffs and customs requirements have become more complex, that process has only become a thornier pain point with some clubs opting to stop shipping to the U.S. altogether.
“Americans don’t know what to do if they have to pay some duty before they can get delivery of something,” Neill said. “Things were getting returned… in some cases we’ve heard from clubs say, ‘we’re just not doing it anymore.’”
By localizing fulfillment—shipping orders from within the U.S.—Fescue & Dunes removes that barrier, ensuring impulse purchases that begin with a memorable round played abroad don’t get mired in the realities of global logistics.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikedojc/2026/04/01/the-missed-pro-shop-purchase-driving-six-figure-sales-for-clubs/
