For more than 400 professional golfers around the world, the confidence they need to make that one crucial putt to win a tournament and millions of dollars in prize money comes from a pastoral office park in Wixom.
The one-story building with an American flag flying out front is the home of one of the golf industry’s hottest products: the SuperStroke oversized putter grips, which some of golf’s premier stars credit for making them more accurate and consistent on the green.
“We started off with one player, K.J. Choi, then we had five, then we had 10, (and) then we had 30,” says Dean Dingman, CEO of SuperStroke USA and a Michigan native. “We had (Phil) Mickelson winning majors, (Jordan) Spieth winning majors, and it just took off. With the amount of exposure we get every week with the PGA Tour players, it just went gangbusters.”
The company, with 25 employees, had revenue in excess of $40 million last year. Marketing and distribution are handled in Wixom, while the grips are made in China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. In April 2022, a South Korean private equity firm paid $250 million to buy out Dingman’s two equity partners.
Dingman’s affinity for golf runs in the family. His parents owned a Caddy Shack golf store franchise that they eventually moved to San Diego, and he managed a Nevada Bob’s Golf shop in Dearborn Heights.
In 1998, Dingman and his brother, Darin, acquired a defunct golf company, Tiger Shark, and began manufacturing and marketing golf clubs and equipment under that brand. Soon, the brothers felt the squeeze from major golf equipment companies.
“We thought there wouldn’t be any niche products we would be able to make that they wouldn’t want to have a share of, so we started looking into what could be a parallel business,” Dingman says. “We started selling a Tiger Shark putter grip that was oversized, and it started doing pretty well.”
In 2008, the brothers bought the SuperStroke brand from a failing company, adopted the name, and added a grip selection tool on the website that asks customers about their swing arc, grip style, and putter length. From there, the selection tool recommends putter grips.
“Making one or two more putts might be the difference in winning or losing,” Dingman says. “There’s an edge with our grip, and I think that’s why we have so many Tour players using it.”
Given the company’s success, Dingman says he isn’t tempted to abandon Wixom. “My family is here, everything we’ve built is here. We wouldn’t have anything without my team, so we’re not going anywhere. Besides, I don’t mind the cold and I’m a big fan of the Upper Peninsula.”
