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Key people at Ship Sticks.
Ship Sticks provides a specialized logistics platform that facilitates the door-to-door shipment of golf clubs and other oversized luggage for travelers. The company offers a streamlined service allowing users to schedule pickups from various locations, utilizing partnerships with major shipping carriers. This service includes complimentary insurance, real-time tracking, and dedicated customer support, ensuring gear arrives safely and on time at the intended destination.
The company began in 2011, founded by two friends who identified a significant pain point in golf travel. Their personal experience with the complexities and costs associated with transporting golf clubs through airports sparked the insight to create a more convenient and affordable alternative. The founders aimed to eliminate the frustrations of baggage claims and potential damage, focusing on enhancing the overall travel experience for golfers.
Ship Sticks primarily serves golfers and other travelers seeking to transport sports equipment or luggage without airport hassles. The company has forged extensive partnerships with golf courses and resorts globally, integrating its shipping solutions directly into the golf travel ecosystem. Its broader vision, encompassed by the Ship&Play family of brands, is to deliver seamless, reliable shipping for various specialized travel items worldwide, enabling travelers to focus on their destination activities.
Key people at Ship Sticks.
Ship Sticks is a logistics company founded in 2011 that specializes in shipping golf clubs, skis, luggage, and other gear, primarily serving golfers to eliminate the hassles of air travel baggage fees and mishandling.[1][2][3] It solves the pain point of transporting bulky sports equipment by partnering with FedEx, UPS, and DHL to offer door-to-door, trackable shipping at roughly half the cost of individual carrier rates, with services starting at $45, real-time tracking, insurance up to $1,000, and on-time guarantees.[2][3][9] The company operates at over 3,000 facilities worldwide, including 80% of Golfweek's Top 400 courses, has shipped gear over 277 million miles, and has expanded into skis (Ship Skis, 2014), general luggage (Ship Go, 2019), kids' camp gear (Ship Camps, 2021), and school shipments (Ship Schools, 2024), demonstrating strong growth momentum tied to rising golf travel demand.[1][3]
Ship Sticks was co-founded in 2011 by golfers Jonathan Marsico (current CEO) and Nicholas Coleman in West Palm Beach, Florida, after they experienced frustrations traveling with golf clubs and sought a more efficient solution.[1][2][7] Starting as a golfer-centric service, they launched www.shipsticks.com in 2012, quickly partnering with over 1,000 facilities by 2013 and scaling to 3,500 by 2015 through direct outreach to pro shops.[1][7] Pivotal moments include leveraging corporate volume discounts for affordability, expanding globally to 220+ destinations, and diversifying into adjacent markets like skis and luggage to follow customer needs, reaching over 3.5 million packages shipped.[1][2][3][7]
Ship Sticks rides the surge in golf travel and participation, amplified by post-pandemic demand for leisure activities, addressing airline baggage fees ($2.6B in 2014 alone) and 24M mishandled bags annually to make the sport more accessible.[1][3] Its timing aligns with declining global shipping costs, e-commerce logistics tech (e.g., automated booking/tracking), and a shift to contactless travel, positioning it as a niche leader in sports logistics.[2][9] By partnering with the PGA of America as Official Golf Club Shipping Partner and thousands of resorts, it influences the ecosystem by growing rounds played, enhancing golfer retention, and expanding into adjacent markets like skis and student travel.[1][3][8]
Ship Sticks is poised for continued expansion by deepening PGA ties, scaling international bucket-list trips, and pushing luggage/education segments to enable "effortless travel at all occasions."[7][8] Rising golf participation, logistics efficiencies, and habits around skipping checked bags will fuel growth, potentially evolving it into a broader travel logistics platform influencing how enthusiasts access global sports experiences—tying back to its golfer-founded mission of hassle-free gear transport.[1][3][7]
