Parsons Extreme Golf: Built differently, like its billionaire founder

Rather than focus on market research or industry convention, a middle-of-the-road golfer worth north of $4 billion merely wanted to lower his scores.

Parsons’ unprecedented path, Midas touch and entrepreneurial spirit epitomize the American Dream. The founder of GoDaddy.com lived it long before he turned his attention to a sport with roots across the Atlantic.

When Parsons entered the golf business, he refused to follow previous playbooks — an approach facilitated by his considerable resources and willingness to assume risk.

PXG Golf CEO Bob Parsons, on a live feed, answers questions from PGA Show attendees remotely, in real time, while being projected life-size on a dimensional, holographic-like screen at the Parsons Xtreme Golf PGA Show exhibit at the Orange County Convention Center on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Florida.

Rich Pope, Orlando Sentinel

“We wanted to be different than everybody,” he said. “If we would have went in and done business the way everybody does business, we’d have gotten clobbered. I learned when I was in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, you don’t run into a machine gun.

“You run around and attack it from the side.”

PXG had financial freedom but faced an uphill climb.

The initial project, Slick Golf, patented a golf ball but never manufactured a club.

Recast as PXG, the company entered an industry dominated by recognizable, ubiquitous companies — Titleist, PING, TaylorMade, Mizuno, COBRA, Cleveland — that held most of the market share and defined how equipment was designed, priced and distributed.

PXG, meanwhile, began as a boutique brand based in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Instead of selling clubs through big-box retailers, PXG required customers to travel to them. The brand provided custom fittings — uncommon at the time — and a premium-priced adventure emphasizing personal attention over volume.

“When we released our first golf club, Gen1, we had two guys fly in from New Delhi to get fitted,” Parsons recalled. “They bought three sets of clubs. They gave us their credit card, never asked the price, and then flew back.