The store sells golf apparel, hats, headcovers, accessories, balls and equipment, and buys used clubs for cash or store credit. Its owners say they want to bring golf brands that mostly sell online into a store where people can see and try them on.

From sports cards to golf

Ryan Ples started on Whatnot, a live-streaming marketplace, in December 2024, selling sports cards from a poker table in his basement, according to an account the couple provided to FrederickPulse. Some nights he streamed for six hours to make four sales.

Golf came in by accident. He won three golf clubs in another seller’s giveaway, didn’t need them, and began giving one away at the end of each card show. Viewers liked the mix, and he soon dropped sports cards to sell golf accessories instead.

By the second half of 2025 he was hosting live golf shows five to seven nights a week, some of them golf simulator broadcasts from his garage, while still working full time at Verizon. He also began buying wholesale from small golf brands, including Primo Golf Apparel, the couple said.

A layoff, then a lease

Verizon laid him off in late 2025, and the online business became his full-time work, the couple said. In January 2026 he went to the PGA Show in Orlando, one of the golf industry’s largest trade shows, to meet manufacturers.

This summer, a former Verizon store near New Market came up for lease, the couple said. That space is now Frederick Golf Exchange.

Courtney Ples, who previously worked in software sales and rose to vice president of sales, left her corporate job to help care for her grandmother, the couple said. She will run the store’s day-to-day customer service and work on its sales and growth.

What’s in the store

The shop’s website lists Primo, Pins & Aces, Breezy, Ghost Golf, Hinotori and Black Clover among its brands, and calls the store “Maryland’s first Primo shop.” It also sells its own line, YTFN, which includes hats, towels, tees, ball markers and putting discs.

The couple said they also plan to carry products from local golf businesses and independent brands from Frederick County and nearby, and to stock more for women, junior golfers and families.

For trade-ins, the shop prices used clubs from the PGA Value Guide, adjusted for condition and demand, and pays in cash or in store credit with a 10% bonus, according to its trade-in page. Sellers must be 18 or older and show a valid photo ID.

People who join the shop’s email list, in the store or online, are entered to win an e-bike; no purchase is necessary, and the winner will be announced Dec. 1, the grand opening page says. Regular hours have not been posted yet.

The shop’s phone number is 240-687-9013, and it posts on Instagram as @frederickgolfexchange.

The post From Sports Cards to a Storefront: Frederick Golf Exchange Opens Tuesday Near New Market appeared first on Frederick Pulse.