Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Callaway Golf Company Fourth Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. During the Q&A session, we ask that you please limit your questions to one and a follow-up to allow as many participants as possible to ask a question. I would like to hand the conference over to your speaker for today, Lauren Scott, Director of Investor Relations. Thank you, and please go ahead.
Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. First, I'd like to thank you all for your patience. We're having a technical difficulty on our end, and we'll be extending the call by 15 minutes to be sure that we make up for any of the lost time. Thank you very much for your patience. As the operator said, I'm Lauren Scott, the company's Director of Investor Relations. Joining me as speakers on today's call are Chip Brewer, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Brian Lynch, our Chief Financial Officer. Patrick Burke, Callaway's SVP of Global Finance, and Jennifer Thomas, our Chief Accounting Officer, are also in the room today for Q&A. Earlier today, the company issued a press release announcing its fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial results.
In addition, there's a presentation that accompanies today's prepared remarks that may make it easier for you to follow the call. This earnings presentation, as well as the earnings press release, are both available on the company's investor relations website under the Financial Results tab. Most of the financial numbers reported and discussed on today's call are based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. In the instances where we report non-GAAP measures, we've reconciled the non-GAAP measures to the corresponding GAAP measures at the back of the presentation in accordance with Regulation G. Please note that this call will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's current expectations. We encourage you to review the safe harbor documents contained in the presentation and press release for a more complete description.
With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Chip Brewer.
Thank you, Lauren, and happy birthday this week, by the way.
Thank you.
Good afternoon to everyone on the call. Thank you for joining us today, and also thank you for your patience. We apologize for the late start. I'm pleased to report another quarter of strong results and look forward to providing more detail around our outlook for the year ahead. First, I wanna take a moment to acknowledge the incredible year we just concluded. 2021 was a pivotal year for Callaway, marked by exceptional results, significant growth, and strong momentum across all our business segments. We closed on the acquisition of Topgolf in Q1, transforming our company into the unrivaled leader in the modern Golf and Lifestyle Apparel space. Over the past five years, we've combined a traditional Golf Equipment business with select Lifestyle Apparel brands and the world's leading tech-enabled Golf entertainment company to deliver a truly differentiated business model.
Amid continued high demand for our Golf Equipment and Lifestyle products, our global sales and operations teams work tirelessly, delivering quarter- after- quarter of impressive results despite significant global COVID-related operating challenges. The team has proven itself to be an impressive and battle-hardened asset for Callaway. In addition, we've increasingly made key investments in infrastructure and people to support a larger business and to set us up for continued growth and financial success. I wanna personally thank all of our global employees for their hard work throughout the year. Our positive results would not be possible without your dedication and passion for this business. Shifting to Q4, our results came in better than expected, led by another quarter of exceptional results from Topgolf and continued high demand for both Golf Equipment and Lifestyle Apparel and Gear.
Total net revenue was $712 million, up 90% year-over-year, and adjusted EBITDA was $14 million, up $27 million. Turning to Topgolf, for the quarter, both walk-in traffic and event sales surpassed our expectations, driving same-venue sales to an impressive increase of 6% over 2019 levels. For the full year, same-venue sales were approximately 95% of 2019 levels, meaningfully higher than projected and an encouraging and very strong result given the operating environment. A resurgence in corporate events business drove most of the same-venue sales positive surprise in Q4. Walk-in sales and smaller social events had been strong for some time and continued their trends.
Having said this, as one would expect, in the last week of December and continuing into January, we have seen some softness in same-venue sales as the rise in Omicron has resulted in a decline in group events and increased short-term staffing challenges. While this will have an impact on Q1 results, it was promising to see that our U.K. venues, which experienced Omicron impacts approximately a month ahead of our U.S. venues, bounced back very quickly and are now once again performing quite well. This is a good indicator of the resiliency we expect in the U.S. business through the remainder of Q1, and we are already starting to see some signs of this anticipated improvement.
For the first quarter of 2022, we're expecting same-venue sales to be down slightly compared to 2019, and for the full year, we anticipate low single-digit growth over 2019 levels. New venue openings continued on pace with our 72-bay Fort Myers, Florida, location opening strongly in mid-November. While we're on venues, I want to remind everyone on the success rate we're consistently delivering here. We had nine very successful openings in 2021, and the financial performance of this group is on track to exceed our expectations despite the challenging operating environment. I've had a ringside seat watching Topgolf open venues for nearly 10 years now, and in my opinion, we are uniquely good here. As a result of increasing brand strength, competency of our real estate team, and our operating team's expertise, this is now a proven and repeatable model.
A fact I believe the financial community may not fully appreciate yet. For 2022, we are confident in our ability to deliver at least 10 new venues with the potential of adding an 11th in very late Q4. We're also extremely excited about the lineup for this year with the first two Southern California locations opening in the Los Angeles area in Q1 and Q2. One in Ontario, which is just east of L.A., and the other in El Segundo, near SoFi Stadium. The El Segundo location is particularly intriguing, as is the first venue to include an on-course element. In true Topgolf fashion, this will not be your typical Golf course. It'll be a 10-hole lighted course, perfect for nighttime rounds, incorporating elements of entertainment and our Toptracer technology to create a truly unique guest experience.
Additional locations of note include Seattle and Baltimore, both of which will feature our latest premium venue enhancements as well as Callaway fitting bays. It's important to note that due to the disruption in the development activities in 2020, the timing of this year's venue openings will be heavily weighted toward the back half of the year, with five expected to open in Q4. This timing will impact this year's contribution from new venues. Shifting to Toptracer, during the quarter, we installed over 1,700 new bays, bringing our total for the year to just under 7,000 new bay installations. We remain encouraged by continued strong demand and expect to install 8,000 bays or more in 2022.
Lastly, within the Topgolf Media business, I'm pleased to announce that we are leveraging our mobile game development expertise from World Golf Tour to launch a new game later this year that caters to the younger, more traditional gamer, whereas the existing game focuses more on the traditional Golfer. While we expect the game to have minimal contribution to our financial results in 2022, we believe that it'll provide future upside as our community of digital customers continues to grow. In addition, in due time, we'll integrate this new game into our digital offerings at both our venues and Toptracer ranges, thus driving synergies from our game development capabilities. Moving to our Golf Equipment segment, we're pleased to report that demand remains very high for our clubs and balls, and trade inventory remains low across the industry.
According to the National Golf Foundation's annual report, the number of on-course Golfers increased by approximately 300,000 in 2021 to 25.1 million players, marking the fourth straight year of increased participation in traditional Golf. Off-course participation also continued to grow, with 24.8 million people visiting non-traditional venues such as Topgolf and Five Iron, and approximately half of those playing exclusively off course. Looking out over the next 12 months and beyond, as Topgolf venues continue to expand, we expect even more new players to be introduced to the sport, both on and off course. For Q4, our Golf Equipment results were in line with our expectations. As we explained last quarter, we anticipated some softness in Q4 revenues as we made the decision to shift production to build 2022 new launch product.
In addition, we launched several new products in the comparable fourth quarter of 2020, thus creating an uneven year-over-year comparison. As we look ahead to Q1 and the full year of 2022, we are seeing promising momentum with the launch of our new Rogue ST family of woods and irons and new Chrome Soft Golf balls. The reception has been very positive so far. Pre-books are up significantly, and feedback on the product has been outstanding, with Rogue ST being the number one driver on tour in its first week on tour at the Tournament of Champions, and Callaway receiving more gold medals than any other manufacturer in Golf Digest's recent Hot List. The new launch product will be available at retailers starting next week.
For the full year, we're reiterating our view that our Golf Equipment business will grow based on continued strong demand from consumers, price increases on our new launch product, and the opportunity for a restocking at retail. Turning to our Apparel and Gear. In our Apparel and Gear segment, revenue was up 33% year-over-year in Q4, led by a 40% increase in Apparel and a 19% increase in Gear. TravisMathew continued to grow at a roaring pace, with our own retail comp store sales up over 67% versus 2020. E-commerce sales were also up a healthy 30% versus 2020.
The team also signed a high-profile new ambassador, actor Chris Pratt, during Q4, who helped further increase brand visibility and raise awareness for a multi-day charity flash sale benefiting the Special Olympics. The event was very successful, with TravisMathew contributing over $1 million in donations to this very worthy cause. On the product side, TravisMathew expanded its product range to include women's Apparel as part of the His and Hers Cloud collection launched in December, as well as more cold weather gear within their outerwear collection. Both additions performed very well, with the women's products selling out predominantly in the first 48 hours, and jackets and pants accounting for 37% of direct-to-consumer sales. Jack Wolfskin sales were up in the quarter as compared to both 2020 and 2019, as the public relaunch of the brand's fresh new image was positively received by consumers.
Feedback on pre-books has been outstanding, and we're excited for the year ahead. On the sustainability front, Jack Wolfskin launched a new initiative in Q4 called the Nature Counts campaign, which is dedicated to forestry, rewilding, and conservation efforts. In place of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales discounts, the brand decided to donate EUR 2 from every purchase made during the week to Peter Wohlleben's Forest Academy. We love to see the brand stay true to its roots and continue to be an ambassador for environmentalism. Lastly, our Callaway Apparel business in Asia continued to thrive. The Callaway Golf brand in Japan held the number one share in the wholesale channel during the quarter, and direct-to-consumer efforts paid off with strong sales in our own retail stores as foot traffic in the region increased.
Looking ahead to 2022 and the consolidated company, we believe revenue will increase approximately 21%, and we expect adjusted EBITDA will be between $490 million and $515 million. This strong outlook is underpinned by our belief that our Golf Equipment business will continue to grow as participation remains high and supply continues to scale up to match exceptional consumer demand. Our strong pre-books and demand trends for stylish Apparel and Gear brands, and embedded growth in the Topgolf business through new venue openings and year-over-year growth in same-venue sales. Longer term, we remain excited and confident about the direction of the business. While macro trends over the past two years have provided favorable tailwinds for Golf, we believe there has also been a more sustainable structural shift in the market that will support all of Callaway's businesses.
These structural shifts include what we believe are long-term increases in remote and hybrid work, the increased desire to get out into nature, the momentum behind casual Lifestyle Apparel brands, the growth of new Golfers with waiting lists to get into Golf courses, and the growth and positive impact of off-course Golf. Off-course Golf experiences, such as Topgolf, are both growing rapidly in their own right and at the same time changing the way people are introduced to the sport of Golf, creating increased interest and more new entrants. We believe Callaway is uniquely positioned to engage with these consumers through our differentiated portfolio of brands and look forward to unlocking the embedded growth within this business for years to come. In conclusion, and before handing the call off to Brian, I wanna call out two additional items.
First, I'm pleased to announce that we're planning to publish our first comprehensive sustainability report next month. As a company, we were founded on Ely Callaway's view that good ethics is good business, and we continue to operate with this ethos at our core today. You will see this theme carried out through the report and through the four strategic pillars of our sustainability strategy, people, planet, product, and procurement. I encourage you to re-review the report, and when it comes out, engage with the team to discuss the content. It's an important component of our long-term business strategy. Second, I'm very excited to announce our plan to hold an Investor Day in Q2, where you will have the opportunity to hear more from senior executives across each of our businesses and learn more about our medium and long-term vision for the company.
More details for this event will be provided by the IR team in the coming weeks, and we hope you can participate. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Brian Lynch to discuss our financial results in more detail.
Thank you, Chip. 2021 was an outstanding and transformational year for Callaway, which is clearly highlighted in our financial results. The Topgolf business recovered from COVID more quickly and significantly than we expected, and demand for our Golf Equipment and Apparel products remained strong throughout the year and has continued so far in 2022. As Chip mentioned, we believe there has been a structural shift in the market that will benefit each of our businesses, including increased interest and participation in Golf, momentum behind casual Lifestyle Apparel brands, and an increased desire for leisure and entertainment, such as Topgolf, hiking, and camping. As a result, we expect continued high demand and growth across each of our businesses into 2022 and beyond.
Shifting to our financial results, as shown on slides 10 and 11, consolidated net revenue for the full year 2021 was $3.1 billion, a 97% increase compared to full year 2020 revenue of $1.6 billion. Full year 2021 adjusted EBITDA was $445 million, an increase of 170% over full year 2020 adjusted EBITDA of $165 million. The outperformance versus our guidance was related to Topgolf and a resurgence in corporate events during the quarter, as Chip mentioned earlier. The Golf Equipment and Softgoods businesses were in line with our guidance. When you look at a breakdown of our 2021 revenue, Golf Equipment represented 39% of total revenue, Topgolf was 35%, and Apparel, Gear and other represented 26%.
We believe Golf Equipment will continue to grow at a steady pace and be an important component of our strategy moving forward. As Topgolf venues continue to expand at the rate of 10+ new openings per year and the strong momentum of TravisMathew and Jack Wolfskin continues, we see a larger portion of our revenue shifting more toward these high-growth segments. For the fourth quarter, consolidated net revenue was $712 million, an increase of 90% compared to Q4 2020. Topgolf was the largest contributor by segment, generating $336 million. Our strong social events, strengthening corporate events, and continued robust demand from walk-in guests collectively delivered 6% same-venue sales growth over 2019.
Apparel, Gear, and other also performed very well during the quarter, with revenue up 33% year-over-year as strong brand momentum, recovery from COVID, and well-positioned products translated to strong sales growth in the quarter. Consistent with our guidance, and as Chip highlighted earlier, the Golf Equipment segment was down year-over-year due to third quarter supply chain disruptions and a shift to prioritizing 2022 new launch inventory over fourth quarter 2021 sales. We also launched several new products in Q4 2020, thus creating an uneven year-over-year comparison. Changes in foreign currency rates had a $6 million negative impact on fourth quarter 2021 revenues. Total costs and expenses were $755 million on a non-GAAP basis in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to $397 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Of the $358 million increase, Topgolf added an incremental $330 million of total costs and expenses. The remaining $28 million increase includes moving spending levels back toward normal levels, increased corporate costs to support a larger organization, investments in growth initiatives, including TravisMathew expansion and the Callaway Apparel business, and increased freight costs and inflation. As we move into 2022, we continue to believe that higher sales volumes and select price increases will balance out inflationary pressures.
Fourth quarter 2021 non-GAAP operating income was a loss of $43 million, down $21 million compared to a loss of $22 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 due to the previously mentioned planned shift in Golf Equipment supply to 2022 launch products as well as the increased cost previously mentioned. Non-GAAP other expense was $37 million in the fourth quarter compared to other expense of $13 million in Q4 2020. The increase was primarily related to a $28 million dollar increase in interest expense related to the addition of Topgolf. Non-GAAP loss per share was $0.19 on approximately 186 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to a loss of $0.33 per share on approximately 94 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Lastly, fourth quarter 2021 adjusted EBITDA was $14 million compared to negative $13 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. The $27 million increase was driven by a $46 million contribution from the Topgolf business. Turning to certain balance sheet items on slide 13. I am pleased to report that we are in a strong financial position with ample liquidity. As of December 31, 2021, available liquidity, which is comprised of cash on hand and availability under our credit facilities, was $753 million compared to $632 million at December 31, 2020, an increase of 19%. In addition, the Topgolf funding requirements from Callaway have improved compared to our initial expectations. When we announced the merger over a year ago, the funding needs for Topgolf were estimated at $325 million.
As of year-end, their need for funding was significantly lower due to its faster than expected recovery and strong 2021 performance. At this point, we estimate that Topgolf will need almost $200 million less funding than we originally anticipated. Going forward, we estimate Topgolf will only need incremental funding from Callaway of less than $70 million, which would be used for future venue growth. Topgolf is already operating cash flow positive, and we expect Topgolf to be able to fund its own growth and be free cash flow positive in 2024. At quarter end, we had a total net debt of $1.4 billion, including venue financing obligations of $593 million related to the development of Topgolf venues. Since the merger, our leverage ratios have improved significantly.
Our net debt leverage ratio was 3.1 times at December 31, 2021, compared to 5 times at March 31, 2021. Consolidated net accounts receivable is $105 million, a decrease of 24% compared to $138 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. Days sales outstanding for our Golf Equipment and Apparel businesses improved to 35 days as of December 31, 2021, compared to 45 days as of December 31, 2020. Our inventory balance increased to $523 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to $353 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, as we built supply for our new products within the Golf Equipment and Apparel businesses.
In addition, Topgolf added $22 million in inventory. Capital expenditures for the full year 2021 were $234 million, net of REIT reimbursements. This includes $173 million related to Topgolf, primarily for new openings for the 10 months since the merger. This does not include $12 million of CapEx for January and February of 2021 prior to the merger. The full year 2022 forecast for Callaway and Topgolf is approximately $310 million, net of REIT reimbursements, including approximately $230 million for Topgolf. This increase in capital expenditures is due to the timing of REIT reimbursements and investment in systems integration and growth within the Golf Equipment and Apparel businesses. Lastly, on December 13, we announced that our board of directors approved a $50 million stock repurchase program.
We repurchased a total of approximately 947,000 shares at an average price of $26.41 during the quarter, and now have approximately 25 million authorization remaining under that program. Now turning to our full year and first quarter 2022 outlook on slides 14 and 15. For the full year, we expect revenue to be approximately $3.8 billion. That compares to $3.13 billion in 2020. Our full year 2022 net revenue estimate assumes continued positive demand for our Golf Equipment and soft goods segments and no significant supply chain or retail shutdowns due to any COVID resurgence. It also assumes approximately $1.5 billion in net revenue from Topgolf for the year.
Full year adjusted EBITDA is projected to be $490 million-$515 million, which assumes approximately $220 million from Topgolf. As Chip stated, we plan to add at least 10 new Topgolf venues in 2022, although the venue openings will be heavily weighted toward the back half of the year, with five expected to open in the fourth quarter. From a profitability perspective, this means our 2022 venues will have a more limited impact to adjusted EBITDA in 2022, as we will incur full pre-opening costs for those venues with limited revenue. From a cost perspective, we will be making investments in personnel and infrastructure to support an overall larger business and future growth. We also anticipate continued cost pressure from increased freight costs and inflation, including labor and commodity prices.
Lastly, we anticipate a negative impact from changes in foreign currency rates of approximately $54 million on revenue and $38 million on pre-tax income due to a strengthening U.S. dollar and $8 million in hedge gains that are not expected to repeat. Despite these headwinds, we continue to believe strong demand, sales volumes, and select price increases across our business segments will balance out these pressures, and we expect all businesses to grow this year. Lastly, looking at the share count for full year 2022, we want to note an accounting change taking effect this year that will cause our share count to increase to approximately 204 million shares. This change relates to the accounting for our convertible bond. This new rule will require us to account for the bond, assuming it has been converted for calculating earnings per share.
When calculating EPS, we will eliminate the interest paid related to the bond, and we will add 14.7 million shares to the EPS calculation as if the bond had been converted. For purposes of this calculation, we do not include the benefit of the capped call transaction we entered into at the time of the bond issuance, which at maturity would reduce the number of new shares issued by us upon conversion by approximately 4 million-5 million shares at current prices. Moving to the first quarter 2022 outlook, our revenue guidance is just over $1 billion. Adjusted EBITDA guidance is $130 million-$145 million. This includes a negative foreign currency impact of approximately $21 million on revenue and $21 million in pre-tax income.
Again, including the $8 million hedge gains in Q1 2021 that are not expected to repeat. I want to emphasize that there are several factors which could cause a positive or negative shift in our financial results between Q1 and Q2. Some of these factors include the timing of when we receive supply in the Golf Equipment or Softgoods segments, and whether products scheduled to be shipped at the end of March or beginning of April are deferred to Q2 or accelerated into Q1. As our Q1 guidance reflects our assumption that COVID continues to lessen during Q1 and that the Topgolf business, including corporate events, returns close to 2019 levels. The pace at which that happens will affect our first quarter results. We feel good about our full year guidance.
In closing, we are proud of the performance of our business in 2021 and are excited to share our continued progress throughout 2022. That concludes our prepared remarks today, and we'll now open the call for questions. Operator, over to you.
Thank you, presenters. At this time, for the participants to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Again, that's star one on your telephone keypad, and we will pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster.
We have our first question from Randy Konik. Your line is open.
Yeah, thanks guys. First, I want to focus on the Topgolf venue business. You know, the numbers keep coming in better than expected from a revenue perspective. If I recall, you have the Vegas unit that's probably accounting for a disproportionate amount of revenue and EBITDA, but that's probably not at peak kind of prior peak revenues or what have you. I guess I'm just curious if on the strength that you're seeing and that you're talking about, have you thought about kind of two things? One, what mature revenues would look like at the venue maybe being higher than you anticipate, and/or two, do you think about, you know, the density levels that can change from a unit perspective, i.e. You could potentially have more units in the U.S. market than you originally kind of thought. Just curious on how you're thinking? Thanks.
Sure, Randy, those are good questions. We have been wildly pleased with the performance of Topgolf and wanna congratulate that team on just terrific results. You know, the Vegas venue is one of our biggest venues, so it does have a significant impact. We have a lot of venues now, so I don't wanna over focus on any one venue. I do wanna call out that, you know, even with this great result that we delivered last year, we do think we have gas in the tank.
I mean, we saw throughout last year that business recover, and, you know, build momentum and walk-in sales and social events were strong, for most of the year, continued that way with the only wildcard being the corporate events. The corporate events, you know, started the quarter slow in Q4, and that's where we sat as we spoke to you on that, Q3 earnings call. It seems like a long time away, but we were actually in the middle of a surge in Delta at that time. Nobody talks about Delta, but Delta had surged, and we were seeing some concerning results on corporate, and then they really picked up, in mid-Q4 through end of December.
We have gas in the tank left because corporate events hasn't, you know, completely recovered yet, but we've got every belief and sign that they will, and we saw great evidence of that. At the Analyst Day that will be in Q2, we'll talk to you a little bit about the potential of these venues, which is clearly much higher than what we originally anticipated, and also confidence if not increasing view on number of venues that we believe we can build. All systems go, all systems positive as you can tell on the Topgolf venue business.
Super helpful. I guess my last question is, you know, when I think about kind of pitching the idea to investors and, you know, it's this ecosystem opportunity with revenue synergy opportunity across different kind of businesses within the portfolio, you know, I think I've asked this question in the past where, you know, as a user of the Topgolf app, the Toptracer app, I've bought products from TravisMathew, and so on and so forth, it appears to be there's, you know, opportunity to kind of get databases that you may or information you may have on select customers across these different businesses to kind of come together, if you will, and have these customers utilize different parts of the ecosystem more regularly or engage more with it.
I'm just curious on what you're trying to do, if anything, on the, you know, kind of software side, back end kinda side of things to kind of connect the businesses more for these customers that are currently using different aspects of your ecosystem that could kind of just come together more to give you more data insights on how to kinda get them more engaged even further within that ecosystem? Thanks, guys.
Yeah. Randy, that's another interesting and on-topic question, but it's also a long-term potential opportunity. That is not something that we would expect to realize overnight, but over time, we will have a significant competitive advantage over the overall reach to Golfers of all types, and it will take technology, you know, consumer data platforms, other types of technologies and offerings that will fit very well within our ecosystems to unlock that. It's something that we have been studying and putting in the early stages of investments on now, and you're seeing some of the, you know, earlier low-hanging fruits on synergies already starting to materialize.
You will continue to hear us increasingly talk about those types of opportunities that you're mentioning, but they are a little further downfield and we're taking care of the bigger things first, and then those more strategic things are gonna be more on point and more in the conversation set as we move forward.
Helpful. Thanks, guys.
Thank you.
We have our next question from Alex Perry. Your line is open.
Hi. Thanks for taking my question, and congrats on a strong quarter. I just wanted to ask a little bit about the Topgolf venue profitability assumptions embedded within the guidance since they were, you know, it seems very elevated these past two quarters. Then maybe within that, talk about your outlook for labor costs and availability, you know, within Topgolf. Then just one clarifying question on the guidance for Topgolf for 2022. I think the presentation maybe said, you know, up mid-singles versus 2019. I think maybe you mentioned up low singles on the call. Just wanted to clarify that for everyone? Thanks.
Sure. On the venue profitability, yeah, we have been delighted with the profitability that the venues have driven. You know, the consistency with which we've been able to open these successfully, you know, as I mentioned, I think it's a proven and repeatable model. Also, the profitability that flow through from the venues, the EBITDA margin, if you would, has been better than we originally expected. We're gonna give you a little more on that at that Analyst Day. Certainly, pleasant results there and a positive story. Like most businesses, the labor cost and availability has been a challenge over the last year. You know, we haven't been immune from that.
At different points in time, labor has been a constraint, you know. It varies by market, by season, et cetera. You know, labor is increasing in cost. We are fortunate with our business, you know, that we're able to absorb that, you know, pay competitive wages. We were fortunate. Topgolf just got named one of the most admired employers by Forbes of large employers. You know, so we're able to attract and retain labor effectively. You know, we're able to absorb any costs there and, you know, deliver what has been obviously increasing profitability and margins. The expectation for same-venue sales, I believe I said, low single digit, was the expectation for 2022 full year, despite starting very slow here out of the chute. We've shown our ability to grow these businesses, you know, in venue sales basis, and we're very excited about the outlook.
Thank you. That's really helpful. I guess, just my follow-up would be, could you maybe help us parse through the 1Q guide a bit more? You know, how much of the headwind is Omicron on the Topgolf business, I guess? You know, is that mostly just on the corporate event side? It seems like maybe the corporate events were starting to approach 2019 levels in the beginning of 4Q. You know, what is the visibility on that returning? You know, what would be the outlook within the Golf Equipment business embedded within the guidance? Thank you.
Sure. The corporate was the area that is most impacted at Topgolf. We've had consistently positive results on walk-in and social events. The corporate events really recovered late in Q4. When we were last on the phone with you know, we had October data, and it wasn't very positive, candidly, but it really recovered quickly. We are seeing increased interest in leads and activity in corporate. We're confident, but the business at Topgolf did start down on a same-venue sales basis, you know, in Q1. Obviously, we gave you Q1 guidance, and we expect it to be down only slightly for Q1. Feel good about the trends there. We've seen this already kind of play out in the U.K.
You know, there's some volatility that we'll work through in Q1, and Brian mentioned that as well, but feel very confident on the full year numbers. The next question was on Golf Equipment in Q1, and I don't know that we're breaking out by segment relative to quarter. We are expecting every segment to grow, but I don't think we're breaking out Golf Equipment in quarter. Part of the issue there, Alex, is there's just a lot of volatility on. We have very good bookings in our Golf Equipment and our Apparel, Gear, and other. We don't believe we have a demand issue.
The supply is coming, but the ability to forecast exactly when that will arrive and make it through DCs, et cetera. You could see some of that move into Q2 or Q2 move into Q1, and it looks like a big shift, but it's not a material shift on a full year basis, just a quarterly bit of noise. We feel very good about the Golf Equipment business.
That's really helpful. Best of luck going forward.
Thanks.
We have our next question from Mike Swartz. Your line is open.
Hey, yeah. Good afternoon, guys. I apologize if I missed this, but maybe, Chip, could you give us a view of you know, what you expect retail sales for the Golf Equipment industry to do in 2022? You're coming off two big years, obviously. I just think there's some sense that you know, maybe you can't repeat it. But maybe just if you can give us high level thoughts around retail?
Sure. Mike, they've been saying we can't hold it or repeat it, but it keeps coming. At some point, no matter how beautiful a strategy, you need to look at the results. The market did, you know, level off in the second half of 2021 as, you know, other activities, et cetera, were available. The demand remained very strong for Golf, and we're expecting Golf to be strong going into this year. You know, where we're even more confident is that our Golf business will be up, you know, given the strength of our line for this year, inventory at retail. The structural shifts around Golf that have been over the last several years are pretty significant. There's a lot of momentum and enthusiasm. Off course Golf is a dynamic new aspect.
Hybrid and remote work are not going away. You know, we're optimistic about the Golf markets overall and confident in our business.
Thanks for that, Chip. Just second question on capital allocation. You bought back some shares in the fourth quarter. I think this is the first or second time you bought back shares in a long time, and made some comments on the capital needs at Topgolf being less than what you previously anticipated. Maybe give us a sense of, you know, does that free up more capital to be allocated towards buybacks, M&A, debt reduction than maybe you thought previously?
Well, clearly, we have a lot more liquidity than what we would've. If you talked to us a year ago, we wouldn't have in our wildest dreams expected to deliver the financial results that we did, and our capital structure matches that. I mean, we have $200 million less to put into Topgolf. We have $700 million of available liquidity. You know, only $70 million more needed to go to Topgolf based on our current forecast. You know, yes, we're in a much stronger position. You know, as a policy, we don't comment on intentions for existing plans or new plans on stock buybacks. We don't comment on M&A. You know, it's essentially a capital allocation question, so our capital allocation strategy is unchanged.
We first and foremost reinvest back in our business, and we've done that unabashedly for 10 straight years with pretty good effect. We've got a lot of nice opportunities to high ROI projects. We're blessed that way. After that, we balance debt repayment, returning capital to shareholders, and selective acquisitions. Our first focus is to make sure we hit our leverage expectations, and we are ahead on that. Selectively or opportunistically, we evaluate share repurchases like the one we announced in December and executed against. We'll continue to act as we have, and you know, we're not at liberty to discuss any more specifics at this point.
Understood. Thanks, Chip.
Thank you.
We have our next question from Joe Altobello. Your line is open.
Thanks. Hey, guys. Good afternoon. Couple questions on Topgolf. First, the pace of venue openings. Obviously you did 9 last year. You're looking at 10, potentially 11 this year. What's the gating factor on that pace? You know, why can't you do 15 or 20, for example?
Well, these are very long lead time items, Joe. You know, we're harvesting the fruits of labor from prior to our merger. You know, the team is clearly ramping that up as well. Like everything in our business, as we continue to grow and reinvest, we're balancing the risk of moving faster with not getting it right. At present, I think we're balancing it pretty well. We're also continually investing to increase our capabilities, you know. You know, you correctly heard us when we're saying we're gonna do 10 with the potential to do 11. You'll see us open these things in a proven and predictable manner. It's a repeatable model. We do have a strong pipeline, but we're working right now on, you know, 2024 and 2025 venues, right?
Our ability to impact 22 venues wasn't in the recent past. You'll see that we, you know, are continuing to be what I think is prudent in our investments and our development cycle.
Got it. Okay. No, totally understood. I was actually thinking beyond 22, but I get it. I guess, you know, second question on supply chain. You were actually pretty constructive on the last earnings call about supply chain and talked about things getting better. How has that progressed in Q4 and here into Q1? Are things still getting better at this point?
Yes, Joe. In short, they are you know, the supply chain and op side of businesses, you know, everybody should buy your ops person lunch at some point this year because they are definitely playing Whac-A-Mole as they're dealing with one issue after the next. If it's not a labor shutdown, it's a supply shortage, it's whether it's semiconductors or a chemical needed for your urethane covers or the logistics challenges of getting containers or getting through a terminal somewhere. You know, the teams continually work through that. But the supply chain is continually improving. We've been ramping up capacity there. You don't always see that because it's being offset by some of these challenges from time to time.
You know, through you know focusing on the Golf Equipment side, Vietnam is operating well right now. China is just coming back from Chinese New Year. The return of employees is always an interesting question, and it's returning well. You know, we're not gonna be completely out of the woods on supply chain, but we've shown we're gonna be able to manage it very well. At present, we're very confident on the supply chain side.
Okay, great. Thank you.
We have our next question from Daniel Imbro. Your line is open.
Yes. Hey, good afternoon, guys. Thanks for taking questions. Chip, maybe one on the sales side as you look at 2022. I guess first on the Apparel business, you know, you mentioned, I think, Jack Wolfskin was up year-over-year. Travis has momentum. Can you maybe talk about pre-books for this year? I guess now is probably the time green grass is ordering fall 2022 collection. So kind of curious any early indications on not only the spring Apparel, but maybe the back half of the year and how your customers are planning for the consumer, just given, you know, the inflationary backdrop. Are you seeing any signs of weakening pre-orders for the rest of the year?
No, Daniel, just the opposite. Our pre-books are excellent.
That's true.
Across all of our businesses. You know, we're global, so this is a, you know, we can go through. Specifically TravisMathew, that business is pre-booked. I don't think they have them finalized for the fall. They're a little bit later than Jack Wolfskin. Jack Wolfskin's are finalized for fall, and they're very strong. The TravisMathew business has been just performing exceptionally. The brand momentum there is amazing. Does not appear to be a demand issue.
Got it. I guess a follow-up on the Apparel business. I know it's less of a focus today, but in terms of Jack Wolfskin, we're still kind of in the middle, I think, of the profitability turnaround. Is that a fair characterization, or where are we on the path you guys laid out towards, you know, $50+ million from that asset plus synergies? I know it's been a tough time with COVID, but as you learn more about that business, Chip, do you still have the same confidence that it makes sense as part of your portfolio? And how are you thinking about, you know, the overall health of brands you've built?
You know, Daniel, we feel even more confident on that $50 million plus synergies now. The new team there and the momentum of that business, it has been challenging for them. I mean, you know, probably as difficult a business operating environment as any in our portfolio. As you know, they're based in Central Europe, and Central Europe retail was shut down to start the year, to end the year. It's still kinda down. You know, it's just fits and starts for them, but still they deliver growth year-over-year and, you know, they were profitable. You can really sense the brand momentum there, their sell-through, their pre-books. It's just an excellent business.
It fits within our portfolio, you know, from the perspective of the synergies that it delivers overall across our Apparel, Gear and other segment and how those all play together. It's becoming a very significant business in and of itself. Again, I think this is something that we'll get a little bit more into at the Analyst Day later in Q2. As you can tell, I'm very pleased with the team there. The results that they've driven in the environment that they're operating in are just exceptional.
That's great. Just a clarifier there, Brian. You've quantified Topgolf EBITDA, and Chip, you just laid out the path to $55 million at Jack Wolfskin synergies.
Yeah. I said I was highly confident in the $50 million plus.
Where was Jack Wolfskin in 2021? Have you guys quantified that number as to what base you're growing off of to get to that 50-plus?
We don't give you 21, so
Okay
We'll evaluate that for Analyst Day, but we're not breaking out individual businesses within segments and the et cetera at this stage.
Okay. Thanks so much, guys. Best of luck.
Thanks, Daniel.
We have our next question from Susan Anderson. Your line is open.
Hi. Good evening. Thanks for taking my question. I was wondering if maybe you could talk about how much you're raising prices on average for the Golf Equipment business this year and the ball. If you expect units to grow this year- over- year. I'm just curious, do you think there's still a lot of restocking to be had at wholesale?
Susan, it's Chip. We're not gonna break out units versus price for you, partly because I'd be guessing as I look across all of the segments, but I'm guessing that units are up as well as price across. It's, you know, now you're combining Golf balls, clubs, you know, et cetera. It's not how we generally look at it. We are taking price as needed. We're expecting margins to be solid if not improved next year. I think that might answer part of your question. What was the other part that I might be missing?
Oh, I guess just on the pricing, are you giving
Oh, restocking.
Like, an average price increase and then restock at wholesale, yeah.
Yeah, it really varies. Average price increase, I don't have it. You know, we're up $2 on a dozen Chrome Soft Golf balls. You know, we're up sometimes on a fairway wood, we're up $50 on a fairway wood. We're up $20 on a driver, you know. It really varies, and we've taken some pricing in the middle of launch when product's already in the field and, you know, most of the new product, we're not getting any pushback on it. I don't have a percentage for you, unfortunately. Then on the inventory restocking, we're highly confident.
I mean, if months on hand is still, [audio distortion showed it as three months on hand for industry clubs at the end of the year, you know, versus 5.2 in 2019. 2019, that 5.2 was not a high number.
Okay, great. That's helpful. Then just curious on the core Golf and Apparel business. It looks like EBITDA margins this year, you're expecting to kinda be back to that 2019 level range. I guess, is there nothing that's changed there in terms of just promotions coming down or pricing realization that would drive those higher?
Susan, this is Brian. If you look at the. We'll talk about op margins just for now. Yes, next year we'd be expecting increases in op margins in the soft goods business, really across all three business segments, the Equipment business and the Topgolf business. It's just better gross margins. To Chip's point, some of the pricing will cover. The pricing and volume will cover any inflationary pressures that we see, and you'll see the better gross margins, and it'll flow through.
Great. That's versus 2020, you mean, or 2019?
Versus 2021.
The increase. Oh, 2021 versus 2019?
Yeah.
Okay, great. Thanks so much, you guys. Good luck this year.
Thank you, Susan.
We have our next question from John Kernan. Your line is open. John Kernan, your line is open. You may ask your question.
Hey, can you hear me now?
We can hear you now.
Okay, good. Well, congrats on a strong year, finishing that out, and thanks for taking my question. I guess, you know, a lot's been answered about the model and the growth. Just curious in 2022, Brian, the impact of inflation at a product cost level on food at Topgolf, labor, supply chain costs for the Golf and Apparel business. Just curious, how much of an inflationary impact are you looking at in 2022?
We haven't quantified it, but it's definitely there. It's just that, as we did in 2021, we've been able to outrun it during the year with the volume increases. This year, we also have the ability to outrun it for next year as well. I think you'll see a little bit more of an impact on gross margins, maybe at Topgolf, but they're mostly covering it, and their gross margins are so strong. It's approached flat. The labor is definitely something they felt as far as pricing, but at the same time, the number of people they've had, offsetting some of that. They've been more profitable this year. We've said it. We don't think it can sustain at those levels, so it'll get a little bit lower.
At the same time, all three businesses will be able to cover.
Understood. Just my final question is just on the venue-level EBITDA for Topgolf has been above expectations since you announced the deal. Just curious, you know, what you think the upside driver to expectations is in 2022. Is it really just the top line recovery and traffic recovery? What more do you see in the margin profile of Topgolf at a venue level to move that higher as we get into 2022 and 2023? Is it just leverage in the model from increased sales, or is there more to it?
John, that's a great question, and certainly, you know, we're increasing confidence on same-venue sales ability to drive some real positive numbers there, and we're still recovering, right? Last year, we delivered 95%, which was wildly above our expectations. Corporate events really haven't come back. We're convinced they're going to be back, and that's a big area for, you know, gas in the tank. We can deliver better operating margins overall there over the long term than what we initially thought. Then we'll give you a little more color on all this at the Analyst Day. Hope you make that, and we'll try to walk you through a little bit more specifics then.
Sounds good. Would love to come out to California and see everybody. Thanks for taking my questions.
Thank you.
We have our next question from George Kelly. Your line is open.
Hi, everybody. Thanks for taking my questions. Just two quick ones for you. First, another Topgolf question. Internationally, still not a whole lot of venues. I think it's something like eight venues internationally. Wondering how quickly you expect that to scale, and is there any consideration to opening any of those venues yourselves?
Good question, George. We expect to open three new venues this year, one of which we're highly confident in because it opened in January and is doing really well, and that one's in Germany. We announced, I believe it was yesterday, that we're doing one in Glasgow, Scotland, and that will be an owned venue. It'll be in the international portfolio, but as consistent with the other venues that we've opened in the U.K., which are actually legacy venues that will be owned and operated. There's one more plan for the balance of the year, later in the year. We're gonna be ramping it from there.
You'll see increasing activity on that, and this will probably sound familiar, but stay tuned for the Investor Day, where we'll give you a little bit more color on perhaps mid- to long-term outlook in terms of openings. COVID has been more of a factor, even internationally, than it has been in domestic operations as we've ramped up with these franchisees. You know, we're seeing good activity there and developing that well, but it'll scale a little later there than what we originally thought. We do have some nice activity for this year.
Okay, great. Second, area I wanted to ask about too is TravisMathew. The growth that you've had there has just been remarkable. I'm so curious, how do you keep that going? Maybe if you could talk about your expectations for new stores and expectations for growing that brand outside of Golf. Just wondering how that's going?
Well, it's interesting, George, 'cause I view that brand as outside of Golf already. It's really a Lifestyle Apparel brand. It has its roots in Golf, but it's what we wear to the office. It's what you wear after Golf when you go out and socialize. You know, you go into their stores, and you're buying hoodies and Cloud collections, essentially fleece and outerwear. You know, that's one of the things that I really loved about the brand when I looked at it because the scale and potential of that business is way above Golf. I'd studied the Golf brands in the Apparel space for some time, and candidly, they don't get very big. This business is getting big fast. You know, we gave you some of those metrics, but you know, 65% same-store sales, that's pretty good.
You know, it's got a lot of runway. It's selling through on the East Coast. It's selling through on the West Coast. I think we added 10 stores last year.
Yeah.
We had 29 open. The payback on those stores is really good. You'll see us continue to add stores. It's got a nice direct-to-consumer model, but then it's also doing extremely well, you know, with its wholesale partners, so great success story. You should not be thinking about it as a Golf brand. You can think about it as roots in Golf, but just as with Topgolf, OGIO, way beyond the audience of just Golfers.
Understood. Thank you.
Thank you.
We have our next question from Casey Alexander. Your line is open.
Yeah, good afternoon. I know this call is getting long in the tooth, so I'll just keep it to one question. You know, looking at your guidance for Topgolf of $1.5 billion for 2022, that's just on the numbers compared to 2021, really solid growth. With 5-6 stores opening in the fourth quarter of 2022, why shouldn't we be thinking of 2023 as a year of accelerating growth for Topgolf?
Casey, I think you bring up a good point.
That's all my questions. Thank you.
Thanks, Casey, and sorry we started late.
That's okay.
We have our next question from Rudy Yang. Your line is open.
Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess just firstly, can you just kind of comment on how you think rising interest rates could affect your business in any way, if at all, and how your industry has historically fared in a higher rate environment?
Good question, Rudy. I don't really, obviously. I guess I gotta turn it to you, Brian. I don't even know how much of our debt is exactly what percent's fixed versus not, but,
I don't know the exact percentage, but it would affect us as with rising interest rates, all the terminal fees and everything would be affected. It would be some incremental cash, but it wouldn't have a big effect on our business.
We haven't seen Rudy, part of the reason you're hearing we don't know, 'cause we don't think we're that sensitive to it. You know, this business does well throughout raising rates and lower rates, you know, it does better, and any business will in a good economy versus a weak economy. It does fine in a. I've been in the Golf Equipment business for 20-plus years. You know, been around Topgolf for more than 10 years, and these businesses are not highly sensitive to interest rates, or they're not even highly sensitive to economic cycles, although they of course will have some sensitivity there.
Awesome. I'll leave it at that. Thanks, guys.
Thank you.
There are no more questions at this time, and I will turn it back over to Chip Brewer, our President and Chief Executive Officer.
All right. Well, I wanna thank everybody for being on the call today. As you can tell, we're very pleased with our business, and we look forward to seeing you at the investor day, which more details will be forthcoming. Again, we apologize for the technical difficulties and the late start. Appreciate you hanging with us and talk to you soon.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's presentation. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.