Golfsmith International, the world’s largest golf retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after the chain failed to find a buyer.
Golfsmith CEO David Roussy plans to shutter 20 of its 109 stores, and has told those store managers that Oct. 31 will be their closing date, an insider told The Post.
That includes one Manhattan store, at 420 Fifth Ave., while the other city store, at 641 Lexington Ave., is not slated to close.
Golfsmith declined comment on the store closings.
The Post reported exclusively on Monday that the company was likely to file for bankruptcy in a matter of days.
The Austin, Texas-based chain has been hard hit by the sport’s declining popularity. Roughly 6 million people, or 20 percent of those who regularly play golf, have walked away since 2000.
As part of the bankruptcy filing, Golfsmith announced it was selling its 55 Canadian stores that operate under the Golf Town name to Golfsmith creditors Fairfax Financial Holdings and Signature Global Asset Management.
Golfsmith, which listed more than $500 million in assets and liabilities, said it will try to sell its remaining stores in bankruptcy.
Golfsmith’s biggest vendors, Callaway Golf and Addidas-owned Taylormade, are owed $5.5 million and $5.1 million, respectively. Nike is owed $3.5 million, according to the Delaware bankruptcy filing.
The company also has roughly $200 million in bank loans.
Private equity investor Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System bought Golfsmith in a $97 million leveraged buyout 2012, saddling it with more debt as the same time the sport was going downhill.