Shares Of Dick's Sporting Goods Are Getting Clobbered Today - And This Map Explains Why

Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS), one of the nation's largest golf retailers, this morning reported earnings and sales that disappointed, citing notable weakness in its golf and hunting segments.

Dick's shares are off more than 15% following its report. Shares of golf-club maker Callaway Golf (ELY) are also down about 4% following the report from Dick's.

Dick's CEO Edward Stack said the company expected a modest improvement in its golf segment during the first quarter, but instead saw declines. Same-store sales at its Golf Galaxy stores fell 10.4% during the quarter. In the prior year period, same-store sales at Golf Galaxy fell 11.8%.

"Our difficulties this quarter were isolated to two categories: golf and hunting. After a very challenging first quarter in golf last year, we expected some further headwinds and only modest improvement, but instead we saw a continued significant decline. In the case of hunting, we planned the business down based on last year's catalysts, but it was even weaker than expected," Stack said.

Areport from GOLF 20/20 helps explain the pain. Total rounds played in February fell 4.6% from the prior year, with rounds played in the West North Central and Mid Atlantic regions, which endured historically cold and snowy winters, falling by more than half.