Titleist sale
According to a story on CNBC’s web site Fortune Brands has retained Morgan Stanley to begin the process of spinning off company units including their golf brands under the Acushnet Golf and Footjoy names. The story repeats speculation that Nike (Nike Golf) and adidas (TaylorMade Golf) are possible buyers but also mentions Callaway Golf and two Japanese golf powerhouses Sumitomo Rubber (Srixon, Cleveland Golf) and Mizuno.
Not part of the CNBC story is the high probability that Acushnet might be bought by a private investment group which could be headed by current Acushnet management.
White is in
The Ghost putter has been a runaway success for TaylorMade Golf and the experience was part of why the new R11 and Burner Superfast drivers have white clubheads. TMaG execs are expecting the new color drivers (the color and contrast with the black club face do help a lot in visualization and alignment) to add to the company’s already dominant position in drivers.
Look for all TaylorMade drivers to be white in the future.
Also of interest is the introduction of three forged irons to the TMaG 2011 lineup. The three models run the gamut; for better players, those on their way to being better and those who just want forged irons. TaylorMade wants to be a bigger presence in the iron market and these forged models complete their offering from top to bottom.
You’re playing the wrong clubs
In an obvious bit of self-serving promotion, some interesting stats were revealed by Golfsmith and Golf Magazine from a study they funded. Key points (none of which are surprising but none the less important):
92% of those golfers who were custom fit for their new equipment on a launch monitor realized immediate benefits with their new equipment.
80% of custom fit golfers hit the ball more accurately and consistently.
Those golfers who were custom fit were 22% more likely than those who were not to notice a significant improvement in their scores (two strokes or more per round and were 56% more likely to see their scores go down by more than five strokes per round).
Those golfers who were custom fit were 57% more likely than those who were not to strongly agree their new equipment purchase was “the best that they had ever made.”
Those golfers custom fit on a launch monitor were 42% more likely to complete their equipment purchase faster than those who were fit in other ways (and 17% were more likely to buy their equipment on the same day that they were custom fit).
Custom fit golfers spent 78% more than those who were not custom fit.
69% of custom fit golfers surveyed bought equipment immediately after the process.
There’s no doubt playing golf is hard and having the correctly fitted equipment is a giant step in making the game easier and more fun. Club makers have pushed fitting for years and one of the leading makers of irons for better players, Mizuno, says over 50 percent of their business is custom order.
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