Golf Equipment Industry

Looking at the market we can see that Golf Companies have suffered after the 2008 recession. However, in 2012 golf ball market was $483 million in retail sales from 17.6 million units which was 4.1% growth from 2011, showing that there has been improvement in the market performance from companies that had lower prices for golf equipment as people were willing to spend on their product. However Altius could not regain

Imagine the sun bursting through the trees for the first time of the new day, the smell of freshly cut grass still potent to your nose as you tee the ball up for a round of golf in the cool mist of a spring morning. "That is what brings you back every time, the smell of the air, the coolness of the whether and the beautiful surroundings that make every shot enjoyable." (Suess, PI) This is the game of golf in its finest and most exquisite time to many people and many people it has touched in its long history. Golf is a lifestyle and not just games to people that are avid in playing. The game of golf has a history that is rich in technological advances and personal accomplishments, which through time has shown to shape

The 1980s and 90s were boom times but all goods things eventually come to an end. There will no doubt be good times again but right now individuals, businesses and communities have to adapt to economic realities in which people have less disposable income for some of the things they used to spend money on. One of these is golf. The number of gold courses grew throughout the United States in the 80s and 90s and the same was the case in Japan. Today, however, there aren't enough players anymore to support the number of courses, so many have closed. This creates the opportunity for development in places where middle-aged, mostly white males used to drive silly little carts and hit a little white ball with a club.

Old models take a large percentage of companys inventory what creates unnecessary costs. CGC should move these models to new markets that recently adopted Golf as a sport.

Dan Shay and George Patton formed a partnership and began developing their dream golf range. Their dream range and financial expectations fell short after the initial construction and first year of business. Martha Rawles presented Dan and George with a marketing plan that exposed the weaknesses of their golf operation. The marketing plan revealed a strong need for an advertising plan and expansion to cater to a greater segment of the golf market.

The partners must do additional analysis prior to determining if they should invest in a new miniature golf venture in Golden City. Before establishing marketing objectives, advertising and promotional programs, plans for addressing demand fluctuations and considering alternate locations, they must determine if they can generate sufficient sales to fund operations. They have done market research which provides a good baseline for establishing the demand, course capacity and anticipated costs. Once they have analysed this data and established that the business is financially viable, they can address advertising, demand and location questions by developing a marketing strategy.

In, “Why Booming Distance is Ruining Golf,” the author, Ben Alberstadt, explores the idea of how “shot-making” on the PGA Tour is now non-existent and it has become all about monster drives and impressive approach shots. The author begins by stating some facts that show how driving averages are increasing at an unsustainable rate. In 2011 the PGA tour average driving distance was 290.9 yards and three years before that it was around 287.3 yards. Alberstadt continues with, saying that golf ball distances have also gone up which in turn is costing courses money. This

Golf. A sport that was dull and mundane twenty years ago, evolved when Tiger Woods came to the scene. I started golfing during high school and loved it for the single fact, Tiger Woods played it. Growing up I pictured golf as that once boring sport played by old white men lacking a fan base. Just like myself, many people hated the idea of watching golf, so the sport needed a change. Tour earnings were low, scoring was average, and young people did not want to pick up the sport. Tiger Woods came on the tour in 1997 and astronomically changed the view of golf. The “Tiger Effect” on golf is real and more people have been trying to work harder to get to that “Tiger” bench mark. He single handily brought golf to the limelight and made it interesting to watch this godly like figure tear up the greens while becoming an idol to young golfers around the world.

To me, a very important question is, “How traditional can we keep the game of golf?” The game is evolving at every aspect. They are evolving the golf ball and making it better by making it fly longer in the air and landing softer on the greens. Along with the ball, the clubs are being made better and better making the ball go farther sometimes by even 50 yards. Each year, the irons are being made with better grooves which make the ball come off the club better and farther. While golf equipment is changing, the rules of golf are not. The rules of golf have been here since it’s existence. Another question that concerns me is, “Why can the equipment change in golf, but not the rules?”

Golf ball manufacturers would be looking to achieve several key strategic goals, such as increased sales, increased market share and / or increased profitability, to adopt and implement PI’s technology. Accordingly, manufacturers are mainly concerned with the cost and implications on manufacturing, competitor reactions (and customer perception), the forecast growth in the new balls market, the share they could capture and the financial details of agreement.

The television ratings increase every time Tiger is on TV. “I remember when Mickelson and Chris DiMarco were duking it out in 2004 [during a playoff], my first thought was how strong the ratings would be. They went down, as opposed to up, in every Masters tournament that Woods has won.” The ratings and popularity of golf have increased since Tiger won the Masters in 1997. Companies such as Nike, American Express, BMW, and Titleist are willing to contribute more and more money every year for each tournament’s purse. The individual golfers also receive exponentially better endorsement deals. Major corporations are willing to spend

New golfers increased from 1.5 million to 3 million between 1988 and 1998, but most of them quit due to increased cost of playing which went up by nearly 50%, unavailability of courses and time involved in playing. The global premium equipment market declined post 1998 due to various reasons like decreased demand, Asian economic turmoil and saturation of product in the market place. To CGC’s benefit the competition on golf equipment

Callaway Golf Company is considered a leader of the golf equipment industry through its development of technologically advanced golf clubs that compensated for the most amateur players with poor swings and helping them achieve a better golf game with the introduction of Big Bertha in 1990 and launched Callaway Golf Company forward at great speed into notoriety of the golfing community (Gamble, 2000). This analysis will thoroughly dive into the many parts of the case of the Callaway Golf Company.

If this technology were universally adopted by all manufacturers, there may be benefit to the industry as a whole. However, value brand manufacturers feel that brand image might be tarnished by concern about consumer’s “infringement on their access to cheap used balls.” Additionally, high-end manufacturers’ sales, which represent 67% of total new balls market, will be reluctant to adopt the technology due the belief that the consumers may buy new value brand golf balls rather than their own premium brand golf balls.

Callaway Golf Company began to take form in 1983, after Ely Reeves Callaway Jr. sold Callaway Vineyard and Winery for a $9 million dollar profit. Shortly after the sell of the winery, Callaway ventured in to the golf equipment industry and bought 50 percent of Hickory Stick USA. Callaway knew from the very beginning that this company’s profits were limited as long as the product line wasn’t changing. “Callaway noticed that most golf equipment had changed very little since the 1920s and believed that , due to the difficulty of the game of golf, recreational golfers would be willing to invest in high-tech, premium-priced clubs if such clubs could improve their game by being more