How the Golf Equipment Is Changing

On top of that recession of 2007-08 and counterfeiting products in the market was the worst exasperations Golf Equipment industry had ever met. Every sports equipment manufacturer needs sales on the peak to grow and sustain In competitive environment. Sales are forecasted on the basis of demand in the market. Up to this point Golf Equipment manufacturers were happy but when some Golf Associations and Clubs hopped in, they ruined the demand by imposing limitations on technological design Innovations In club head and golf balls etc. Core Golfers were the biggest source of Golf Equipment sales and revenue.

These consisted of the players who played 91% of the total golf rounds played in a year. Core Golfers had their problems as well for instance; hours of practice, instruction from a professional and patience to master all the aspects of Golf were their good excuses and a sales threat to Golf Equipment Industry subsequently. Underlying Drivers that changed Industry: The timestamp between 1997 and mid asses was the era of growth for Golf Equipment Industry but then came then came some underlying drivers that brought a downturn to the sales and growth.

These drivers are named and explained below along with the effect they left on this industry. 1. USGS and R & A Golf Club of SST. Andrews . Golfers and rounds played 3. Counterfeiting Products 4. Recession USGS and R & A Golf Club of SST. Andrews: From asses till early asses, Golf Equipment industry was growing. Lots of innovations were being brought by manufacturers. For instance; size of the golf driver was Increased to minimize the bad effects of efficient hits. Similarly wedges were given more groove for Improving accuracy and balls were redesigned too.

These all were for distance and accuracy purpose. These innovations proved good for PIG players 1 OFF as well as Tort Alphas. Average Elegance coverage was Increased Trot 2 yards. Consequently tournament committees started lengthening the golf courses. To protect the historic golf courses from being lengthened as there were space limitations, an association known as USGS (United Stated Golf Association) found CORD (Coefficient of Restitution or spring like effect in lay man’s language) in this game and this was the start of impositions on Gold equipment technological innovations.

CORD is a technical term describing the energy transference between two objects. According to USGS, CORD must not exceed 0. 83 otherwise spring like effect will be produced and that is barred. R & A Club of SST. Andrews also had an agreement with SAGA on the limitations imposed. R & A introduced another measurement I. E. CT(Characteristic Time) Test which, to avoid spring like effect required Golf ball to remain in contact with face of driver, not more than 257 microseconds. Although CT test was overruled by USGS subsequently but some other rules were brought in relating to driving clubs and balls.

Manufacturers were disappointed by the limitations imposed but they were still struggling to find their way. As USGS did not bring rules regarding club head size and club face, Golf Equipment manufacturers started trying to bring hangs in club face area that will produce maximum CT and they were successful. This club face performance was named as MOM (Moment of Inertia). After some alterations, golfers could achieve maximum driving distance. USGS after recognizing this change imposed limitation on MOM to 5900 g-CM with a tolerance of 100 GM- CM. Later on USGS imposed limitations on golf balls and wedges etc.

All these impositions affected golf manufacturing industry. Some companies challenged USGS by introducing a driver with 0. 86 CORD but all in vain. This affected the recreational golf players also. USGS answered all the challenges and blames by stating that the purpose of limitations was to avoid excessive reliance on technological advancements rather than skills. Golfers and rounds played: Apart from the fact that SAGA produced lots of obstacles in the growth of Golf Equipment Industry, there were some other factors also which contributed towards this downturn.

A survey conducted in 2003 showed that interest of Golfers themselves is also declining. This lack of interest was caused by overall difficulty of the game. Golfers usually don’t have much time to play as this game requires ample time to practice. Married players have had Job responsibilities as well as family time to be given. Players aged 40 and above were usually having health problems so they could not even play like core Golfers too. Some have even blamed high fee being charged which does not attract them more often.

Counterfeiting Products: In mid asses, counterfeiters were giving very tough time to branded companies. Sometimes these people were so good in counterfeiting products that they look very near to the branded ones. Golf Equipment branded companies were shocked when they realized that some auctioneers are selling counterfeited golf equipment for $1 50 o $400, the branded price of which is $2500 to $3000. It was easy for eBay sellers to offer cheaper equipment. Why these counterfeiters came into the picture?

There are different reasons, one of them is decisions made by golf executives who were sourcing club heads and giving contracts to manufacturers in china. Counterfeiters were persuading employees to steal molar AT Drained equipment . Black market production was also carried out in overtime. They even knew the packaging details of that equipment too. Steps were taken when six major manufacturers created an alliance to stop counterfeiting operations. A Chinese guy was prisoner for 3 years and fined $58000.

Golf Equipment Industry & Recession (2007-2008): The biggest factor which affected this industry was recession of 2007-2008. This was a combined effect which basically started with credit and housing industry. Another major effect was on oil prices shooting up from $2. 25 to $3 and then $4 per gallon in 2008. As the golfer that time might be a Job holder as well. He Might be using excessive credit cards. So recession made his credit card bills a huge burden for him and similarly for other golfers too. Rise in Mortgage payments added few more faculties to them.