Will Parsons Disrupt The Equipment Industry With $700 Drivers?

Long rumored and now reality, Parsons Extreme Golf (PXG) announced the signings of several players including Open Champion Zach Johnson. Not mention were the lucrative renewals or new players signed by players who might have borrowed Parsons as leverage. (BTW Nike announced the signings of Tony Finau and Brooks Koepka today. Finau moves from Callaway while Koepka is now a former Titleist man.)

Doug Ferguson has many quotes from Jim Parsons, the vision behind the newish high-end maker of clubs, who is also owner of Scottsdale National (and not afraid to write his members letters, as you may recall here and here).

Will Parsons serve as a positive disruptive source?

“Making money is not what I have in mind,” Parsons said. “My goal with this is to build some very incredible clubs without regard to cost, without regard to the process. I’ve been telling people what I’m doing and I’ve heard many times, ‘You’re nuts.’ That’s a very good sign.”

An even better sign for the people he's paying! For a while anyway.

Parsons is tapping the billionaire demographic that is tired of spending $250,000 a year on clubs only to hope they...spent more? Though hopefully there is also a level of craftsmanship to justify the price.

“It got to the point three or four years before I started the PXG venture that I would spend about $250,000 to $300,000 a year on equipment,” he said. “I bought pretty much everything and would hit it. I could tell you which irons, woods and all that … were real and what wasn’t. Most of it is gimmicky. You take any manufacturer and they say, ‘This will give you an extra 10 yards and 15 yards.’ If all that were true, we’d be hitting it a mile-and-a-half.”

GolfDigest.com's Mike Johnson weighs in on the signings of Johnson, Billy Horschel, James Hahn, Chris Kirk, Charles Howell III, Cristie Kerr, Gerina Piller and Alison Lee.

Loving Zach's b-speak jargon already...

The signings, terms of which were not disclosed, brings Parsons’ tour staff to an even dozen players who have combined for 55 tour wins, including three major titles. “The decision to put PXG clubs in play was not one I took lightly,” said Johnson, in a statement released by the company. “My entire team, from caddie to coach, was part of the discernment process. We all agree that PXG is undeniably the best equipment to help me achieve my goals.”

Not having a board or shareholders to report to should free-up Parsons to not oversaturate their audience who are paying a premium price. But $500 for a hybrid not jewel encrusted? (Golf.com has a photo of the hybrid here.)

But will they be able to resist the rapid fire product cyles that are now expected in the clubmaking world?