When one comes to the quality of the bunkers and other hazards we pass into realm of much dispute and argument. Primarily bunkers should be sand bunkers purely, not composed of gravel, stones or dirt. Whether this or that bunker is well placed, has caused more intensely heated arguments outside of the realms of religion, than has ever been my lot to listen to. C.B. MACDONALD
"Golf Architecture for Normal People . . . should be required reading for those who are not ashamed to admit they know little about the subject, and for those who think they do . . . . Golf course architecture geeks have trouble slimming their thoughts down to bite-sized chunks, but Shackelford has achieved a remarkable success here." —Independent (Ireland)
"From the relative newcomer who’s slowly getting hooked to those that have played the game for most of their lives and think they know a thing or two, Golf Architecture for Normal People provides a solid and sober perspective that will help everyone recognize why some golf courses are worth playing more than once while a single trip around others is all you’re ever likely to want or need." —Links Magazine.
“It’s a wonderful book. An easy read that arrives just in time for your summer reading list. If you’ve never thought about how an appreciation for course design could heighten your enjoyment of the game, you must check this out.”—The Peterborough Examiner
"This new book does a great job demystifying golf course design ideas for average players, but can also be a beneficial read fro PGA Professionals and other golf course employees to get a better understanding of their home courses." —PGA Magazine
Nice work by David Dawseyat Golf-Patents.com to spot and analyze Kirkland golf ball-seller Costco's suit against Titleist-maker Acushnet.
Many thanks to all who sent various stories in, including the full pdf of the suit here.
Dawsey writes:
Costco is seeking a declaratory judgment that it is not infringing any valid patent rights owned by Acushnet by its sale of its Kirkland Signature golf balls and that it has not engaged in false advertising regarding the golf balls. Why did they take such a provocative step? The complaint states “[t]he need for such relief exists because Acushnet has wrongfully accused Costco of patent infringement and false advertising.”
The paragraphs noted by Dawsey are worth checking out, but this seems to be the key point:
7. In response to the popularity of the KS golf ball, Acushnet sent Costco a threatening letter, wrongfully accusing Costco of infringing 11 Acushnet patents based on its sale of the KS golf ball and engaging in false advertising based on its Kirkland Signature guarantee that all Kirkland Signature products “meet or exceed the quality standards of leading national brands.”
The legal wrangling comes at a time when sources are telling us that Costco is ready to begin shipping K-Sig balls to its retail stores. Coupled with the lawsuit, the clear suggestion is that, letters be damned, Costco is going to sell its golf balls and make Acushnet fight publicly to stop it.
Nice spot by GolfNewsNet's Ryan Ballengeeto locate a newCostco golf ball on the March 1st USGA conforming ball list.
He writes:
The new ball is the Performance One Kirkland Signature ball. It also has four pieces and has a triple cover, but not a solid core. These balls are rated for medium to high spin and are made by SM Global LLC, an American subsidiary of a Korean company that is the new manufacturing partner for Costco.
Apart from the fact that the USGA has approved a new Costco ball, the rest is admittedly speculation. Take it for what it’s worth, but my 2 cents; it’s unlikely the K-SigP1 will be $15/dozen. Nobody, the factory included, makes reasonable money at that price. $20/dozen is plausible, I’d say even likely, but if there are legal threats, that won’t put an end to them.
Josh Kosmanon the distressing news that TaylorMade-Adams-Ashworth is losing between $75 million and $100 million a year, and no post-Tiger signing momentum has expedited sales talks.
Now Adidas, the parent company of Taylor Made, may have to give the brand away.
Losses at TaylorMade are much greater than many potential bidders anticipated, causing suitors to walk away, sources said.
The golf division that Adidas announced was for sale last May — which includes golf club maker TaylorMade, and the much smaller Adams and Ashworth brands — is losing between $75 million and $100 million a year, according to sources close to recent deal talks.
That is quite a fall from 2013 when TaylorMade was posting $1.7 billion in sales and a healthy profit, sources said. Today, sales are a little better than $500 million.
Adidas last year was asking for more than $500 million for the business, but now may have to give it away, a source who considered making a bid said.
The story goes on to say Callaway's new Epic driver taking the top spot from Taylor Made hasn't helped, but neither did the parent company CEO talking down the golf business. Or releasing three drivers in one year.
On the heels of their disappointing earnings news turned into a virtual calamity by an irrationalWall Street, Under Armour's golf expansion took an interesting turn with a new Sun Mountain partnership.
Long known for their golf bags and travel gear--count me as a huge fan--Sun Mountain will be making an Under Armour branded bag.
Given that so many have wondered if UA would ever enter other parts of the golf business beyond clothes and shoes, could this signal what their planned model looks like?
For Immediate Release:
Sun Mountain to Make Under Armour Golf Bags
February 7, 2017 -- Sun Mountain has entered a licensing agreement with Under Armour to create and market a new line of golf bags. The 2017 collection includes two stand bags (Speedround $239.99, Match Play $259.99) and one cart bag (Armada $259.99). These new golf bags are scheduled to be at on- and off-course golf specialty stores beginning in April. Interested retailers should contact their Under Armour sales representatives to place an order.
The UA Storm Speedround golf stand bag is the lightest bag in the collection and offers a 9”, 4-way divided top and the X-Strap® Dual Strap System for easy on/off. Speedround offers nine pockets, two are water resistant, and comes in men’s and women’s styles with a retail price of $239.99.
UA Storm Armada is a golf cart bag with a 10.5”, 14-way divided top and single shoulder strap. Armada features 10 pockets, two are water resistant, and the new Smart Strap System to secure the bag to the golf cart. Retail price is $259.99.
However, it was his overall take on the model of a convention that will not go down well in West Palm Beach.
While the daily propaganda blasts from show organizers might have you believe otherwise, I’m here to tell you that the 2017 PGA Show was an absolute sloth. With noticeably light traffic in the aisles and plenty of open space (both on the show floor and the range at demo day), 2017’s easily qualifies as the most depressing PGA Show during my time in the industry.
Take it for whatever it’s worth, but several of my media colleagues (and others I’ve spoken with from inside the industry) are in complete agreement. Call it a worse show on the heels of a bad show on the heels of a not so good show.
Covey says the show in its current form, due to cost for all, "makes less and less sense."
Even though CEO Scott Whitesaid a few weeks ago that "reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated," the Ben Hogan Equipment Company, which unveiled a revamped brand and irons in 2015, has filed for bankruptcy, reports theDallas News.
From the report (thanks reader Steve):
The Chapter 11 petition, filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth on Saturday, lists both assets and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million. Among its top creditors are Perry Ellis International, which licensed the Hogan name to the company, owed $267,500, and Conti Edgecliff-Sias LLC, its landlord in south Fort Worth, owed $77,256.74.
Kudos to MyGolfSpy for reporting the likely demise of Costco's Kirkland ball sold for so little and performing so admirably. I've been trying to track down details on the Kirkland story and my reporting mirrors that of MyGolfSpy in all but one key area. This we agree on: it's unlikely we'll see Costco replicate such a ball at the same price.
Our source inside Costco has not responded to our calls, however, a source familiar with the situation has told us that Costco has suspended production of the Kirkland Signature until further notice. Whether you want to call it a shortage or a total outage, the lack of Kirkland golf balls available to the consumer is being blamed on supply chain issues.
We're told that, internally, Coscto is saying that production will resume at a later date (and that an email will be sent to customers when stock is available), but we have good reason to believe that is an unlikely scenario.
Essentially Costco was the recipient of a one-time bargain-buy on golf ball cores that allowed them to produce the ball inexpensively. Any Trader Joes shopper knows that vineyards with extra stock but not wanting to taint their brand selling their wine at a lower price will sell otherwise nice product to the chain. Trader Joes then slaps their label on what amounts to limited editions, tells us where the grapes were grown and teases us about its heritage without ever outing the vineyard. Some of the wines are better than others, but they are almost always an excellent value.
So which vineyard dumped these cores on Costco at a low, unlikely-to-be-replicated price? Covey writes:
A representative of Nassau Golf (originally listed as the manufacturer of the Kirkland Signature Ball on the USGA conforming list) has told MyGolfSpy that Costco purchased overruns of Nassau's European-market-exclusive Quattro ball. There is some indication the sale was made through a third party, and that Nassau may not have been directly involved in the deal. The same source confirms that while the Costco balls have a different core color, the material composition and layer thickness are absolutely identical to the Quattro.
With the initial supply of overruns exhausted, Costco effectively has nothing left to sell.
Multiple sources I contacted felt that cores were from an overrun of Taylor Mades that needed to be disposed of when Adidas demanded that their subsidiary squeeze cash out of anything they could. The intent was not to disrupt the industry, but instead to cash in however they could on unused inventory. When GolfWRX noted the initial frenzy and MyGolfSpy's review hit, the ball became a disruptor.
Covey does note that the Kirkland ball's manufacturing location is now back to its mission of making Taylor Made golf balls and that a similar situation to the 2016 "K-Sig" is unlikely anytime soon, if at all.
I mention TaylorMade in particular because the company's tour balls are produced at the same factory as the Costco/Nassau balls, and there are some indications that production of new TP5 has pushed smaller companies to the back of the production line. Even if Costco otherwise had the capability to produce balls immediately, which it appears it doesn’t, the K-Sig wouldn’t be given priority over larger brands and long-term customers.
So what have we learned from this brief disruption of the ball market?
--MyGolfSpy'sreview was incredibly powerful, GolfWRX once again fueled interest in a product and the tide may have turned for golf equipment reviews. As other sluggish traditional publications sat on the sidelines, perhaps for fear of upsetting major manufacturers or simply because Costco is not a potential advertiser, independent internet reviews fueled the frenzy. (GolfWRX first posted about a "frenzy" on October 28th and while Mark Crossfieldonly posted a review three days ago, internet influencers established even greater power thanks to the Kirkland ball.)
--A lot of people don't like Titleist. There was much behind-the-scenes joy at Titleist facing a scary competitive hit around the time of their IPO. Some of the hostility could be chalked up to their longtime spot atop golf ball sales. Some of the glee was over the incredible brand loyalty Titleist inspires. Some of it related to their hostile position toward distance rollback advocates. But most hostility centered around about the price of a dozen ProV's compared to others and was aired on forums. However...
--A lot of people don't know what goes into the cost of a golf ball. The anger ignored how much Titleist and other major manufacturers spend on R&D and manufacturing in the USA. That's right, unlike the Costco ball, we are talking about an American made product. I was amazed how many golfers were not aware that ProV's and Callaway Chrome Softs are made in Massachusetts by American workers. If you like to buy "Made in the USA" products, this episode was an eye-opener.
--Costco now looms as a potential market disruptor under the right conditions. Yes, it took some luck and timing, but they do have the ability to inflict temporary damage on major manufacturers. On the other hand, the episode may have legitimized them as a seller of golf equipment of any kind.
--Golfers and their brand loyalties were tested. Many pushed back on Twitter at my intial skepticism over the long term success potential of the ball. I questioned whether golfers could announce they were playing "a Kirkland 3 on the first tee." While I'm all for anything that lowers prices and increases competition, common sense says most golfers are attracted to their favorite brands for reasons both sane and insane.
Greg Roumeliotis and Lauren Hirsch of Reutersreport that investors are pushing for ClubCorp to be broken up and that the company has formed a committee to carry out a review.
They write:
It is a serial acquirer in the golf course industry, buying 12 new clubs in 2015 and 2016. It looks to buy locally-owned golf courses and then refurbish them by adding or improving amenities such as up-scale dining and event rooms.
Shareholder FrontFour Capital Group LLC in September published a letter highlighting ClubCorp's low trading multiple as compared with leisure industry peers such Six Flags Entertainment Corp (SIX.N). It questioned some of its business decisions such as ClubCorp's model to pour money into refurbishing its golf course acquisitions.
"It is obvious to us that ClubCorp's reinvention capital expenditures are transformative in nature and are in no shape or form 'maintenance,'" the letter wrote.
How dare they try to transform their properties for a new generation!
Private equity firm KSL Capital bought ClubCorp for $1.8 billion in October 2006 before taking it public in 2013. The company operates more than 200 properties but it saddled with major debt issues.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning Drive, is co-host of The Ringer's ShackHouse is the author of eleven books.
Many thanks to all who sent various stories in, including the full pdf of the suit here.
