Jump to content
IGNORED

What's going on with Nike golf?


Spitfisher
Note: This thread is 3210 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Recommended Posts

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum, but....... Heard thru industry sources and Ex nike golf rep, that Nike has recently laid off 44 Nike golf ( no apparel) sales reps in the US with no intention of replacing . The existing apparel reps will handle much larger territories, far fewer consumer demos for all of Nike golf clubs- just key accounts. it was just confirmed from a friend who was part of the layoff. Having personally been involved in such lay offs in various industries, my take on it is Nike Clubs maybe a thing of the past in a couple of years, the remaining inventory will be distributed promotionally by the big box retailers. This is my speculation. Consider they recently shut down over 600 e-trailers and various middle management and executive management have left or moved on. Past rumors also speculated that had they not signed Rory, they were considering pulling the plugs on golf clubs. The indus try, state of participation, future outlook and competition all would have played a factor in this. Obviously this was never openly discussed.
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Interesting stuff. Never been a Nike fan myself, though. The only thing I've gotten from them apparel wise that wasn't junk was a pair of sweatpants, everything else wore out prematurely, including shoes. I tried the vapor irons and driver, mixed feelings, but overall a good impression.
  • Upvote 1

I apologize for having a spam URL in my signature and will not do it again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


That's quite interesting.  I wonder if they are looking at the numbers and will fold a lot of this into their normal operations.   Golf shoes will be just another product line, same with apparel.  I'd be most interested to see what they do with the clubs.   They seemed really serious about doing their R&D; and working with their staff professionals on the clubs that they wanted.   I'd hate for them to become a generic club maker that doesn't invest much into their line anymore.

—Adam

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I have never been a fan of Nike Golf equipment. I have use feral Nike balls when found, everything from the super-soft to platinum one and black. After a hole or two with a Nike I would grab ANY ball out of my bag.

I have demo'ed their clubs over the years and felt they were bottom of the barrel.

I will say I did like this years 3 wood model.

Aside from that it is overpriced shirt, shoes & belts!

I think they took a gamble thinking Rory & Tiger would bring golfers to buy Nike equipment, forgetting that Callaway, Ping & Titlest already make really good golf gear.


NIKE cant complete.

In my Grom:

Driver-Taylormade 10.5 Woods- Taylomade 3 wood, taylormade 4 Hybrid
Irons- Callaway Big Berthas 5i - GW Wedges- Titles Volkey  Putter- Odyssey protype #9
Ball- Bridgestone E6
All grips Golf Pride

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

In the Portland area there are a number of rumors about Nike for not only golf, but all products. They seem to be undergoing some kind of reorganization and a shift to different product focus. I don't think they will give up on golf, but they may change their strategy.

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I have never been a fan of Nike Golf equipment. I have use feral Nike balls when found, everything from the super-soft to platinum one and black. After a hole or two with a Nike I would grab ANY ball out of my bag.

I have demo'ed their clubs over the years and felt they were bottom of the barrel.

I will say I did like this years 3 wood model.

Aside from that it is overpriced shirt, shoes & belts!

I think they took a gamble thinking Rory & Tiger would bring golfers to buy Nike equipment, forgetting that Callaway, Ping & Titlest already make really good golf gear.

NIKE cant complete.

I disagree with much of what you said.  I have never been a fan either, but I have tried some of their equipment recently and have found it to be comparable to everything else out there.  I like the RZN Black ball.  I even put one of their drivers in the bag, as it worked very well for me.  Their blade irons are great as well.   I have not heard of their irons de-laminating like three sets of my Pings have done.  What would make you say they can't compete?  They would have to be about 3rd or 4th on the annual revenue charts for manufactures.

Nate

:pxg:(10.5) :benhogan:(4W):titleist:U500(3UI) :benhogan: Icon(4-PW) :edel:(52/58)

:odyssey:Putter :snell: MTB Black  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I have no information.  But given the state of the golf business and the state of their star spokesman, I can't say I'm that surprised.

10.5 deg Ping G30, Callaway X2 Hot Pro 3W, Taylor Made Rescue 3H, Ping G30 irons
Cleveland TA 900 SW, Mizuno T-Zoid LW, Odyssey DF Rossie I

http://golfshot.com/members/0622056080

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I disagree with much of what you said.  I have never been a fan either, but I have tried some of their equipment recently and have found it to be comparable to everything else out there.  I like the RZN Black ball.  I even put one of their drivers in the bag, as it worked very well for me.  Their blade irons are great as well.   I have not heard of their irons de-laminating like three sets of my Pings have done.  What would make you say they can't compete?  They would have to be about 3rd or 4th on the annual revenue charts for manufactures.

As I said previously, I was impressed with their new 3 wood, but before that none of their clubs impressed me.

Of all the golfers I know (60 in my league and another 30 in the other league) 1 has a nike 3 wood. a couple have a driver or a wedge. some will play a nike ball is found. Some have Nike shoes!

not 1 person I know has a nike putter.

I would think Nike has a tough time putting out better equipment than

Titlest

Taylormade

Callaway

Cleveland

They should stick to shoes and belts!

In my Grom:

Driver-Taylormade 10.5 Woods- Taylomade 3 wood, taylormade 4 Hybrid
Irons- Callaway Big Berthas 5i - GW Wedges- Titles Volkey  Putter- Odyssey protype #9
Ball- Bridgestone E6
All grips Golf Pride

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I would think Nike has a tough time putting out better equipment than

Titlest

Taylormade

Callaway

Cleveland

Agreed, they are all about this same.

Nate

:pxg:(10.5) :benhogan:(4W):titleist:U500(3UI) :benhogan: Icon(4-PW) :edel:(52/58)

:odyssey:Putter :snell: MTB Black  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I've never gamed a Nike club and I see very few out there so it isn't a huge surprise. Wouldn't be much of a loss for Nike considering the scope of their business. Hard to justify all the R&D; spending, and manufacturing issues for clubs that are hard to move when you can focus on selling T-shirts for 60 bucks,

:callaway: Big Bertha Alpha 815 DBD  :bridgestone: TD-03 Putter   
:tmade: 300 Tour 3W                 :true_linkswear: Motion Shoes
:titleist: 585H Hybrid                       
:tmade: TP MC irons                 
:ping: Glide 54             
:ping: Glide 58
:cleveland: 588 RTX 62

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Nike golf equipment didn't exist before Tiger, wouldn't have existed but for Tiger, and apparently can't exist without Tiger.
  • Upvote 1

Kevin

Titleist 910 D3 9.5* with ahina 72 X flex
Titleist 910F 13.5* with ahina 72 X flex
Adams Idea A12 Pro hybrid 18*; 23* with RIP S flex
Titleist 712 AP2 4-9 iron with KBS C-Taper, S+ flex
Titleist Vokey SM wedges 48*, 52*, 58*
Odyssey White Hot 2-ball mallet, center shaft, 34"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I disagree with much of what you said.  I have never been a fan either, but I have tried some of their equipment recently and have found it to be comparable to everything else out there.  I like the RZN Black ball.  I even put one of their drivers in the bag, as it worked very well for me.  Their blade irons are great as well.   I have not heard of their irons de-laminating like three sets of my Pings have done.  What would make you say they can't compete?  They would have to be about 3rd or 4th on the annual revenue charts for manufactures.

I think it much closer to 7th or as high as 10th.

If you consider just clubs/ balls ( non apparel) I think you will be quite surpised at how low the global dollar is for Nike golf. The margins  for hard goods are low, manufacturing and distribution costs are high and as we all know paying athletes to use your gear can be costly.

That said $789 million is the number for global sales for Nike golf, this includes all clubs, balls, bags, headwear, footwear , any and all apparel - include some that can reported from in cross markets, private label, emboiderd garments, Tiger woods collections and all accessories.

A vast majority of the 2014, 789 million ( down from previous years and flat compared to 2013) The apparel/footwear portion alone is almost 3/4 of this number. (around 600+ million) leaving clubs and balls  in the $150-175 million range after buy backs etc.

I recently attended a sporting goods manufacturers national meeting, they broke out what was trending, financials for various sports- golf being one of them, they talked at length about the manufacturers market shares and sales....noticably absent was any word or mention of Nike equipment.

If i were to guess, I'd say Calloways odyssey putters alone probably accounts for more sales than all of Nikes golf clubs and balls- I could be wrong but I wouldn't be surprised.

I play golf at many courses, mid to high end private course, I have seen new TM drivers, new titleist drivers, the new G30 even a few Cobra fly Z and Cleveland black.......But I have yet to see a vapor by anyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Nike probably had a plan to capture a percentage of golf equipment sales within a certain amount of years. They were counting on the kids who grew up wearing Nike sneakers to start playing golf, and have a loyalty to the Nike brand. They invested heavily in Tiger, who, lucky for them, got them the exposure they wanted. As we all know, golf isn't exploding and now they see the end to the Tiger era. Yes, they've signed Rory and others, but that isn't enough. You just can't buy your way into the golf equipment market. Put simply, they probably wanted more market share than what they are getting for their money. Time to pull out and invest in something else. Nike closeout sales may be right around the corner. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I think it much closer to 7th or as high as 10th.

If you consider just clubs/ balls ( non apparel) I think you will be quite surpised at how low the global dollar is for Nike golf. The margins  for hard goods are low, manufacturing and distribution costs are high and as we all know paying athletes to use your gear can be costly.

That said $789 million is the number for global sales for Nike golf, this includes all clubs, balls, bags, headwear, footwear, any and all apparel- include some that can reported from in cross markets, private label, emboiderd garments, Tiger woods collections and all accessories.

A vast majority of the 2014, 789 million ( down from previous years and flat compared to 2013) The apparel/footwear portion alone is almost 3/4 of this number. (around 600+ million) leaving clubs and balls  in the $150-175 million range after buy backs etc.

I recently attended a sporting goods manufacturers national meeting, they broke out what was trending, financials for various sports- golf being one of them, they talked at length about the manufacturers market shares and sales....noticably absent was any word or mention of Nike equipment.

If i were to guess, I'd say Calloways odyssey putters alone probably accounts for more sales than all of Nikes golf clubs and balls- I could be wrong but I wouldn't be surprised.

I play golf at many courses, mid to high end private course, I have seen new TM drivers, new titleist drivers, the new G30 even a few Cobra fly Z and Cleveland black.......But I have yet to see a vapor by anyone.

I don't know I saw a number where Callaway was only a little bit more than $800 million in 2013, so that is kind of what I was going off of.  It was hard to find anything concrete though.  Not sure if that included the Odyssey line or not.  You could very well be right.  I mainly just think the idea that their equipment is any worse than the other major companies it a bit silly.

Nate

:pxg:(10.5) :benhogan:(4W):titleist:U500(3UI) :benhogan: Icon(4-PW) :edel:(52/58)

:odyssey:Putter :snell: MTB Black  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

not 1 person I know has a nike putter.

[raises hand slowly]

  • Upvote 1

In my bag:

Driver: Titleist TSi3 | 15º 3-Wood: Ping G410 | 17º 2-Hybrid: Ping G410 | 19º 3-Iron: TaylorMade GAPR Lo |4-PW Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo | 54º SW, 60º LW: Titleist Vokey SM8 | Putter: Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas H7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

[raises hand slowly]

Fanboy! :-P

Yours in earnest, Jason.
Call me Ernest, or EJ or Ernie.

PSA - "If you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!"

My Whackin' Sticks: :cleveland: 330cc 2003 Launcher 10.5*  :tmade: RBZ HL 3w  :nickent: 3DX DC 3H, 3DX RC 4H  :callaway: X-22 5-AW  :nike:SV tour 56* SW :mizuno: MP-T11 60* LW :bridgestone: customized TD-03 putter :tmade:Penta TP3   :aimpoint:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

[raises hand slowly]

Haha, my brother does as well.  He has a Method and loves it.  Great putter.

Nate

:pxg:(10.5) :benhogan:(4W):titleist:U500(3UI) :benhogan: Icon(4-PW) :edel:(52/58)

:odyssey:Putter :snell: MTB Black  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Note: This thread is 3210 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...