Category: Bag Drop

TaylorMade Gets Back in the Ball Game

TaylorMade’s new TP Red and TP Black golf balls are the latest premium balls to hit the market, and they feature some unique technology.

Bag DropTaylorMade Golf is using the eve of the Masters Tournament to make a major move back into the golf ball market. The company introduced the new TaylorMade TP Red and TP Black golf balls at an exclusive media event on Sunday at Reynolds Plantation in Georgia, and The Sand Trap was there to get you all the details.

While there have been rumblings for a few months that TaylorMade would bring golf balls to market, many people assumed the product would be a rebranded version of current Maxfli products like the BlackMax ball – an assumption based on the fact that TaylorMade owns the Maxfli brand. Those assumptions are wrong, as were rumors that the new balls would be called the “Tour Arrow.”

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Big Drivers, Bigger Price Tags

After years of downward-trending driver prices, the cost of getting the hottest drivers is growing bigger.

Bag DropThis is Season Two of the 460cc driver era. Nearly every major company has produced at least one – and up to three – drivers that have maxed out at the USGA/R&A arbitrary limitation of 460cc, plus or minus 10cc for manufacturing tolerances.

So you would think that maybe since size can’t be used as a point of differentiation anymore, perhaps it would get harder to tell the competing drivers apart, or that maybe they’d start to get cheaper. Well, guess again. A new batch of drivers is standing apart from the crowd, and doing so at some rather high price points.

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Inside An Online Golf Shop

As the owner of GolfGods.com, Jason Mischel has learned the that golf business isn’t easy, but it is fun.

Bag DropLess than two years ago, Jason Mischel was an avid golfer who owned a thriving mail-order pet supply company. His biggest golf-related concern was probably trying to decide whether he wanted to buy a new driver.

Fast forward to the present, where Jason is the owner of GolfGods.com, an online golf shop in the dog-eat-dog world of retail golf. Now he’s trying to figure out what new drivers the rest of us want to buy – and how much we’re willing to pay, how to direct visitors to his site, and how to compete with the big names like Edwin Watts, Golfsmith, and Golf Galaxy.

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Titleist Refreshes Forged Irons Lineup

If you’ve been waiting for Titleist to drop some new forged irons, your wait is over.

Bag DropLast week, Titleist finally officially announced the long-awaited 905R driver. At the same time, the company let the cat out of the bag on some new irons as well.

While Titleist still hasn’t officially announced the new irons, information on the 660, 695MB, 695CB and 775.CB forged irons is available on the company’s website. Let’s take a quick look at these new irons, which join the 735.CM irons in this year’s irons lineup from Titleist.

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Highly Anticipated Products from Titleist, Callaway Hitting Shops

Titleist and Callaway officially unveiled their new drivers the past week, so we’re happy to talk about them.

Bag DropTwo of the season’s most anticipated new drivers are finally on their way to golf shops. Callaway’s new X460 driver has shipped and is available across the country, while Titleist has finally officially removed the “prototype” designation from the Pro Titanium 905R driver.

Let’s take a look at these new drivers, and other goodies that are hitting the shops just as the northern part of the U.S. starts getting ready for the start of the golf (and shopping) season.

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Cobra Strikes Quickly in Tour Return

Cobra’s return to tour prominence is getting a boost from some hot young players.

Bag DropIn the mid-90s, Cobra Golf was one of the hottest brands at retail and on Tour. Greg Norman was the face of the brand, and even a youngster named Tiger Woods used a King Cobra steel driver during his first years on Tour.

After several years away from sponsoring Tour players, Cobra is back on Tour in a big way. Bomber JB Holmes won the FBR Open, and Geoff Olgilvy downed Davis Love III to win the Accenture Match Play. Pretty slick start for the snake. How’d they do it?

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Titleist Responds To Callaway Suit

Titleist has fired back at Callaway’s golf ball patent infringement suit.

Bag DropLast week we brought you the opening salvo in a lawsuit Callaway Golf has filed against Acushnet, parent company of Titleist. Callaway alleges that the Titleist Pro V1 golf ball infringes upon four patents that Callaway acquired when it purchased Top-Flite Golf Company in 2003.

Acushnet has since released a statement clarifying its position on the disagreement. Read on to see what the Titleist take is, and where we might go from here.

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Cleveland Announces HiBORE Driver, 2006 Product Line

Cleveland Golf’s flagship product for 2006 is the just-introduced HiBore driver, but the company has plenty of other new products coming to market.

Bag DropOne of the first new drivers to start building buzz on the PGA Tour in 2006 is Cleveland Golf’s HiBORE driver. Vijay Singh is one of the players to use the interesting-looking new driver as a prototype.

The HiBORE cat is officially out of the bag, as Cleveland has announced the details of the new driver and a host of new products for the 2006 season. Read on to see what Cleveland has in store for golfers this year.

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Nickent and Tour Edge Ready to Make the Jump?

What do Nickent and Tour Edge need to do to join the biggest players in the equipment business?

Bag DropESPN writer Bill Simmons has one of my favorite sports phrases. He likes to watch for young players who are ready to “make the jump,” meaning they’re ready to take their game to the next level.

That was the phrase I had in my head at the recent PGA Merchandise Show when talking about equipment companies Nickent Golf and Tour Edge. Both companies have similarities, and both look poised for potentially bigger things in 2006.

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