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MacGregor Golf is going away. Well, sort of. Once one of the premier names in golf equipment, MacGregor golf was sold to Golfsmith International Holdings on May 20. More specifically, Golfsmith acquired full intellectual property rights to the MacGregor brand in North and South America, Europe, Australia\/New Zealand, and Africa.<\/p>\n
One of the oldest golf companies in the world, Macgregor golf has over 110 years of experience making clubs for all levels of golfers. Based in Albany, GA, MacGregor Golf boasts a record of 59 wins in majors, including 18 by one Jack Nicklaus. For years MacGregor was well known for making some of the best forged irons in the industry.
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\nBeing a long time MacGregor player, I can vouch for the fact that the custom club department is second to none. In fact, the Tourney Custom program was once the dream set of many good players. It entailed a trip to the Albany factory to have a set of irons hand made to your exact specifications by Don White, one of the best craftsmen in the industry. Indeed, the $2000 price tag may have scared off the majority of people, but for the purist there was nothing close to matching the look and feel of a club that was hand ground and fit just for you. A one of a kind set of forged (insert your name here) pro model irons. To many lucky and satisfied customers, worth every penny.<\/p>\n
Since the rise of the metal wood and the game changing arrival of the Big Bertha driver, MacGregor has largely become a niche brand, struggling to compete with the marketing blitz of Callaway, TaylorMade, and Titleist\/Cobra. It enjoyed a brief resurgence in the late 80s, mostly due to Clay Long’s Response putter that Jack Nicklaus used to win the 1986 Masters. To start 1986, MacGregor forecast 6000 units of volume for the Response putter. With Jack using the putter, up to the Masters they sold 20,000. The Monday after Jack’s thrilling win at Augusta, MacGregor took 5000 orders before noon. They went on to sell 150,000 that year, and 350,000 by the end of 1987. Not bad for a putter that when designer Clay Long showed to Nicklaus, he responded with “Is this a joke?”<\/p>\n
In September of 2007 Greg Norman acquired control of the struggling company from San Francisco business man Barry Schneider. Norman helped bring Cobra golf to prominence in the 1990s, so there was much optimism that he would do the same with MacGregor. After all, Norman had built a very successful business empire around his clothing lines, course design business and even his vineyards. With Norman carrying the torch, (and the staff bag) for MacGregor, all would be good! Well, not exactly. It seems Greg Norman’s business panache didn’t carry over into the golf equipment segment. Once again, MacGregor golf struggled against the much more financially stable big three, and the emergence of other companies with newer technology like Adams and Nike didn’t help matters. MacGregor continued to struggle and late in 2007 announced that it would discontinue its tour operations, including sponsorship of PGA Tour player Aaron Baddeley.<\/p>\n
In 2008, more signs that the company was in serious hot water started to show. In June, putter maker Bobby Grace resigned, leaving the fate of his DCT series putters up in the air. Bobby Grace burst on to the scene in the early 90s when Nick Price and Annika Sorenstam were winning with his Fat Lady Swings putters.<\/p>\n
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In early 2009, the speculation about the fate of MacGregor golf was growing. In February they started liquidating inventory by holding a fire sale. As an example, TGW.com was listing the Bobby Grace DCT putters marked down from $169 to a paltry $49 and change. The entire MacGregor line of clubs are being sold at deep discounts; a direct result of the sale. A month earlier in January, MacGregor pulled out of the PGA Merchandise show in Orlando, FL. The 11th hour decision was made partly due to the fact that MacGregor was not offering any new products for the upcoming season. In another move that raised eyebrows, MacGregor CEO Michael Setola announced that it had sold the Greg Norman Collection apparel line to the New York based Tharanco Group. Setola also joined the Tharanco Group to oversee the future of the new company. Secretly, negotiations to sell MacGregor had already begun, and MacGregor’s Asian subsidiary was sold in a Management buyout. There is no word on what will happen to the Asian company.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the final nail in the coffin for MacGregor’s future was in March when Greg Norman signed a multi-year deal to endorse TaylorMade clubs. At this point it was clear that the company was in trouble, and Norman was clearly moving on and perhaps distancing himself from the company he held a controlling interest in. This news was followed a few months later with the announcement in May that Golfsmith had acquired the company.<\/p>\n
According to the press release, Golfsmith agreed to pay $1.75 million for the company, payable in eight quarterly installments of $218,750. The first installment is due one year from May 20, 2009. Given Golfsmith’s favorable Q1 balance sheet, it seems that the move is one that carries low risk in this economy and in the golf industry, which is driven largely by disposable income. Golfsmith intends to relaunch MacGregor as a house brand, much the way it did with Lynx and Snake Eyes. The question many people may have is what will happen to the MacGregor legacy of making premium forged blades? Golfsmith caters to the budget-minded golfer or clubmaker, and most purists or better golfers buy name-brand equipment from the major companies. This trend leads me to believe that the MacGregor name will be relegated to game improvement clubs and discount components for the masses.<\/p>\n
Golfsmith operates over 70 retail stores and has a huge mail-order and internet presence as well, so chances are the MacGregor name will live on for quite some time, albeit in a different capacity that we all have known for over 100 years.<\/p>\n
This article was written by a guest author. If you’d like to contribute, send us an email.<\/p>\n