What if Nike Golf Never Exited the Hard Goods Business?

[Golf Grouch]

Now that it's been close to a year since Nike Golf announced that it would exit the hard goods side of the business, it's interesting to ponder how the golf world might have been different had they never left.  For example, would Rory have finally secured the green jacket because he wouldn't have hurt himself testing equipment?  Would Brooks Koepka have still won the U.S. Open with Nike clubs?

[David in FL]

If a frog had wings, would he still hit his butt when he jumped...?  

[boogielicious]

27 minutes ago, David in FL said:

If a frog had wings, would he still hit his butt when he jumped...?  

Huh? Is that some sort of weird Florida colloquialism? 

[jamo]

6 hours ago, Golf Grouch said:

Now that it's been close to a year since Nike Golf announced that it would exit the hard goods side of the business, it's interesting to ponder how the golf world might have been different had they never left.  For example, would Rory have finally secured the green jacket because he wouldn't have hurt himself testing equipment?  Would Brooks Koepka have still won the U.S. Open with Nike clubs?

Maybe Tiger wouldn't have - oh wait.

[Groucho Valentine]

Maybe Koepka won the US open because he wasn't using Nike Clubs. 

[Wally Fairway]

HUH {shrug} - is this the crazy what if thread?

What if we were all still playing balata balls (or gutta-percha), do you think players would still hit 325 yard drives?

[jamo]

I thought it was a little odd that Tommy Fleetwood was still using a Nike driver in the U.S. Open, but it looks like a lot of the Nike guys still have a few Nike clubs throughout their bags.

Hell, half of my own bag is Nike.

[Joeyvee]

What if my aunt had balls; would she be my uncle?

[Chris223]

10 hours ago, jamo said:

I thought it was a little odd that Tommy Fleetwood was still using a Nike driver in the U.S. Open, but it looks like a lot of the Nike guys still have a few Nike clubs throughout their bags.

Hell, half of my own bag is Nike.

I thought it was interesting how Rory after the announcement was all like "I'm good, got about 3 years worth of balls and a few fresh sets of clubs" but lol, as soon as Taylormade gave him some massive stacks "well I think it's the best move for me" LOL.  I liked seeing that Fleetwood was still using his Nike clubs.  some of these pros act like they can tell the difference but they can't I feel like it's all in their heads. 

Love my Nikes also, had Ignites, went and got fitted for a new set of Vapor Fly's after they went clearance and I am in love with them.  Wish Nike still made clubs personally but I understand the decision, 16+ years and only gained I think they said like a 4% market share.

[Golf Grouch]

On 6/22/2017 at 8:20 AM, jamo said:

I thought it was a little odd that Tommy Fleetwood was still using a Nike driver in the U.S. Open, but it looks like a lot of the Nike guys still have a few Nike clubs throughout their bags.

Hell, half of my own bag is Nike.

Fleetwood was still using NIke blades too!  It really makes you think that Rory should have done the same.

[mvmac]

On 6/21/2017 at 9:43 PM, Golf Grouch said:

For example, would Rory have finally secured the green jacket because he wouldn't have hurt himself testing equipment?

It's funny because people were saying the same thing when Rory switched from Titleist to Nike.

5 hours ago, Golf Grouch said:

Fleetwood was still using NIke blades too!  It really makes you think that Rory should have done the same.

I don't know, TM basically made him the same exact irons he was using when he was a Titleist guy. I just think Rory is a streaky player.

[iacas]

36 minutes ago, mvmac said:

I just think Rory is a streaky player.

This.

[saevel25]

1 hour ago, mvmac said:

I don't know, TM basically made him the same exact irons he was using when he was a Titleist guy. I just think Rory is a streaky player.

I am sure Rory has hit countless number of golf shots with different variations in design of his irons. I am sure they looked at every aspect from clubhead shape, weighting, ect... 

It doesn't take long to get use to new clubs. I think people just like to make a big deal out of it. 

I believe there was a few posts in a topic about Rory's swing where he can get stuck because he hits from the inside a lot and gets away from it because of his hip turn. 

I just wonder if this is causing him to be a tad of a streaky player, requiring more timing in his swing than others. 

[70sSanO]

Nike would probably have 3% instead of 4%.

John

[WUTiger]

@Golf Grouch,

You are asking us to analyze a counterfactual situation. it's a situation which doesn't exist, so therefore discussion brings in speculative arguments that are difficult to prove or disprove. Often, counterfactuals start as a simplistic statement that "if A had not occurred, B would not have occurred."

In the case of players switching away from Nike clubs, that's just one aspect of their tournament play. Attributing non-wins solely to switching clubs sets up an underspecified model to analyze what happened. (Underspecified = missing key variables; oversimplified)

CFs can also spark lively counter-arguments: 

On 6/22/2017 at 9:12 AM, Groucho Valentine said:

Maybe Koepka won the US open because he wasn't using Nike Clubs. 

 This Stanford Philosophy link explains the problems inherent in counterfactuals.

[RickK]

On 6/22/2017 at 5:06 AM, David in FL said:

If a frog had wings, would he still hit his butt when he jumped...?  

 

On 6/22/2017 at 5:33 AM, boogielicious said:

Huh? Is that some sort of weird Florida colloquialism? 

That is a deep South colloquialism...not just Florida. 

[Buckeyebowman]

On 6/22/2017 at 7:01 AM, jamo said:

Maybe Tiger wouldn't have - oh wait.

Oooh! Talk about hard goods!

On 6/22/2017 at 10:59 AM, Wally Fairway said:

HUH {shrug} - is this the crazy what if thread?

What if we were all still playing balata balls (or gutta-percha), do you think players would still hit 325 yard drives?

Hey! I'm a big fan of the Haskell ball! And if I can't have those, give me featheries, or give me death!

On 6/22/2017 at 11:44 AM, Joeyvee said:

What if my aunt had balls; would she be my uncle?

No! She'd be your Auncle!

On 6/24/2017 at 11:33 AM, Golf Grouch said:

Fleetwood was still using NIke blades too!  It really makes you think that Rory should have done the same.

Why! They are not the same person. Unless this is one of those weird body swapping movies!

On 6/27/2017 at 1:28 PM, RickK said:

 

That is a deep South colloquialism...not just Florida. 

I believe the deep South colloquialism says "whomp his ass", not "hit his butt"!

[Golf Grouch]

Surprisingly, two pros won this past weekend playing with Nike clubs.