Club Pro Guy Introduces Non-Conforming "Punchout" Club

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Most major manufacturers steadfastly refuse to offer game-improvement clubs that would be deemed non-conforming by the Rules of Golf.

So credit Club Pro Guy for going where the Callaway’s and Taylormade’s refuse by pushing the boundaries in unimaginable ways. Not since the Perfect Club or the C3i have golfers had reason to plunk down $99.95 for something so transformative. CPG’s xe747 Punchout Club can (purportedly) be hit left or right handed while also delivering “state of the art camel toe technology which positions two humps of camel hump grooves on the toe” to give players another option from the woods.

If Mike Stone can sell albums on Golf Channel, this deserves its place on the list of other breakthrough products advertised on the channel:

Spain's High Court Orders Destruction Of Entire Golf Resort, 200 Homes

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After 14 years Spain’s highest court says a four-star hotel, golf course and 200 home development must be destroyed.

From CNN.com’s Jack Guy, reporting on the Marina Isla de Valdecañas having been built illegally on an island.

In July 2020 a court in Extremadura ruled that the hotel, villas and golf course, which were already in operation, should remain standing as they were not causing environmental damage.

The ruling estimated the cost of destroying the whole development would be nearly 34 million euros ($38.8 million), and compensation to property owners would reach 111 million euros ($126.7 million).

It therefore ruled out demolition on economic grounds, as the regional Extremadura government would have had to foot the bill, and said that only facilities still under construction should be destroyed.

However Tuesday's decision overrules that ruling and orders their demolition.

No More Nice-Sounding Golf Orgs: "We Are Golf" Becomes "American Golf Industry Coalition"

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The World Golf Foundation’s lobbying and educating efforts have a new name: American Golf Industry Coalition.

Clean. Tough. No grey area! We don’t need no stinking badges!

Let’s face it, the seemingly neverending threats to the municipal sport always seem to forget golf’s economic impact and it appears the group highlighting the $84 billion economy, 2 million jobs and $4 billion charitable impact decided it was time to send politicians a more pointed message with its name.

Acronym-wise it’s not ideal but neither was We Are Golf. But highlighting that there is a real industry with jobs and livelihoods on the line seems shrewd.

The website is now Golfcoalition.org.

For Immediate Release:

Rebranded ‘American Golf Industry Coalition’ Focused on Addressing

Golf’s Collective Priorities, Led by Make Golf Your Thing DEI Initiative

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Jan. 24, 2022) – Today, the organization formerly known as “We Are Golf” announced that it has rebranded as the American Golf Industry Coalition. Representing a partnership among golf’s leading organizations, the coalition is committed to addressing the collective interests of the industry.

A primary area of focus centers around helping to facilitate the industry’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiative, known as Make Golf Your Thing. Through those efforts, the coalition also provides support to the six cross-industry work groups dedicated to making golf accessible to all (education & skill development, talent acquisition, procurement, human resources, youth & adult player development, and marketing/communications). Additionally, the coalition contributes to advocacy efforts for legislative and regulatory issues of importance to the industry.

“The golf industry is comprised of more than two million people who wake up every day giving their all to a game that is growing and evolving,” said Rhett Evans, Chairman, American Golf Industry Coalition Executive Leadership Committee & CEO, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. “I am proud of the platform and vision the newly-branded coalition provides for addressing golf’s collective issues on behalf of the industry it represents.”

For more than a dozen years since its founding, the American Golf Industry Coalition has become a banner under which golf’s collective priorities can be addressed. The coalition assembles industry representatives annually in Washington, D.C., to meet with elected officials and advocate on behalf of golf’s $84 billion economy, $4 billion charitable impact and two million jobs throughout the U.S. The industry came together virtually for ‘National Golf Day’ in 2021 due to the coronavirus, and details on 2022 National Golf Day will be made available soon.

The coalition also works to amplify tangible examples of key initiatives at both the grassroots and industry workforce level and advocate in support of issues that impact the industry at the state and federal level.

OEM's Launch Latest AI-Infused Tungsten Cartridge Speed Frame Jailbreak Stealth Twistface Carbonwoods Guaranteed To Go Longer, Straighter

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As we inch closer to a decision based on the Distance Insights Study, just about any decision will lead to from Carlsbad even as they stare at record profits, give little back to the charitable side of the game and account for maybe 10% over the overall golf “business”.

So with that inevitable sobbing to come, perhaps as soon as May, the January 4th launches by Taylormade and Callaway—with their partners at the independent media operations hoping they’ll buy ads—will be good to file away for safe keeping.

Traditionally when any form of rulemaking is discussed to keep certain skills and courses relevant, the manufacturers claim they’ve maxed out the technology. When they want your $600, the technology is breakthrough, stealth, AI infused and almost guaranteed to add distance and lower spin.

The various golf publications peddled it all as usual. There was this from a Taylormade engineer to keep in mind as they phase out Titanium for the next great innovation, speaking to Golf Digest’s Mike Stachura.

THE DEEP DIVE: The titanium face driver, the golf industry’s staple since the mid-1990s, has run its course. So says TaylorMade’s team of engineers who in fits and starts over the past 20 years have been pursuing something they say is not merely entirely different from titanium, but of course, fundamentally better. As Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s senior director of product creation, puts it, referencing the famous “S Curve” for innovation, “We knew the S curve for Ti was ending and the S Curve for carbon-composite faces was beginning.”

Kind of like the bubble shaft! Until it wasn’t.

Look, these are good people who have to come up with something to differentiate their product. But the numbers also do not lie: the engineers are very good at what they do and know how to arm today’s elites with equipment they hit longer by just going on a launch monitor and testing.

So this spring when their bosses, only thinking of shareholder value, claim distance has peaked and how there’s nothing to see here, just remember January 4th’s claims and supporting coverage.

Even Tiger chimed in as part of launch day:

And Callaway has introduced a new Chrome Soft that you guessed it, goes longer even though the ball has hit its limit whenever the USGA and R&A are thought to be changing any equipment rules.

From Andrew Tursky at Golf.com, after explaining how Callaway studied its off-core Chrome Softs to make sure that doesn’t happen again. But there was this regarding the new Chrome Soft X:

So, Callaway listened. Without changing the spin profile at all, Callaway was able to increase driver ball speed by 0.7 mph due to the new core in the 2022 version.

And regarding the new and improved Chrome Soft X LS:

According to Callaway, the new Chrome Soft X LS increases driver speed by 0.8 mph, reduces driver spin by 130 rpm, and reduces iron spin by 120 rpm compared to the previous version.

Fox News: "Titleist blocks customers from personalizing golf balls with 'Let's Go Brandon'"

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And they wonder why Chris Wallace took a job at CNN+?

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller appears to have worked hard to test out Titleist’s golf ball personalization censors after an enraged customer was rejected over a “Lets Go Brandon” request. The phrase became one of the more pathetic dimwit dogwhistles of this or any generation.

When Fox News Digital attempted to personalize a Titleist Pro V1 ball on the company’s website with the phrase "Let’s Go Brandon", an error message said, "Sorry, one or more of the words you have chosen cannot be used. Please see our Terms and Conditions to learn more about what we will imprint."

On the website, part of those Terms and Conditions reads, "Acushnet Company reserves the right to reject orders for imprints on our products that may, in our sole discretion, be inconsistent with our company values or brand identity, including, but not limited to logos, designs and/or personalizations that are negative in nature, advocate violence or illegal activity, or are slurs, hateful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene or pornographic."

It is unclear which of those categories the phrase "Let’s Go Brandon" violated.

Miller goes on to share the vulgar messages he tested and did not get the same error message. Some of them are not pleasant. Still, it’s fascinating to see Fox News upset over Titleist reserving their rights as a corporation to not sell a product.

And besides, all is right with the world. The customization feature allowed me to create some important messaging:

Wally, before you get upset: I’m just combating juvenile humor with juvenile humor. That’s all! We know they’re too scared to roll it back.

Sportico Estimates Highest Paid Athletes Of All Time: Tiger, Arnold, Jack In The Top 4

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Based on inflation adjusted earnings and some guestimating about endorsement income, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus landed in the top 4 of Sportico’s list of highest paid athletes of all time.

Phil Mickelson landed 11th and Greg Norman 15th. Not bad for a niche sport.

21,281 Counterfeit Clubs Seized In China Raids, Integrity Of The Game Threatened?

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Here is David Dusek’s Golfweek report on counterfeit clubs seized in six-raids last month and how consumers can spot the hot stuff.

This seems a tad dramatic though:

“As golf continues to grow in popularity, counterfeiters are taking drastic measures to deceive the public and threaten the integrity of the game,” said Daryl Rocco, Senior Paralegal for Callaway, in a release.

Integrity of the game?

Centroid Closes $1.87 Billion Purchase Of Taylormade And Already Planning For Public Offering

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The Korea Herald’s Son Ji-hyoung reports on Centroid Investment Partners closing “a $1.87 billion deal to buy a 100 percent stake in TaylorMade Golf from US private equity firm KPS Capital Partners” and already announcing intentions of a public offering. I.E. exiting.

Ji-hyoung writes:

The buyout deal will lay the groundwork for the US-based golf equipment and clothing maker to go public in the future, the Korean investor said.

When TaylorMade does go public, the investor consortium will have enough room to seek a “considerable amount of capital gain” as they look to price the offered shares when comparing with US-listed peers, Centroid said in a statement.

According to Centroid’s company analysis, TaylorMade’s enterprise valuation is set lower than the two listed golf product rivals Acushnet Holdings and Callaway Golf, considering the three firms’ profit-generating capacity.

Now I don’t know a lot about this stuff, but “redeemable preference shares for risk hedging” sounds like a lot of debt to service.

The transaction comprises $532 million in equity, $405 million in redeemable preference shares for risk hedging, as well as $933 million financed for senior and subordinated debts combined.

Almost a billion. I think that’s a lot of drivers to sell to pay off the interest.

The story also implies apparel maker F&F will be a big part of the equation:

Centroid has worked with numerous partners in Korea, including outfit manufacturer F&F, Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperative, National Credit Union Federation of Korea and Yuanta Securities Korea.

Of them, F&F is a strategic partner that has injected 500 billion won ($434.4 million) in Centroid, according to a filing submitted to domestic financial authorities. F&F holds the contractual right to be given priorities when the TaylorMade Golf shareholder is engaged in a new business transaction, according to Centroid.

Discovery-Warnermedia Merger Hatched Over Golf(ish)

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As if the ego maniacal types congregating at each February’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am needed inflated sense of self, the megamerger of WarnerMedia and Discovery had origins in golf.

According to the New York Times’ Edmund Lee and John Koblin, Discovery CEO David Zaslav initiated the talks and it was always only a conversation with WarnerMedia.

Mr. Zaslav expected to meet with AT&T’s chief executive, John Stankey, at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in February, but both had stayed home because of the pandemic. Instead, Mr. Zaslav sent an email to Mr. Stankey as he was watching the golf tournament on TV to discuss a possible deal.

“You around?” Mr. Zaslav said he wrote to Mr. Stankey. “I have an idea.” He added some emoji flair to his signoff with several 🏌🏻and one 😎.

Mr. Zaslav said the note kicked off a conversation that lasted several hours. Later, the two met several times “secretly from my brownstone in Greenwich Village,” Mr. Zaslav said.

Met secretly at my home would have sufficed.

Taylormade Sold To Korea's Centroid Investment Partners

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The price was undisclosed by KPS Capital Partners, but they are believed to have paid around $425 million 2017 for the clubmaker and unconfirmed online reports are floating $1.7 billion as the sale price.

For Immediate Release from KPS:

NEW YORK, May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KPS Capital Partners, LP ("KPS") announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its portfolio company, TaylorMade Golf Company, Inc. ("TaylorMade" or the "Company"), to Centroid Investment Partners ("Centroid"), a Seoul, Korea based private equity firm. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

TaylorMade is a leading global designer and manufacturer of golf clubs, balls, bags and accessories with #1 or #2 market positions in most of its key products and geographies. For over 40 years, TaylorMade has brought innovative, high performance product technologies to golfers worldwide and is represented by some of the world's best Professional Tour athletes in the game; including World #1 Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Matthew Wolff, Sung Hyun Park, Charley Hull, Maria Fassi and Sierra Brooks.

KPS acquired TaylorMade in 2017 from adidas AG in a highly complex global corporate carve-out transaction involving the separation of shared facilities, employees, distribution infrastructure and material commercial arrangements. 

Highly complex global corporate carve-out transaction. That’s juicy.

TaylorMade was transformed under KPS' ownership into a fully independent, focused golf equipment company that achieved market leadership in all its key product categories and experienced the highest growth rates in the industry.

Guess the ball isn’t a key category. Good to know!

TaylorMade invested heavily in industry leading equipment technologies, introduced a series of revolutionary new products, achieved significant market share growth in golf balls,

Oh…

built new manufacturing and distribution facilities, and successfully refocused its marketing strategy, including the expansive build-out of one of the most advanced digital platforms in the business.  As a result of these initiatives, the Company rapidly progressed from generating material operating losses between 2015 and 2017 to substantial growth in profitability each year under KPS ownership.

David Shapiro, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of KPS stated, "TaylorMade demonstrates KPS' ability to see value where others do not, buy right and make businesses better. KPS recognized the value of the iconic TaylorMade brand, its cutting-edge product portfolio, the talent of its world-class management team and employees and the opportunity to align the Company's cost structure with the market realities."

Alignment is key. Please, keep patting yourself on the back…

Mr. Shapiro added, "We congratulate and thank CEO David Abeles, TaylorMade's management team and the entire organization for their tremendous dedication to the brand and Company and their passion for the game of golf.  The Company is well positioned for continued growth and industry leadership and is poised for accelerated growth in the important Korean market as well as the rest of Asia under Centroid's ownership."  

David Abeles, Chief Executive Officer of TaylorMade, added, "Our partnership with KPS has been extraordinary. It has been inspiring and incredibly productive to work with the team across the firm. From the beginning, KPS had the vision to recognize the strength and potential of the TaylorMade brand and business. Under KPS's ownership, TaylorMade has become a far better company by investing in our operations, product technology pathways, product development processes and, importantly, in our people. TaylorMade has never been better positioned for future growth than we are today."

Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP served as legal counsel and Morgan Stanley and Allen & Co. served as financial advisors to KPS and TaylorMade.  Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals.

Golf Stocks Skyrocket Even Without A Major Technological Breakthrough!

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Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Remember when we used to hear how the game only can grow with club buying opportunities?

The wretched pandemic continues to make tee times hard to get. Meaning, voila, club and ball sales are through the proverbial roof.

You mean, just having more people play for some reason was the key all along? Not a big breakthrough overcoming regulatory hurdles?

Shocked I tell you.

Progolfweekly with this on Titleist and Footjoy parent Acushnet:

Titleist and FootJoy parent has adjusted upwards its outlook for the full year 2021. The company said it expects sales to be in the range of $1.79 billion to $1.87 billion – up approximately 14 percent at the midpoint compared to 2020.

Acushnet reported Q1 sales of $581 million and earnings of $85 million, each up significantly from Q1 of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was beginning to impact businesses across the country.

“Of course, these expectations assume no significant worsening of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic including additional significant incremental closures of global markets and additional supply chain disruptions,” said Tom Pacheco, Acushnet’s Chief Financial Officer.

“With a very strong first quarter and the second quarter, which we expect to be about 75 percent to 80 percent higher than 2020.

“We project very healthy first half sales gains as compared to both 2020 and 2019.”

Callaway is thriving on the back of club and ball sales along with a couple of shrewd acquisitions. From Mike Freeman in the San Diego Union Tribune:

The Carlsbad company relied heavily on its core club and ball business to drive financial results as the once stagnant game continues its renaissance. Rounds played surged 24 percent in the U.S. alone during the first quarter, according to industry research firm Golf Datatech.

More surprising was the solid performance in Callaway’s apparel arm. Its TravisMathew and Jack Wolfskin brands did well despite lingering COVID-19 restrictions in important markets. Emerging e-commerce sales led the way.

Callaway’s overall revenue rose 47.5 percent to $652 million compared with the same quarter last year. Adjusted net income reached $77 million, or 62 cents per share -- up from adjusted earnings of 31 cents per share a year ago.

Despite the uptick in profit, the company warned of likely cost increases in the coming year, Steve Pike notes.

The stocks are soaring:

Legendary Pro Bob Ford Will Fold His Last Salmon Sweater After 2021's Walker Cup

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The longtime pro at Oakmont retired there in 2016 and now will call it a grand career at Seminole after this May’s Walker Cup.

Craig Dolch with a nice look at the golf pro to two of America’s most revered courses—including a 16-year run serving both clubs—for the Palm Beach Post:

“I wanted to work through the Walker Cup, because that’s such a great event,” Ford said last week. “I wouldn’t say it was a difficult decision. Everybody has a shelf life.”

What a life the 67-year-old Ford has enjoyed in golf, spending more than four decades working at two of the most prestigious golf clubs in the world. The Jupiter resident has deservedly earned his share of accolades – both as a player and as a PGA Professional.

In 2005, Ford was inducted into the PGA of America Hall of Fame. He was also the recipient of the 2017 Bob Jones Award, the highest honor the USGA can bestow on someone. Typically, the low-key Ford downplays his accomplishments.

DeChambeau's NFT Art Sale Is Met With A Cool Reception

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Bryson DeChambeau can relate to the great artists. They slave at the canvas only to be met with rejection. Again and again and again. But the great ones keep on creating non-fungible token friendly art because that’s what they were born do. And Bryson will no doubt get back on Photoshop, tweak some pixels, yell at someone, and learn from the one item that sold for a decent amount.

BD, I genuinely believe you can come back strong with his next set of NFT trading cards. Maybe only have your name once on the front of the card? I don’t know, just a thought. You’re the artist.

Anyway, his inaugural blockchain-based digital art went on sale for a mere 24 hours and failed to generate more than T24 money at this week’s WGC Dell Match Play. Three of 67 cards definitely sold, only a handful saw any meaningful bids, and there were accusations of impropriety. Or, at the very least, there was confusion about the Opensea’s rules.

The one non-fungible token that did produce a decent amount bidding into the evening hours was, not coincidentally, the “piece” of DeChambeau teeing off at Bay Hill and limited to one edition. The work included actual fungible elements with the artist’s work, aka “unlockable content”:

This NFT is limited to just one edition. This NFT commemorates Bryson’s raw power and the distance that comes along with it. With his newfound distance, Bryson can attempt shots that most cannot. In addition to winning the Distance NFT card, this auction’s highest bidder will be awarded the opportunity to meet Bryson at a US golf event (mutually agreed upon date and time) as well as incredible items including a personally autographed US Open flag, a custom set of Cobra golf clubs, $1,000 Bose credit, and six dozen Bridgestone Golf Balls. Must be holding this NFT on April 15, 2021 to redeem this offer.

The winning bidder does not have a screen name, going simply by: 0xf6d249f4785960502c10cbdb874f5993f09a9195

In case you run into the lucky winner on the street, those fluent in ethereum tell me the b’s are silent.

As for the next time artist Bryson dares to put his soul on the line, perhaps his reps will give the art time to breathe. When the work is this profound and layered, buyers need more time to look for deep meaning in those digitally blurred images before storing it on their blockchain.

For the sake of comparison, the NFL’s Rob Gronkowski offered similar trading card sets recently and did $1.6 million in revenue. Gronk’s auction on OpenSea ran four days instead of one.

There were also issues:

The artist will need to get himself together quickly. Less than 12 hours after the auction’s end, DeChambeau opens the WGC Dell Match Play against France’s Antoine Rozner, winner of this month’s Qatar Masters. Maybe Rozner will go all Jean Girard on him and ask how the auction went?

Bryson DeChambeau Becomes The First Player To Offer NFT's For A Very Limited Time Offer

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A week ago I explained to Quadrilateral subscribers why NFT’s are something to keep an eye on and here we are.

Bryson DeChambeau (who else) announced the first golf offering with simple images in a trading card format. (As I noted in my newsletter item, the world of highlights and who owns/gets what seems like a potentially lucrative and complicated situation.)

Bryson’s announcement was especially amazing since he Tweeted out the big news while playing the Seminole Pro-Member and just a day after what was a round of golf with Donald Trump, who proved to be no Tommy Bolt when it came to club slamming.

Anyway here is Bryson making the pitch to by a 73-card, five edition set, blockchain encrusted, fully protected, not sanctioned by the Franklin Mint, non-fungible token signed digitally by Bryson his ownself.

Bryson is throwing in a few goodies for the high bidder on a very special edition that will let you meet him, get some Bridgestones and other stuff. So at least one of these actually comes with something more tangible than a fancy jpg and will be the most interesting piece to watch.

He explains his “digital art” here:

If you’re in the market, here is the Open Sea link.

Time is running out to meet the minimum and secure your tokens due to the sale closing after just 24 hours.

**Before the sale barely got started, Club Pro Guy has jumped into the NFT world with a collection inspired by DeChambeau’s:

"The United States and Japan are responsible for about two-thirds of the world’s golf equipment market."

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Golf Datatech’s 2020 findings will be available to their customers but Golf Course Industry shared some of their key findings from Golf Datatech’s John Krzynowek.

Among the findings:

  • The top five golf markets in the world, in order, are the United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada and the United Kingdom.

  • The United States and Japan are responsible for about two-thirds of the world’s golf equipment market.

  • Korean golfers spend more per capita on their golf equipment and apparel than any other country.

  • Sweden was the fastest growing country, up more than 50 percent.