2019 Equipment Contract Changes

[summerof]

Is he going to use his old clubs?

[Jordan Speeth]

I know it's a little odd considering that he's not always a top performer but, I'm really interested in seeing what CH3 is up to....always have been. He's as pure a ball-striker as anyone who's ever played the game and brings a lot of cred to any brand he plays. I heard a podcast recently with him saying that he wasn't that into his equipment but I don't believe it. Paraphrasing, I think he said that he's into it, but not nearly like any of those crazed GolfWRX forum jockeys.

 

 

Edit- As of yesterday, CH3 was still wearing a PXG hat, had a PXG bag, and is at least using PXG irons. I'm a little perplexed at this change. He's been playing great lately with plenty of top finishes. A great time to change?

[IVM]

You could give CH3 any manufacturer’s clubs and he would shoot the same score , he is that talented . It is a shame that he cannot win more but has earned a good living playing the tour over the years .

[bigeasy]

I know it's a little odd considering that he's not always a top performer but, I'm really interested in seeing what CH3 is up to....always have been. He's as pure a ball-striker as anyone who's ever played the game and brings a lot of cred to any brand he plays. I heard a podcast recently with him saying that he wasn't that into his equipment but I don't believe it. Paraphrasing, I think he said that he's into it, but not nearly like any of those crazed GolfWRX forum jockeys.

 

 

Edit- As of yesterday, CH3 was still wearing a PXG hat, had a PXG bag, and is at least using PXG irons. I'm a little perplexed at this change. He's been playing great lately with plenty of top finishes. A great time to change?

He is not on PXGs website, maybe on his last days.

[mallrat]

Don’t most contracts run through Dec 31? So we won’t see any changes for awhile?

[bbedell]

If true, it could be a Srixon club deal with Puma apparel. Similar to the Nike deals.

 

Except Puma owns Cobra so that's never happen. All puma players are also Cobra

 

Gary Woodland? Looks like he wears Puma and clearly plays a mixed bag.

 

Gary has worn adidas and Nike as well this year. To my knowledge he's not on a contract with Puma, at least not yet

 

Woodland is clothing free agent.

 

Sure as heck wears a lot of Puma gear every day for a free agent...and it doesnt really fit his persona either...he'd be a solid fit for Nike...UA looked good on him as well

[North Texas]

Who cares these days? The win on Sunday, sell on Monday mantra is long gone. With modern fitting it is unlikely any sensible player will buy something because player X uses it. Same with clothes. Some gear is in the shops before it is seen on tour. What I would like to see is people say no to Nike. They are swamping the tour with some hideous apparel.

 

This just isn't true. Marketing teams in every industry have an amazing number of up to date metrics at their disposal. They correlate marketing and sponsorship budgets to those metrics. If the returns weren't there, the endorsement contracts and advertising campaigns wouldn't be either. To the completely opposite point that I just made, Mizuno did virtually no marketing at all and the sales of the JPX Tour went beyond their wildest dreams after a few players, that weren't contractually obligated to do so, bagged them on the PGA tour. The Majors didn't hurt one bit. I think your viewpoint is skewed by a sample of people at WRX that are far more in-tune with the equipment industry and what's going on then the average consumer.

 

I play with both younger and older players at my club on a regular basis and we talk clubs and equipment all the time. Never once have I heard anyone say that they bought this club or that club because some pro was hitting it. Not one single time.

[leejohnkieh]

It'd be nice to see a tour player on the Nike/Titleist sponsorship. Would become a favorite player of mine hahaha

[MattyO1984]

It'd be nice to see a tour player on the Nike/Titleist sponsorship. Would become a favorite player of mine hahaha

 

Paging Russell Henley.

[OldTomMorris]

It'd be nice to see a tour player on the Nike/Titleist sponsorship. Would become a favorite player of mine hahaha

 

Paging Russell Henley.

 

Sam Horsfield

Seung-Yul Noh (currently on military service)

[3whacker]

Who cares these days? The win on Sunday, sell on Monday mantra is long gone. With modern fitting it is unlikely any sensible player will buy something because player X uses it. Same with clothes. Some gear is in the shops before it is seen on tour. What I would like to see is people say no to Nike. They are swamping the tour with some hideous apparel.

 

This just isn't true. Marketing teams in every industry have an amazing number of up to date metrics at their disposal. They correlate marketing and sponsorship budgets to those metrics. If the returns weren't there, the endorsement contracts and advertising campaigns wouldn't be either. To the completely opposite point that I just made, Mizuno did virtually no marketing at all and the sales of the JPX Tour went beyond their wildest dreams after a few players, that weren't contractually obligated to do so, bagged them on the PGA tour. The Majors didn't hurt one bit. I think your viewpoint is skewed by a sample of people at WRX that are far more in-tune with the equipment industry and what's going on then the average consumer.

 

I play with both younger and older players at my club on a regular basis and we talk clubs and equipment all the time. Never once have I heard anyone say that they bought this club or that club because some pro was hitting it. Not one single time.

 

 

Then how do you explain TW..he singlehandedly launched and carried Nike golf to the point they went from a soft goods/show equipment player to a bonafide manufacturer...IMO I dont think we will see another player influence golfers buying choices the way TW did...and that not necessarily a good thing...Now that Nike is out of the hard goods business, what happened to all those that were loyal to that brand?

[CDLgolf]

Who cares these days? The win on Sunday, sell on Monday mantra is long gone. With modern fitting it is unlikely any sensible player will buy something because player X uses it. Same with clothes. Some gear is in the shops before it is seen on tour. What I would like to see is people say no to Nike. They are swamping the tour with some hideous apparel.

 

This just isn't true. Marketing teams in every industry have an amazing number of up to date metrics at their disposal. They correlate marketing and sponsorship budgets to those metrics. If the returns weren't there, the endorsement contracts and advertising campaigns wouldn't be either. To the completely opposite point that I just made, Mizuno did virtually no marketing at all and the sales of the JPX Tour went beyond their wildest dreams after a few players, that weren't contractually obligated to do so, bagged them on the PGA tour. The Majors didn't hurt one bit. I think your viewpoint is skewed by a sample of people at WRX that are far more in-tune with the equipment industry and what's going on then the average consumer.

 

I play with both younger and older players at my club on a regular basis and we talk clubs and equipment all the time. Never once have I heard anyone say that they bought this club or that club because some pro was hitting it. Not one single time.

 

 

Then how do you explain TW..he singlehandedly launched and carried Nike golf to the point they went from a soft goods/show equipment player to a bonafide manufacturer...IMO I dont think we will see another player influence golfers buying choices the way TW did...and that not necessarily a good thing...Now that Nike is out of the hard goods business, what happened to all those that were loyal to that brand?

 

 

I don't see how people can say pros don't sell clubs. Why paint drivers white ? Why paint putters red ? Brand recognition. When you see a white driver on TV you know what brand it is.

[me05501]

 

I play with both younger and older players at my club on a regular basis and we talk clubs and equipment all the time. Never once have I heard anyone say that they bought this club or that club because some pro was hitting it. Not one single time.

 

I'm not doubting you, but I'd venture that pros playing specific gear might be a more subtle influence these days.

 

For instance, a lack of tour presence probably explains why club golfers *don't* play certain brands. Hogan, Cobra, Tour Edge, etc. make clubs that can go head to head with TM, Callaway, and Titleist, but the latter are considered to be premier brands partly because they dominate Tour bags.

 

I don't think most adult males are likely to admit to being influenced by one specific player, but they're definitely influenced by the concept that there are clubs the pros play and clubs the pros don't. I definitely see this effect in ball selection. Otherwise hardly any ams would have a good reason to choose Titleist balls in 2018.

 

Looking at this over a longer-term trend, we can see how Taylor Made aggressively bought it way to the top of the driver market by paying players "tee up money" to lead the Tour driver count. No one else was offering one-off, per-event money to players for putting one specific club in their bag. It worked incredibly well.

[lc1342]

What are the details on Koepka’s Nike deal? I know that it would be stupid for him to change his equipment right now but I’m surprised Callaway hasn’t thrown a stupid number at him. They have some strong names but not many Americans that are making noise.

[MattyO1984]

What are the details on Koepka's Nike deal? I know that it would be stupid for him to change his equipment right now but I'm surprised Callaway hasn't thrown a stupid number at him. They have some strong names but not many Americans that are making noise.

 

I'm fairly sure that the guys were guaranteed their money unless they signed up with someone else in which whatever the new company was paying them came off what they were getting from Nike. Got to believe that Nike were pretty generous with Brooks given that he is about the only still sporting the Nike logo on the side of his bag when he could have easily, if nothing else, signed up to have some other logo on there.

[YoungJedi]

I’ll be most interested to see who Koepka signs with. On the podcast, Vosh basically said that while Mizuno had no intention of spending without TM and Callaway, they recognized they needed to get back in the tour game. They need to make Koepka their signature player.

 

I disagree. He’s won 3 majors withOUT them paying him. What benefit would mizuno see paying him NOW?

[doublehans]

I’ll be most interested to see who Koepka signs with. On the podcast, Vosh basically said that while Mizuno had no intention of spending without TM and Callaway, they recognized they needed to get back in the tour game. They need to make Koepka their signature player.

 

I disagree. He’s won 3 majors withOUT them paying him. What benefit would mizuno see paying him NOW?

 

on golfwrx where most know what irons he plays, no benefit. but for the rest of the golf world where a lot of people dont realize what hes playing, being able to put up ads linking koepka and mizuno has a lot of value. no contract, no koepka in mizuno ads.

[mallrat]

I’ll be most interested to see who Koepka signs with. On the podcast, Vosh basically said that while Mizuno had no intention of spending without TM and Callaway, they recognized they needed to get back in the tour game. They need to make Koepka their signature player.

 

I disagree. He’s won 3 majors withOUT them paying him. What benefit would mizuno see paying him NOW?

 

on golfwrx where most know what irons he plays, no benefit. but for the rest of the golf world where a lot of people dont realize what hes playing, being able to put up ads linking koepka and mizuno has a lot of value. no contract, no koepka in mizuno ads.

 

Say they sign him to a $2 mil a year deal, do you think Brooks Koepka generates $2 mil a year in sales for Mizuno?

[lc1342]

I’ll be most interested to see who Koepka signs with. On the podcast, Vosh basically said that while Mizuno had no intention of spending without TM and Callaway, they recognized they needed to get back in the tour game. They need to make Koepka their signature player.

 

I disagree. He’s won 3 majors withOUT them paying him. What benefit would mizuno see paying him NOW?

 

on golfwrx where most know what irons he plays, no benefit. but for the rest of the golf world where a lot of people dont realize what hes playing, being able to put up ads linking koepka and mizuno has a lot of value. no contract, no koepka in mizuno ads.

 

Say they sign him to a $2 mil a year deal, do you think Brooks Koepka generates $2 mil a year in sales for Mizuno?

 

I think BK moves the needle more than people think.

[KennyP]

I'm thinking Shauffele and Callaway must part company, if they can't get a driver in his bag before the start of next season.

 

[Railroading13]

Cobra makes as good of woods as anybody, don't understand the hate

[gatorpedsMD]

Paige S. is no longer with PXG! BIG NEWS!!!

[GolfChannel]

Cobra makes as good of woods as anybody, don't understand the hate

 

Their woods are on point and their irons aren’t bad either. I don’t understand hate towards any manufacturer these days for anything other than pricing. As consumers we are lucky to be in one of golfs best equipment generations.

[Jordan Speeth]

I'll be most interested to see who Koepka signs with. On the podcast, Vosh basically said that while Mizuno had no intention of spending without TM and Callaway, they recognized they needed to get back in the tour game. They need to make Koepka their signature player.

 

I disagree. He's won 3 majors withOUT them paying him. What benefit would mizuno see paying him NOW?

 

on golfwrx where most know what irons he plays, no benefit. but for the rest of the golf world where a lot of people dont realize what hes playing, being able to put up ads linking koepka and mizuno has a lot of value. no contract, no koepka in mizuno ads.

 

Say they sign him to a $2 mil a year deal, do you think Brooks Koepka generates $2 mil a year in sales for Mizuno?

 

If OEM "X" pays a player $2MM, they're not expecting that investment to return $2MM in sales. It's more like they'd expect $20MM from it. I'd be surprised if any OEM does better than 20% on the bottom line for their clubs division, leaving out accounting contortions.

[soregongolfer]

I’ll be most interested to see who Koepka signs with. On the podcast, Vosh basically said that while Mizuno had no intention of spending without TM and Callaway, they recognized they needed to get back in the tour game. They need to make Koepka their signature player.

 

I disagree. He’s won 3 majors withOUT them paying him. What benefit would mizuno see paying him NOW?

 

on golfwrx where most know what irons he plays, no benefit. but for the rest of the golf world where a lot of people dont realize what hes playing, being able to put up ads linking koepka and mizuno has a lot of value. no contract, no koepka in mizuno ads.

 

I didn't know he used Mizuno irons, and I'm a Mizuno irons guy myself. There are so few Mizuno guys on tour that I've assumed virtually nobody uses them. I may root for ol' Brooksy now ;)

[TheInfidel]

I'm thinking Shauffele and Callaway must part company, if they can't get a driver in his bag before the start of next season.

 

Can't see this happening, he just nailed on a W, with their forged prototypes in the bag, a set of irons he's been designing for 9+ months.

[Langlands]

I’ll be most interested to see who Koepka signs with. On the podcast, Vosh basically said that while Mizuno had no intention of spending without TM and Callaway, they recognized they needed to get back in the tour game. They need to make Koepka their signature player.

 

I disagree. He’s won 3 majors withOUT them paying him. What benefit would mizuno see paying him NOW?

 

on golfwrx where most know what irons he plays, no benefit. but for the rest of the golf world where a lot of people dont realize what hes playing, being able to put up ads linking koepka and mizuno has a lot of value. no contract, no koepka in mizuno ads.

 

I didn't know he used Mizuno irons, and I'm a Mizuno irons guy myself. There are so few Mizuno guys on tour that I've assumed virtually nobody uses them. I may root for ol' Brooksy now ;)

 

A few Mizuno sets out on Tour, most without Mizuno endorsement deals.

[theboypinoy]

I’ll be most interested to see who Koepka signs with. On the podcast, Vosh basically said that while Mizuno had no intention of spending without TM and Callaway, they recognized they needed to get back in the tour game. They need to make Koepka their signature player.

 

I disagree. He’s won 3 majors withOUT them paying him. What benefit would mizuno see paying him NOW?

 

on golfwrx where most know what irons he plays, no benefit. but for the rest of the golf world where a lot of people dont realize what hes playing, being able to put up ads linking koepka and mizuno has a lot of value. no contract, no koepka in mizuno ads.

 

I didn't know he used Mizuno irons, and I'm a Mizuno irons guy myself. There are so few Mizuno guys on tour that I've assumed virtually nobody uses them. I may root for ol' Brooksy now ;)

 

A number of free agents use Mizuno, in addition to their signed staff :)

[soregongolfer]

I’ll be most interested to see who Koepka signs with. On the podcast, Vosh basically said that while Mizuno had no intention of spending without TM and Callaway, they recognized they needed to get back in the tour game. They need to make Koepka their signature player.

 

I disagree. He’s won 3 majors withOUT them paying him. What benefit would mizuno see paying him NOW?

 

on golfwrx where most know what irons he plays, no benefit. but for the rest of the golf world where a lot of people dont realize what hes playing, being able to put up ads linking koepka and mizuno has a lot of value. no contract, no koepka in mizuno ads.

 

I didn't know he used Mizuno irons, and I'm a Mizuno irons guy myself. There are so few Mizuno guys on tour that I've assumed virtually nobody uses them. I may root for ol' Brooksy now ;)

 

A number of free agents use Mizuno, in addition to their signed staff :)

 

I know there are some, but not a lot. I had no idea Brooks used Mizuno irons. Of course, I'm an odd duck on WRX. I couldn't care less what a pro swings, or my opponent or even my buddies....

[GC70]

@soregongolfer you need to hand in your WRX card! ;)