Buying golf balls...a pause for consideration.

[NoTalentLefty]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/how-the-business-of-making-golf-balls-saved-four-small-american-towns/amp

 

 

[BogeyParBogey]

Thanks for the post.

Dave

[jjfcpa]

I was not aware of this and now feeling guilty about playing a ball not made in the USA. Will consider this when current stock is used up.

[bladehunter]

Excellent post OP. Especially the part about the lady from the liberty TM plant putting notes of encouragement in tour players boxes of balls going out. That plant is an hour from me. And I can tell you that is a fitting story for describing the local people here.

[NoTalentLefty]

> @jjfcpa said:

> I was not aware of this and now feeling guilty about playing a ball not made in the USA. Will consider this when current stock is used up.

 

Wasn’t trying to make anyone feel guilty. I understand buying balls is a preference, and we can’t help if that ball is made somewhere else . But I like the DT TruSoft and it’s made here so I got that going for me... teeheeheehee

[Titleist_PT23]

It's a good article but I'm not sure what the answer is. For those that love the game of golf, I'm sure paying a bit more for golf balls is a drop in the bucket (you could cut the cost differential in 10 other areas of spending if it really mattered). But even those that want to support the USA made golf balls, I'd bet the majority of these people are happy with their cheap electronics, clothes, etc. I.e. there was a negative impact on some group of people there too - you just don't happen to care as much there.

 

I am interested in how this relates to where (what cost) a tour level ball can really be produced. I'm assuming Snell's stuff is good at $28 a dozen (i.e. it can be lower cost with less marketing than these four guys). But is $15 a dozen just not doable? People thought it was - just contract it out elsewhere, beat them over the head with volume, etc, etc, etc. And then the covers fall off...

[bladehunter]

> @agolf1 said:

> It's a good article but I'm not sure what the answer is. For those that love the game of golf, I'm sure paying a bit more for golf balls is a drop in the bucket (you could cut the cost differential in 10 other areas of spending if it really mattered). But even those that want to support the USA made golf balls, I'd bet the majority of these people are happy with their cheap electronics, clothes, etc. I.e. there was a negative impact on some group of people there too - you just don't happen to care as much there.

>

> I am interested in how this relates to where (what cost) a tour level ball can really be produced. I'm assuming Snell's stuff is good at $28 a dozen (i.e. it can be lower cost with less marketing than these four guys). But is $15 a dozen just not doable? People thought it was - just contract it out elsewhere, beat them over the head with volume, etc, etc, etc. And then the covers fall off...

 

Yep. It’s a very interesting topic. Too bad it can’t be discussed with both sides in a real way. Or at least it hasn’t been yet. $15 seems to be impossible. I’d say the lower limit for actual repeatable production is around $25 ish. That’s minus a large ad campaign and any tour presence.

 

As for the other goods you listed. You have a point now that options are gone. But I for one bought US options until they dried up. In my buying lifetime VCRs TVs and refrigerators were still made here. And Ford vehicles and ping golf clubs etc etc, then Slowly the options left. I hate to see golf balls do the same. Especially for no other reason than saving $4 on a box of balls. Because don’t kid yourself. The prices aren’t coming down much it any. Only thing that will drop is quality. The margin on each will then rise.

[Warrior42111]

> @agolf1 said:

> It's a good article but I'm not sure what the answer is. For those that love the game of golf, I'm sure paying a bit more for golf balls is a drop in the bucket (you could cut the cost differential in 10 other areas of spending if it really mattered). But even those that want to support the USA made golf balls, I'd bet the majority of these people are happy with their cheap electronics, clothes, etc. I.e. there was a negative impact on some group of people there too - you just don't happen to care as much there.

>

> I am interested in how this relates to where (what cost) a tour level ball can really be produced. I'm assuming Snell's stuff is good at $28 a dozen (i.e. it can be lower cost with less marketing than these four guys). But is $15 a dozen just not doable? People thought it was - just contract it out elsewhere, beat them over the head with volume, etc, etc, etc. And then the covers fall off...

 

It's probably one of the toughest balancing acts we need to do as a country. Yes, I want jobs for our workers for than anything, but truth be told we can not be the best at everything as that spreads you too thin. IMO we need to look at what can be done here, golf equipment wise that can compete with quality and price abroad albeit through competition or slight tariffs. Right now Asia is in a huge golf boom, much like the tiger effect here in the 2000s. So more and more plants are popping up there. Lastly, I think we need to focus on industries that are and will be there in the future. I don't want kids getting degrees or trade educations in a field that is or should be dying out.

[cristphoto]

I'm all for saving and supporting American jobs. However when I looked at the four boxes of ProV1X balls I have they all say made in Thailand.

[bladehunter]

> @cristphoto said:

> I'm all for saving and supporting American jobs. However when I looked at the four boxes of ProV1X balls I have they all say made in Thailand.

 

That depends on where you buy them. Online is likely to get a Thailand made box. West coast might too in store. East and Midwest is almost 100 % US made.

[caniac6]

It's hard to justify spending the additional money to buy Titleist vs Snell. I know Snell is made overseas, but I really don't want to pay for Titleist's advertising and promotional budget.

[North Butte]

> @caniac6 said:

> ...I really don't want to pay for Titleist's advertising and promotional budget.

 

Fortunately, you don't have to. Their stockholders pay for that, you just have to pay for the balls you buy.

 

 

[caniac6]

> @"North Butte" said:

> > @caniac6 said:

> > ...I really don't want to pay for Titleist's advertising and promotional budget.

>

> Fortunately, you don't have to. Their stockholders pay for that, you just have to pay for the balls you buy.

>

>

 

Still, $30 vs $48 for balls that perform very much the same for me, is a huge difference.

[North Butte]

> @caniac6 said:

> > @"North Butte" said:

> > > @caniac6 said:

> > > ...I really don't want to pay for Titleist's advertising and promotional budget.

> >

> > Fortunately, you don't have to. Their stockholders pay for that, you just have to pay for the balls you buy.

> >

> >

>

> Still, $30 vs $48 for balls that perform very much the same for me, is a huge difference.

 

Exactly. You like not paying the extra $18. It's not about various line items in Titleist's corporate budget.

[caniac6]

> @"North Butte" said:

> > @caniac6 said:

> > ...I really don't want to pay for Titleist's advertising and promotional budget.

>

> Fortunately, you don't have to. Their stockholders pay for that, you just have to pay for the balls you buy.

>

>

 

I figured they passed that expense on to the consumer.

[bladehunter]

You can get X out marked v1 and v1x for $19.99. Literary have a blemish that only an X-ray or magnification can see. You can get the 3 box deal and pay I think $37 a box. People shouting $49 for titleist is a really tired cop out that’s inaccurate at best.

[North Butte]

> @bladehunter said:

> You can get X out marked v1 and v1x for $19.99. Literary have a blemish that only an X-ray or magnification can see. You can get the 3 box deal and pay I think $37 a box. People shouting $49 for titleist is a really tired cop out that’s inaccurate at best.

 

After deal-hunting continuously for years I decided to a) save myself some effort and b) throw at least a little business in the direction of my club's pro shop. I had them order me the 4 dozen deal of Pro V1x for something like $150 including local taxes. I'll probably run a little short before next spring and may grab a dozen or two on the $39.99 holiday markdown Titleist usually runs. It'll end up being about $240 all-in for a year's worth of balls (six dozen). If I can't afford that I can't afford a lot of other golf spending I do routinely.

 

I keep my slightly beat-up used Pro V1x along with any Pro V1x's I happen to find on the golf course (surprisingly often) and use them for hitting a second or third ball during practice rounds and so forth. That's when I tend to lose most of my balls, trying different shot or different lines than I'd usually aim on and ended up blasting one into woods or water. During actual playing for score I'm fairly conservative and only lose a ball every 2-3 rounds.

[NoTalentLefty]

It is a hard balancing act to buy American. Let’s face it some of the countries, where balls are made, have been allies for years like Thailand and Taiwan.

[cristphoto]

> @bladehunter said:

> > @cristphoto said:

> > I'm all for saving and supporting American jobs. However when I looked at the four boxes of ProV1X balls I have they all say made in Thailand.

>

> That depends on where you buy them. Online is likely to get a Thailand made box. West coast might too in store. East and Midwest is almost 100 % US made.

 

I'm in the DC area and purchased from local Dicks and Golf Galaxy at various times this year.

[bladehunter]

> @cristphoto said:

> > @bladehunter said:

> > > @cristphoto said:

> > > I'm all for saving and supporting American jobs. However when I looked at the four boxes of ProV1X balls I have they all say made in Thailand.

> >

> > That depends on where you buy them. Online is likely to get a Thailand made box. West coast might too in store. East and Midwest is almost 100 % US made.

>

> I'm in the DC area and purchased from local Dicks and Golf Galaxy at various times this year.

That’s curious then. Im in S.C. and haven’t found a box with Thailand on it unless I ordered online .

 

[NRJyzr]

> @"North Butte" said:

> > @caniac6 said:

> > ...I really don't want to pay for Titleist's advertising and promotional budget.

>

> Fortunately, you don't have to. Their stockholders pay for that, you just have to pay for the balls you buy.

>

>

 

No, the stockholders aren't paying for their marketing budget. It's baked into the bottom line, which means their product prices.

[North Butte]

> @NRJyzr said:

> > @"North Butte" said:

> > > @caniac6 said:

> > > ...I really don't want to pay for Titleist's advertising and promotional budget.

> >

> > Fortunately, you don't have to. Their stockholders pay for that, you just have to pay for the balls you buy.

> >

> >

>

> No, the stockholders aren't paying for their marketing budget. It's baked into the bottom line, which means their product prices.

 

Everything is "baked into" the bottom line of a corporation. But the prices are set by what people will pay. If YOU are not willing to pay for a TP5 or a Pro V1 then you don't pay it. Wouldn't matter if they had zero advertising budget or if they paid every Tour player on earth a million bucks a year. You either think the balls are worth $40-something a dozen or you don't. It's the collective willingness of people like you and people like me to pay those prices that determines them.

 

Spending more or less on advertising and promotion means more or less profit for the corporation. They can't set prices arbitrarily to pay for advertising or any other line item "baked in to their bottom line".

 

I remember back in the 80's there was a brief "thing" where people would figure up that something like $73.82 of their incomes taxes went to pay for [fill in the blank] government program that they didn't like. So they'd leave out $73.82 when they paid their taxes as a supposed "protest". This thing of "I don't want to support Titleist's advertising" makes about as much sense.

 

There's nothing in world wrong with preferring to use only golf balls you can buy for $20 or $25 or $30 a dozen. But saying it's some sort of ethical or value judgement on how the golf ball company spends it's money just doesn't make any sense.

[caniac6]

I really don't care how any of the big companies spend their marketing dollars, I've just found that the Snell MBT-X plays about the same as the PROV1X for me. I think it's great that they can sell their ball for a lot less than Titleist, too. It's also nice to get a handwritten "thank you" from Dean, as well. I've never had anyone from Titleist say thanks for buying their balls.