Winter jacket suggestions

[mileslong]

I finally received my fully insulated Norse in L and it fits great. If anyone is looking to dump either a L or M in fully insulated Norse in navy I would be happy to buy them.

[kobe123]

Yeah, now I do not know what to order. And if I should order a large in something else or a medium. The large Ping Breaker Jacket fits really nice.

[Bill Broderick]

Yeah. That's far longer than I've experienced. I'm 5' 11" and have worn XXL. I find the sleeves to be long. But the body on mine haven't been nearly as long as you have experienced. I've only worn 2 of the 5 that I currently own (navy & grey). I don't know if PING is using different factories for different colors. But, with some other manufacturers of clothing, I've definitely found cases where different colors of an item are sized differently than one another. I've always attributed that to multiple factories. I have no idea if that's the case here or not. It's just a thought.

[kobe123]

I'll take some pictures tonight with it on me and a tape measure to show you all the differences in sizing. UA Quarter Zip vs Ping.

[Bill Broderick]

I just put on one of my Elden's. If I pull it down as far as it will go, then I agree with you, it's long. But, it has an elastic band around the waist that allows the shirt to sit at the hips. So, when I actually wear it, it's exactly as long as I want it to be.

[Warrick]

Snagged 2 Knox as gifts for others, hope they are keepers

[Bill Broderick]

The smaller of my two Knoxes arrived yesterday. Other than being about 10-15 pounds too small for me, it's very nice. Super soft. I'm looking forward both my larger one arriving later this week as well as losing the weight that will allow me to comfortably fit into the smaller one.

[rjp217]

Just ordered a couple Corey long-sleeves. This deal needs to end before it ends me. I’m half hoping nothing fits so i can return it all ?

[I_HATE_SNOW]

Norse 2 showed up, size XXL, smaller than I anticipated and the arms are shorter than I would like. Same size as most XL jackets I own. Same fit as my XXL KJUS rain jacket.

[Unteachable]

Anyone have any feedback good or bad on the Norse vest? Thinking of placing another order.

some of my rain gear should be here today or tomorrow

[tropics]

Norse fully insulated medium just marked as shipped... ordered yesterday and was in backordered status earlier today. i was prepared for the worst.

 

[aiyyer]

Received a medium zonal and fleece jacket. I’m usually a medium or a large but these are a size too small.

 

[onetime19]

Anyone have a Norse Primaloft Zone II snorkel blue in a medium they want to swap for a large, just got mine and it's a hair too big for golf, may also keep for casual wear.

[Unteachable]

I got the short sleeve zero gravity rain shirt in and i have to say it may be the perfect summer rain shirt. Slim fitting, good stretch, very light weight, and the arm holes on the sleeves aren't huge like most rain tops.

I like it so much I think Im going to send back the long sleeve one because I dont think I would use it. Its so thin it won't add any warmth and not roomy enough to wear over layers in the winter if it rains.

By the way, its a much nicer, darker blue color in person and it packs down into one of the front pockets really small

PING Men's Zero Gravity Tour Short Sleeve Rain Golf Pullover | TGW.com

[chris975d]

It's a shame that only in this end of the line sale that so many people are only now seeing how good PING apparel is.

[Unteachable]

Have you confirmed with your rep that they are out of apparel for good? Or maybe just taking a little hiatus?

[chris975d]

Without going into too much detail here, my opinion is yes, they are done. I hope I'm wrong, but I have been in this business for quite a while, and that's what it looks like to me.

[Bill Broderick]

In your opinion, what has been the biggest factor in preventing widespread distribution of PING apparel? As far as I can tell, TGW is the only national retailer with a wide selection of PING apparel. PGA Tour Superstore has a limited number of styles in PING clothing. But, none of the PING items that I've seen on their site have been available in the brick & mortar stores.

[wagsgt]

I ordered short and long sleeve too. Your probably right about long sleeve one but was such a good value I’m debating sending back

[Unteachable]

Not Chris but my opinion on the Ping stuff is everything is about double the price it should be. Ping has always been great performance and good/competitive prices relative to their peers on clubs but the apparel is just too expensive. Most of the basic polos are $80 which just doesn't fly, even if its nicer than adidas and nike. Its still all made in some sweatshop for a couple of dollars at most. At these cheap prices, they can't be beat, especially the rain gear.

[chris975d]

Apparel is a tough nut to crack. At my level (green grass, daily fee golf course proshop), it’s really hard for a newer company to come in and take market share from...well...mainly FootJoy at this level. Most buyers (people in my position) know that FootJoy has such a stranglehold on the average golf consumer’s mindspace...the brand(s) they naturally think about when they think of what’s supposed to be in a proshop for sale, and what is a “trusted” brand. Also, FootJoy apparel more or less sells itself off of name/brand recognition, not too much unlike the ProV1 golf ball, so proshop managers/buyers don’t have to really “work” to sell it. It’s a safe play.

On top of that, PING came in with a very premium priced product. I’m speaking in terms of their more recent refocus when they brought apparel styling and design in-house and broke away from Columbia sportswear making/designing their gear. So a lot of people in my position who didn’t know any better more than likely still thought of PING apparel as a Columbia rebrand, which wasn’t the best quality. And without getting a rep in front of you to tell you that story (if you didn’t research it/learn of it on your own as I did) and let you see, touch, and feel the products in hand, and see the quality and tech that was going into it, there was really no way for the buyers for those accounts to know that it was most definitely worth the prices being asked for it. I’ll freely admit that at first it was a very hard sell for me to sell to my customers, even with a name like PING on it. But as people heard me talk about it and even see it on me/me wearing it every day...this is one tactic I’ve found that really helps sales...seeing us in it (assuming we look at least halfway decent in it!), it’s just now, this year, gotten to be a good seller for me.

[Bill Broderick]

As did I, despite the fact that I already bought last year's full zip long sleeve zero gravity jacket from Chris earlier this year. I plan on keeping them all. Depending on the time of year, I will probably be packing one or the other of the new ones in my bag all of the time.

[chris975d]

See, I don’t think it’s that. FootJoy has zero issues selling $75+ polos, even at a daily fee facility like I’m at. But, as I stated in my reply above, they have built the brand image to do that. People “know” the FootJoy brand in relation to an $80 polo, and expect that. I don’t think they expected it from PING at this point. I mean, their wholesale and MSRP falls right in line in almost every category that they share with FootJoy, UA, etc, but yet have a way better product in terms of quality. I just think they could have done a better job of getting in front of account buyers. I was lucky in that I had an amazing rep that exceeded expectations (both mine and corporate).

[Unteachable]

You definitely have a better pulse on sales than I do so i hear you. I'm not the type to buy $80 shirts from anyone even though I can afford it. I just stock up when these types of sales come up. But since you have turned me on to Ping, I haven't bought a single UA, Nike or any other golf brand polo or pullover/outwear I dont think (I've bought some bonobos pants recently). I do think Ping hasn't been able to get in shops or even edwin watts/other stores for whatever reason. Titleist/FJ seems to have a strangle hold on most pro shops around here in balls, shoes, apparel etc.

[chris975d]

Like I say, it’s a tough nut to crack. PING definitely wanted to make a premium product, but it’s hard to get into pro shops and bigger retail shops (PGASS, Edwin Watts, etc) with a premium product without a history, or a history of spotty success (the previous PING products made by Columbia). On the other hand, it’s not the best strategy to enter a market with lower prices (I’m sure PING could have absorbed the hit of entering the market with unbeatable prices) to get brand awareness, then raising prices gradually to the premium levels. That strategy almost always gets the consumer to think of the brand always and forever at the lower prices, and never shakes that brand image/perception.

 

I think the strategy should have been to just ride it out. The quality is/was becoming known, and I think it would have paid off in the long run. It wasn’t like the product wasn’t selling...they sold out VERY QUICKLY of the first year’s product (2018). Heck, by the time my rep got around to me, most everything was sold out. It wasn’t until this full year (2019) that I was able to get in front of things and get my prebooks in place like I wanted.

[Bill Broderick]

As far as polos are concerned, I would argue that the styling of FootJoy shirts is significantly nicer than the styling of PING shirts. I bought my first FootJoy shirt earlier this year and quickly realized that, in addition to the appearance, I really like the feel, fit and performance of that shirt. That led me to be far more willing to spend $80 for another FootJoy shirt. I cant't say that I've seen a PING shirt that looks nice enough that it would entice me to make that first $80 purchase.

[chris975d]

After handling (and wearing) each of them for the past...umpteen years (for FJ), I see it exactly the opposite. FJ shirts (to me) are a very poor cut/fit, average materials (they feel like literally every polyester/"performance" shirt to me), and don't hold up very well. PING, granted I'm talking about their higher end polos...Ridge, Karsten II, Forge, Spike, and others just off the top of my head...I'd have to get my catalog at work as I forget the names of some of the PING in my closet) are a much higher quality. Feel more like Galvin Green, Ralph Lauren, J Lindeberg, etc as far as the materials go, and just have some well thought out features (of course a company owned by engineers would) like the hidden button down collar feature (so that your collar doesn't look ratty/out of place after a few washes), and mine have held up longer than FJ shirts acquired at the same time. Now I do like FJ stuff too, but only their Athletic Fit stuff here in the US, or any of their stuff from Europe (Euro FJ is a totally different cut, much slimmer and tailored and about a size and a half smaller than the US cut).

If you've ever held the FootJoy 1857 line, the absurdly priced FootJoy stuff, I see/feel a lot of similarities in construction and materials between it and the higher end PING stuff.

[Bill Broderick]

The point that I was attempting to make is that the relatively bland styling of PING shirts, makes it less likely for a first time buyer to think "that's a nice looking shirt. I'll get that one.", specifically if they are ordering online where they can't feel the fabric before buying, than they are with a FootJoy shirt. I think that styling gets that first sale and then the quality of that first item becomes a big driver of subsequent sales. Without already knowing the quality of a PING shirt, none of their shirts have the appearance that has made me want to buy one. As someone who really likes PING equipment, if they had nicer looking shirts (at least in Onlne photos), I probably would have bought one a long time ago.

[bunta]

Ive bad mouthed Ping apparel before (specifically their polos) on here and have since decided to not to do that because i love Ping clubs and their brand as a whole. I dabbed into Ping apparel (polos) very briefly last year and i was so dissapointed with all of them, that i returned everyhting out of spite. Even the one polo that i loved. I could literally have two polos together, same year, both Large's and there would be significant size difference. One Large of model A would fit nice, but then a Large from the other model would fit like a parachute on me. Then ill buy the same model A that fit nice on me in a different color, and the sleeves would be a full inch tighter. It was like the biggest wtf moment for me. It was very frustrating. And the material wasnt the best either.

At this moment, thanks to chris, i am an original Norse owner, and this thing is not going anywhere. I just bought the Norse Zoned for $49 and im very happy with it. Ill be using it for when its in the 50's or whenever the original Norse is too warm to wear.

[chris975d]

Ah. I understand. I guess that’s where personal styling and choice come into play. The look is exactly what drew me to PING to start with. Then, getting to hear the backstories into design and styling from my rep made me like them even more. PING did design everything, as a whole, to a younger demographic, and one that would like more Euro styling (colors, patterns, fit). Their design team/firm is based in Europe actually (and one of the reasons I think they may still sell/distribute overseas). The styling and fit is definitely not FootJoy-esque, at least not American FootJoy (and again, probably one of the reasons I prefer the Euro FootJoy stuff). But it is all ”me” to a T. And I guess now that I think about it, my easiest sales of PING are to the customers that are the “fashionistos/as” that are into clothing as a whole, and are into more Euro styling.

tldr, PING May have just missed the preferences (colors, patterns, fit, etc) of the American market by deciding to bring a Euro clothing line to the US unaltered. Maybe they should have just designed specifically for an American market, more along the lines of what FootJoy does.