Taiwan Golf Ball Factory Fire

[kthomas]

Apparently a fire broke out at a Taiwan golf ball factory last night. 

 

9 dead and 1 missing, which is the most tragic aspect of this story.

 

Apparently this plant made balls for Callaway and some DTC brands (I'm not sure which). So there could certainly be some upcoming disruption in the golf ball market.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/International/wireStory/taiwan-factory-fire-death-toll-rises-9-after-103442592

[TNGolfer8]

I just read the story on this.  Sad and tragic for the lives lost.  Interested in seeing the DTC brands that used this factory.  

[Trippels]

"Launch Technologies is one of the largest golf ball manufacturers in the world, producing approximately 20 percent of the world’s golf ball supply. Launch Tech works closely with Callaway, notably producing the ERC Soft and SuperSoft balls. The company also makes all the balls for Topgolf. Additionally, Launch Tech supplies other OEMs with two-piece balls, including TaylorMade, Bridgestone, Mizuno and Wilson. It also services many direct-to-consumer companies. Its customer list includes OnCore, Odin, Sugar, Seed and Penfold."

[AC in TX]

20% of global OEM golf ball manufacturing? Wow - impact to golfers pockets coming soon!

 

[ND2005]

1 hour ago, AC in TX said:

20% of global OEM golf ball manufacturing? Wow - impact to golfers pockets coming soon!

 

I just ordered several dozen…I don’t think any of the brands I typically use come from this plant but the 2024 golf ball market could get messy with this…

[jholz]

Hopefully this doesn't end up like the "Great Smokeless Powder Fire" of 2020 (or whatever it was). It's still crippling the industry as far as I know. 

 

I mean, just try to find a 10lb. jug of Hogedon "Titewad" these days. Still a struggle. 

[kthomas]

7 minutes ago, jholz said:

Hopefully this doesn't end up like the "Great Smokeless Powder Fire" of 2020 (or whatever it was). It's still crippling the industry as far as I know. 

 

I mean, just try to find a 10lb. jug of Hogedon "Titewad" these days. Still a struggle. 

 

I'm also a reloader so I know your pain here.

 

A manufacturing reduction of 20% is going to effect the entire golf ball market - even those brands that weren't directly involved with this factory.

 

And unfortunately what's probably going to happen is the bigger companies, like Callaway and TM, are going to squeeze out the smaller DTC brands when looking to fill this manufacturing gap at other golf ball manufacturing facilities. 

[jholz]

1 minute ago, kthomas said:

 

I'm also a reloader so I know your pain here.

 

A manufacturing reduction of 20% is going to effect the entire golf ball market - even those brands that weren't directly involved with this factory.

 

And unfortunately what's probably going to happen is the bigger companies, like Callaway and TM, are going to squeeze out the smaller DTC brands when looking to fill this manufacturing gap at other golf ball manufacturing facilities. 

 

Yeah, it's pretty crazy when things like this happen and you realize just how tight the supplier market is. 

 

One thing goes wrong, and you can be waiting for months for the most basic product. 

 

Titewad has been my powder of choice for 1oz target loads for years. Been using Green Dot - man that stuff sucks!

[Sparty4202]

4 hours ago, ND2005 said:

I just ordered several dozen…I don’t think any of the brands I typically use come from this plant but the 2024 golf ball market could get messy with this…

I think your assessment of the 2024 ball market is going to be correct. Unfortunately I think this fire will affect the whole ball industry and prices may climb again. Not sure the major players will be giving any special pricing like the spring 4 for 3 pricing most of them offer. I was going to wait to buy my Maxfli Tours for next season but I went out this afternoon to picked up 4 dozen while they’re still on sale. 

[wfrogge1]

its going to be toilet paper all over again 

[this_is_golf]

With the amount of balls I lose, I better load up! 

Edited September 26, 2023 by this_is_golf

[sergizmo]

This should be on the GolfWRX main page. Massive story that will have long lasting effects. Come on guys, forget about the gossip crap for once (the reporter said what to Lexi?) and do a little journalism.

[cardigan]

Is it known whether or not this is the only golf ball factory that Launch Technologies owns?  None of the stories I've read say that explicitly.

[elwhippy]

My thoughts go out to all the affected staff, emergency workers and their families. A horrendous event which sounds like unsafe storage of explosive materials. 

[Simp]

3 hours ago, sergizmo said:

This should be on the GolfWRX main page. Massive story that will have long lasting effects. Come on guys, forget about the gossip crap for once (the reporter said what to Lexi?) and do a little journalism.

 

Whoa whoa whoa! Didn't anyone tell you that journalism is dead? 

[gioreeko]

On 9/25/2023 at 1:04 PM, jholz said:

 

Yeah, it's pretty crazy when things like this happen and you realize just how tight the supplier market is. 

 

One thing goes wrong, and you can be waiting for months for the most basic product. 

 

Titewad has been my powder of choice for 1oz target loads for years. Been using Green Dot - man that stuff sucks!

titewad, green dot, what the hell are you guys talking about, lol😀

[jholz]

54 minutes ago, gioreeko said:

titewad, green dot, what the hell are you guys talking about, lol😀

 

Shotgun shell powder. 

 

Alliant "Green Dot" is an old school industry standard...but rather fast and incomplete burning - leading to increased felt recoil and fouling of internal parts, Which can be a problem for GOSA (gas operated semi-automatic) target guns like my AL391.

 

"Titewad" however, is a newer powder formulation produced by Hodgdon that is highly economical (hence the name) but also has more consistent and complete burn rates. I use it for all of my 1oz  practice and dove loads. Produces a tight, hard hitting pattern out to even 60 or 70 yards.

 

I prefer "International Clays" for competition loads and IMR powders for pheasant and waterfowl.

[scott406]

^^^

The things you learn on this site

 

 

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/taiwanese-golf-ball-factory-fire-global-supply-balls-likely-impacted-callaway-seed-taylormade-wilson-mizuno

 

Here is another story on the fire from Golf Digest and this nugget at the end:

 

Launch Technologies was fined $75,000 on Monday by Taiwan officials and possibly faces criminal charges “for storing 30 times the legal limit of hazardous material and other violations.” The mayor of Pingtung county said at a news conference that Launch Technologies had 3,000 tons of organic peroxides on site, far more than the 100 tons of hazardous material that is permitted.

 

 

 

[gioreeko]

23 hours ago, jholz said:

 

Shotgun shell powder. 

 

Alliant "Green Dot" is an old school industry standard...but rather fast and incomplete burning - leading to increased felt recoil and fouling of internal parts, Which can be a problem for GOSA (gas operated semi-automatic) target guns like my AL391.

 

"Titewad" however, is a newer powder formulation produced by Hodgdon that is highly economical (hence the name) but also has more consistent and complete burn rates. I use it for all of my 1oz  practice and dove loads. Produces a tight, hard hitting pattern out to even 60 or 70 yards.

 

I prefer "International Clays" for competition loads and IMR powders for pheasant and waterfowl.

how'd it end up in golf ball talk? 

[jholz]

18 hours ago, gioreeko said:

how'd it end up in golf ball talk? 

 

I understand that "free association" can be difficult to follow at times. No worries.

 

It's just a cognitive exercise that involves drawing upon past experience to infer reasonable conclusions about the future. It's pretty advanced thinking but has proven useful throughout human history. 

 

In this specific instance, I'm utilizing free association to refer to two similar situations as a means of comparison from which we can draw reasonable conclusions.  

 

You see, it's my contention that the "Taiwan Golf Ball Factory Fire" could be highly analogous to the "Great Smokeless Powder Fire of 2017 (?)".

 

In the case of the latter, that fire resulted in a long-standing shortage of desired products.

 

If memory serves, that was the OPs concern. Would this fire impact one's ability to purchase the golf ball of their choice?

 

So, in an attempt to engage in the conversation and provide a possible answer to the OP's question, I was merely trying to draw upon my broader experience in the world - i.e. topics not directly related to golf - to offer a possible conclusion. 

 

Beyond that, there are some other shotgunners around here. We need all kinds of folks in this world, you included. 

[ahenderX]

On 9/26/2023 at 12:56 PM, elwhippy said:

Duplicate post.

Edited September 28, 2023 by ahenderX

[gioreeko]

4 hours ago, jholz said:

 

I understand that "free association" can be difficult to follow at times. No worries.

 

It's just a cognitive exercise that involves drawing upon past experience to infer reasonable conclusions about the future. It's pretty advanced thinking but has proven useful throughout human history. 

 

In this specific instance, I'm utilizing free association to refer to two similar situations as a means of comparison from which we can draw reasonable conclusions.  

 

You see, it's my contention that the "Taiwan Golf Ball Factory Fire" could be highly analogous to the "Great Smokeless Powder Fire of 2017 (?)".

 

In the case of the latter, that fire resulted in a long-standing shortage of desired products.

 

If memory serves, that was the OPs concern. Would this fire impact one's ability to purchase the golf ball of their choice?

 

So, in an attempt to engage in the conversation and provide a possible answer to the OP's question, I was merely trying to draw upon my broader experience in the world - i.e. topics not directly related to golf - to offer a possible conclusion. 

 

Beyond that, there are some other shotgunners around here. We need all kinds of folks in this world, you included. 

gotcha, not sure how this related, thanks. The only guns I need are these big ole biceps!! (shouted in a Hulk Hogan voice)

[DavidH88]

Very sad to hear the passing of the 9 or so workers/ fire crew who've lost their lives in this terrible accident. Its going to be a huge problem with the 2024 golf balls being released in the coming months and so on. However most companies will have back up factories/plants all over the world so I guess they'll be ok in the long run but short term who knows. It's going to be a long time before we find out what happened. 

 

thoughts go out to the families whose lost loved ones 😞 

[jholz]

17 hours ago, gioreeko said:

gotcha, not sure how this related, thanks. The only guns I need are these big ole biceps!! (shouted in a Hulk Hogan voice)

 

You rule dude. Appreciate the sense of humor! Glad you caught on to mine. 😁

[elwhippy]

Back up factories? Not sure there are host of ball manufacturers ready to snap up this firm's business. Add in quality control and we could see a shortage of some models. Still insignificant compared to the loss of life. 

[cardigan]

Based strictly on the brands and models that I've heard they produce (up to this point at least), I'm most intrigued by whether Callaway has enough stock (or alternate capacity somewhere to make more) of the Supersoft and the Top Golf balls to last until the factory is up and running again.  I'm fairly sure that I find more Supersoft balls than any other ball when playing at public courses.  They seem to be really popular and apparently they sell more of those than any of their other balls.  As far as the Top Golf balls go, it probably wouldn't be big deal to use a completely different ball if they had too as long it met some basic parameters (they are limited distance right?) but there is still the question of capacity and I have no idea what is needed technology-wise to put the chips in the balls.

[san2snow]

It will be interesting as the article on the front page of golfwrx had a quote from a CEO talking about all the retooling plus casting and die work that will take time…sounds like the building pretty much a complete loss.  Will definitely e curious to see how the golf ball market responds.

[LeoLeo99]

I have a year or two's worth of golf balls in my stash.  Five+ years if I play the balls in my shag bag.  

 

Sorry to hear about the loss of life.  

[Chip Duffer]

According to reports, this plant manufactured 21.6 million DOZEN balls per year. (260 million balls). This likely will impact the market.

[Socrates]

Just got an email from our Rep that does Bridgestone balls ....

 

...sad news regarding a tragic fire at a golf ball factory in Taiwan that supplies 2-piece balls to many manufacturers. This has unfortunately affected all of the lower end golf balls that we just added for 2024 and will not be able to get any deliveries on as Bridgestone now has to re-source these items, therefore we have no choice but to cancel them at this time.

The cancelled items are TreoSoft, Laddie Extreme Dbl Dz and Range Balls...