Why isn't Nicklaus Golf Equipment more mainstream?

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

I was wondering if anyone ever sees any Nicklaus Golf Equipment for sale anywhere? I don't, I was looking at the drivers on eBay, they don't look too bad.

 

The Nicklaus golf stuff just doesn't seem to be mainstream. Where is it mainly sold in the U.S.? Certainly not GG or Golfsmith...

 

Has anyone ever gamed his drivers? He has been using his own stuff since his golf equipment company started back in 1992 I think....

[chrisfx811]

My local Golf HQ franchise sells their stuff.
They were pretty hot on the drivers 2 years ago, iirc. They've got the current line of fast back dual point drivers really cheap.
They've actually got great deals on the dual slot wedges as well. The stuff never seems to sell though, until it gets real cheap.

[bscinstnct]

It is interesting.

It may be that Jack is just not that "into" golf clubs. It is also possible that putting the astronomical budgets into r&d and
marketing may present too much risk vs. reward as far as the ultimate margins go and the potential to develop outstanding
clubs but still not make money.

I think Jack makes a ton of money in course design, which would seem to be a much higher margin, consulting type business.

[tbowles411]

I have a playing partner who swears by his Air Max 440. He pounds that thing! All of their stuff is very good. Not spectacular, just very good.

[ToddGsell]

I saw full sets (clubs & bag) in Costco the other week.

One of the Golf magazines this month had a photo of drivers used by Nicklaus over the decades. According to the magazine, his current one is a Nicklaus brand driver.

Looking at the clubs, I too wondered why this brand isn't carried in more stores. I can't remember the last time I saw a Nicklaus driver on the rack at a golf shop.

[Sloth1098]

Agreed, selling the "3 tiers" of equipment can't help at all -- the brand is better known for the dept. store box sets than the Nicklaus Premium line. Also, the current clubs look, IMO, 'gimmicky" and cheap -- don't fit at all w/Jack's reputation (I know ther is a limited set of forged blades that look HOT, but the GI and SGI clubs ---ugh!!).

Also, can't help to have NO Tour prescence at all -- I guess they just don't have, or choose not to have, player representation, which is expensive but, IMO, the best marketing a manufacturer can get. Nike is BUILT on Tour rep, as are the other big guys.

Lastly, let me say I WANT to like Jack's clubs and have looked at them/hit them at the NE Golfer's Warehouse stores. THey just didn't push the right buttons for me, and have NO resale value (I'm not a true 'ho, but I know my G5's will do OK when I change out a few years down the road.

It would be cool to see the Nicklaus brand, either under Jack's ownership or as a high-end nameplate for another company, make classic-looking stix from GI to blades -- sort of fill the nich that I'd hoped Callaway would use the Hogan name for.

[JayLefty]

They sell his clubs at Edwin Watts. I hit the driver and it was pretty sweet, however it was not nice enough to buy.

[Redsoxfan]

Nicklaus clubs were sold by Nevada Bob's before they went BK. They competed with Cougar,Bullet,Peerless or Palmer and a few other brands,but were never a big seller.Jack was the greatest to me till I saw him at the Orange County PGA show after he purchased the Tony Pena brand.He changed the name of the Tony Pena irons to Nicklaus N1 and in his point of display he said he designed the club.The Tony Pena and the N1 are the same club.I lost a lot of respect for him that day.

[DH48]

There is one shop around here that has the full line. All the employees are high on it lots of them use the irons and driver. My wife wound up with a full set of hybrids and irons after her fitting. they don't charge any upcharge for substitutting hybrids in the set. They've really helped her. I really liked the mens irons too.

One of the employees claimed Jack hired the design guy from Cobra who used to be with him at MacGregor. Don't know if that's true.

[BigPete]

One of the big UK golf chains has Nicklaus as a core brand and pushes it quite hard in terms of floor space and pos etc

Golden Bear - cheap beginners stuff
Jack Nicklaus - better GI gear
Nicklaus - supposed top end

I have never seen any sticks out on the course

[InTheHole]

I used a custom built set of NS-1 irons for about a year. The shafts were pure'd and they performed pretty well. I was pleased with them.

They had smaller heads than most main-stream clubs- they worked real well out of the rough- my 4-iron cut through the grass nicely. So I either hit the sweet spot (and hit a great shot) or mis-hit and flubbed it.

I gave them up for a set of TM R7's that I'm real happy with- I like the bigger heads and sweet spot and they are more forgiving- and that's what I need right now.

[Golfdaddy44]

I have the Airmax 430 and It's a decent driver. Worth the $30 I paid on ebay 3 or 4 yrs ago. I also have the airmax irons...and they suck. They were really cheap less than $200 new 10 yrs ago. They get the ball up ok, but they have such small heads that they arent very forgiving. It's nearly impossible to work a draw or fade with them. The have made me a better ball striker though, since they are so hard to hit correctly.

[astamm8]

i had a nicklaus air bear driver years ago, and i liked it well enough. i hit it pretty well, and it seemed solid to me, although i don't think i had enough loft. that was like 1995 or so though.

i know that the line currently has some straight blades. i seem to remember that he had other sets of blades that were designed to look like the current 'regular' model that nicklaus was selling. so for instance, when the nicklaus 'the bear' linear dynamics irons were selling, i thought nicklaus himself was playing a blade made up to look similar and that these irons were also being sold by nicklaus golf.

does anybody know if this is accurate? if it is, i'd love to see some of those old blades.

[stg113]

I have a hi-max 21* hybrid in my bag that I just can't get out. Matter of fact it's the only club that has been in the bag for more than 1 year. It's an automatic 225 any direction I want to hit it. Last year I made about a 215 double eagle fading around a tree. I have thought about replacing it with a XCG from TEE but I hit this one too well to pull the trigger. It's the only Nicklaus club I have ever hit (and probably the only one I ever will). I bought it new two years ago from Golfetail shipped for $21.

[trickyric]

I just pulled up an exerpt from an article in 2005

I mentioned a long while back that Callaway Golf was looking at signing Jack Nicklaus. Well it looks like Jack will not officially sign but he does now use the Callaway HX Tour ball and has been testing the ERC Fusion driver.

[url="http://www.sirshanksalot.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=381&Itemid=41"]http://www.sirshanksalot.com/index.php?opt...1&Itemid=41[/url]

it is from 1/18/2005 about 4 and 1/2 years ago right about the time I saw Jack with the very Callaway driver I was speaking about.

[MrParr1Noid]

By the time I get this thread cleaned up, I would hope you will all help to keep it that way.

Thank You

[generalpatton]

I had the ML380 driver about 5 or 6 years ago and it was a really nice stick. Jack at the time had the same driver in his bag with a Speeder 569 in it. The current model blades are really sweet looking sticks - Edwin Watts carries them and some of the rest of the line-up. I remember when the line came out in the late 80's it was definitely high end. The brand just never went anywhere and I've wondered recently how Nicklaus can continue with equipment when I never see any of their gear anywhere. Maybe it's a bigger brand overseas but other than Edwin Watts and Martins in Myrtle Beach I never see their stuff anywhere.

[InTheHole]

So, just as a point of speculation....

There are good and not-so-good comments about the clubs in this thread. To answer the OP's original question, I would surmise the reason Nicklaus clubs aren't more mainstream comes down to advertising and not really being cutting edge.

Callaway, Taylor Made, Nike, Cobra, Cleveland... all advertise during golf programming. When's the last time you saw an ad anywhere for Nicklaus clubs?

The big companies are always advertising that they are innovative and using the latest technologies (true or not, that's their schtick).

Perception is 90% of reality to the general public.

[wkennerson]

I gave my dad a set of Nicklaus EZ-UP irons and HiMax Hybrids a couple of years ago and they are solid clubs. He nets great results with them and they handle the abuse well. My dad is not as diligent as I am about cleaning them up post round or range practice. I think they are a fine product. I am not sure how the quality might fall off with the sets offered in Costco and the like, but the ones you can purchase at a golf shop are made as well as any.

[stage1350]

If you're going to be a player in the golf equipment industry, you need to have the best out there and in every category, there's some brand that is better than Nicklaus for the same price or better.

The Nicklaus name hasn't sold a lot of clubs since he left MacGregor.

[Srixon-Ian]

I see the Nicklaus stuff at Dunham's Sports and MC Sports these stores might only be a Midwest thing though. I used to use the Nicklaus Q4 adjustable weight irons/hybrids I bought the set for $99 new at Dunham's. Overall they were great for the price.

[Bayou Kato]

So my fast swinging, lefty son came down for a visit this week and today we played the Father-Son game (I won). But in his bag was a Nicklaus hybrid. He told me he found it on a course (not like where someone had dropped it, but more like where someone had thrown it). He plays Cleveland TA-6s, a Ping driver, a Titleist FW ... he's got a taste for good equipment. And today, he takes this Nicklaus 4H out of the bag and creams it; nice high flight, nice soft landing, nice. He used it probably 5-6 more times during the day and didn't hit a bad shot with it. He was always reaching for it.

So ... maybe there is something to these clubs .... ya think?

[Srixon-Ian]

The hybrids I had are really nice, long and straight, which I needed (still need). They still are comparable to my Nickent and Srixon hybrids, I still borrow them on occasion from my Dad. They are super easy to hit well. I might just pull that whole set out for a day to see how they are

[SwingLikeElk]

I hit the DP Driver at the PGA Superstore in Plano, TX not long ago. It was nice, but like many other posts have said, might be a good buy when it drops in price.

For some reason I couldn't fing the forged irons there, but I may have been looking in the wrong area. The place is like an airport.

There are 3 levels of Nicklaus equipment. The low or mid-level stuff is in the department stores or Costco, but "Nicklaus" golf equipment is in very select retailers. It's like Wilson compared to Wilson Staff.


[url="http://www.nicklausgolf.com/"]http://www.nicklausgolf.com/[/url]

[golfnut999]

Greetings,
I would suggest that everyone try the Nicklaus Premium line.
I have tried (and continue to try) almost everything out there...........
These clubs flat out- out perform most-if not all others, at least for me.
I currently play a Dualpoint Driver-(I also own a fastback, but waiting for a different shaft to be installed)
Claw fairways and a 3 hybrid(the straightest I've ever hit)
polarity irons....
JN series wedges.
Do yourself a favor- go hit them with an open mind-you wont be disappointed.
and.....fyi- I'm not just trying to save money on clubs........I own more clubs than I should admit too.......

[mozgolf]

I see them quite a bit in South Africa. I hit the DP and Fastback drivers, they were very good, but I guess like most I went to the more popular name with the TM when I was ponying up my $$$$

Have a mate plays the Polarity irons and he loves them

[fredstar]

One quick look at them will give you the answer....damn UGLY and TACKY

[Obsessotron]

I don't think Jack is an "equipment guy". If you watch his old-skool "golf my way" videos, he is such a swing purist which makes me think that he has never been sold on the concept of equipment helping or hurting anyone's game. This is probably why he is more into course design and swing coaching.

[getinthehole]

I have the new ML3 driver and its very solid. The shape is very similar to the G15. Dual point fairway woods are also good and very cheap!

[getinthehole]

My local Edwin Watts is having a sidewalk sale this week and all the Nicklaus gear is out on the street. There isn't one Nicklaus club on the main floor. I don't see how they will stay in business, at least in the prominent stores. I feel like a fool for paying full price for an ML3 driver just a few short months ago, and now there on the sidewalk for $169.00.