What's up with Nicklaus brand golf clubs

[schmidlack]

Why does Jack continue to make golf clubs? They appear to have an extremely small market share to the point where they could not be profitable. Why bother? What is your opinion of the equipment? Is it just as good as anything else, just no marketing?

[dlygrisse]

Their top end stuff is good quality IMO, I played the Air Max driver several years ago and it was great. I have no idea if they are profitable or not, I would guess most of their sales are the box sets sold to beginners but that is just a guess.

[TheMoneyShot]

Only one retailer in my area carries Jacks clubs and they always complain because nobody ever buts them. I'm sure that company will be going under soon...

[dlygrisse]

[quote name='TheMoneyShot' timestamp='1301288951' post='3095199']
Only one retailer in my area carries Jacks clubs and they always complain because nobody ever buts them. I'm sure that company will be going under soon...
[/quote]

The only tour player that has really had any success with their own line of clubs is Hogan, but sadly Hogan is gone now too. Remember Palmer clubs? Gary Player? they are both now with Callaway. Tommy Armour clubs were once popular, but I don't know if he was actually ever an owner, maybe when they were affiliated with MacGregor, but they were MacGregors. The TA;s that were popular during the 1990's were just using his name long after he died. TAIII I don't think was ever affiliated with them, as they were named after his grandfather.

Somehow being a legendary player does not equate to selling clubs, unless they are associated with an OEM, the club designers get more street cred like Vokey, Cameron, Roger Cleveland, etc.

Funny thing about Jacks clubs, they were once the Tony Penna company, he bought it and renamed it, his original set of irons, which I owned, were just Pennas last model with Nicklaus on the sole, good clubs but they just never became popular. Maybe they will survive simply because they don't spend tons on advertising or sponsoring tour players, low overhead sometimes equals success.

[TheMoneyShot]

Wasn't lee janzen sponsored by Niclaus back in the early mid 90's?

[Ernie1060]

may be a dumb question but didnt Jack play his own clubs?

[mozgolf]

I think they sell a lot better in markets outside the US where people are more interested in value for money and less concerned with the latest tour trends. At the end of the day the clubs are actually fine at their respective price points. The materials are just the same as the mainstream OEMs

[suwdawg]

[quote name='Ernie1060' timestamp='1301295286' post='3095281']
may be a dumb question but didnt Jack play his own clubs?
[/quote]

Yep.

[suwdawg]

[quote name='mozgolf' timestamp='1301305547' post='3095336']
I think they sell a lot better in markets outside the US where people are more interested in value for money and less concerned with the latest tour trends. At the end of the day the clubs are actually fine at their respective price points. The materials are just the same as the mainstream OEMs
[/quote]


probably so I played the air max driver back in the day and it was a good one.

[sandman]

Surprising clubs actually. I have found the AirMax line of woods to be every bit as good as most OEM lines.
His club designer does some very good work, the quality is there and the customer service is top notch.

Shafts are from Fujikura and are also pretty good for OEM type shafts.

They offer different levels of club lines and the good ones are very good, but for some reason, they don't get the attention they deserve. Maybe a marketing problem on their part and the lack of Tour exposure probably doesn't help. It seems a lot of people want to play what the pros play, but the expense limits a lot of good companies from going that route.

I see they are now a sponsor here now and maybe someone from the company will be posting more info on their equipment here.

[Prut]

Back in '05 or so, I attended the opening of a Nicklaus course on Virginia's Eastern Shore on a media pass. Jack put on a demonstration that day at which he went on at length about his clubs being as good as any others out there, just that other companies spent more on marketing than he grossed.

I was impressed and got the Air Max driver. I really liked it and went back looking for irons, but I found at the time that his top line irons were as expensive as anything else out there. I haven't looked at them since.

[eqman]

The problem is that in the USA the perception of whats good is weighted heavily on the side of what the Tour Pros play and the amount of money the companys spend in advertising to keep their products in front of the consumers constantly.....Nicklaus clubs are as good as anything but do not enjoy the coverage in stores they need to be a major player........It takes money to promote a company and keep it up there.... Nicklaus just doesn`t have that kind of money to do it......Without the ability to keep his clubs in stores across the country sales arn`t brisk to say the least....Plus the resale isn`t good because of the above.....

[Golfdaddy44]

I played Air Max irons for many years. I bought them for less than $200 in 2001. Back then $200 couldn't get you much of anything in new irons and not much in a used set either. I played the Air Max 430 driver for a while too. The irons were good at getting the ball up, not much control though. The driver could be a beast when I was on.

I felt that the clubs were adequate, but the Pings I play now are far superior.

[harrison101]

Iv'e heard that he's golf set's are pretty successful especially with the beginners crowd and youth. They most likely associate a great player with great clubs. There's not a huge market of manufacturers making juniors sets, mainly because they demographic outgrows the product fairly quickly but Nicklaus Golf I believe has a pretty good grasp on this market segment.

[luciddream]

[quote name='mozgolf' timestamp='1301305547' post='3095336']
I think they sell a lot better in [b]markets outside the US[/b] where people are more interested in value for money and less concerned with the latest tour trends. At the end of the day the clubs are actually fine at their respective price points. The materials are just the same as the mainstream OEMs
[/quote]


Must be true. They have two players on the LPGA in Jina Lim an Jiyai Shin.

[Obsessotron]

[quote name='luciddream' timestamp='1301336094' post='3096473']
[quote name='mozgolf' timestamp='1301305547' post='3095336']
I think they sell a lot better in [b]markets outside the US[/b] where people are more interested in value for money and less concerned with the latest tour trends. At the end of the day the clubs are actually fine at their respective price points. The materials are just the same as the mainstream OEMs
[/quote]


Must be true. They have two players on the LPGA in Jina Lim an Jiyai Shin.
[/quote]

Jiyai Shin is one hell of a winner too. They barely do anything to flaunt it, she wears a tiny Golden Bear logo on her jacket and that's it. If I had a player like that on my roster I would do more to highlight it.

[EasyDDI]

Here in Switzerland, they sell a lot of Nicklaus clubs. They do not sell any Nike clubs (impossible to find VR Pros to test them for example), people here see it as a running gear brand only. It is a matter of brand image.

[DH48]

They make good clubs. My wife has a combo set of hybrids and irons. They let you substitute hybrids for irons at not upcharge which is nice for high handicappers and women.

[monkeyman]

years ago, like 2002, Nicklaus golf made some pretty good Airmax drivers. They were sold for $250-300, when the major OEM's (Ping, Callaway, Taylor Made, Titleist) were all in the $400 to 500 range. Because of the competitive price they were popular in my area, I always saw lots of Airmax drivers around the course.

Well a little later, Ping came out with the G2 at $299, and all the others (except Titleist) came out with at least one line of titanium drivers at that same price point.

In my opinion, that really hurt Nicklaus' sales. A lot of buyers would always choose Ping or Callaway over Nicklaus given the same price.

There is also the fact that Nicklaus makes some lower priced box sets. I think I remember seeing Golden Bear branded sets at Sam's and Walmart. Irrespective of the actual quality of their clubs, there is a discount store stigma that will turn off a lot of equipment buyers.

[ws6]

[quote name='TheMoneyShot' timestamp='1301290471' post='3095232']
Wasn't lee janzen sponsored by Niclaus back in the early mid 90's?
[/quote]

Yep, he won The Players' with Nicklaus clubs in 95.

[jb93]

I remember hitting a set of the N1 irons that Nicklaus put out in the late 80s/early 90s. They were solid.

[Ozsouthpaw]

[quote name='Obsessotron' timestamp='1301338303' post='3096557']
[quote name='luciddream' timestamp='1301336094' post='3096473']
[quote name='mozgolf' timestamp='1301305547' post='3095336']
I think they sell a lot better in [b]markets outside the US[/b] where people are more interested in value for money and less concerned with the latest tour trends. At the end of the day the clubs are actually fine at their respective price points. The materials are just the same as the mainstream OEMs
[/quote]


Must be true. They have two players on the LPGA in Jina Lim an Jiyai Shin.
[/quote]

Jiyai Shin is one hell of a winner too. They barely do anything to flaunt it, she wears a tiny Golden Bear logo on her jacket and that's it. If I had a player like that on my roster I would do more to highlight it.
[/quote]

[Ozsouthpaw]

Shin has played muzzles for last few years and is now contracted to them

[Ozsouthpaw]

Shin has played mizuno for last two years at least and is now contracted. I did observe the bear on her shirt though

[whistle]

I own 3 sets of the CT model, I love the clubs, I have a set with regular shafts a set I have put KBS tour shafts into, and a set I have fitted graphite shafts into. My Driver is a Ping g400 max putter and utility by Cleveland. I play off 14 but I’m not ashamed to have Nicklaus irons in my bag.

[Davidv]

Not sure why anyone would buy them, they just do not stack up look wise nor performance wise when compared with the top manufactures.

[kevina001]

> @Davidv said:

> Not sure why anyone would buy them, they just do not stack up look wise nor performance wise when compared with the top manufactures.

 

Strong disagree. Still play my Nicklaus Dual Point driver and fairway woods, and Nicklaus JNP irons. As good as anything out there.

[Davidv]

> @kevina001 said:

> > @Davidv said:

> > Not sure why anyone would buy them, they just do not stack up look wise nor performance wise when compared with the top manufactures.

>

> Strong disagree. Still play my Nicklaus Dual Point driver and fairway woods, and Nicklaus JNP irons. As good as anything out there.

 

lol funny post.

[BlkNGld]

> @dlygrisse said:

>

> Remember Palmer clubs? Gary Player? they are both now with Callaway.

>

At the Masters par3 I noticed Player sporting a PXG lid.

Must be because their logo syncs up with his.

 

 

[dlygrisse]

> @BlkNGld said:

> > @dlygrisse said:

> >

> > Remember Palmer clubs? Gary Player? they are both now with Callaway.

> >

> At the Masters par3 I noticed Player sporting a PXG lid.

> Must be because their logo syncs up with his.

>

>

 

> @Davidv said:

> > @kevina001 said:

> > > @Davidv said:

> > > Not sure why anyone would buy them, they just do not stack up look wise nor performance wise when compared with the top manufactures.

> >

> > Strong disagree. Still play my Nicklaus Dual Point driver and fairway woods, and Nicklaus JNP irons. As good as anything out there.

>

> lol funny post.

 

You knuckleheads do realize you are replying to posts from 2011 right?