Equipment
Checking in with Mitchell Golf after acquisition by Caster Concepts
Last July, we reported Mitchell Golf Equipment Company, industry leader in loft and lie machines and other golf club bending equipment, was seeking a buyer. Founder and CEO Ed Mitchell was hoping for absorption into a larger company to reduce overhead and capitalize on the efficiencies of being nested inside a larger manufacturer.
As of December 1, Caster Concepts, a manufacturer of heavy duty industrial casters, purchased all assets of Mitchell Golf, and the the company has relocated to Caster’s facility in Albion, Michigan.
Ed Mitchell explained at the time the announcement, “Certainly partnering with a caster company was not my first thought, [but] when I met Bill Dobbins President, Brian Burt Controller and Andrew Dobbins General Manager, and fully understood the expertise that was within their company, it was clear there was a great fit for my company.”
Now a couple of months into the new arrangement, we caught up with Mr. Mitchell by phone to see how things are going.
I asked how they got linked up with Caster Concepts in the first place.
“We were looking for someone that could provide the machining and metal fabrication in house that we didn’t have…to find that already in the golf industry was very difficult.”
“I happened on a firm just 20 miles west of Jackson, which is my hometown. The son of the owner of the firm [Andrew Dobbins] had spent about eight or 10 years as a PGA Professional and he was familiar with our machines. So they had a connection to the industry, and with their in-house manufacturing, it seemed like a great fit.”
Mitchell indicated Castor Concepts offers a full buffet of resources.
“This company does business all over the world. They have a very sound grounding in manufacturing. They have a laser cutter. They have polyurethane capabilities. The have powder coating. They have in-house painting. They have in-house welding as well as all types of machining…all the tools that are needed to produce the precision parts that go into our machines. We’re able to take ideas from skratchpad all the way to production.”
Mitchell also told us a few of the ways the the arrangement will help the company are
- Get delivery times back to within days.
- Add new design features the current line, as well as continue to improve on our machines.
- Reinstate the company’s training schools, as well as offer an internet-based training program.
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- Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.
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What are the driver and shaft combinations of the best golfers in the world? For gearheads, it’s an endlessly interesting question — even if we can only ever aspire to play LS heads and 7 TX shafts.
At this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, GolfWRX got in-hand looks at the driver setups of a wealth of players.
Check out some of the most interesting combos below, then head to the GolfWRX forums for the rest, as well as the rest of our galleries from New Orleans.
Rory McIlroy
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alex Fitzpatrick
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Daniel Berger
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees @9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Rasmus Hojgaard
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alejandro Tosti
Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees @10.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 6.5
Grip: Golf Pride MCC Plus4
James Nicholas
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (8 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Kevin Streelman
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Sang-moon Bae
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (9+ @8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Russ Cochran
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP 6 X
Grip: Golf pride MCC Align 
MJ Daffue
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (10.5 degrees @9.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
Grip: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord Align
Check our more photos from the Zurich Classic here.
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- Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Utility: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (3), Callaway X Forged (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S, 56-10S, 60-06C)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled Eight T DB
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Hojgaard in the forums.
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Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)
Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
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Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)...
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Rory McIlroy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus...
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Steve
Mar 17, 2017 at 4:35 pm
No mention here about Ed Mitchell sneaking out if Dayton Ohio on the weekend still owing vendors thousands of dollars.
Scooter6
Feb 17, 2017 at 10:34 am
I have had the pleasure to meet Mr. Mitchell, his son Tom, and Dodger the cat. What a fine family! Really great people and I hope this is the future they hoped for.
Chuck
Feb 16, 2017 at 6:22 pm
This is great news, and a nice and a timely report. Ed Mitchell has lots of roots in that area (Albion-Jackson). Ed Mitchell WAS the old Mitchell Golf, and he has so incredibly much historic knowledge. Back before there were any tour vans to speak of, Mitchell Golf had a little van at the Masters. He’s got amazing stories, and I hope that someone can help publicize them at this point in Ed’s life. Somebody should do a long-form interview with him.
Bubba: since SuperStroke Grips, Carl’s Golfland, Miles of Golf, the Eaton (Golfpride) Corporation… oh, and three of the largest manufacturing companies in the world (General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Fiat-Chrysler Automotive) and the world’s leading autonomous vehicle research center all make their homes in Michigan, I think our productive class is doing fine, thank you very little.
Chuck
Feb 18, 2017 at 12:04 am
Please get a real name.