The way clubs are sold has harmed golf

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Tom Wishon served as Vice President of GolfWorks from 1980 to 1986. From 1986 to 1993, he was president of Dynacraft Golf Products, and from 1993 to 2002 he was Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for Golfsmith International. Wishon started his own company, Tom Wishon Golf Technology, in 2003.  

I read with great interest the article by Kevin Crook, The Focus on Equipment has Hurt Golf, in which he basically said it’s almost a waste of time to go buy new golf clubs because you have no way of knowing if what you buy is going to help or harm your ability to play the game.

The main thing I took away from Kevin’s article is that he is yet one more confused and frustrated victim of the longtime business model of the golf equipment industry. If anything from the golf equipment industry has harmed golf, it is the way that golf clubs are being sold to golfers in a market that is fiercely competitive for sales.

Many golf club companies exist to sell their clubs to millions of golfers through thousands of retail golf outlets and websites. The top-5 golf equipment manufacturers now control about 80 percent of the premium golf equipment market with combined annual revenues north of $3 billion. Four out of five of these companies are publicly traded, each with the accompanying pressures from shareholders and financial institutions to grow in revenue, profits and stock price.

The only way large golf companies can sell the volume of clubs they must to meet forecasts and satisfy shareholders and executives is to pre-build their clubs to a series of standard specifications so they can be shipped to the thousands of retailers to be put on display and sold off the rack. Demand is driven by massive marketing campaigns that promise improvement and an increase in status upon buying the clubs. Credibility is established by paying professional golfers to play their equipment.

After three decades of such fierce competition, the golf equipment industry has become a commodity business. Most retailers are selling the same exact products, so consumers hunt for the best price. Retailers have to discount to get the sale, which results in them making less profit. Making less profit means they do not have the money to hire and retain quality sales people. And retailers can’t afford to allow the sales staff to take more than a few minutes to make each sale, because making money requires that they sell a high volume of products.

This is precisely what Kevin has encountered in his frustration with trying to do nothing more than to find the best golf equipment with which to play and enjoy this great game. He’s frustrated because he believes that whoever sells him his clubs should really know what they are doing. Unfortunately, the shortcomings in the current golf equipment business model means the people selling him his clubs do not know much more about golf clubs than he does, and may actually know less.

Launch monitors are placed in golf retail outlets to give golfers the impression they are being properly fit for their clubs. Yet little to no training exists to teach sales people how to properly turn the outputs of the launch monitors into the best prescription for clubs for the golfer. Retailers also have inventory to worry about, so it is very common for them to pay a “spiff” to their sales staff to get them to make more of an effort to sell what they need to get rid of.

Add to that the effects of the fierce competition among the golf equipment companies. At the wholesale level, it has resulted in drivers and woods that are far too long for the vast majority of golfers to ever hit consistently, which may or may not actually have the loft that is imprinted on the head.

Lofts in irons have been decreasing as well, as a way of impressing golfers with more distance in their short irons. But this comes at the expense of  golfer’s not being able to hit their mid and long irons as well.

Shafts are a problem, too. Average golfers have no idea how stiff the shafts they purchase actually are because of poor quality control and a lack of industry standards. Add it all up, and it’s no wonder that golfers like Kevin Cook are confused and often end up with the wrong equipment.

In truth, the best solution for golfers is to return to the original business model for golf equipment sales prior to the early 1900s, back when the only place a golfer could buy a set of golf clubs was to go see a clubmaker. Back then, golfers visited the clubmaker’s shop, where the clubs were built one club at a time, one set at a time, for one golfer at a time.

It’s critical to be honest and tell you that some of today’s clubmakers do not have the fitting knowledge to be able to properly match a golfer with clubs that allow him or her to play to the best of their ability. Just because someone can build and repair golf clubs does not mean they know how to analyze a golfer and choose the best fitting specs to match to the golfer’s size, strength, athletic ability and swing characteristics.

So golfers who decide to visit a clubmaker to end their equipment frustration MUST DO THEIR HOMEWORK to be sure the clubmaker they choose is a good, experienced and knowledgeable. Such clubmaker/clubfitters do exist and they are without question the very best sources for golf equipment and knowledge. They can truly help a golfer improve and play to the best of the golfer’s ability.

The best way to find a good clubmaker is from the following resources:

The AGCP (Association of Golf Clubfitting Professionals):  http://www.agcpgolf.com/locator/

The ICG (International Clubmakers’ Guild): http://www.clubmakersguild.com/index.php/membership-directory/guild-google-map

If you find a clubmaker from any of these sources, call him/her, visit, and ask how he/she conducts a fitting analysis. Ask for names of other golfers in the area he/she has fit. Call these golfers and ask them about their fitting experience.

Do NOT just blindly go see a clubmaker who you have not vetted. The good clubmakers will never mind golfers doing an investigation, because they are confident of their skills and experience.

Do this for your next equipment purchase and you will avoid Kevin Cook’s frustration with modern golf equipment. If you do, you will end up with golf clubs that are far better for your game than what you can buy within the golf industry’s current business model.

Tom Wishon is a contributing writer for GolfWRX.com. is His views do not necessarily represent the views of GolfWRX.

Click here for more discussion in the “Clubmaking” forum. 

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20 Comments

1. 

   Bert

   December 20, 2012 at 12:17 am

   Amen Mr. Wishon!

   You tell it like it is. It’s unfortunate that the 80%-ers don’t know what they’re missing. Perhaps we can convert them, one golfer at a time.

   Reply
2. 

   Tony Wright

   December 20, 2012 at 7:10 am

   I am a professional club fitter and enjoyed reading Tom’s article and ALL of the responses. For me, I can tell you that about a dozen years ago I discovered custom fit clubs from a very good fitter, and no OEM club has ever touched my bag again. And I have helped many play better golf – but maybe more importantly enjoy golf more – through fitting them for clubs. That said, club fitting continues to be an uphill battle, and that is sad for the golfer. They are barraged with “15 more yards with THIS new driver!” each year, and do not realize this is marketing not truth. There continues to be a reason the average driver length on the PGA Tour is 44-1/2 inches – not the 45-1/2 to 46 inch lengths being sold in stores.

   Reply
3. 

   Tony Wright

   December 20, 2012 at 8:59 am

   I need to apologize, I am sure anyone reading my response is confused when I said I enjoyed all responses. I meant all of the responses on the Kevin Crook post!

   Reply
4. 

   Ken

   December 21, 2012 at 8:08 pm

   Case in point, Tom: I was in a shop to buy some balls last week. Another customer wanted to buy a 64° wedge because he “hits his 60° ninety yards and needs a club to hit from seventy-five yards.” I had a chuckle with the proprietor after he left. We agreed that the guy has every wedge from 50-60° but has no idea about how to swing with anything less than full power. Just another victim of the industry.

   Reply
5. 

   Precision Golf

   January 2, 2013 at 6:47 am

   As one of Europe’s leading custom fitters, we can agree with Tony up there. It is near impossible that a standard club off the shelf of a retailer will be fully suitable for a golfer’s swing, but marketing does continuously persuade them to buy a new driver or set of irons every few years due to “new performance enhancing technology”. Club technology has come on leaps and bounds but all it takes is one effective custom fitting session and you won’t need to change your clubs for many many years, as they will be so optimised for you and your swing. We’ve had some golfers in the studio here who have been ‘fitted’ at a well-known golf retailer and also by their club professionals, and some of the resulting purchases have been so unsuitable it’s almost scary. We know that custom fitting can be an expense that many won’t want to go through. However the results can pay for themselves when you won’t need to buy a £400 driver every year or two chasing after that extra yardage that could be more easily obtained at a recognised fitter.

   Reply
6. 

   Steve

   January 2, 2013 at 12:46 pm

   I recently was fitted for a set of Wishon 560 MC irons. They are by far the best that I ever owned. I will never buy another club without a proper fitting from a qualified clubfitter. My scores have not gone down signifcantly but the difference from low to high has gotten much smaller. Can’t wait to go do a fitting for some upgraded woods.

   Reply
7. 

   naflack

   January 3, 2013 at 3:33 pm

   I worked for a small golf retailer for a few years when I was younger. Yes the spiff program exists and it can be quite demoralizing to only get recognition for what you sell and no consideration for level of customer satisfaction is given. However, in defense of some of these retailers…there are a very large group of customers who run for their life when you mention taking some swings top try to get a better idea of what they should play. They see the holy grail of new clubs over working on their game. You would be surprised how many guys had no interest finding what works best, they want to hold on to the idea that a new club will fix everything.

   Reply
8. 

   yo!

   January 3, 2013 at 4:52 pm

   I don’t think how clubs are sold has harmed “golf.” This is what works for the golf consumer and there are alot of choices.

   Reply
9. 

   Chris C....

   January 3, 2013 at 5:43 pm

   Factual and informative article by Tom Wishon and needs to be made available to the golfing public at large by way of national/international media sources. Not just we tragics who subscribe to and patronise the ‘Golfwrx’ site. To yo!- try personalised fitting you’ll be most pleasantly surprised.

   Reply
10. 

    Dave Hohnke

    January 3, 2013 at 7:34 pm

    Tom,
    Good information. As one of those select few you mention, it is again a breath of fresh air for me as a clubmaker. The work of making better players one club at a time is on-going. I just need more time with each player. Smiles, MH

    Reply
11. 

    Ryan

    January 3, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    Harmed the industry I am not sure about. You have a game that has completely blown up that last 15 years amidst the ever expanding internet and the services it helps provide. American capitalism is attracted to golf too.

    Reply
12. 

    Bert

    January 3, 2013 at 10:35 pm

    Yo! I don’t quite understand your statement….. “This is what works for the golf consumer”

    What exactly is it that “works”? Are you referring to sales of off-the-shelf equipment? Just ‘cuz they are selling tons and tons of their bling-bling “technology?” clubs every year doesn’t mean they are doing average Joe golfer any favors. All of this lovely technology they have been pouring into golf clubs in the past decades to make everyone longer and straighter — yet the average golf score/handicap has really not improved in decades – something just don’t add up here.

    I am a clubfitter – It’s not uncommon to properly fit a single-digit handicapper, and within that golf season he/she has dropped 1-2-3- and even 4 strokes off their handicap (and at that level, the strokes are pretty darn hard to come by). That speaks volumes for proper custom fitting. Not every fitting achieves a 2-4 stroke reduction, results do vary, but man the amount of folks who actually improve is a VERY high percentage. I am very confident that I can improve darn near every golfer who comes into my shop – and the cool thing is, I can prove it to ‘em too!

    Regards,

    Bert

    Reply
    • 

      yo!

      January 4, 2013 at 1:01 pm

      Bert,
      Certainly you have an interest in clubfitting. I’ve been fitted countless of times as my swing has evolved, and of course there is a place for clubfitting. In fact many of the golf chain stores are also providing some form of clubfitting using swing monitors and there are a great deal of selection off the rack that works for the vast majority of golfers if not 99% of them. That said, the choice to golfers now are much greater than before so the model works pretty well in terms of providing choices. The real problem is not the equipment. It’s the individual player’s golf mechanics. Even so, there are game improvement clubs that can help a player compensate for his or her faulty swing. It just seems to me that Tom (and I respect Tom Wishon) rails against the industry because it wants to make money by providing choices that appeal to the consumers (otherwise consumers won’t buy it). Whether a consumer makes a wise or unwise decision on his purchase is not the fault of the industry. I don’t even work in the golf industry so I really don’t care to defend it, but I understand the business model behind it and I don’t see it as particularly harming the game of golf or harming the individual golfers. A golfer can go to a demo day or gets his club fitted and hits the ball well and buy those same clubs. A couple of weeks later, he hits the ball horribly. Well, the club hasn’t changed. Private, custom fitters also try to sell the notion that custom fitted clubs will make a person play better. I’ve been to many top clubfitters so I know and I understand they have to be businessmen as well. Callaway, TM, Titleist, Ping, etc. do the same thing marketing that their clubs will make you a better player. Truth or not, how is that harming the game of golf? Most people I know who play golf, regardless of the brand of equipment, they choose are enjoying the game. Again, how is that harming the game of golf?

      Reply
      • 

        Ken Christopherson

        March 14, 2013 at 1:20 pm

        As a clubfitter, and one who chooses to use Tom Wishon’s products almost exclusively, I can attest to improvements that come from custom fitting. I have had clients that have bought a new set of clubs every 6 months, in search for the “holy grail”. They have bought into the hype that is promoted by the marketing from the major golf companies. When they choose to come to me, often after great frustration, its as a result of never finding what was promised from the standard offerings. Most of the clients are low to middle handicap players looking for the fine-tuning, the final missing ingredient to allow them to play their best. When you wrote, “It just seems to me that Tom (and I respect Tom Wishon) rails against the industry because it wants to make money by providing choices that appeal to the consumers (otherwise consumers won’t buy it).” you are wrong. Tom states very clearly in his articles and books, that he feels that the golf club manufacturers can’t offer a system that will provide all of the modifications required to fit everyone, because they have to make a profit. They pre-make sets to sell that they try to shoe-horn everyone into. What Tom offers are the highest quality components with the highest level of quality control and the broadest selection of heads and shafts that can be combined in any order and made to any size and weight to meet every players needs. His club-heads and products are the finest engineered in the industry. Many of his designs are unique, innovative, category changing. He promotes Moment of Inertia (MOI) matching of clubs, and matching the golfers needs to 13 significant build variables. No major club manufacturer offers MOI or tailors a club to fit the 13 factors that are unique to every player. I build CUSTOM Fit clubs that do make a difference, a difference that can’t be matched with any off the shelf store bought club. Of course a huge part of any club fitters difference is our ability to asses someones swing and help them make choices that will work for their swing characteristics. Its interesting that several years ago, Titleist wrote on their website that over 95% of golfers need custom clubs and couldn’t get what they needed for their ability from off the shelf golf clubs. this from a company that used to only make clubs for sale in Big Box stores.

        Reply
13. 

    Bert

    January 3, 2013 at 10:37 pm

    By the way Yo! — by no means was I lashing out at you on my post above, please don’t take it that way. Just trying to understand your comment is all.

    Bert

    Reply
14. 

    chris

    January 8, 2013 at 12:42 pm

    I’m laughing at this bs man. Take the Golf Digest hot list where “Bob a 16 handicapper describes how easy it was to work the ball with the new Cobra blah blah blah club”. Seriously bs…you could fit most of these guys until you are blue in the face, but their swings are so bad they will never improve.

    Fitting helps but only to a small extent…you still need to learn to play the damn game, and from that, most people need lessons from a professional.

    Reply
15. 

    Sam

    January 13, 2013 at 9:17 am

    I’m with Chris. Fitting can help but lessons make the golfer.

    Reply
16. 

    Johnathan Murphy

    January 27, 2013 at 9:15 pm

    I feel that the club does not always make the golfer and that anyone who is a sales person or within the industry has a job to selll. Thus they try to sell the new products. Though I feel regardless on the equipment the true problem is that everyone blames the product for not doing what it should, wait the product? I believe that the golfer is the one in control of the club…I have played spalding irons from 1989 to ping i20 irons from this year. The biggest problem with golfers is that THEY DONT PRACTICE or they dont PRACTICE PROPERLY. To be consistant at this game you must put in the time. From my 1980′s clubs to the new clubs I am able to produce very consistant scores with either. The spalding have R300 shafts and the i20 consists of X100 though I still shoot 1-2 over and sometimes underpar with both sets. I also have a set of reid lockhart blades and have shot rounds in the high 60′s with those. I also average 15-20 hours on the range a week while working full time. It can be done regardless on how equipment is sold, or fitted, none of mine are fitted clubs. I dont want to sound mean or arrogant though I feel that companies have people brain washed into thinking that this next new thing is the “big thing” in the golf industry, when from personal views you should be comfortable with your clubs. I swing a driver 118-128 and still feel more comfortable with a Regular shaft (72-80 grams).

    Reply

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18. 

    G T

    May 6, 2013 at 9:10 pm

    Enjoyed the writing by Mr. Wishon. Obviously a lot of truth there.

    However, am I wrong to assume some of the loft increase is to compensate for how easy it is to hit GI irons higher due to newer weight distribution technology?

    I wonder if the Pros making the commercials for consumer clubs they show on TV are hitting those clubs to their specs or “off the shelf”? By that, I am saying if one knows how to swing the club the specs just MIGHT be secondary. Both, I am sure, are important, but I have never played with any group where virtually every single one of us would not enjoy the game better with a little coaching.

    Just sayin.

    Reply