Direct To Consumer Brands

Direct to consumer brands, are they good for golf? Bad? Or somewhere in between? For years in the golf industry, golf club manufactures have been paying professional golfers to play their gear in hopes of driving up sales through direct and indirect marketing. For example, Callaway has Jon Rahm featured in their newest Paradymn commercials using the driver, direct marketing. Then on the flip side, Jon Rahm wins the 2023 Masters Tournament using that same Paradymn driver, and millions of people watch him put on a green jacket with the help of that driver, indirect marketing. Now this method has worked very well over the years, and not so well. (The WJS has an interesting article about Arnold Palmer and Wilson Sporting Goods which really shows you the dirty side of golf club marketing and business). Yet there is a price to having a superstar golfer like Jon Rahm featured in this marketing business, and that price falls on the consumer. The everyday golfer who walks into a PGA Tour Superstore looking for new clubs not only must pay for the club that they intend to use, but also must pay for the professional golfer using that same product. A twisted way of looking at it is like a tax; inside each tax is another hidden one that you might not even know is there. Not only does that brand get their profit from the clubs, the pro golfer get their tax, AND so does the supplier (PGATSS, DICKS, Golf Galaxy, ect). Every time those clubs change hands, expect a chunk of your purchase to fill those hands. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that professional golfers deserve the salaries that come with their title, but what if there was a different way of doing it?

Enter direct to consumer brands, who have cut out all middlemen, professional contracts (sort of), and supply high quality equipment straight to the consumer for a fraction of the cost. What does that mean for the consumer, no more hidden taxes you didn’t know about. There are a fair number of DTC brands in the golf world; Takomo, Haywood, New Level, Sub 70, Vice, Robin, Oncore, Brydie Golf Designs, PXG, even Kirkland. Now we will go into deeper dives into each of these companies, each one is unique and deserves that spotlight. These companies have helped make golf more affordable to the public. If we look at the P790 irons, which are one of the most successful iron lines in history, a 4-PW set runs about $1400, depending on shaft and grip. Now, the Takomo 101 and 101T irons look like the P790 irons, have the same lofts, same hollow body design, same target audience. These irons are $489, yep that’s right, almost a 1/3 of the cost. Yes of course there are differences that must be mentioned, P790s are forged with a speed foam injection to enhance feel and performance, whereas 101s are 431 carbon steel cast irons. P790s also have more shaft options available, whereas 101s only have a select number of KBS shafts available. P790 irons are also everywhere to demo out, any golf store, fitting business, even some golf courses have these irons for you to try out. The 101 irons don’t have that luxury and must be bought on hope they are as good as social media says. Several of these brands do however have demo programs, but it very dependent of those brands. Also, big brands have the resources and technology to really get down and dirty in R&D, whereas DTC brands just must use tried and trued designs and find way to put their spin on the product. That is why you will see these brands have a hollow body iron, cavity back and muscle back irons, and basic wedges. Those designs are simple and cheap to produce.

Are these differences able to justify the cost? That is up to the consumer to decide. But that right there helps answer the question from earlier, are DTC brands good for the game or do they water down the product? Anytime you have options and competition in business, the real winner is the consumer. So no matter how much you want to spend or save on equipment, you can still go out and enjoy the game.