Has Srixon Officially Joined The Big Five? We Think So

Although it’s been the topic of rather heated debate behind the scenes at MyGolfSpy, I’m going to throw this out there for your consideration.

It’s time we include Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO in golf’s “Big Five.” Yeah, you can make a strong case for Mizuno and COBRA. However, considering its combination of clubs, golf balls and overall momentum, I’m giving Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO the nod.

(Not to shortchange Cleveland or XXIO but for the sake of this article, let’s agree to shorten the corporate identity to Srixon. It’s easier on the keyboard.)

Being a Big Five candidate certainly wasn’t in the cards for Srixon a decade ago. In terms of market share, the group was firmly planted in the “Other” category. How Srixon made it from there to here, not to mention the entirety of Srixon’s back story, is beyond fascinating. It actually starts with a former Buddhist monk in the early 1600s.

(Oh, c’mon, tell me you don’t want to read this story.)

The journey from “Other”

Srixon et al is part of Dunlop Sports, a subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries, commonly referred to as SRI. If you’re scoring at home, SRI is the first half of Srixon. The “x” in Japanese culture represents “infinite possibilities while the “on” represents “onward.”

SRI might not be the biggest name in golf but we can guarantee it’s the oldest. It dates back to founder Masatomo Sumitomo, an ex-Buddhist monk who opened a bookshop in Kyoto in the early 1600s. To put that into perspective, that’s about the time the Pilgrims first boarded the Mayflower. Sumitomo would later go into business with his brother-in-law who developed an advanced method for refining copper.

Over the span of 300-odd years, Sumitomo expanded into mining, metals and machinery, banking and finance, heavy industry and, eventually, rubber. In 1913, Sumitomo partnered with the British rubber company Dunlop to create Dunlop Japan. That partnership continued, albeit with one notable hiatus, until 1963. That’s when a cash-strapped Dunlop sold its factory and full control of Dunlop Japan to Sumitomo. The company then rechristened itself Sumitomo Rubber Industries.

The company had been making golf balls since 1930 but only as a behind-the-scenes manufacturer for Dunlop, Slazenger and Maxfli. In 1995, Sumitomo’s factory in Kobe was destroyed by an earthquake. Less than 10 months later, however, it opened a new plant in Ichijima. By 1997, the Srixon brand was launched.

Branching into the U.S.

While Japan was its home turf, Srixon immediately tried to establish a foothold in North America. It launched the premium XXIO line in 2000 and in 2007, it purchased Cleveland Golf for $132 million.

By 2015, however, North America was in a tailspin. Sales dropped that year even though the North American golf market was growing. Srixon found itself in the dreaded “Other” category.

When that happens, it’s not too long before there’s a new sheriff in town: Dunlop Sports veteran Matt Yasumoto who led Srixon on a slow but steady turnaround.

Slow but steady, as we’ll learn, is very much the Sumitomo style. This particular turnaround wasn’t a quick fix nor was it led by marketing campaigns or ads. Instead, Srixon focused on its products and its behind-the-glass business operations.

“Our parent company, our engineering team and our R&D team have always been focused on how we can help consumers and how we can empower them through the joy of sports,” Srixon Marketing VP Chris Kircher tells MyGolfSpy. “We’ve been making golf equipment for a long time but we continue to make incremental improvements with the consumer at the heart of our decisions.”

Srixon startled us here at MyGolfSpy in 2017 when, seemingly out of nowhere, its Z565 driver topped the field in Most Wanted testing. Since then, Srixon and Cleveland have been frequent visitors to the medal podium and Srixon has evolved from a cult favorite to an underground success story to where it is now, a reader favorite and an emerging powerhouse.

“That’s the beauty of Japanese manufacturing,” says Kircher. “It doesn’t matter if it’s tires, golf equipment or cosmetics. There’s always a commitment to superior quality and excellence that’s unrelenting. It can never be sacrificed.”

 Believe it or not, PGA Tour staff matters

When it comes to getting the most out of its PGA Tour sponsorships, Srixon punches well above its weight class. Its Tour staff is small but one of the best in the game with major champions Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry, Brooks Koepka and J.J. Spaun, along with ball striker supreme Sepp Straka.

“These guys are with our R&D team every week, tinkering with things,” Kircher says. “They share insight and feedback and all of that goes back into product creation.”

While the overly cynical may dismiss Tour staff performance, OEMs know that key digital metrics go haywire after a win. Traffic spikes can last up to four weeks on their own platforms as well as those of their retail partners. Major wins, like Spaun’s last year, last even longer. However, the better marketing story, according to Kircher, is when non-contract players put your stuff in the bag.

“As marketers, we try to tell brand stories but when a Tour player uses our product without being paid, that’s an even more powerful story,” he says. “We’re not the biggest spender in the game but a lot of players under contract elsewhere have one or more of our products in their bag,”

Srixon can’t use his name (shhh!) but world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler games a Srixon utility iron even though he’s under contract with TaylorMade.

“There’s no amount of money that covers up equipment that just doesn’t work,” Kircher explains. “For the amount of money they play for every weekend, they have to believe the equipment they’re using will help them win on Sunday.”

Cleveland Golf: Déjà vu all over again?

When Srixon hit its North American nadir in 2014-2015, management made the difficult decision to mothball Cleveland Golf as a full-line brand. Instead, Cleveland would focus solely on wedges and putters. Given the market structure at the time, the move was strategically logical. It freed up resources for Srixon to establish a firmer North American foothold.

Cleveland returned just a couple of years later. However, earlier this year, Srixon confirmed that Cleveland would once again exit the full-line equipment game to focus solely on wedges and putters.  

In 2014, the move was meant to focus on solidifying Srixon in North America. Today, it’s intended to power Srixon to the next level.

“This allows us to supercharge our Srixon iron and driver innovation and build on our momentum,” Kircher explains. “The new Srixon ZXiR is Srixon’s first game-improvement iron which gives us a great opportunity to expand to new consumers.”

Once Srixon launched its ZXiR game-improvement irons, a full-line Cleveland brand was largely redundant. It had, however, become a popular choice for value-priced putters while remaining a wedge powerhouse. Bringing Roger Cleveland back to the company he founded made the decision easier.

“Being the short-game authority is our rightful place in the market,” explains Kircher. “To do that, we needed to divest some resources allocated to drivers and irons and go all in on wedges, putters and Roger.”

Srixon, Cleveland and “the Founder’s Precepts”

Spend any amount of time with Roger Cleveland and you’ll realize age doesn’t dampen enthusiasm. It sharpens it.

“You see him in the R&D room and he just loves talking about bounce, grind and wedge shaping,” says Kircher. “If you think about the original 588, every great wedge that’s been made since then has been based on those iconic shapes.”

And speaking of founders …

In 1650, Masatomo Sumitomo wrote a set of merchant guidelines called the Monjuin Shiigaki, or The Founder’s Precepts. Grounded in Buddhist teachings, it’s become a foundational philosophy of Japan’s industrial and manufacturing culture. It’s also at the core of the official Sumitomo Business Philosophy. Among its key themes are:

• Ethical conduct above profit; integrity and moral behavior outweigh short-term gain.
• Responsibility to employees and the community; a business must benefit society, not just the company.
• Respect and encourage individual creativity.
• Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

Those last two are most evident in Cleveland RTZ wedges which are made from a proprietary material developed by Cleveland called Z-Alloy. When Cleveland hired PhD metallurgical engineer Boeing Smith, he was tasked with identifying a wedge material superior to the commonly used 8620 carbon steel.

Smith soon found 8620 was the best existing material for wedges. If Cleveland wanted something better, they’d have to invent it.

Which is what they did.

“We have a challenging spirit here and allow our people to dive into opportunities they believe are there,” explains Kircher. “So we innovated a completely new material in Z-Alloy in a materials segment that hadn’t been innovated in decades.”

Srixon doing Srixon things

While all of this may sound like marketing happy talk, successful long-standing enterprises almost always have a consistent foundational philosophy. And, hey, with a 400-year-long run, you’ll have to admit The Founder’s Precepts has some legs.   

“You see it most in product innovation and R&D,” says Kircher. “We start with a high standard of excellence and we focus on improving, improving, improving.”

Successful companies take the culture of excellence and innovation seriously. It’s what helps them hire the right people and turn them loose to develop materials and products that matter to consumers. Otherwise, it’s all just words.

And words alone, my friends, don’t get you to 400 years of longevity. While it’s a stretch to equate Masatomo Sumitomo’s Buddhist book shop with Srixon irons or a Cleveland wedge, the corporate connection and the philosophy that supports it is a relatively straight line.

“Going forward, Srixon will be built around innovation and culture,” says Kircher. “Cleveland is going to be about legacy and returning our icon to his original place.”

Personally, I’m still bummed there won’t be another Cleveland HiBore driver (which I loved). All will be forgiven, however, if Cleveland comes out with a new 588 wedge. Kircher offered no promises, saying only that you will see some interesting releases from Cleveland over the next several months, plus updated Srixon offerings next January.

“We believe deeply in the culture of sports. It’s the real heart of the game,” Kircher says. “We believe we can create great products for anyone who enjoys the game and is looking to improve.”

So is Srixon one of the “Big 5?”

The MyGolfSpy staff is split on this as compelling cases can also be made for Mizuno and COBRA. Mizuno sells an awful lot of irons and has that aura about it while COBRA probably sells more metalwoods than Mizuno and Srixon combined.

However, it says here that Srixon is the one. When you combine its iron and ball sales with its metalwoods and add Cleveland wedges and putters plus the growing and lucrative XXIO business and a dynamic Tour staff, the Srixon group makes a compelling case.

So, based on what you’ve read and seen, do you think Srixon qualifies for that final slot in the Big Five?