What happens when you get golf ball experts from competing manufactures in the same room?
Plenty of spirited conversation.
Dean Snell (Snell Golf), Adam Rehberg (Bridgestone), and Alan Hocknell (Callaway) sat down (virtually) with MyGolfSpy staff to discuss a variety of pertinent golf ball topics.
Titleist is the undisputed industry leader. But, it also means there’s a Texas-sized target on its back. So, what’s the game plan for Callaway and Bridgestone?
John
4 years ago
Taking on Titleist can be done.
The problem: Titleist Pro V1 is the BENCHMARK against which other golf balls are measured. If you are selling a ball in the price range of a Pro V1, a customer naturally says: if I’m going to spend that much, I might as well buy Titleist. It’s the old “you can’t go wrong buying ______” reasoning.
Here’s what a company (we’ll use Callaway as an example) should do:
First, they need to create a ball that sells for at least $100 a dozen (and probably $120 so it will be a $10 golf ball). It must definitely not less.
I know there isn’t a big market for balls this expensive (if any), but that isn’t the point. If Callaway only breaks even (or even loses a little money), it’s OK.
Callaway should make this the best ball period. It should exceed the Pro V1 in every category: distance, durability, spin, consistency, whatever).
For this discussion, we’ll label the ball the “Callaway Elite 1” golf ball.
Callaway should send this ball to every reviewer they can find. Get the word out that Callaway has created a great ball. It may cost an arm and a leg, but it’s also BETTER than a Pro V1.
The point is to create a new BENCHMARK against which golf balls are compared–including the Pro V1.
Now, on their balls that compete with the Pro V1, they should mark them “with Elite 1 ball technology”.
Now, when customers picks up a box of Callaway golf balls, they aren’t comparing them to Titleist, they are comparing them to the Callaway Elite 1. And with that mindset, they are more likely to say “you can’t go wrong buying Callaway”.