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JB said:
Where? Scratch?
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Yes, at Scratch. He used to work at Heavy Putter and Accuflex before Scratch, assuming he is still at Scratch. It's my married side of the family that I don't see very much.
 
I didnt think they had "executives". It is still a very small group. I mean they started in their garage. They moved to a new state and all, but they are still quite tiny. I want to say it is about 6 guys. Ari is still running things I believe.
 
I work out of my house and I am the President of my company. I don't know much about Scratch other than he is the VP of Marketing and Sales and they supposedly make some pretty good wedges for a pretty penny.
 
Oh ok. Yeah they have one in house sales guy, that must be him. The rest are regular reps. Their wedges are decent and some love them.
 
They have a huge following over at WRX and they actively participate in the forum.

I know they were selling some limited custom putters over there. Some were in the $3,000 range (Damascus steel).

Didn't they used to be in Oregon? Where are they now?
 
Harry Longshanks said:
They have a huge following over at WRX and they actively participate in the forum.

I know they were selling some limited custom putters over there. Some were in the $3,000 range (Damascus steel).

Didn't they used to be in Oregon? Where are they now?
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That was the sponsored membership I was discussing. They are in TN now.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
They have a huge following over at WRX and they actively participate in the forum.

I know they were selling some limited custom putters over there. Some were in the $3,000 range (Damascus steel).

Didn't they used to be in Oregon? Where are they now?
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I believe they are still in OR. I remember reading somewhere that they were going to start offering lower priced wedges, however, I don't know if that ever took off or not. Somewhere in the $150-$200 range as I think their forged wedges are almost $300 IIRC. I have only ever seen about 2 of their wedges in peoples bags and they swear by them. Somebody on THP plays their irons I believe as I saw them in their signature line.

So what makes a putter worth $3k?

Edit - JB says they are in TN now.
 
I was wrong. They are still there. We were told they were moving to TN, but it looks like it did not happen.
 
JB said:
I was wrong. They are still there. We were told they were moving to TN, but it looks like it did not happen.
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I could have sworn I heard that too. I specifically remembered Tenn. Weird.
 
I have a 58 degree wedge. It is pretty good. I mean nothing special, but a very solid performer. I got it for a gift but I think the price was about 150.
 
JB said:
Geoff Ogilvy Leaving Cobra - This is true and a done deal. He is going to be playing Titleist irons this coming year it seems as of this time. That could change obviously, but it looks to be the case.
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How do they work this? I mean they are both still under the Acushnet tent. Did they want to start focusing more on the Titleist irons?
 
It seems to be the course according to Titleist PR. While they will still have some Cobra on tour, they are trying to shift more of the tour players under the Titleist name.
 
$3K for a putter??? That's insane. Does Tiger know about this? :D
Harry Longshanks said:
They have a huge following over at WRX and they actively participate in the forum.

I know they were selling some limited custom putters over there. Some were in the $3,000 range (Damascus steel).

Didn't they used to be in Oregon? Where are they now?
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Harry Longshanks said:
Watching the HSBC and the announcers mentioned the Scratch golf deal, and also said that Ryan Moore was a part owner.

That certainly would explain how Scratch was able to sign him - they gave him part of the company.
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That is 100% correct. Ironic how both sides seemed very against this kind of thing until recently. Scratch has said forever "we dont pay players".
 
Harry Longshanks said:
Watching the HSBC and the announcers mentioned the Scratch golf deal, and also said that Ryan Moore was a part owner.

That certainly would explain how Scratch was able to sign him - they gave him part of the company.
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JB said:
That is 100% correct. Ironic how both sides seemed very against this kind of thing until recently. Scratch has said forever "we dont pay players".
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Do you know the details? I don't, but it's possible he had to put something into the pot, isn't it?
 
Everybody changes their business models if it isn't working out for them. Apparently not paying the pros to play their stuff was counter intuitive to growing their business and they figured that out. Personally I don't know if I would have ever done it that way as we all know everything in this world is about money. When you are at the level the pros are at, their equipment doesn't affect their game very much as they can play all the different equipment probably equally. The public buys certain items as they see it on TV being played by Tiger, Phil, etc so they think it must be good and run out and purchase it. I don't know if I would have left that much money on the table like Moore did if he could have gotten $500k in endorsements as that covers probably all your travel, food, entry fees, etc for the year. I mean you are already playing the equipment, get paid for it if you can. He plays Adams drivers, woods and hybrids, put Adams on your bag and make a $100k or so. Wear a Callaway hat since you play that ball and make a little more. But I can certainly see his wanting to forsake no sponsorship for a chance to own part of Scratch Golf. Sounds like maybe they are going to be doing something bigger here in the future by signing him? Going more main line with their equipment maybe?
 
Vegan702 said:
Everybody changes their business models if it isn't working out for them. Apparently not paying the pros to play their stuff was counter intuitive to growing their business and they figured that out. Personally I don't know if I would have ever done it that way as we all know everything in this world is about money. When you are at the level the pros are at, their equipment doesn't affect their game very much as they can play all the different equipment probably equally. The public buys certain items as they see it on TV being played by Tiger, Phil, etc so they think it must be good and run out and purchase it. I don't know if I would have left that much money on the table like Moore did if he could have gotten $500k in endorsements as that covers probably all your travel, food, entry fees, etc for the year. I mean you are already playing the equipment, get paid for it if you can. He plays Adams drivers, woods and hybrids, put Adams on your bag and make a $100k or so. Wear a Callaway hat since you play that ball and make a little more. But I can certainly see his wanting to forsake no sponsorship for a chance to own part of Scratch Golf. Sounds like maybe they are going to be doing something bigger here in the future by signing him? Going more main line with their equipment maybe?
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That all makes perfect sense if the companies were willing to sign him and many were not. He was not contractless his entire career.

As for Scratch, I agree changing your model to make money is a good thing. But to be SOOO adamant since the beginning that says "look pros are playing our stuff and we never pay any player" and then turn around and do that seems odd to me. Just my opinion.
 
JB said:
That all makes perfect sense if the companies were willing to sign him and many were not. He was not contractless his entire career.

As for Scratch, I agree changing your model to make money is a good thing. But to be SOOO adamant since the beginning that says "look pros are playing our stuff and we never pay any player" and then turn around and do that seems odd to me. Just my opinion.
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I agree.

So,Can Ryan sell his share at any given time? Seems like Ari could lose his company if the cards were played right for the right person.
 
Ryan's share is not as high as most are saying. We are being told it is similar to a lot of deals. He cannot sell his share until X time is up. They have right to match, etc...
 
BigLeftyinAZ said:
I agree.

So,Can Ryan sell his share at any given time? Seems like Ari could lose his company if the cards were played right for the right person.
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Like JB said, I dont think anyone would give that type of deal with out First Rights of Refusal written in the contract somewhere.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
I could have sworn I heard that too. I specifically remembered Tenn. Weird.
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I knew I was not losing my mind. Harry, we were right, they are located in TN now. They moved to Chattanooga earlier in the year and are completely housed in that state.
 
Kind of funny that Ryan Moore is featured in GD this month with the WITB portion. Not a single Scratch club because the deal was announced after the fact.
 
Sounds like you do not like Ryan Moore or Scratch Golf JB? What gives? I am surprised that you did not pick up on the fact that Callaway lists him as a staff ball professional, as that would go against his no sponsor standing, unless this was also a very recent signing.
 
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