5 Years Since Nike Golf Closed the Doors!

I worked and saved all summer to buy a set of the CPR 2s. Haha I was more proud of those clubs than about anything I ever bought. I loved the black and red.

View attachment 9014912
This was my first non-boxed set of clubs that I got myself as a college graduation present.

Didn't conform to the 2010 new groove rule. No wonder they spun like a MFer.
 
Really thought the Vapor iron lineup was excellent. They actually had some decent ideas that just barely missed the mark.
 
Nike Method 002 putter was in my bag for quite a while.
 
Really thought the Vapor iron lineup was excellent. They actually had some decent ideas that just barely missed the mark.

Towards the latter half of the lineup, they had some pretty solid equipment. Nate Radcliffe was brought in from Cleveland/Srixon to oversee it. They had the best players in the world and good tech...And yet it didnt sell. That means finger pointing has to go to marketing and messaging, because they did absolutely nothing to bring the current golfer in, the older golfer.
 
i hate so much I got rid of mine. I loved that dang thing. Now very hard to find at a price.

the vr pros were easily some of the best irons ever made.

I have considered reaching out to some putter companies to make one..
 
Still think Vapor Pro Combos are best irons I have hit. They are so pure
 
The vapor driver For sure. It is still the driver in my bag. Very forgiving.
The mojo balls were fun. Hit the blue one once and never find it again.
 
My buddy just replaced a new Titleist driver with a covert tour 2.0 and it is doing wonders for him.
 
Towards the latter half of the lineup, they had some pretty solid equipment. Nate Radcliffe was brought in from Cleveland/Srixon to oversee it. They had the best players in the world and good tech...And yet it didnt sell. That means finger pointing has to go to marketing and messaging, because they did absolutely nothing to bring the current golfer in, the older golfer.

lol I'll never forget Michael Johnson sitting next to me at the Vapor reveal and saying "why don't they call those the vapor 588 MT"
 
lol I'll never forget Michael Johnson sitting next to me at the Vapor reveal and saying "why don't they call those the vapor 588 MT"

The only tech story I ever thought they had in spades was Method. They brought forward roll to the forefront. After that it was just bad bad bad.
 
The only tech story I ever thought they had in spades was Method. They brought forward roll to the forefront. After that it was just bad bad bad.

they really did, and to think that was what 2009? It was different and really brought attention to that aspect of putting. I do think they had something with the CounterFlex putter they brought out. But sadly as cool as that tech conversation was, they didn't have a great putter head to attach to it.
 
they really did, and to think that was what 2009? It was different and really brought attention to that aspect of putting. I do think they had something with the CounterFlex putter they brought out. But sadly as cool as that tech conversation was, they didn't have a great putter head to attach to it.

That's a good point. And once it was released, they literally never mentioned the tech again.
 
That's a good point. And once it was released, they literally never mentioned the tech again.

their marketing went from really bad to non-existent. Think about that golf bag that @Jman reviewed where the pockets could come on or off depending on the type of round or conditions you were going to play in. Really cool and forward-thinking idea. However, it was basically never talked about.
 
their marketing went from really bad to non-existent. Think about that golf bag that @Jman reviewed where the pockets could come on or off depending on the type of round or conditions you were going to play in. Really cool and forward-thinking idea. However, it was basically never talked about.
Nope. Combine that with many firsts that were just never spoken about and you have part of the answer as to why they are not around.
The other being that they did absolutely nothing to cater to the largest section of purchases of golf equipment. Instead marketed them like they do the latest pair of Lebrons shoes. Compound that with their early stuff was so so so so so so bad. Its pretty easy to see why it wasn't going to work longterm.
 
Nope. Combine that with many firsts that were just never spoken about and you have part of the answer as to why they are not around.
The other being that they did absolutely nothing to cater to the largest section of purchases of golf equipment. Instead marketed them like they do the latest pair of Lebrons shoes. Compound that with their early stuff was so so so so so so bad. Its pretty easy to see why it wasn't going to work longterm.

I feel like they were in a tough spot, once their stuff got good. IMO, the largest demo of golfers wasn't overly "accepting" of Nike Golf. Yet the segment they were advertising to had no money.
 
I feel like they were in a tough spot, once their stuff got good. IMO, the largest demo of golfers wasn't overly "accepting" of Nike Golf. Yet the segment they were advertising to had no money.
I think that pretty much nails it. And they were absolutely lost internally on how to share that message to get two important segments excited.
1. The core golfer. The THPer. The person that wants tech talk and understands a portion of it.
2. The older golfer. The Villages. The area that can literally make or break a brand in months.
 
I had a Vapor Pro driver that was really, really solid but otherwise haven't played any of their stuff. The VR and Vapor Pro Combos remain really excellent, gorgeous irons though - my brother still has a set of the VR Pro Combos and still games them.
 
That's a good point. And once it was released, they literally never mentioned the tech again.
Did Nike Marketing move to Wilson by any chance??:cool::cool:
 
I bought a set of used Slingshot 4d irons that I used most of last summer before I got fitted. I thought they were pretty good clubs, just not the best fit for me.
 
Seems longer than that for some reason. I thought Nike made solid equipment, I had a set of irons that I quite enjoyed actually. It really is hard to believe with Tiger and Rory they still couldn't sell equipment. Though the Sumo driver did turn a lot of people off haha
 
This driver was a MONSTER when it came out......
PqCUOVZXtobS8opAVtEcePaVAgnkBpNtOZDgX4bonBtv9AJUWhSfk5SZcR-zbXyuGpjP_SdIJlgczE_y016Zt00g3BVFj6JcWUJ3WTSLXgm8b4NIsXQF0X5gV6mLfwP1EEwaYyigQvVXMJGy

I had this one but I never got along with it so I gave it to my roommate.
 
I think that pretty much nails it. And they were absolutely lost internally on how to share that message to get two important segments excited.
1. The core golfer. The THPer. The person that wants tech talk and understands a portion of it.
2. The older golfer. The Villages. The area that can literally make or break a brand in months.
About the time they actually started making really good equipment was about the time upper management had gotten tired of seeing red unfortunately. Another problem is no matter how big they got it was never going to be a big deal for Nike. Nike sold $37 billion last year. Callaway was the biggest golf company for revenue last year and they only did $1.6 billion. That includes clubs, apparel, and everything else under the Callaway corporate umbrella.
 
About the time they actually started making really good equipment was about the time upper management had gotten tired of seeing red unfortunately. Another problem is no matter how big they got it was never going to be a big deal for Nike. Nike sold $37 billion last year. Callaway was the biggest golf company for revenue last year and they only did $1.6 billion. That includes clubs, apparel, and everything else under the Callaway corporate umbrella.

I can’t think of too many companies that wouldn’t like to add a billion in revenue during a down time, which Nike has had plenty of recently. They just weren’t good enough to get there my opinion. Otherwise there was no reason to cut it, as they are still paying those athletes obscene amount of monies to rock 3rd place in footwear.
 
Back
Top