Industry Talk & News - The Dean Has Spoken Volume 5 – THP Radio

Good show fellas. "7". Hahaha nicely played Dean.

Grandura thing was a little shocking. I'm not that shocked by the Cleveland thing. IMO they have been irrelevant for a few years really. I hope Tulon makes it. But it interesting to here the numbers you guys were throwing around, and how that would put them with regards to Cameron and Betinardi. I know the numbers were pin point accurate but interesting none the less. WGC Match Play is the worse week for TV golf. Watching 4 golfers play on Sunday is terrible. Consolation match....after they just lost the morning matches, seem like bad business.

The consolation match sucks but I get why they do it. When it was 36 hole finals, they needed some sort of filler just in case the finals was a snooze fest. Even at 18 holes, they gotta have something besides following just two people on the course
 
Hearing you talk it out, I understand and agree much more on the match play format. I think if they are going to market it as the march madness of golf, they should actually play that out. Unfortunately I bet because of who was in the tournament over the weekend, it worked out exactly how they wanted and I don't see it changing next year or anytime soon.
 
Great episode. Really shocked to hear about Cleveland and Grandura.
 
Another great episode and a fun listen! I tend to agree with the Dean and JB on most topics covered in this show.

Callaway Live - I watched at first but tuned out when it became less about golf.
Cleveland - A real bummer. They were the first brand that I was "loyal" to but they've been sliding. Hopefully they can find their mojo back in the shuffle.
Grandura - What?! I don't know if I'm happy or sad that I didn't pick one of these shafts up while I had the chance. Shocked.
Toulon - I'm wavering a bit on this one. Nice putters for sure, but until the options/prices/availability through their garage are revealed it's too early for me to say they can be up there with Bettinardi.
WGC Format - It should be one and done.
 
Thanks guys. We thought it would be a good format to share some pretty interesting industry news.
 
Can't believe Grandura is done! Kind of sucks that golf world won't get to really appreciate this technology.

Not sure anything will help Cleveland Golf. Srixon and XXIO are solid to me.

WGG accomplished fan needs and had some good story lines in the weekend. A couple cinderfellas made it to the sweet 16. I think they accomplished being different. But I also liked Batman vs Superman so take it for what it's worth

I wish Toulon luck but as a consumer that likes the designs I want to roll one before dropping coin. And without that outlet I see a bit of a struggle. I don't want to see one but I'm getting that feeling. Especially in the space they are trying to play in
 
Looking forward to listening on my way into work. Really enjoying the podcasts so far - it was an area that was pretty under-served in the golf space, and these have been fun formats.
 
I wish Toulon luck but as a consumer that likes the designs I want to roll one before dropping coin. And without that outlet I see a bit of a struggle. I don't want to see one but I'm getting that feeling. Especially in the space they are trying to play in

Toulon Design will be in stores when they officially launch, so people will have a chance to roll them.
 
Toulon Design will be in stores when they officially launch, so people will have a chance to roll them.

Big box stores?
 
Yes. He will be in a number of them in the future.

Well that is great news. Then I retract my statement. This slow roll they are doing should gather steam provided the stores push the brand.
 
Well that is great news. Then I retract my statement. This slow roll they are doing should gather steam provided the stores push the brand.

Yeah its a pretty neat approach. Slow roll out, not get ahead of themselves and really set the goals at an obtainable level for the first couple of years.
 
Couple things stuck out to me in this episode:

Scotty Cameron has a strangle hold on their market. 250,000 putters in a year is crazy. It takes a lot of stones to launch a brand in the boutique putter market and it sounds like Toulon is going about it in the right way. And it's a good thing he's already looking at the company's future and getting ready for the Asian market.

The Cleveland thing is upsetting but not surprising. Something had to change there and im surprised in a way that they chose to change the marketing side of things but maybe they are just realizing how other big dogs in the business are approaching the social media marketing thing and want to mix things up on their own end.

Fresca is delicious and now I want one.

Callaway Live....man that music brings back so many awesome memories. It's really neat to see the product they put out with that show. As JB mentions, they're a golf company not a tv show. So for them to be getting this good at a live tv show is really cool to see. Being on that set was one of the many highlights from my time at Callaway HQ
 
Good discussion around Callaway Live, agreed that this season is off to a good start.

That's too bad about Cleveland, apparently leadership didn't think the marketing team was getting the job done - no matter how good of people they were, sorry to hear it though knowing a few of those guys that may be impacted. Will definitely be interesting to see if any "visible" changes take place that us casual golfers will notice.

Honestly not too surprised about Grandura. I know they come on quick but unsure how sales were going and can't recall seeing much of a presence on tour. Perhaps this was a matter of "too early to market"with the technology? A term we hear quite a bit on Shark Tank.

Enjoyed the Toulon thoughts, getting to the Bettinardi level would be an enormous success. Curious if we start seeing any of these on the TV in a leaders bag on Sunday afternoon. Edit: glad to hear tour use is coming, looking forward to seeing whom that is.

Regarding the WGC, would love to see analysis done to show what would have potentially happened with the first match losses...any of them make it far into the event and have an impact on finale?
 
The interesting part of Grandura and BST Nano is that sales and tour testing were better than expected.
 
Enjoyed the show fellas. Well done. Interesting to hear about those big changes at Cleveland. We'll see what that does for them. It is strange timing in this part of the year.

Grandura fast entry and fast exit. Didn't expect that. I honestly only gave the brand a quick glance over back during its launch but know a lot of folks here liked what they saw.

I'm a huge Callaway fan. And I really like Callaway Live, most of the time. It's a struggle for me to find time to watch the episodes, and so I gravitate toward the episodes that are guests I recognize. If I don't know a guest I'm likely skipping that episode.

Toulon. Like the slow build up. Seems smart. I'm impressed with the product looks. Definitely want to roll one. JB I hope you do get a chance to do the video tour of their office. That would be a great glance inside.

WGC - this tourney has lost me for the early rounds. I know it's sponsor driven and I understand why Dell wants the big names to last longer. But it's lost the intensity and gravity of one loss and you're out. I did still watch a good bit over the weekend.

Another great episode gents!
 
That Scotty Cameron nugget is mind blowing... WOW!
 
Its important to note, and I believe I did on the show, those putter numbers are only for premium putters. Not all putters. There just are not a ton of big names in the premium putter market (over 299), so maybe its me, but its not all that surprising.
 
Its important to note, and I believe I did on the show, those putter numbers are only for premium putters. Not all putters. There just are not a ton of big names in the premium putter market (over 299), so maybe its me, but its not all that surprising.
Not surprising at all. Not sure about everyone else but I see A LOT of scottys in play every weekend at various courses around my area. Basically it is a Scotty or an odyssey with a few others sprinkled in here and there

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Not surprising at all. Not sure about everyone else but I see A LOT of scottys in play every weekend at various courses around my area.

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And when you think about it, they are one of the few premium putters and in many cases the only premium putters in stores nationwide.
Now when you count all putters, they are not at the top.
 
Great show fellas! Listened to every single one of them and could listen to another season of you two going back and forth. Hope you guys continue on!

Sorry to hear about Cleveland Golf marketing crew. I know you just met with them a few weeks ago so it's good to see that maybe Keith and Adam are still on board (maybe??!!). Hate to see that others had to go. Maybe they will start to pick back up with their social media interaction because ever since Alex left I have seen a big drop off.

I enjoyed the match play event this week. I have no issues with the format. It gave us a number 1 vs number 3 in the world match Sunday AM and then another number 1 vs number 16 in the PM. The Rory/Day match was fantastic. Good golf, fantastic shots, back and forth and settled on the 18th hole.

I get that you boys don't like it that it's marketed as a "bracketology" week of golf. Question - would you have still hated it if it wasn't? Was the marketing aspect what turned you off on the event? If there was different marketing that was done with the same format would you have a different opinion?

I also get that you want the underdogs and/or the not yet stars of the PGA and European Tours to have a chance at the weekend. I will say, it is pretty awesome to see a player ranked in the 50's or 60's to knock off a top 10 guy in a round. But I would not have watched a Kizzire vs Hung An final on Sunday. No appeal to me. But take one of those guys and have him make a run on a Saturday or Sunday at the Masters or US Open I'm all in! It's selfish on my part being a spectator but it's what I want to see right now.

Great show as always and love the topics you guys discuss!
 
That was a great listen with tons of industry insight.

I'm absolutely shocked about Grandura, just baffled by that. I really wanted to get a shaft to try.

Rooting for Toulon design and I believe with there marketing and engagement and Sean's background in the industry and the fact that it's his whole family there no reason why they can't do the incremental sales.

to the Costanza reference

I saw tweets about friends who were let go in the industry and was wondering which OEM it was. Shame it was Cleveland/Srixon they seemed to be making a resurgence, marketing wise. Hate to see people lose jobs.

Was shocked the bettinardi does 40-50k is that globally? Love the studio stock 6.
 
Great show fellas! Listened to every single one of them and could listen to another season of you two going back and forth. Hope you guys continue on!

Sorry to hear about Cleveland Golf marketing crew. I know you just met with them a few weeks ago so it's good to see that maybe Keith and Adam are still on board (maybe??!!). Hate to see that others had to go. Maybe they will start to pick back up with their social media interaction because ever since Alex left I have seen a big drop off.

I enjoyed the match play event this week. I have no issues with the format. It gave us a number 1 vs number 3 in the world match Sunday AM and then another number 1 vs number 16 in the PM. The Rory/Day match was fantastic. Good golf, fantastic shots, back and forth and settled on the 18th hole.

I get that you boys don't like it that it's marketed as a "bracketology" week of golf. Question - would you have still hated it if it wasn't? Was the marketing aspect what turned you off on the event? If there was different marketing that was done with the same format would you have a different opinion?

I also get that you want the underdogs and/or the not yet stars of the PGA and European Tours to have a chance at the weekend. I will say, it is pretty awesome to see a player ranked in the 50's or 60's to knock off a top 10 guy in a round. But I would not have watched a Kizzire vs Hung An final on Sunday. No appeal to me. But take one of those guys and have him make a run on a Saturday or Sunday at the Masters or US Open I'm all in! It's selfish on my part being a spectator but it's what I want to see right now.

Great show as always and love the topics you guys discuss!

Im not real comfortable using names in these positions, so let me just say that in the group no longer there, the three main people (men) that THPers met with at the THP Event are no longer there.

As for the event, it takes the early rounds out of the equation to me. They have a chance for the big different event, they marketed it as such and then dont deliver. One and done brings so many great storylines.
 
Another great listen JB and Dean!

I hadn't heard much about Grandura, but it seems like a startup that just went in too many directions at once. That's a lot of different products to be marketing and trying to manufacture.

Hopefully the shakeup at Cleveland will work out for the company, it's always sad to hear about people losing jobs, and hopefully they can find new homes that work out better for them personally.

I see you points about WGC, I didn't hate the format, and it made for some good matches on Friday, but there were just as many if not more matches that served no purpose. I think a more standard bracket match would have been better for the players. I definitely see how the PGA could be making more stars especially in an event like this. I don't think that's the goal of the PGA though. As much as it probably should be, I don't feel like the PGA leadership is actually making strides to move the sport forward, or grow fans. It seems like the PGA is just trying to wring every dollar out of this week's event (whatever event that might be) and they don't seem to be thinking about the future at all. They want all the fans and all the viewers they can get for the event that week. Next week's event, this event next year aren't really thoughts they entertain. It's not a good plan at all.
I think the LPGA is doing a better job of working to the future, I know there were some opinions on adding a 5th major to their season, and that's had some fallout about career grand slams and similar, but the LPGA is working to get new fans, and I think that is a good thing for the tour.
 
Another good listen! True March Golf Madness would be way better. Didn't know about Grandura, which stinks because they had some pretty damn good reviews by folks here on the products. I'm on the time will tell fence with Toulon, not that I don't want one of each of those putters, they just have a lot of work to do to get folks to buy their putters and not Bettis or Scottys in this price range.


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