The Truth Behind the Fall of Nike Golf
The Truth Behind the Fall of Nike Golf
Nike Golf once made some very interesting golf clubs but then ceased all manufacturing without any notice, surprising even their own professional players. So what happened, how did this come about, and why are these clubs still so interesting to so many people today?
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They were very gaudy.
Really great video. With that said, if you’re shooting 109, Bethpage has 4 other options besides the Black course.
I tend to not like Nike apparel since they were never comfortable to me. I didn't like Nike Club's, I liked my Taylor Made burner Irons and my Titanium Woods. But those Nike Super Soft balls were great and a great value!
The same fate fell on the Nike hockey equipment brand. Nike/Bauer failed because the "purist" community refused to buy in en mass. Not because it was an inferior product to the likes of CCM
Proud user of the Nike Vaporfly Pro irons – absolutely love how they play and especially how they look with the blue tick. Switched from my titleist AP1's due to how they felt
I played the Pro Combo set for about 4 seasons and the lower irons (2,3,4,5) were not good.
First people to play golf were in Scotland and made clubs out of wood. Rich people stole the game for a bit, but it’s coming back to normal people. Also “rich” people are closer to going to prison like the rest of us, than to ever be a billionaire.
They should've had white label deals with equipment market leaders, saving money on r&d And they have a proven product
8:40 can confirm, I was a teenage golfer during the 2000s and Nike clubs always got a chuckle from the seasoned guys. Only tiger fan boys like myself had them
They did almost the identical thing with Nike hockey
Good production brother !
To this day, the square Sumo hybrids from Nike have been the easiest Golf Club to hit I have ever played. And I have been playing since 1993
When Nike came out with clubs I was playing high school golf and then went on to play in college. It was rare to play with someone that had any Nike clubs. Most everyone was playing with the same big names that still exist today: Titleist, Taylormade, Callaway, Ping, Mizuno, and Cleveland. These brands were all well established and had a solid reputation. I think most people had the belief, “if it ain’t broke why fix it” in that if their equipment worked then there was no need to change to something else. In business terms I would say that Nike entered into an oversaturated marketplace. Titleist was well established as the premium equipment manufacturer and had a great ball with the Titleist Professional which was later rebranded to the ProV1, they had a very popular driver at the time with the 975D.
Something not mentioned or I may have missed if it was. Nike made a big deal, and a commercial, about a clause in Tiger’s contract that he could used other manufacturer’s equipment. Nike promoted it as “Tiger could play with anything but plays with our clubs because they are the best”. That’s great until Tiger actually switched out his driver I believe going back to a Titleist driver after issues with his Nike driver.
Nike just always needs a super dominant superstar to sport there gear or they will pull out. After Tiger said Tayormade Nike gave up on itself
Word on the street is that he used Miuras with a Nike logo on it. Skateboarders do this as well.
Nike became woke and way too political 70% of the people in this country who won’t buy anything to do with Nike
I never thought it was a good idea anyway
Why not follow the tennis model, which they already had over a decade of experience? I think it was ego and the thought of easy money that drove them, and it ironically hurt their clothing business, IMO. Golfers are fickle, and already brand loyal to legacy brands.
Nike failed because of their WOKE Policies! Golfers wouldn’t buy their stuff ! I and all my golfing friends refuse to buy anything Nike !
i had a nike driver and it hit like crap lol it was dead straight but it hit so low and never gave confidence when id hit it and when i say low i mean like 25-30 feet in the air
Dude I couldn't be more tired of looking at your smug WP face…no new info here dude
No one knows why this comment has so many likes
I found an old Nike Pro Combo forged 8 iron in the woods at a course. Took it home. It had a stock Nike shaft. lol. But for whatever reason, I could never miss with that club. I’d use it warming up at the range and I’d always hit it so well for whatever reason.
tiger would have beat jacks record if he had stayed with titliest the low point was when he gave up the scotty
My Nike Vapor Pro iron set…. Just like butter!
Ive had virtually every set of irons woods and wedges. Brilliant clubs
I play the VRS Covert irons VRS Covert Driver and a Nike Method Converge Counterflex Putter S1-12. I love my set. I need to regrip my putter and cant find anything that will fit it.
Simple…Tiger cheated and people stop buying his stuff
Tiger Woods
Nike made billions in the golf world. They did not lose anything. They pulled out before their lost was more than their profit. And Tiger was the face of Nike Golf. When Tiger went downhill, so did Nike. But hey, Tiger got like, how many hundreds of millions from Nike? Yeah, a lot.
I still use SQ driver😅
Sumo squared was the loud one. It was the first square driver post OG SQ. I still have one…and it is loud!
The fairway woods and hybrids were not great, but the drivers were the hottest I’ve ever hit. I still rotate the VRs into my bag every now and then.
Still rocking my Vapour Pro irons!
Nike hockey was a nightmare too. Some of the worst sticks ever made. They splintered of a weak wrist shot.
Please make one of these for Wilson Golf!!
Never made a top flight driver – Ping can tell you how much good drivers help sells.
I do credit Nike with breaking the back of snootiness too. When they came a long they did a great job of presenting the sport as accessible to real people not just rich posers.
I’ll be honest I was sceptical when they came into golf. As expected they came in and abandoned it at the behest of some dumb directors. Technically they were great while it lasted but since then I’ve refused to purchase anything Nike.
Shit brand. It's always been a shit brand. The marketing is what sold nike. Not the products.
Pound for pound , the Slingshots were one of the best irons I’ve ever used.
It's funny nike gets out of golf just about 3-4 yrs before the game starts to blow up. They made a few pretty good irons and wedges. Some decent putters and one or two decent wood offerings that's about it.
Second iteration of hypervenom 2 was the real goat
VR pro blades are still my favorite irons and I still use them. No other iron looks as good looking down on than those.
Best irons I ever owned Nike covert 2.0 forged. Sold them when Nike stopped making clubs. Should never have got rid of those.
$55 for a Tiger Woods Nike polo? More like $85 unless you find a good sale.
Simple answer, Tiger Woods, sex, scandal and injuries and lack of competitiveness
I think it's quite a bit more simple than all that. Nike, despite being a muti-national corporation has a pretty simple business model. It created a "cool" brand and then made billions by creating products cheaply from places like India, Bangladesh and China and then selling them for top dollar in major markets. Golf doesn't operate on that kind of scale at all, in fact golf is minuscule compared to the rest of Nike's target market. Nike got into golf at the worst possible time, as the technology was about to explode rapidly and they just didn't want to spend the money (they had already budgeted that money in their investment in Tiger Woods and branding/promotional) which left them in a very bad place.
In no world does a Nike shirt cost $20 to produce. I can tell you made many assumptions in the video.
Love my Nike 3 wood
Still use it now
Thanks great work team Tom