Golf Datatech, the golf industry’s leading independent research firm for consumer, trade and retail golf trends, today unveiled an exclusive study detailing the surge in the Ultra-Premium golf club market. The Development of the Ultra-Premium Golf Club Category (2018) highlights key trends among Serious Golfers, including: who buys, why, price point comparisons, best-selling brands and much more.
According to John Krzynowek, a Partner with Golf Datatech, LLC, “While there have always been premium golf clubs featuring the newest and most advanced technology, prices often increased during the first few months after launch. Then, once the latest and greatest new product ran its course, prices adjusted back to the industry norm. Today, backed by an upbeat consumer, a strong economy, new designs and multi materials, all combined with the advent of custom fitting specialists that use accurate technology to fit the golfer’s game to specific head and shaft combinations, the market now has an entirely new category of products and price points.”
The 200+ page Development of the Ultra-Premium Golf Club Category Study, which focuses on ultra-premium drivers, irons, putters and wedges, goes deep into understanding this increasingly important market based upon results of surveys with 2,270 Serious Golfers, while investigating the following:
- Consumer-buying habits
- Where they gather their information prior to purchasing
- The importance of the brand name on their purchase
- Satisfaction levels with their purchase
- Importance of technology
- Were they custom fit for their clubs?
- Brand Usage market share by product by ultra-premium price point
- Last purchase? Next purchase? Are Purchase cycles being extended by higher price points?
- What golf ball brands are golfers likely to play if they purchase ultra-premium clubs? (by product category).
“While the rapid growth of the ultra-premium category was ignited by several influences coming together from disparate directions, the primary catalyst has been golfers realizing significant improvements in their game after getting custom fit for new clubs,” adds Krzynowek. “Utilizing extremely reliable and granular data from highly sophisticated launch monitors and simulators, high end shafts and cutting edge head designs can be matched to a player’s swing to maximize performance. While the costs of these ultra-premium custom built products are frequently substantially more expensive than their stock counterparts, the very high levels of user satisfaction support the concept that they are expensive, but worth it.”
