FIELDREPORT - TGI GOLF
Positive Thinking
Is golf really on the verge of becoming trendy again? TGI Golf managing director Eddie Reid believes so. It’s just one of the reasons why, he argues, the golf industry can face the future with confidence
2007, he could not have guessed the job would include the role of unofficial industry cheerleader. “Today, we oſten find ourselves in a position of trying to motivate the industry,” he tells SGB Golf. “We meet a lot of people who seem to think the world is against them; but we have to remember that every industry has been tough over the past seven or eight years. Instead of looking over our shoulders and grumbling about how it used to be, we need to be looking forward – and believe me, there are plenty of reasons to view the future positively.” Fortunately for Reid, there have never been so many platforms from
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which to disseminate a positive message – including TGI’s own blog,
tgigolflog.com, launched in 2014. A short while ago, Reid used this forum to speak out on gloom merchants within the golf industry. “We’d meet up with suppliers and ask them how it was going, to be told ‘Well, it’s not very good is it…’ he groans. “That‘s a terrible start to any conversation.” But now, he’s followed up with another, even more tubthumping post on reasons to be cheerful. Here, he outlines and expands on those views.
A less volatile marketplace “For a number of years,” says Reid, “the price of hardware products was
driven by what products were being sold for off-course. A golfer would see a deal online, take that price into the pro shop and the pro would feel the need to match that price – to satisfy your member, with whom you want to have a long-standing relationship. The internet company could put their price back up on Monday, because they have no personal relationships with anyone. The pro couldn’t do that – and once he’s discounted that price once, he’s set his price for the year. “However, the price differential now is tiny, and for the last two or three
years the best place to buy hardware has in fact been on-course. This is mostly down to the work that’s been done, by brands and retailers, to communicate the value of custom fitting, and the message that these
14 SGBGOLF
hen Eddie Reid became managing director of the TGI Golf Partnership in
products will improve your game but only if properly specced – and you can’t do that without expertise. “The market has moved from a consumer’s point of view. Fewer golfers
are choosing to buy on price alone. Within TGI, more than 80% of irons sold through the group are now custom-fit. Five years ago it was probably 45%; 10 years ago it was 20%. Brands are doing more work to support this level of service, and some now won’t even stock standard fit; if you go for a fitting and are standard, they will still make it up for you and send it in. “The drop in price difference has also been helped by the advent and
expansion of adjustability. With clubs offering the ability to tailor loſt, lie, weight and even centre-of-gravity location, some products are now so technologically advanced that you need a specialist to get it set up for you.”
Golf is on the cusp of being trendy again “Admittedly this is anecdotal,” Reid continues, “but we are in daily
contact with our partner retailers and are getting masses of feedback that there are more younger golfers playing. “We can put a lot of this down to the influence of guys like Rory McIlroy,
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