Sale of Tiger Woods' Merchandise On Decline

[wisemaniac]

While watching Tiger play on Thursday, one of the announcers noted that not only is Tiger playing the worst golf of his career, he's fully aware that everyone is talking about it & it's as much as part of the conversation (maybe more so) than who is actually winning the Open so far. If you've been watching, you know the crowd gave him grief for how he played.

I know he feels he has to change his swing to prolong his career, but is this really doing him any favors? Can a guy who was that dominant really spend the next ten years hoping to get back to where he's just able to compete? I get there are those who are unrealistically hopeful he'll get back to his old form but holy smokes is it unlikely. For those who are big Tiger fans, this certainly doesn't diminish what he accomplished but if he keeps this up for years to come, it will tarnish how he's remembered by younger generations - all they've seen for the last couple years is him struggle & his game get so bad he's now missing cuts. The attention every media outlet gives to his struggles only exacerbates the situation.

A sportswriter (my apologies, I don't remember who) compared the newest iteration of his swing to an actress who has had so many plastic surgeries that she's an abomination compared to the original. That may be the most apt description I've read.

And now retailers are reporting that, due to multiple reasons, the sale of Tiger's merchandise is falling off significantly. People, including myself, are still tuning in to see just how poorly he's shooting though. I know he doesn't need the money but if you're trying to protect the brand name, at what point do you consider maybe changing your affiliation with pro-golf?

 

[i am herdman]

All golf sales are in decline. Adidas(who owns Taylor Made) and Nike both have had layoffs in their golf departments. Golf is not in good shape and in pains me to say that. Golf across the boards is shrinking at 10% plus a year. Golf courses are closing right and left.

 

[herdfan06]

Golf courses are closing right and left.

It is also becoming more advantageous for the owners to sell their land to developers.

 

[riflearm2]

All golf sales are in decline. Adidas(who owns Taylor Made) and Nike both have had layoffs in their golf departments. Golf is not in good shape and in pains me to say that. Golf across the boards is shrinking at 10% plus a year. Golf courses are closing right and left.

Tiger's publicist, known around here as herdman, will always find a way to dodge having to fault tiger.

For a guy who is so adamant against homos, it's always entertaining to watch you caress tiger's testicles.

 

[i am herdman]

Tiger's publicist, known around here as herdman, will always find a way to dodge having to fault tiger.

For a guy who is so adamant against homos, it's always entertaining to watch you caress tiger's testicles.

So you deny that golf sales are declining across the board? Look it up.

Oh, in case you missed it, Tiger is black and I am the one defending him. You racist bastard.

 

[riflearm2]

So you deny that golf sales are declining across the board? Look it up.

Oh, in case you missed it, Tiger is black and I am the one defending him. You racist bastard.

I didn't deny that golf sales are down. I said you will defend him regardless of what the reason(s) is for his merch being down. I'm sure his lackluster play is a major factor.

And you are only defending one part of him: his white side. That's why your arguments are only half-assed.

 

[i am herdman]

I didn't deny that golf sales are down. I said you will defend him regardless of what the reason(s) is for his merch being down. I'm sure his lackluster play is a major factor.

And you are only defending one part of him: his white side. That's why your arguments are only half-assed.

Well, according to Woods he is only 1/8 Dutch. That is not much of a white side. My arguments can't be half assed. Under your scenario, my arguments are at lest 87.5% correct and not 50% or half-assed..
--------------
The golfing champion went on to state that as a child he’d invented the term, “Cablinasian” to describe his parents multi-ethnicity and nationality — a mix of half Asian (Chinese and Thai), one-quarter African American, one-eighth Native American and one-eighth Dutch. He’d adopted the term as a way of honouring his mother Kultida (of Thai, Chinese and Dutch ancestry) as well as respecting all aspects of his cultural and racial heritage.

 

[GK4Herd]

Tiger's black?

 

[wvkeeper(HN)]

Cablasian

 

[herdit44]

All golf sales are in decline. Adidas(who owns Taylor Made) and Nike both have had layoffs in their golf departments. Golf is not in good shape and in pains me to say that. Golf across the boards is shrinking at 10% plus a year. Golf courses are closing right and left.

Nike's layoffs were a smart business decision, their on the road reps structure was stupid to begin with...

They had apparel golf reps and equipment golf reps in all territories, what they did is just combined those jobs, so the guys pushing equipment on clubs is now also pushing apparel, quite smart.

 

[i am herdman]

Nike's layoffs were a smart business decision, their on the road reps structure was stupid to begin with...

They had apparel golf reps and equipment golf reps in all territories, what they did is just combined those jobs, so the guys pushing equipment on clubs is now also pushing equipment, quite smart.

Probably so. Golf is in trouble.The economic condition has not helped the last 7 years or so. Couple that with an instant gratification society that would rather play XBox or watch tv and golf is getting smaller as an industry.

 

[herdfan429]

Probably so. Golf is in trouble.The economic condition has not helped the last 7 years or so. Couple that with an instant gratification society that would rather play XBox or watch tv and golf is getting smaller as an industry.

The problem is golf is freaking expensive. You have to spend thousands of dollars to get good at it. Most people dont have that kind of expendable income.

 

[GK4Herd]

The problem is golf is freaking expensive. You have to spend thousands of dollars to get good at it. Most people dont have that kind of expendable income.

That and the amount of time it takes to play a round.

 

[i am herdman]

The problem is golf is freaking expensive. You have to spend thousands of dollars to get good at it. Most people dont have that kind of expendable income.

Golf is not that expensive. If you find the right deal. I played $20 last week for 18 holes in myrtle beach. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to get good or decent. You have to spend time. But, you can't go out and buy new set of Titleist irons and expect it to be cheap. Buy a used or starter set. I could build a quality set from used stuff for $200. If you are starting you don't need big name brand clubs. Then, go hit balls.

The problem is now kids want the new Jordan Speigth clubs and they want to go play $100 course. You can find plenty of deals at certain times of the year and certain times of day.

Golf is no more expensive than anything else. Kids want instant gratification and they don't want to spend 4 hours in the sun.

 

[-CarlHungus-]

I disagree about the expense of golf as it regards to players that eventually can make the pros. I agree with herdfan429 in that if you want to be really good (as in eventually get a scholarship), it's going to cost you. To shoot 85 and play with your buddies on the weekend can be achieved on a reasonable budget, though.

To be a scholarship-level junior player, you've got to hit a bunch of balls (and probably take lessons here and there). Where can you hit those balls all day long? The country club. Who can afford a country club? My parents couldn't growing up and I can't now making six figures due to high school loan debt.

I'd love to see a list of the top 200 pros and amateurs in the US and see which ones grew up as members of a country club. I'd say 90% or more fit that bill. I know five D-1 level scholarship golfers (and have personally treated a famous golf pro's father) and every one grew up living at the country club.

 

[i am herdman]

Woowww. Golf is primarily made up of weekend hackers, recreational golfers, and few folks who can consistently break 90 or even 100.

Getting to be a college athlete at any sport can be expensive. Try baseball now a days. I know about wrestling. Do you know how many weekends I spent in a gym somewhere and hotels? Try that for awhile. Very athletes in any sport are going to play at a college level or heck in a high school level for that matter. Baseball numbers drop off significantly past age 13. Travel ball and the like have taken over every sport. Yes, there are exceptions.

Anyway, top amateur golf, collegiate golf, and pro golf are a whole different discussion.

The numbers that are slipping are weekend hackers like myself. The recreational end of it and that is what has golf industry experts worried and scratching their head. That is the problem. Why are people not playing recreational golf.

Golf is about as cheap now as in the 1990's. The problem is competition for time. Computers, Facebook, XBox, and busy families are the big reason.

Like I said, I could outfit and rig anybody up with a decent start set for about what they would pay for a really good baseball bat and glove. For the price of an XBox you could do well.

You know how we learned to play golf? We went at hit golf balls with our dads hand me down set or a set from Kmart or the bargain bin. Oh, we realized it would take time. Hell, I have been doing it for 25 years and still scratch my head. To me that is part of the challenge.

Little Johnny now doesn't want to spend 4.5 hours out there and suck for 5 years or more until he learns to play. He doesn't want to spend hours practicing. Easier to play something on the Xbox and let his mommy bring him sodas.

Anybody that goes into a sport thinking they are going to play in college or be the next Rory is fooling themselves. Go play and have fun with it.You can play golf the rest of your life. But, it is not an easy game. Me I would rather go hack balls around Orchard Hills than play a video game.

 

[herdfan429]

Because it's expensive. We live in an instant gratification society like you point out. People do t want to go out and hit 100. To get better you have to spend money.

 

[-CarlHungus-]

The numbers that are slipping are weekend hackers like myself. The recreational end of it and that is what has golf industry experts worried and scratching their head. That is the problem. Why are people not playing recreational golf.

Golf is about as cheap now as in the 1990's. The problem is competition for time. Computers, Facebook, XBox, and busy families are the big reason.

OK, I can see that.

I used to play about a 6-12 rounds a year, shoot 95, and have an absolute blast. But I too fall into the "busy family" category now, and my last round was 9-holes only a couple of years ago after my first kid was born. I hope to play some more, but I just can't seem to justify leaving my wife with two kids under 3 years old for 4-5 hours on the weekend while I drink beer/play golf.

 

[herdit44]

Because it's expensive. We live in an instant gratification society like you point out. People do t want to go out and hit 100. To get better you have to spend money.

you can keep saying that, but it's not that expensive. you can get a used/starter set for a couple hundred bucks, you can go hit golf balls at a range for a few bucks, you can play the local muni course for not that much money (can play 18 at any public course around here for $35 or so, max)

 

[herdfan429]

you can keep saying that, but it's not that expensive. you can get a used/starter set for a couple hundred bucks, you can go hit golf balls at a range for a few bucks, you can play the local muni course for not that much money (can play 18 at any public course around here for $35 or so, max)

You are correct I can do that and I do do that however I'm not good. All of this is predicated on being good. You can't go out and play one round every other weekend and expect to be good. Golf is just like any other game, you have to practice practice practice to get better. I can go to the local park to work on my jumpshot I can go to the park and work on throwing a football. I can't go to the park and work on my bunker shots. I have to spend money to do that.

 

[i am herdman]

OK, I can see that.

I used to play about a 6-12 rounds a year, shoot 95, and have an absolute blast. But I too fall into the "busy family" category now, and my last round was 9-holes only a couple of years ago after my first kid was born. I hope to play some more, but I just can't seem to justify leaving my wife with two kids under 3 years old for 4-5 hours on the weekend while I drink beer/play golf.

Oh dear God. That was a big old meatball softball thrown up and I am sitting here with a 36" Louisville Slugger in a 3-0 count with the green light from the 3rd Base Coach while going 4 for 4 in may last 4 plate appearances. Bases Loaded and Ducks on the Pond. Are you trying to give me a coronary?

 

[herdit44]

You are correct I can do that and I do do that however I'm not good. All of this is predicated on being good. You can't go out and play one round every other weekend and expect to be good. Golf is just like any other game, you have to practice practice practice to get better. I can go to the local park to work on my jumpshot I can go to the park and work on throwing a football. I can't go to the park and work on my bunker shots. I have to spend money to do that.

you could hit the range a few times a week for $15 or so, work on your golf game there. yeah, it's not as cheap as throwing a football or basketball, but as you get in your mid-thirties (or even late-twenties) and older, you pay for playing those sports, just not in cash, you do so with sore muscles, tears, broken bones, etc.

edit to add: and let's be honest, for 99% of the population there's a limit of how good you can be at basketball or football. if you're 5'10 and 160lbs, you're going to be severely limited in both, but at 5'10 and 160lbs you can still be very, very good at golf. i play weekly with a scratch golfer that is no bigger than that...

 

[i am herdman]

herdfan429 are you the primary bread winner?

 

[MichiganHerd]

I play a lot of golf, well at least for someone with a full time job and a nagging woman. I usually play two rounds per week, so I joined a local course. Still, the money adds up - cart fees, balls, a few accessories. But let's be honest here. Golf costs a lot, because the damn beer cost you $12.00 a six pack. That's my biggest expense when I go golfing.

 

[-CarlHungus-]

Oh dear God. That was a big old meatball softball thrown up and I am sitting here with a 36" Louisville Slugger in a 3-0 count with the green light from the 3rd Base Coach while going 4 for 4 in may last 4 plate appearances. Bases Loaded and Ducks on the Pond. Are you trying to give me a coronary?

Ha - no I'm really not trying to set you up. I presume you're referring to the reluctance of me to play golf on the weekends due to wife concerns...

I work from 7 AM to 6PM; I leave the house at 6:30 AM and sometimes not coming home until 7 PM some nights. My wife is home with two crazy ass kids all that time, it really is hard for me to justify an every-weekend golf round. My job is way less taxing than taking care of my devil spawn. She has given up her career for now as her choice (she is a professional), but also as a sacrifice to our family because we moved away for my job. I don't "ask her for permission" to play golf, I just choose not to play because I want to enjoy a weekend with her and the kids for now. Would it be awesome to slam beers and play 18 every weekend? Hell yes. Would she like to leave the house for a massage/spa day and martinis for 4 hours every weekend? Hell yes. Would there be resentment there? Hell yes.

 

[herdfan429]

herdfan429 are you the primary bread winner?

Yes and that has nothing to do with this conversation. I love the game of golf I don't play as much as I like. I'm just giving you the MAIN reason people don't play

 

[i am herdman]

Ha - no I'm really not trying to set you up. I presume you're referring to the reluctance of me to play golf on the weekends due to wife concerns...

I work from 7 AM to 6PM; I leave the house at 6:30 AM and sometimes not coming home until 7 PM some nights. My wife is home with two crazy ass kids all that time, it really is hard for me to justify an every-weekend golf round. My job is way less taxing than taking care of my devil spawn. She has given up her career for now as her choice (she is a professional), but also as a sacrifice to our family because we moved away for my job. I don't "ask her for permission" to play golf, I just choose not to play because I want to enjoy a weekend with her and the kids for now. Would it be awesome to slam beers and play 18 every weekend? Hell yes. Would she like to leave the house for a massage/spa day and martinis for 4 hours every weekend? Hell yes. Would there be resentment there? Hell yes.

I got you a herdfan429 mixed up. My bad. You have to strategically play golf. Don't go at 10am on a Saturday morning and be gone all day. Go early and bang out 18 holes by mid morning or lunch.

Dude, offer up that damn trade. I would say ok, a couple of weekends a month you go get the massage/spa day and do women crap for 4 hours, but I get to play golf. Take that offer now!

You are going to get more nookie and get to play golf. You will be a damn hero. Plus, you get rid of her and can watch the kids. What does that mean? Get the kids busy doing something and you watch football, golf, racing, boxing, baseball, or whatever.

Damn, what are you waiting on. Take that deal and I mean now! Women love that spa treatment stuff. She will love you. Play the angle, baby you work so hard with the kids and it is stressful go treat yourself to some Massage Envy. Dude, you will get golf and get some. That puts them in the mood. Throw the kids some toys in the other room and fix some mac and cheese and turn the ball game on.

I mean take it right now. Do it.

 

[herdit44]

I'm just giving you the MAIN reason I don't play

FIFY

 

[Raoul Duke MU]

I guess kids now would want the fancy golf clubs. I didn't know there were fancy ones when I was a kid. Dad cut down an old set of adult clubs, put on some new grips, and that was my first set of clubs.

 

[MichiganHerd]

Hell, my first set was a smorgasbord of hand me down clubs around the age of 13.

Out of the 14 clubs in the bag, I probably had 6 different brand names.

 

[GK4Herd]

I might be teeing another one up for herdman, but am I the only one that doesn't drink beer on a golf course? All my buddies ride me because I won't drink on the course, but I just don't enjoy it that much. I get where I just go through the motions on golf if I try to drink beer. I'm just too mellow.

Now after 18 holes on a hot summer day, nothing beats the taste of a few beers after a round. It's worth the wait for me. I like beer as much as the next guy (maybe too much),but it seems like on golf courses, at ball games, etc...that the beer becomes greater than the event. (I get ridden mercilessly by my friends when I say that, lol.)

But dang...guys I play with will drink the whole way round. But me...

 

[i am herdman]

I might be teeing another one up for herdman, but am I the only one that doesn't drink beer on a golf course? All my buddies ride me because I won't drink on the course, but I just don't enjoy it that much. I get where I just go through the motions on golf if I try to drink beer. I'm just too mellow.

Now after 18 holes on a hot summer day, nothing beats the taste of a few beers after a round. It's worth the wait for me. I like beer as much as the next guy (maybe too much),but it seems like on golf courses, at ball games, etc...that the beer becomes greater than the event. (I get ridden mercilessly by my friends when I say that, lol.)

But dang...guys I play with will drink the whole way round. But me...

Actually I very rarely drink on the course while playing. I figure the game is hard enough without drinking. But, I know a guy who plays better after about 6 beers.

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

Woowww. Golf is primarily made up of weekend hackers, recreational golfers, and few folks who can consistently break 90 or even 100.

Getting to be a college athlete at any sport can be expensive. Try baseball now a days. I know about wrestling. Do you know how many weekends I spent in a gym somewhere and hotels? Try that for awhile. Very athletes in any sport are going to play at a college level or heck in a high school level for that matter. Baseball numbers drop off significantly past age 13. Travel ball and the like have taken over every sport. Yes, there are exceptions.

Anyway, top amateur golf, collegiate golf, and pro golf are a whole different discussion.

The numbers that are slipping are weekend hackers like myself. The recreational end of it and that is what has golf industry experts worried and scratching their head. That is the problem. Why are people not playing recreational golf.

Golf is about as cheap now as in the 1990's. The problem is competition for time. Computers, Facebook, XBox, and busy families are the big reason.

Like I said, I could outfit and rig anybody up with a decent start set for about what they would pay for a really good baseball bat and glove. For the price of an XBox you could do well.

You know how we learned to play golf? We went at hit golf balls with our dads hand me down set or a set from Kmart or the bargain bin. Oh, we realized it would take time. Hell, I have been doing it for 25 years and still scratch my head. To me that is part of the challenge.

Little Johnny now doesn't want to spend 4.5 hours out there and suck for 5 years or more until he learns to play. He doesn't want to spend hours practicing. Easier to play something on the Xbox and let his mommy bring him sodas.

Anybody that goes into a sport thinking they are going to play in college or be the next Rory is fooling themselves. Go play and have fun with it.You can play golf the rest of your life. But, it is not an easy game. Me I would rather go hack balls around Orchard Hills than play a video game.

That's why little Johnny is a fat piece of crap and will be a diabetic, have heart disease and PAD by the time he is 30. Video games are idiotic. What nut job would sit in front of their TV for hours on end playing a video game. Never saw the fascination. Get out and move a little junior.

 

[-CarlHungus-]

I might be teeing another one up for herdman, but am I the only one that doesn't drink beer on a golf course? All my buddies ride me because I won't drink on the course, but I just don't enjoy it that much. I get where I just go through the motions on golf if I try to drink beer. I'm just too mellow.

Now after 18 holes on a hot summer day, nothing beats the taste of a few beers after a round. It's worth the wait for me. I like beer as much as the next guy (maybe too much),but it seems like on golf courses, at ball games, etc...that the beer becomes greater than the event. (I get ridden mercilessly by my friends when I say that, lol.)

But dang...guys I play with will drink the whole way round. But me...

When I was actually playing, I'd only have 1, maybe 2 beers. Now after the round....

 

[Raoul Duke MU]

I have rarely had even one beer on a golf course.

But no way I am going to a baseball game or a race and not drink some beer.

 

[GK4Herd]

I went to a few Cincy Reds games this weekend. I had a couple of beers as well ($8.50 *sigh*), but I'm referring to those who have to power drink before and during these events. I just don't get it.