RETAIL
‘Why are drivers expensive? They use the same sorts of materials used in fighter jets and Formula 1 cars’
New golf clubs aren’t cheap – and drivers are particularly expensive. But why is that the case? On The GBQ Podcast, Dr Alan Hocknell, Titleist’s Vice President of Advanced Research and Innovation, explains
New technology doesn’t come cheap – and when it comes to drivers, buying a new product can be a wallet-chastening experience.
Many of the latest models weigh in at more than £500, with the Titleist GT range toting a suggested retail price of £579.
For critics, it’s a stick with which to beat the sport – and brands face regular criticism that prices for new equipment can be a barrier to people playing. It can exacerbate accusations that golf is elitist.
But why are prices as they are? What contributes to the cost? On The GBQ podcast, Dr Alan Hocknell, Titleist’s VP of advanced research and innovation, explained to Sarah Stirk what goes into the product cycle surrounding equipment and the expense of some of the materials used in the clubs.
On the development of new products and the long-term process, he said: “We operate a model we call the innovation funnel. At the wide end of the funnel, there is a lot of discovery – things that you don’t know about and you’re trying to prove for the first time.
“The most interesting of those move down the funnel, maybe into a technology demonstrator [stage], where we’ll actually build a piece of golf club with this technology on it.
“The best of those become product concepts, where we’re really trying to match that new technology to the needs of players and ask the question, ‘how is it going to solve the problem better than what we’ve already got?’
“To get the most out of the performance – within the limits of the rules – we have to use exotic materials”
“The best of those finally become products. So that funnel gets narrower and narrower the further down you go.
“But the idea is that the best ideas make it to the end. It might take some time for them to get there, but if we have enough material going into the wide part of the funnel, then we’ll have enough new ideas coming into the narrow part that turn into final products.
“The journey through that innovation funnel could take several years but it always means there is something that we can say is genuinely better.
“Another thing in parallel to that is we’re always trying to improve our measurement capability as well, to be able to tell you with more precision why it’s better, and how much better it is, and give ourselves the confidence that we’re not just saying things in the market that we can’t support – that we have a numerical basis for the things we’re saying.
“We’re developing new technology, we’re developing measurement capability and we’re listening to feedback from players to get some of our inspiration, and to get those new things to be genuinely better than they were before.”
Asked by Stirk why drivers were the price they were, Dr Hocknell added: “With a driver, the bulk of the cost is in the head. That might make sense – it’s where the most expensive materials are. It’s the part that makes contact with the ball. It has the most influence over your success in where the ball goes.
“It’s the part we focus on the most, but to get the most out of the performance – within the limits of the rules these days – we do have to use fairly exotic materials.
“Materials like titanium and carbon-based composites are pretty expensive. They’re the same sorts of materials that are used in fighter jets or in Formula 1 cars and they are put through manufacturing processes with very expensive tooling to create the shapes that we need to make with high precision and quality.
“Those are expensive processes as well. There is all the research that goes in and the innovation funnel might be years long.
“There are people working at all stages of that, working with new technology, proving things for the first time, making lots of prototypes, breaking things, doing computer simulations, using expensive computer software and large computing resources to study things like aerodynamics.
“All those are genuine costs that we take on during development and some of those are a component of the final cost of the product as well.
“I will say that while brand new golf clubs are noticeably expensive because of the technology, there is a healthy pre-owned marked too for people who are just putting their toe in the water to not have such a great outlay to start with.”
LISTEN TO EPISODE 6 NOW
ALSO AVAILABLE ON:
Spotify: Listen Now
Amazon Music: Listen Now
Acast: Listen now
Get golf business insights straight to your inbox
Sign up for the first look at the latest news, features, exclusive interviews and podcast episodes with our monthly newsletter