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Kirkland Ball Test


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I don't think Costco made a couscous decision to "thumb their nose" at anyone. I just think they found or were presented with an opportunity to sell these balls for a while and ran with it. I don't believe Costco had an axe to grand with the golf industry.

I agree.  I didn't intend to imply the contrary.  But following the push-back Costco received from Golf Channel and other avenues, it is being perceived that way by the golf industry establishment.  Profit is king and Costco's foray into the golf ball business hurt major golf OEM's as a result.

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It depends on many, many other mitigating factors. As I said earlier, do existing Costco suppliers have vested interests in major, established golf OEM's? If they do, those OEM's could easily jeopardize many existing Costco products. Costco isn't dealing with one or even two supply chains. A company of that size is dealing with thousands on a daily basis. It stands to reason several of those suppliers would also have relationships with companies that have a vested interest in Titleist or TaylorMade.

 

The bottom line is a company like Costco isn't going to jeopardize 30 other established products in order to sell golf balls and likely wouldn't find it worthy of their time and considerable effort. Especially when they can use the leverage they generated by establishing the ball they have sold for the past few months to get them a considerable inventory of OEM equipment to stock shelves with.

 

I don't know what Costco will ultimately do. I just don't believe it's simply about selling golf balls for them either. The Kirkland Signature brand has thousands of products.

I understand your logic but you have it backwards. Those companies rely on Costco more than Costco relies on them. The golf OEMs have zero leverage. Costco owns its supply chains. They created the Kirkland brand for a reason.

 

 

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Don't just think of Costco ; they are a bit player in this. If they did buy overruns they now need to acquire their own ball formulation to manufacturer. Since there are limited manufacturing plants that produce balls. The other manufacturers could put pressure on ball plants by stopping their production in those plants.

 

As a result Costco has considerable startup costs and would potentially be charged more per dozen since the plants would have less production due to other manufacturers pulling out.

 

Probably not going to be a $15 ball anymore and if you are paying equal prices people will go with brand name

There seems to be a Nike void to fill. Those balls were produced somewhere.

And you seem to think that Costco looks for profits on their goods. They get most of their capital from member fees. They were selling the ksig at cost or very low margin. The big OEMs are producing their products at that same price and marking them up at huge margin.

 

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I understand your logic but you have it backwards. Those companies rely on Costco more than Costco relies on them. The golf OEMs have zero leverage. Costco owns its supply chains. They created the Kirkland brand for a reason.

 

 

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You seem to be back-door proving my point.  If I "have it backwards" and Costco indeed owns all of it's supply chains as you suggest, how is this even an issue?  If Costco owned all of it's supply chains, Costco would own Nassau.

 

The following seems to suggest Costco owns very few suppliers.  http://vendorco.com/costco-supplier

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You seem to be back-door proving my point. If I "have it backwards" and Costco indeed owns all of it's supply chains as you suggest, how is this even an issue? If Costco owned all of it's supply chains, Costco would own Nassau.

 

The following seems to suggest Costco owns very few suppliers. http://vendorco.com/costco-supplier

You are confusing supplier with supply chain. Costco leverages suppliers to put products through their chains for distribution to the consumer. If a particular supplier does not play by Costco's model, they, Costco will find an alternate source of supply.

 

 

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You are confusing supplier with supply chain. Costco leverages suppliers to put products through their chains for distribution to the consumer. If a particular supplier does not play by Costco's model, they, Costco will find an alternate source of supply.

 

 

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Depots receive truckload or container-based shipments from manufacturers

Goods are allocated and then shipped to stores , generally in less than twenty-four hours.

To the greatest extent possible, goods are handled through the depots in full pallet quantities meaning that a forklift handles a full pallet of merchandise at receiving and at shipping without the need for people to touch individual cases.

While this is not possible for 100% of the product lines (e.g. high dollar value items with low movement are generally the exception), the emphasis is definitely on minimizing touches.

At the warehouse stores, forklifts move pallets into racks such that the first time an item is physically touched is when the consumer reaches into the rack to pick the item and place it into their cart.

Thus the first time that a Costco employee touches product is at the cash register for most (but not all) of the items being sold.

 

I believe we are awash in semantics!  The above is copied directly from the Costco website.  While it isn't clear who actually owns the "depot" it is industry standard for the chain to own their own distributorship.  However, this doesn't get to the heart of the issue.  Semantics aside, Costco doesn't actually manufacture anything. Why would they start with a golf ball?  It doesn't seem logical for a company as successful as Costco to go against a tried and true business model in order to sell a cheaper golf ball.

We can agree to disagree.  I'm not going to argue with you anymore.

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Depots receive truckload or container-based shipments from manufacturers

Goods are allocated and then shipped to stores , generally in less than twenty-four hours.

To the greatest extent possible, goods are handled through the depots in full pallet quantities meaning that a forklift handles a full pallet of merchandise at receiving and at shipping without the need for people to touch individual cases.

While this is not possible for 100% of the product lines (e.g. high dollar value items with low movement are generally the exception), the emphasis is definitely on minimizing touches.

At the warehouse stores, forklifts move pallets into racks such that the first time an item is physically touched is when the consumer reaches into the rack to pick the item and place it into their cart.

Thus the first time that a Costco employee touches product is at the cash register for most (but not all) of the items being sold.

I believe we are awash in semantics! The above is copied directly from the Costco website. While it isn't clear who actually owns the "depot" it is industry standard for the chain to own their own distributorship. However, this doesn't get to the heart of the issue. Semantics aside, Costco doesn't actually manufacture anything. Why would they start with a golf ball? It doesn't seem logical for a company as successful as Costco to go against a tried and true business model in order to sell a cheaper golf ball.

We can agree to disagree. I'm not going to argue with you anymore.

Buddy, they don't need to manufacture them. I never implied or said that. All they need to do is find a source that can. My original point was that they have the resources to do that if they were so inclined. Not saying they will, or that they care to but it's an option.

 

Your cut and paste talks about distribution, which is another facet of a complex chain that relates to transportation and distribution. There is also acquisition, disposition, inventory management, and many other complex factors in a supply chain.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

check out the Dean Snell article on the blog about the KSigs.  He went into great detail about the behind the scenes stuff.  I never realized so much went into creating a golf ball!

very good article and this guy knows golf balls

DriverCobra  Aerojet LS
Woods-
Cobra  LTD 3w 15*, 5W 19*,  F9 24* 
Irons- XXIO X (6-A)

Wedges- Callaway Jaws Raw (54/58)

Putter- Bettinardi BB56
Ball- Maxfli Tour X/Wilson Triad
Buggy- Clicgear 4.0
Bag- Callaway Org 14/Fairway C

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Yes. and the new article Covey posted in very interesting also.

My Sun Mountain bag currently includes:   TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 771CSI 5i - PW and TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges

                                                                               :755178188_TourEdge: EXS 10.5*, TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 929-HS FW4 16.5* 

                                                                                :edel-golf-1: Willimette w/GolfPride Contour

 

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  • 1 month later...

I haven't tried them yet. I am sure it is a very good premium ball, but in reality all the companies make great premium balls. What it really comes down to, is what is the best ball fit for your game, swing, and personal preferences. You really have to test a lot of balls to see what works best. I have found for my game, higher compression balls are longer, but it comes with a cost of feel. I still think the ProV1 and ProV1X is the best ball out there in terms of performance and feel, but there are several others that are right up there in my book. Srixon Z-Star line are excellent balls as well. I still am looking forward to trying the Kirkland ball as well as the TM TP5 and TP5X balls. 

:taylormade-small:

:titleist-small:

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I played a Ksig today and yesterday. In fact... same ball. I've been playing them off and on since they debuted. Good balls. I also play several others frequently. ChromeSoft, Titleist PV1 and x, MG Tour C4, Snell MTB, etc. My game plays the same with any of these. Meaning I can shoot a good lower round (75-78) or a higher round (80-85) with these balls. If I had to choose one of these to play everyday I'd probably go with the ChromeSoft perhaps. For the money I'd have to flip a coin between the Ksig and MG Tour C4.

My Sun Mountain bag currently includes:   TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 771CSI 5i - PW and TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges

                                                                               :755178188_TourEdge: EXS 10.5*, TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 929-HS FW4 16.5* 

                                                                                :edel-golf-1: Willimette w/GolfPride Contour

 

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I just might try these if they ever have them in stock when I make a trip to Costco!

Most stores don't have them in stock. They just show up on the website as being in stock. Gotta jump on it right away and order them as they go quick once words spreads.

 

MDGolfHacker

TSssWhat's In This Lefty's Bag?

Driver: :titleist-small: TSR2 11° Project X HZRDUS Black 4G 60g 5.5 Flex

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Hybrid: :titelist-small: TSR2  18° Graphite Design Tour AD DI-85 Shaft

Irons: :titelist-small: 2021 T200's 4-GW AMT RED shafts Regular Flex

Wedge: :cleveland-small: Tour Satin RTX 4 Wedges in 52° and 56° 2 Dot

Putter: :nevercompromise-small: Gray Matter TDP 2.2 32.75"

Bag: :1590477705_SunMountain: Three 5

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