sixcat Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djahubes Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 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. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djahubes Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 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. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 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. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djahubes Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 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. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 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. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djahubes Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 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. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulliganman Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 I posted in another thread about the ball but there is now two versions of a new ball showing on the USGA conforming list "Costco Signature One". Four piece. 360 dimples Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrokerAce Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 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 Driver- Cobra 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaidJacket Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Yes. and the new article Covey posted in very interesting also. My Sun Mountain bag currently includes: 771CSI 5i - PW and PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges EXS 10.5*, 929-HS FW4 16.5* Willimette w/GolfPride Contour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crashtestdummy Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaidJacket Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 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: 771CSI 5i - PW and PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges EXS 10.5*, 929-HS FW4 16.5* Willimette w/GolfPride Contour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poprocksncoke Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 I just might try these if they ever have them in stock when I make a trip to Costco! SLDR 10.5 Oban HB R11s Rip Phenom Ft. Worth Black Irons 588 RTX Rotex 2.0 54 CG10 58 EV 5.3 Duo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDGolfHacker Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 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: TSR2 11° Project X HZRDUS Black 4G 60g 5.5 Flex Fairway Woods: F8 3W Project X Even Flow Blue 75g shaft Fairway Woods: Hybrid: TSR2 18° Graphite Design Tour AD DI-85 Shaft Irons: 2021 T200's 4-GW AMT RED shafts Regular Flex Wedge: Tour Satin RTX 4 Wedges in 52° and 56° 2 Dot Putter: Gray Matter TDP 2.2 32.75" Bag: Three 5 Ball: PRO V1 / Z*Star RangeFinder: In search of new range finder Social Media: Facebook: MD Golfhacker Twitter: @mdgolfhacker Instagram: mdgolfhacker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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