Callaway Enters "premium" market with Epic irons?!

[TWShoot67]

Premium PROFIT if they sell, and they will (lot's a guys trying to buy that extra 0.5mph ball speed you get with these irons...) lol. I bet Callaway can make about 200.00 on each club they sell or more. That's a heck of a profit. We all know the saying " there's a sucker born every minute ". What I really want to see is how many staffers will bag these and for how long?

[Peterpc2828]

Premium PROFIT if they sell, and they will (lot's a guys trying to buy that extra 0.5mph ball speed you get with these irons...) lol. I bet Callaway can make about 200.00 on each club they sell or more. That's a heck of a profit. We all know the saying " there's a sucker born every minute ". What I really want to see is how many staffers will bag these and for how long?

Looks like the first Callaway staffer is Colon Montgomery, though a senior tour player

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[mtisdale]

Why can't you get fit for these clubs?? Who said you can't? I'm sure if I'm buying them they will make them to my specs, right??

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

i'm sure they can, but most likely at an additional charge at where ever you purchase them which is my issue. For that kind of money i would expect a personalized fitting from a certified Callaway rep. 

Maybe it's just me but i think premium prices should come with premium service.

 

I hope i am wrong about this and Callaway will do this with each set as they seem to be a customer driven company. . 

[dadivots]

Looks like the first Callaway staffer is Colon Montgomery, though a senior tour player

IMG_1145.JPG

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

And theres your target market. "Senior" money. Golf has always been more money than sense to now rude money on the course and no sense. All I know is there is a lot of good clubs out there for these kind of dollars. And a fool and his money......

[Shankster]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[dang3rtown]

Based on the last few product releases we have been talking about, it seems to me the PXG has established that there is a demand and market for, "premium" equipment. If that market is there, and they're ignoring it, they are fools, particularly in the dog eat dog world of the golf equipment industry. No one is about to give away a profitable piece of the pie. You have to put a product in that segment if for no other reason than to prevent your competitors from locking it down. 

[PAgolfer2017]

Not a huge fan of the looks. For the price point, id think it would have a cleaner look. The tech is interesting, and am curious to see reviews on it. Regardless....I'll stick with my CF16's.

 

Only way I'd consider these is if they were guaranteed to take me from a 16hdc to a scratch golfer instantly...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Shankster]

Were these going to be a "normal" release though? They look like the replacement for the steelhead. Someone just said "hey we are missing out on a market share, charge double for the new clubs!" The Epic driver isn't a "premium" driver... by cost anyways. And it's it has the same name...

 

Or the XR/XR Pro replacement

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Peterpc2828]

i'm sure they can, but most likely at an additional charge at where ever you purchase them which is my issue. For that kind of money i would expect a personalized fitting from a certified Callaway rep.

Maybe it's just me but i think premium prices should come with premium service.

 

I hope i am wrong about this and Callaway will do this with each set as they seem to be a customer driven company. .

I can't imagine that if you go to any Callaway authorized fitting center or other retailers that they would charge you for the fitting if you buy the irons from them, maybe I'm wrong but just can't see that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[McGary6]

These clubs share the same technology thats in the 2016 Big Bertha OS irons. I guess an extra $100 per club gets you all that technology in a slimmer, more socially accepted package?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[McGary6]

Say what you want about the irons, I'll be purchasing an Epic hybrid on release day.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[lou mcconaughey]

It's no wonder golf is a dyeing sport. It's so expensive to get equipped and to play. If everybody would roll back prices golf would come back in a big way

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[null]

It's no wonder golf is a dyeing sport. It's so expensive to get equipped and to play. If everybody would roll back prices golf would come back in a big way

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

If you do some research you would see that, adjusted for inflation, cost of most golf equipment has not gone up over the years

[fraasty]

Wow these look so horrible. I don't get how they can charge a premium price for cheap carbon fiber look badging and .5 ball speed increases. With so many other great options out there I don't foresee them selling these to anyone except callaway cult groups

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shankster]

If you do some research you would see that, adjusted for inflation, cost of most golf equipment has not gone up over the years

Agree here. Just seems really high up because. Par clubs are in the 110-150 range each. My dad paid $975 for my set of DCI oversized 2-PW back in 2000 for the high school golf team that I got cut the following week from.

 

I had a lot of grass to cut, and extra chores to do for the rest of the season...

 

 

- Alan

[TBT]

I think these are over priced, $250 a club!! That's double the price of their Apex line!

 

I did hit the hybrid this week as my club Pro is a Callaway staffer....it's easily 12-15 longer than my XR hybrid with the exact same loft!

[stage1350]

Callaway has been in this market for a while.  Go research GBB Tungsten-Titanium irons followed by GBB Hawkeye irons.  Both were around the same price. 

 

PXG has done nothing but market towards a clientele that Callaway had proven already existed and has done a better job of making them feel good about their purchase by saying that they are "exclusive."

[poprocksncoke]

Taylormade making jabs 

 

 

[Shankster]

Taylormade making jabs

... make it stop

 

 

- Alan

[Rickp]

The Epic irons don't interest me too much money. There are a lot of really nice clubs from a lot of makers that look better than the Epic and 1/2 the price.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[null]

Haha pretty good by TaylorMade

[Canucklehead]

Not to beat this horse to death, but they would have to be absolutely amazing. Long, almost impossible to not hit straight, etc. etc

 

Sent from my E6853 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[Shankster]

The epic irons to me look just like the big Bertha irons from last year with different colors.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Rickp]

The epic irons to me look just like the big Bertha irons from last year with different colors.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

I looked a t clubs this morning and was unimpressed with the Epic irons.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Orange Hog]

This weekend I played in a local tournament and noticed one guy had a completely new bag of PXG gear and I mean from top to bottom.  Now this guy has money so it was apparent he went with PXG purely for the "look at me" status when on the range/course.  If that's your thing and you've got the money then go for it.  He still wasn't very good and I easily beat him so it's obvious that it's all about the indian and not the arrow.

 

That said, if Callaway is going after the PXG market I struggle to see how their brand exudes premium.  I think Apex was positioned really well but I just don't see their Epic irons (still a terrible name BTW) doing much of anything at all.

[dang3rtown]

If you do some research you would see that, adjusted for inflation, cost of most golf equipment has not gone up over the years

 

Yep, if anything, margin has steadily dropped for OEMs over the last two decades.

[dang3rtown]

Just to tie this into a thread Shankster made a while back; these are ugly. I get the technology in these is amazing, and the production tolerances are top notch. I'm sure it's a fantastic iron but why would you put a carbon fiber sticker on the back of an iron? Correct me if I'm wrong, but everything I've read about the technology in these clubs indicates that the carbon fiber is purely cosmetic, most likely, designed to match the metal woods where it's actually a construction component. Does carbon fiber look expensive and thus aid in the separation of fools and their money? I just don't get it, the whole carbon fiber facade thing just seems very dated and ugly. Shame because they appear to be really fantastic clubs.

[Rickp]

Yep, if anything, margin has steadily dropped for OEMs over the last two decades.

I didn't know about the "margins" dropping but it does make sense.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Mr_Theoo]

Hit the pros yesterday and they felt great. If I only had 2000 dollars to burn lol

[Shankster]

Just to tie this into a thread Shankster made a while back; these are ugly. I get the technology in these is amazing, and the production tolerances are top notch. I'm sure it's a fantastic iron but why would you put a carbon fiber sticker on the back of an iron? Correct me if I'm wrong, but everything I've read about the technology in these clubs indicates that the carbon fiber is purely cosmetic, most likely, designed to match the metal woods where it's actually a construction component. Does carbon fiber look expensive and thus aid in the separation of fools and their money? I just don't get it, the whole carbon fiber facade thing just seems very dated and ugly. Shame because they appear to be really fantastic clubs.

Carbon fiber is cool for civic hoods... in 1993

 

 

- Alan