The Golfalot.com Price Index displayed its strength in March with a steady performance maintaining the growth witnessed in February. With the Index falling by less than -0.1% in March and with more new equipment due the new golfing season looks set to get off to a great start.
The Golf Clubs sector remained unchanged with small falls of -0.8% and -0.6% in the Drivers and Irons category offset by similarly small gains in the Fairway Woods, Utility Clubs, Putter and Wedge categories. The drops in both Drivers and Irons can be attributed to a series of small falls in models across both sectors as retailer position themselves in these highly competitive market places as the new season approaches. With models such as the new Cobra S2, Callaway FT-iZ and Mizuno MP 630 expected to enter the index next month the Drivers category in particular looks to be set for a strong season.
The Fairway Woods (+0.8%) and Utility Club (+1.7%) categories both posted positive growth as prices of models that were discounted in previous months returned to a higher level. This countered small falls in some of the newer models as retailers battled for market share for popular entrants such as the Callaway Diablo Edge, Diablo Edge Tour and Cobra S2 Fairway Woods.
In the short game categories, Wedges and Putters continued the theme of steady performance displayed across the Golf Clubs sector by rising 1.1% and 1.2% respectively. The Putters category was boosted as the discounting that had been evident across a number of models for the Christmas and New Year sale markets finished and prices returned to normal levels. With the expected introduction to the Golfalot Price Index of new models from Callaway, Cleveland and TaylorMade, we can expect the Putters category to continue this positive growth over the coming months.
The great performance from the Accessories sector that fuelled the growth in February was consolidated in March with a small fall of -0.2%. The star of the February index was the Golf Shoes category with a spectacular jump of 8.9% and this category generally held this level in March, with some discounting of older ranges resulting in a fall of only -0.6%. A similar drop was experienced by the Golf Ball sector as prices fell slightly across the whole range as retailers prepared for the arrival of the new ranges from Srixon, Bridgestone, Titleist and Callaway. The remaining categories in the Accessories sector, Golf Trolleys and Golf Bags, showed little change in the index with falls of just -0.2% and -0.1% reflecting a very steady month in the prices across all models in the index.
With The Masters now less than a month away and golfers across the country looking to kick start their season, the solid performance of the Golfalot.com Price Index in March reflects an encouraging platform for the industry to capitalise on an the exciting calendar of events and an improvement in the weather up over the coming months.
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