The Golfalot.com Price Index regained its positive momentum in June with the strong performance of the Golf Trolley category powering an otherwise low key performance. With retailers consolidating and competing across this year’s new releases it is a good time for golfers to visit the stores as the golf season hots up.
The Golf Clubs sector fell by just -0.2% with closer examination revealing all but two of the categories recording negative growth. Drivers (-0.7%), Irons (-0.4%), Utility Clubs (-0.2%) and Putters (-0.6%) all saw retailers adjusting price points on the most sought after equipment and with no new introductions to the Index this month the average prices fell accordingly.
It is interesting to note however that the average gain across these four categories in the last 12 months of +4.7% reflects the strength of the index over this period. Fairway Woods bucked this downward trend, increasing by +1.2%, thanks to the Index debut of the Titleist 910 range replacing the older 909 models. The Wedge category also saw positive movement of +0.3% as prices readjusted following the notable competition witnessed in May.
The Golf Accessories sector largely mirrored the fall in Golf Clubs with one notable exception. Golf Balls (-0.6%), Golf Bags (-0.3%) and Golf Shoes (-0.2%) all fell but despite this the sector recorded impressive growth of +1.1% as this month’s star performer, Golf Trolleys grew by +2.1%, the biggest increase in the category since June 2010. This growth was fuelled by the arrival in shops of the 2011 PowaKaddy Sport trolleys and as this category continues to gain in popularity we think it will continue to perform strongly.
After a number of successful months the readjustment witnessed in May and to some extent consolidated in June was perhaps to be expected. However the small nature of the falls across the majority of the categories illustrate the underlying strength in golf retail with the majority of the season still ahead. 2011 offers no major football championship or Olympics to keep golfers from the fairways and with the interest generated by the showpiece of the UK golfing calendar as The Open heads to Royal St. Georges the market looks to be in a solid position as it enters the second half of the year.
Golfalot.com Price Index www.golfalot.com/News/PriceIndex.aspx