With a 50% mark-up on every set of Champ Spikes, pro shops and sports goods retailers are starting to see the sense of stocking more and varied spikes, because the demand is now increasing.
This awareness is going to raise the roof on sales, predicts Harrris MacNeill, CEO of MacNeill Engineering, Champ Spikes’ parent company.
“From a trade point of view, this is going to be a tidy little earner for pro shops,” reckons MacNeill. “Do the math…if 500 golf club members change cleats twice a year, that represents £3k profit on cleats alone.
“On the back of that, players will buy more expensive golf shoes from the pro, because by changing the cleats for seasonal and terrain changes, they effectively get two or three pairs for the price of one. As Champ Spikes make differently threaded fixings on all spikes, the spikes fit all major shoe brands.”
At the Entercard Scandinavian Masters in early August, for example, the players that came 1st, 2nd and 3rd were wearing Champ Spikes – as were the players that tied 5th and 7th. However, three were wearing metal spikes – the Champ Cermec – and two were wearing Stingers.
Mr MacNeill says that the Cermec is the ultimate in metal spike technology performance and the preferred choice on tour. A highly abrasive and impact-resistant ceramic ball is fused to a hardened tool steel spike. Not only incredibly long lasting, but its rounded tip stays smooth making it the most green-friendly metal spike available. This is especially important, owing to the fact that in both the US and Europe, metal spikes are rarely permitted; maybe only for PGA Tour players participating in Majors, or in specific courses in very wet regions like Oregon.
The Stinger, meanwhile, represents CHAMP’s most significant advancement in sport cleat technology since the invention of soft golf spikes. CHAMP engineers designed the Stinger to provide superior comfort without sacrificing traction. And before the cleats wear out and adversely affect playing levels, the Stinger’s revolutionary ‘Visible Wear Indicator’ will indicate clearly that it’s time for a change.
The point is, Champ have clearly identified that this question of cleat choice is still largely down to the choice of the individual golfer – Tour pro or club golfer.
“At prices which start at around £4 per set, golfers find it quite feasible to carry several sets of spikes to allow them to adapt to terrain, weather, or even just the way they feel like playing that day,” says Cliff Hitchcock of MacNeill Engineering Europe.
Traction is an issue not just for enhancing playing levels, but for safety as well. Difficult lies on slopes or in waterlogged terrain all require different kinds of traction to prevent golfers slipping and sliding and injuring themselves
Champ Spikes www.champspikes.com
Changing weather means changing spikes
