The Golfalot.com Price Index for October continued the stable trend of recent months as the Index remained unchanged with a small increase in the Golf Clubs Sector offset by a similar fall in Golf Accessories. As retailers discount older models ahead of new releases expected in the coming months for 2014 the year to date growth of +1.1% represents steady progress despite difficult trading conditions.
The Golf Clubs Sector rose by 0.1% as Irons, Wedges and Putters recorded small rises that were offset by similarly small falls in the long game categories of Drivers, Fairway Wood and Utilities. Drivers (-0.4%), Fairway Woods (-0.6%) and Utility Clubs (0.9%) all experienced small falls as competition across the board saw retailers discount some popular hardware as we approach the end of the competitive season.
As highlighted last month we expect Irons to play a leading role in driving the Index. Thanks to the much heralded SpeedBlade irons from TaylorMade September’s growth of 0.6% almost reversed the -0.9% fall in the category since February.
The short game categories, Putters (+2%) and Wedges (+0.7%), also welcomed new blood this month with the Cobra Tour Trusty Wedges and the TaylorMade Spider Mallet range of putters ensuring both categories recovered some ground lost over the summer.
The Golf Accessories Sector experienced a quiet month as small price drops across the majority of brands in three of the four Sectors resulted in a fall of -0.2%. Golf Balls bucked the general trend with impressive growth of 0.8% as price competition was offset by the introduction to the Index of the sixth generation of the extremely popular AD333 golf ball from Srixon that has been the top selling two-piece ball in the UK since 2007.
Golf Shoes (-1.1%), Golf Bags (-0.4%) and Golf Trolleys (-0.1%) all lost ground in a quiet month however with the innovation in categories like Golf Shoes we anticipate the solidity of Accessories to continue.
With the UK enjoying an extended spell of good weather the optimism of golfers hitting the fairways for some late season golf is matched by our outlook for the Golfalot.com Price Index in the coming months. With optimism high at the Harrogate Golf show and a number of new releases expected to bolster the Index the UK golf industry can approach 2014 with renewed confidence.
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