The Golfalot.com Price Index experienced a relatively quiet month in August with small falls across most categories with the resultant drop of -0.4% ensuring the impressive gains in the year to date have been largely maintained.
The Golf Clubs Sector fell by -0.5% to its lowest level since February 2011 with prices falling in the Drivers (-0.6%), Fairway Woods (-1.2%), Irons (-0.4%), Utilities (-1.3%) and Wedges (-0.2%) categories with only Putters (+0.5%) bucking the trend with a small positive growth bringing the average cost of a set of to £899.57.
The fall in the average price of Drivers was a result of small price falls across a number of manufacturers and brands with the Callaway Razr Hawk and Callaway Ultralite range of particular note. As the two biggest Club Sector fallers, Fairway Woods and Utilities again lost small amounts across the board with keen competition clearly evident and we were interested to note that both the Ping G15 and i15 ranges saw a fall as the company launched their new G20 range which is due to reach retailers by the middle of the month.
The growth in Putters can be attributed to prices holding across the category coupled with some new entrants, notably the TaylorMade Est range.
Golf Accessories mirrored the general trend seen in Golf Clubs with small price drops across the board contributing to a slight contraction of -0.1% that still leaves the strong performance of the sector with a +1.4% rise since the beginning of 2011. Golf Balls fell by -0.2% with notable competition evident in the lucrative Titleist Pro V1 market whilst Golf Bags dropped by -0.2% a performance matched by Golf Trolleys (-0.2%). The final Golf Acessories category, Golf Bags, showed no change this month and represents the current consistency apparent across the sector.
As the major season comes to a close we are hopeful of both August and September providing excellent golfing weather which coupled with the boost to European golf from the golfers of Northern Ireland should see the industry continue to flourish as manufacturers prepare to unveil the equipment that will be to the fore over the next 6 months.
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