The Golfalot Price Index in the UK fell slightly this month with drops across most sectors leading to a decrease of 1.14%. The biggest losses in August were Utility Clubs, falling by 5.2%, and Putters which dropped 3.6%.
Utility Clubs went down with price drops from a few of the cheaper clubs, including Hippo and Howson models, and a large reduction in the cost of the Mizuno CLK Hi-Fi. Putters fell with a couple of big drops across Callaway’s Odyssey series and a large reduction in MD Golf’s Rio model. Bags (-3%), Shoes (-3%) and Wedges (-2.2%) were the other major losers as the downturn hit across most sectors.
Fairway Woods bucked the trend and recorded an increase of just under 1% with last month’s new clubs from Adams Golf holding their price. Irons were the only other sector to increase with a rise of 0.3% as TaylorMade saw large fluctuations across their r7 series.
Across in the USA the Golfalot Price Index experienced a significant fall of 6.53% thanks chiefly to a huge fall of almost 50% in the Drivers market. This drop cast a major shadow over the Golfalot Price Index in the US and, if drivers are excluded, the trend remained downward, but with a drop of only -0.9%.
The fall in the Drivers category was largely due to dramatic falls in the price of both the Callaway FTi 25th Anniversary edition and the TP versions of TaylorMade’s Superquad and Tour Burner, which were heavily discounted by one retailer. The Cobra Speed range experienced a less dramatic but still significant fall of 25%.
The other main category to fall was Irons (-1.5%) where TaylorMade’s r7 Draw Ladies set fell by $300. With Utility Clubs (+0.7%) and Bags (+1.1%) recording the only increases, the remaining sectors all fell by under 1%.
After holding firm in the face of the gloom caused by the economic downturn in recent months the Golfalot Price Index seems to have suffered from slow demand created by a slowing economy, bad weather and retailers discounting current models as they await the launch of new products from the major manufacturers.
As manufacturers prepare to launch new ranges over the coming months the Golfalot Price Index may fall further as retailers try to shift stock against an uncertain economic environment before the new ranges arrive in store to boost margins and hopefully raise the Index again.
For more detailed information view the Golfalot Price Index graphs for the UK & USA online at http://www.golfalot.com/News/PriceIndex.aspx
Golfalot www.Golfalot.com