Nike Golf: Equipment With Attitude
While it is impossible to deny that some golf purists and some of the louder traditionalists have cringed at Nike’s occasionally loud and brash approach to shaking up the game there can be little argument about the success of the campaign with Nike now comfortably placed in the top three or four of all golf equipment companies.
The incredible brand awareness that Nike can bring to any new venture coupled with their reputation for excellence in other sporting arenas has been brilliantly harnessed to shake up the world of golf. That Nike’s attitude to advancing golf club technology can be somewhat unorthodox is undeniable but the effect the company is having is proof that Nike is cracking the market.
Square Nike drivers and oversized Nike irons were originally dismissed as the mad cap ideas of a company at sea in this competitive market. But many of those sneering rivals are now following in Nike’s wake. Nike may be rowdy newcomers to a game that has so often set its stall on staid, tried and tested methods but the company with the Swoosh has proved to be a trendsetter.
Nike Golf Clubs And Tiger Woods
When Nike began to compete in the sportswear market one of its unique selling points was that it democratised sports by allowing everyone to access the very best equipment. This company creed has extended to Nike Golf where clubs such as the square Sumo2 Nike driver were a clear, and quite unabashed, effort to appeal to the mass market of aspiring club golfers rather than elite who make up such a slight, if vocal, slice of the market. 
Many of those who criticise Nike’s golfing output would seem to disregard the most salient fact: In 2001 Nike did not make golf clubs, in 2008 the number one golfer in the world uses a Nike driver, Nike fairway woods, Nike irons, Nike wedges and Nike golf balls. The winners of both the 2008 Masters and US Open used Nike golf clubs. The victorious American Ryder Cup team wore items of golf clothing manufactured exclusively for the event by Nike. That is phenomenal progress.
With more and more players, from the world number one to the junior golfer who has only just taken up the game, choosing Nike golf clothes, Nike golf clubs and Nike golf balls, it is clear that the swoosh is going to have a massive impact on the Royal and Ancient game for quite some time to come.