It may have taken Nike some time to get into the golf market but there is little doubt now that the swoosh has arrived and is here to stay. It is, of course, Nike’s good fortune that the dominant player of the era endorses their products but even with Tiger Wood’s incredible marketing power Nike Golf has made an incredible impact in a relatively short space of time.
Like much in today’s golfing world, however, it is now impossible to see Nike’s incredible rise without looking through a Tiger shaped prism. We need only look back a decade or so to see Nike as, essentially, a complete novice in the golfing world.
It’s true that this was a novice with the incredible power and experience of Nike’s global domination of the sportswear market behind it but us golfer’s are a fairly loyal bunch and the kind of market penetration that Nike demands was always going to be difficult to achieve.
Today Nike Golf can boast annual sales of some $600 million, is the undisputed market leader of golfing clothes and Nike drivers, Nike irons and Nike golf balls are steadily carving out a large and loyal share of a truly global market.
A large part of that success is down to Tiger Woods, another in a line of athletes like Michael Jordan who have become synonymous with a range of Nike equipment. It is hardly a surprise to learn that Nike have honoured Tiger by calling a building at their headquarters after him.
Tiger signed for Nike in 1996 and now exclusively wears Nike golf apparel and uses a Nike driver, Nike fairway woods, Nike irons and Nike wedges.
As if to prove that where Tiger goes others will follow the Nike Golf stable of players now includes such major champions as Trevor Immelman, Justin Leonard and Paul Azinger.
www.nikegolf.com
We review the Nike SQ Family of products, including the new SQ5900 Square driver.
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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.
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.
Drivers
Nike SQ Dymo
1
Nike SQ Dymo STR8-Fit
Nike SQ Dymo²
2
Nike SQ Dymo² STR8-Fit
Nike SQ Sumo 5000
3
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Nike SQ Sumo 5000 Ladies Graphite Shaft
0
None
Nike SQ Sumo² 5900
4
Nike SQ Sumo² 5900 Ladies Graphite Shaft
Fairway Woods
Nike SasQuatch II 3 Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 3 Wood Ladies Graphite Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 3 Wood Steel Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 3+ Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 3+ Wood Steel Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 4 Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 4 Wood Steel Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 5 Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 5 Wood Ladies Graphite Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 5 Wood Steel Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 7 Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 7 Wood Ladies Graphite Shaft
Nike SasQuatch II 7 Wood Steel Shaft
Nike SQ Dymo 3-Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Dymo2 3-Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 3 Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 3 Wood Ladies Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 3 Wood Steel Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 4 Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 4 Wood Steel Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 5 Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 5 Wood Ladies Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 5 Wood Steel Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 7 Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 7 Wood Ladies Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² 7 Wood Steel Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² Strong 3 Wood Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo² Strong 3 Wood Steel Shaft
Golf Bags
Nike Victory Red Staff Bag
Nike Xtreme Element
Nike Xtreme Sport Carry II
Golf Balls
Nike 08 One Black
Nike 08 One Platinum
Nike Karma
Nike One Tour
Nike One Tour D
Nike One Vapor
Golf Shoes
Nike Air Tour TW 8.5
Nike Air Zoom Elite
Nike Air Zoom Elite II
Nike Air Zoom Elite World
Nike Air Zoom Tour
Nike Air Zoom TW 2009
Nike Air Zoom Vapor
Irons
Nike Slingshot 4D Graphite Shaft
Nike Slingshot 4D Ladies Graphite Shaft
Nike Slingshot 4D Steel Shaft
Nike Slingshot HL Ladies Graphite Shaft
Nike Slingshot HL Ladies Steel Shaft
Nike Slingshot HL Mixed Graphite Shaft
Nike Slingshot HL Mixed Steel Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo Ladies Graphite Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo Steel Shaft
Nike SQ Sumo2 Combo
Nike Victory Red Forged Split Cavity
Nike Victory Red Forged TW Blades
Nike Victory Red Graphite Shaft
Nike Victory Red Ladies
Nike Victory Red Steel Shaft
Putters
Nike iC 20-10
Nike iC 20-10A
Nike iC 20-15
Nike iC 20-15A
Nike Oz 1
Nike Oz 2
We review the Nike SQ Family of products, including the new SQ5900 Square driver.