The Golf Clubs Sector fell by less than -0.1% with strong performances in the Drivers and Putters categories which rose +1.0% and +0.7% respectively on the back of some new entrants into the Index. Golf Drivers saw the new ZL Encore range from Cobra and the Nike VR Pro Limited Edition models enter the index and this positive boost offset some price falls on existing Callaway and Cleveland models as we await the exciting new Callaway RAZR Fit and Cleveland CG Black models early in the New Year. The Putters category welcomed the 2012 Island Series from Rife and we expect this category to continue to show rude health with new models from popular manufacturers hotly tipped to be launched in January at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. Utility Clubs (-1.4%) Fairway Woods (-0.5%), Golf Irons (-0.1%), and Wedges (-0.4%) all fell in December as a combination of competition for Christmas market share and discounting ahead of new market entrants early in 2012 saw prices drop across all of these categories. Despite tough trading conditions that saw the Index slow down towards the end of the year the Golf Clubs Sector closes 2011 +3.3% higher than at the start of the year with strong club releases anticipated this looks set to continue.

The Golf Accessories Sector fell slightly in December with a drop of -0.2% but given the competition in this Sector leading up to Christmas the size of the fall indicates the underlying strength in Accessories that has seen a fall of less than -0.1% across the Sector in 2011. The Golf Balls category is always a fiercely competitive market for Christmas stocking fillers and a drop of -0.7% for December continues this annual trend. Golf Shoes (-0.3%) and Golf Bags (-0.8%) also recorded small falls with only Golf Trolleys (0.1%) recording positive growth.

As 2011 draws to a close the Golfalot.com Price Index gives an optimistic outlook for 2012 despite the continued economic uncertainty. With a +2% rise across the index in 2011, up +10% in the late 2 years, and with all the major manufacturers ready to launch new equipment to the market the golf industry can enter the New Year in good spirits.

The Golf Clubs Sector rose by +0.1% as positive returns in the Golf Irons and Golf Utility Clubs categories were offset by a fall in the average price of Drivers, Fairway Woods, Wedges and Putters. The Golf Irons sector was boosted by the entry to the Index of the new Mizuno MP-59 and Adams Golf A12 OS irons resulting in a +0.6% rise. The Golf Irons category has been the one of the star performers of 2011 with the average price of a set of irons up by over +6% in the year to date.

Last month’s fall in the Utility Clubs category was reversed this month as a combination of the prices returning to former levels and a new entry for the Adams Idea Pro a12 Hybrid resulted in growth of +0.5%. The rest of the Golf Clubs sector was categorised by price falls. Drivers (-1.1%), Fairway Woods (-0.2%), Wedges (0.1)% and Putters (-0.3%) all fell as retailers position themselves for the pre-Christmas sales across the main brands in all categories.

The Golf Accessories Sector fell by -1.3% with all but one category reporting negative growth as retailers again looked to compete in these extremely popular Christmas Gift areas. This latest fall in the Golf Accessories sector is typical of a longer trend that has seen the average price for accessories decline -2.2% since July 2011 however the long term trend is still positive with a growth of over 9% since the beginning of 2010.

Golf Balls (-0.4%) and Golf Bags (-0.2%) recorded small falls, whilst golf shoes rose by less than +0.1%. However the big story in this Sector was the fall of -2% in the Golf Trolley category. Trolleys have been a consistently strong performer across 2012 however competition on a number of models, notably the popular Powakaddy Touch and Powerbug Sport Electric, should alert bargain hunters who may be looking to go electric for 2012.

Despite the Index falling slightly this month, it is clear from the optimism of the industry evident at the Harrogate Golf Show, that we are in good shape approaching one of the key periods of the retail year.

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.

In a month that saw small movements across the majority of categories the Golf Clubs Sector fell by -0.3% with the average cost of a set of clubs now standing at £904.34, a +5% increase over the last 12 months. The average price of Golf Drivers rose by +1.1% boosted by the entrance to the Index of the Srixon Z-Star offsetting price competition on popular brands with notable falls in some models from Callaway and Cobra. Fairway Woods experienced similar price competition in April and May and the category continued to regain ground with price readjustment across all brands contributing to the increase of 0.3%. Wedges were the final positive mover in the Golf Clubs category with a rise of +0.4%.

Golf Irons (-0.8%), Putters (-0.4%) and Utility Clubs (-1.6%) all experienced negative growth in July with small price falls across the board, with the drop in cost of the Callaway RAZR X and RAZR X Tour Utility Clubs standing out. However, as with the rest of the Golf Clubs Sector, despite this repositioning the average cost of a Utility Club has increased by +5.8% over the calendar year.

The Golf Accessories section also consolidated its strong position falling by just under -0.1%. Golf Bags (-0.1%), Golf Shoes (-0.2%) and Golf Trolleys (+0.1%) all saw little differences in price across all brands and largely maintained the gains accrued during 2011. The Golf Balls category fell by a larger amount (-0.5%) as the category experienced competition across the board in this highly competitive market. An interesting development to note however is the intense competition of the previous two months witnessed in the premium ball category, with market share for the 2011 Titleist Pro V1 / Pro V1x and the Srixon Z-XV being keenly contested, readjusting to some extent with prices rising for all three golf balls. The Golf Accessories section continues to flourish with the Index enjoying its second highest position since its inception in October 2004.

With the main summer holiday period just around the corner and The Open Championship at Royal St Georges sure to capture the imagination with European hopes to the fore the July Index certainly offers much for the golf industry to smile about as it enters one of its busiest periods.

The Golf Clubs sector fell by just -0.2% with closer examination revealing all but two of the categories recording negative growth. Drivers (-0.7%), Irons (-0.4%), Utility Clubs (-0.2%) and Putters (-0.6%) all saw retailers adjusting price points on the most sought after equipment and with no new introductions to the Index this month the average prices fell accordingly.

It is interesting to note however that the average gain across these four categories in the last 12 months of +4.7% reflects the strength of the index over this period. Fairway Woods bucked this downward trend, increasing by +1.2%, thanks to the Index debut of the Titleist 910 range replacing the older 909 models. The Wedge category also saw positive movement of +0.3% as prices readjusted following the notable competition witnessed in May.

The Golf Accessories sector largely mirrored the fall in Golf Clubs with one notable exception. Golf Balls (-0.6%), Golf Bags (-0.3%) and Golf Shoes (-0.2%) all fell but despite this the sector recorded impressive growth of +1.1% as this month’s star performer, Golf Trolleys grew by +2.1%, the biggest increase in the category since June 2010. This growth was fuelled by the arrival in shops of the 2011 PowaKaddy Sport trolleys and as this category continues to gain in popularity we think it will continue to perform strongly.

After a number of successful months the readjustment witnessed in May and to some extent consolidated in June was perhaps to be expected. However the small nature of the falls across the majority of the categories illustrate the underlying strength in golf retail with the majority of the season still ahead. 2011 offers no major football championship or Olympics to keep golfers from the fairways and with the interest generated by the showpiece of the UK golfing calendar as The Open heads to Royal St. Georges the market looks to be in a solid position as it enters the second half of the year.

The Golf Clubs sector shrank by 0.7% with a noticeable drop of 2.0% in Irons and 1.5% in Wedges, contrasting slight increases in Drivers, Utilities and Putters. With a large number of new irons coming into the market over the past few months, such as the Callaway RAZR, Nike VR Pro and Cobra S3, retailers appear to be concentrating on these ranges.

Putters experienced a month of increases, raising 1.5% to £85.03, due to the entry of the TaylorMade Ghost putters, as well as the 2011 line of Yes! putters. These premium level putters have been released over the past few weeks and have aided the increase in this category.

2011 has been a big year for new balls, with Titleist, Srixon and Nike all launching new premium golf balls. The Titleist 2011 Pro V1 models entered the market back in February and have a premium price point around £35/dozen. Srixon followed suit, with its Z-Star and Z-Star XV ball, also priced in the £33 to £40 price range. Whilst the Nike 20XI balls, featuring Nike's new resin technology, are not on the shelves yet, they will represent yet another premium ball in the market and we may see this upward trend in the Golf Ball index rising as we near the middle of the golf season.

The Golf Accessories sector was largely unchanged in May, decreasing by only 0.05%, despite a large increase (4%) in the price of Balls. Shoes and Trolleys were relatively unchanged (-0.3% and 0.1% respectively).

Now the golf season is in full swing, and most of the major releases for the year are now available, the Golfalot.com Price Index appears to be showing that the market may have peaked in terms of price. It will be interesting to monitor the Index over the coming months to see if the market will attempt to rise as it has in the past or show signs of slowing down offering golfers a more affordable season.

The Golf Clubs sector grew by +0.5% with small falls of -0.5% and -1.9% in the Drivers and Fairway Woods categories offset by steady gains in the Utility Clubs, Irons, Wedges and Putter categories. The drops in both Drivers and Fairway Woods can be attributed to a series of price cuts in models across both sectors as retailers position themselves in these highly competitive market places as the new season approaches. This price competition outweighed the positive impact of index debuts for the Callaway RAZR Hawk and RAZR Hawk Tour drivers and RAZR Hawk fairway woods.

The Utility Clubs category was the biggest mover in the Golf Clubs sector where the entry to the Index of the Titleist 910H and Callaway RAZR X and RAZR X Tour utility clubs fuelled growth of +2.2% whilst Irons (+1.1%) and Wedges (+1.1%) also contributed to the encouraging performance of the sector. The Putter category was the final positive Golf Club mover, growing by +0.9%, with the introduction of the TaylorMade TP ASGi range.

The Golf Accessories sector also consolidated its position in April, increasing by +0.1%, with strong performances from Golf Shoes and Golf Trolleys offsetting small losses in the Golf Balls and Golf Bags categories where retailers competed over the prices of newer releases to attract golfers refreshing their gear for the season. Golf Bags (-0.8%) and Golf Balls (-0.6)% witnessed competition across a series of manufacturers and brands with notable price positioning evident in the Golf Balls category for the extremely popular 2011 versions of the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1 x golf balls. Golf Trolleys (+1.1%) performed strongly with the notable entries of the Greenhill PTS and GTS trolleys and with new releases from PowaKaddy anticipated in the coming months we expect this category to continue to flourish. Golf Shoes also performed strongly (+0.8%) and golfers will surely be interested in new products such as the 2011 SYNR-G from Footjoy and the new Biom golf shoe from Ecco.

With The Masters now behind us and the golfing season gathering pace, the solid performance of the Golfalot.com Price Index in April reflects an encouraging platform for the industry to capitalise on the exciting calendar of tournaments and industry events planned over the coming months.

The Golf Club sector matched this small rise of +0.4% with an interesting mix of previous gains being largely maintained across the majority of categories, whilst Irons and Utilities both displayed impressive growth as keenly anticipated releases entered the Index for the first time. The big performers in the Clubs sector were the Irons and Utilities categories which both saw some new releases from the big manufacturers hit the shops. With a rise of +3% the Utilities category reached its highest position since August 2010 as the impressive Nike VR Pro hybrid and the Wilson Staff DXi utility made their debut whilst the introduction of the Callaway RAZR X and Cleveland CG16 ranges drove a +1.7% rise in the Irons category and took the average price for a set to £420 for the first time since the Price Index began.

Both the Drivers and Fairway Woods categories registered small falls from February’s record gains, down -1% and -1.3% respectively, as retailers positioned themselves in the competitive market for the latest products. With the introduction of the Launcher UItralite range from Cleveland to the Index we can expect this performance to continue. Putters (-0.8%) and Wedges (-0.1%) also fell slightly but maintained the majority of their recent healthy gains.

The Golf Accessories sector remained almost flat in March as golfers look towards the season ahead. Golf Bags (+0.5%) and Golf Balls (+0.1%) witnessed little change whilst Golf Trolleys saw a small fall of -0.8% as retailers competed across all the major brands. The most notable developments came in Golf Shoes which grew by +2% to a 5 month high, largely due to a number of the products from the FootJoy 2011 range and the new Jigg, Popart 86 and Club 917 offerings from Puma Golf entering the index for the first time.

With The Masters now less than a month away and golfers across the country looking to kick start their season, the solid performance of the Golfalot.com Price Index in March reflects an encouraging platform for the industry to capitalise on an exciting calendar of events and an improvement in the weather over the coming months.

The Golf Club sector was the big winner, up +3.1%, as the new products launched by manufacturers in the autumn hit the shelves. Drivers led the way with the monthly growth of +7.2% representing the best performance in this category for 2 years with the highest average price for a driver since June 2008, as the Cobra S3, Titleist 910 and Nike VR Pro models all entered the index for the first time. This boost following the January sales was achieved in the face of further reductions on other brands, such as the Cleveland Launcher DST falling in price due to the imminent release of the Launcher Ultralite range.

The Fairway Woods category told a similar story with equally impressive growth of 6.7% as both the Callaway Octane and Cobra S3 debuted and with the Titleist 910 and Nike VR Pro ranges to come this strong performance should continue. New entrants in the Irons category, which was up +2.1%, were the Cobra S3 Max and S3 Pro models whilst the Wedge category also grew by +0.9%. Putters and Utility Clubs both performed steadily (-0.3%) as retailers competed across the main brands. With new ranges such as Nike’s Method Core putters and hybrids from Titleist, Mizuno and Cleveland all on the horizon the future for these categories and the Golf Clubs sector as a whole looks extremely positive.

The Golf Accessories sector performed steadily in February, with growth of +0.4%, as retailers competed in these categories as golfers prepared for the season ahead. Golf Bags (-0.3%) and Golf Trolleys (+0.1%) remained steady with the most notable developments coming in the Golf Shoe and Golf Balls categories. Golf Shoes grew by +1.9% as strong early season price competition was offset by new shoes from both Nike with the Zoom Advance and the new FootJoy DryJoys Tour range. The top performer in the Accessories sector was Golf Balls, up +2.4%, with the index being boosted with the much anticipated release of the latest edition of the extremely popular Pro V1 and Pro V1x range. With the latest version of the Srixon Z-Star range anticipated in the index next month we expect the Golf Balls category to drive continued growth across the Accessories sector.

With a number of exciting new products launched at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando due to reach the stores over the coming months, the Golfalot.com Price Index gives every reason for continuing confidence in the months ahead.

The Golf Clubs sector held up well falling by just -0.3% with a consistent performance across all categories. The positive performer of the sector was the Drivers category which recorded positive growth of +1% with the introduction to the index of the Callaway Diablo Octane Black and Diablo Octane Tour Drivers off-setting some seasonal price competition on popular models. The category also experienced discounting on models that manufacturers are set to replace in the spring, for example the Nike VR STR8 Fit Tour saw its price drop with the new VR Pro Driver waiting in the wings.

Both the Fairway Woods and Utility Club categories saw the effects of the winter sales with price drops across the board resulting in Fairway Woods falling by -1.6% and Utilities by -1.5% but both categories remain in good shape in anticipation of new arrivals in the coming months. The introduction to the Irons category of the Nike VR Pro Blade and Nike VR Pro Combo set bolstered performance with the new entrants offsetting Christmas competition to see the average price of Irons fall by just -0.2%. The Putters and Wedges categories fell by just -0.7% and -0.1% respectively in an indication of the underlying strength of the index in the Golf Clubs sector.

The Golf Accessories sector is a hotly disputed battle ground for retailers over the Christmas period, but with a fall of just -0.6% the sector held up well to seasonal price cutting and enters 2011 in good shape. The Golf Balls category experienced the expected discounting across the whole range of manufacturers and ball types and was the largest faller down by -2.9% as retailers fought for stocking filler sales after the bad weather. With the anticipated launch of the latest flagship Pro V1 balls from Titleist early in 2011 we can confidently expect this ground to be recovered in the months ahead. Golf Shoes also experienced fierce competition with many brands experiencing discounted prices and as a result fell by -2.4% but with the price of both Golf Bags (+0.1%) and Golf Trolleys (-0.2%) remaining steady the Accessories sector maintained much of the impressive growth of 2010.

With much of the country having experienced severe weather in December it will be interesting to see what effect this may have on prices as the January sales continue, however with the flagship PGA Merchandise show in Orlando at the end of the month and the resilience displayed by the Index this month we enter the New Year in confident mood as golfers gear up for the year ahead.