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$100,000 golf clubs? Bentley enters the equipment market
If Parsons Xtreme Golf made waves by charging $5,000 for a set of clubs, the equipment community should prepare for a tsunami. One that’s coming from outside the industry.
Bentley Motors, renowned for its elegant -- and expensive -- cars, is bringing their business model to golf.
Research found a large contingent of their car owners, up to 80 percent, have a love of the sport. Because it boasts one of the strongest brand affinities on the market, Bentley is banking on customers carrying this affinity to the course.
But rather than stick to the auto realm with golf carts (although the company does have a model or two on the market), Bentley is sticking its toe into clubmaking.
And like their vehicles, which start at $180,000, the sticks aren’t cheap.
Teaming up with Professional Golf Europe, the base monetary figure for a set of eight irons hovers at $3,500. Coupled with a $750 driver and $500 flat stick, a Bentley bag of 10 clubs runs just south of $5,000.
But that’s not counting add-ons and premiums. And we do mean “premiums.”
There are options like grips made from alligator skin and $800 ball markers. If money is no object, serious coin can be dropped on shafts. Seven Dreamers, a company based in Japan, specializes in high-end materials for golf shafts. The most expensive offering, made with materials commonly found in space technology and satellites, can cost $120,000 alone.
“Unlike a typical club-fitting, where the golfer’s swing is matched to an existing shaft on the market, Seven Dreamers make custom shafts for you based on the data captured,” said Peter Lord of Professional Golf Europe to Forbes. “You can easily exceed 100 grand for a set of irons.”
Kind of makes that $500 driver you bought look like chump change, doesn't it?