Equipment
TaylorMade plans to open its own outlet stores
TaylorMade has announced plans to open multiple retail outlet stores that sell off-season, discounted products from the TaylorMade Golf Company’s portfolio of brands: TaylorMade, Adams Golf, Adidas Golf and Ashworth.
The first store is scheduled to open in April in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with a second location scheduled to open afterwards in Livermore, Calif. The company plans to open additional locations by the end of the calendar year.
Ben Sharpe, CEO of TaylorMade Golf, says the stores are designed to help the company’s retail partners and golf consumers, since there has been an influx of products “that has moved at a slower pace than expected.”
[quote_box_center]“The outlets allow us to sell off-season product at a discounted price, while giving our retail partners the ability to set prices on in-season product at sustainable levels,” Sharpe said.[/quote_box_center]
Tour Edge Golf has today introduced the all-new Exotics mini driver, engineered to deliver a powerful combination of speed, control, and versatility in the long game.
The Exotics Mini combines a titanium face with a stainless-steel body in design to balance ball speed with stability and control, creating a versatile option at the top end of the bag.
At the core of the design is Tour Edge’s proprietary Combo Brazing technology, a high-precision thermal bonding process that seamlessly fuses a titanium cup face to a stainless-steel body into a single, continuous structure. By eliminating energy loss found in traditional multi-piece constructions, Combo Brazing is designed to deliver faster face response, more efficient energy transfer, and a uniquely powerful yet controlled feel.
The multi-material construction also allows mass to be positioned lower and deeper in the head in a bid to increase stability, while the thin titanium face is engineered to maintain ball speed across a wider impact area.
“While the initial goal was to enhance control and versatility in the long game, Combo Brazing ultimately drove measurable gains in ball speed and distance within the mini driver category. In robot testing, we’ve documented higher ball speeds, higher launch, reduced spin, and increased carry and total distance compared to leading models.” – Vice President of R&D Matt Neeley
In addition to distance performance, the Exotics mini emphasizes forgiveness through a heavier stainless-steel body that shifts mass toward the perimeter. This configuration increases MOI relative to traditional all-titanium mini drivers, helping preserve ball speed and directional stability on off-center strikes. Paired with Pyramid Face Technology from the Exotics metalwood line, the design is intended to support consistent speed across the face.
To further enhance MOI, a lightweight carbon fiber crown frees additional mass that is strategically repositioned low and deep in the head in design to improve stability and promote optimal launch with controlled spin.
“We designed the Mini to be about five millimeters shallower than other mini drivers on the market. That change improves playability off the deck. From a clean fairway lie, it can function as a strong 3-wood alternative while still providing control off the tee.” – Tour Edge CEO David Glod
An adjustable hosel system allows for loft and lie tuning to dial in trajectory and shot shape, while a fixed 13-gram rear weight helps stabilize the head through impact to improve dispersion consistency. The Exotics Mini Driver is available in 11.5 and 13.5-degree lofts in right-handed models.
Pricing & Availability
The Exotics Mini Driver is available for pre-order beginning today for $399.99 USD at touredge.com, and will be available for purchase at retail outlets worldwide on May 22, 2026.
In our forums, our members have been pitting a Srixon ZXi combo against a TaylorMade P7CB/770 combo. WRXer ‘edutch22’ is on the hunt for a new set of irons and kicks off the thread saying:
“Looking at picking up a new set of irons and think I’ve narrowed it down to Srixon ZXi combo or Taylormade P7CB/770 combo. I am currently a 5 cap and allbeit I feel irons are my weakness. My miss is a little to the toe side. I am decently steep at 4-5 down. Always thought I am high spin but recently on trackman my 7 was spinning at 5800 roughly.
My question or looking for thoughts on which one would benefit me more from a forgiveness standpoint? Or is there another iron is should be looking at entirely? I only get to play about once or twice a week, if I am not playing a 2-3 day event. Thanks in advance.”
And our members have been sharing their thoughts and suggestions in response.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- manima1: “You just can’t go wrong with Srixon ZXi7.”
- MattM97: “You have to hit them to know, the V-Sole on the Srixon can be make or break for many.”
- dmeeksDC: “P7CB is more forgiving for me than ZXi7 because my main miss is low middle and the P7CB still flies and spins great on that miss. These are both really nice irons but I like the P7CB more than the Zxi7 and the P770 (or P790) more than the Zxi5. The Srixons are larger so if that gives you confidence that is the way to go. I don’t feel like I get any benefit from the V-sole and the P7CBs live up to their high Maltby forgiveness rating so the TaylorMades have been great for me.”
Entire Thread: “Srixon ZXi combo or TaylorMade P7CB/770 combo? – GolfWRXers discuss”
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @pianoman0123 has a 2024 Wilson Staff CB/Blade combo up for grabs.
From the listing: “2024 Wilson Staff CB/Blade Combo. 4-8 irons are CB’s and the 9,PW are Blades. 5-PW have Project X 6.0 Shafts and the 4 Iron has a Steelfiber CW110 Stiff Shaft. Standard Length, Lie and Lofts. These are in very good condition the shafts just don’t work for me. Like new Lamkin Grips on the 5-PW and a stock Golf Pride on the 4 Iron. $525 OBO.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Robert Boyd
Jun 8, 2015 at 1:46 pm
I heard they would have a store near Atlanta. Anyone know if this is true and, if so, the details?
Ken
Mar 7, 2015 at 8:42 am
How any golf shop can carry Taylor Made products is beyond me. There is ZERO loyalty or respect….
Fsubaseball21
Mar 6, 2015 at 8:08 pm
Golf galaxy will be extinct very soon and with the overpriced way too long drug out leases that Golfsmiths subscribe to they won’t be far behind. Internet chop shops are the way things are headed. The golf industry will get worse before it gets better.
Jack
Mar 6, 2015 at 12:16 pm
Because Myrtle Beach did not have enough golf stores……
cw
Mar 6, 2015 at 10:12 am
people complain here, but most golfers will like the idea and check it out and it will also allow new players to enter the game at a more reasonable price point. the new players are the ones ultimately buying more and more expensive stuff once they get in to it. from my experience, the old, experienced golfers are the stingiest because they know new equipment does not make them better players.
tlmck
Mar 6, 2015 at 6:23 am
Their problem is trying to keep all the marketing people and engineers employed. They are constantly bringing out a new advertizing gimmicks with the hope that something sells. Sort of like blindly throwing darts and hoping something hits the board. The problem is that they tout “new and improved” when it’s really just a new paint job type of thing. Of course Callaway and Nike are guilty of the same. Not that the products are bad, just overhyped.
tlmck
Mar 6, 2015 at 5:57 am
They sort of already had this covered with their web site and outlets like Hurricane Golf. I do not think adding brick and mortar stores will help. Laying off marketing staff and maybe a few engineers may work better. Trying to keep all those people employed is how they got in this fix.
ac930
Mar 6, 2015 at 12:20 am
This is done to HELP the Retailers? …… to compete with them? I don’t care if it’s liquidating closeouts, this is BS to constantly try to sell directly to consumers rather than allow your retailers to do so. Taylor Made will sink fast as both retailers and consumers are tired of their business practices.
Dave
Mar 5, 2015 at 6:52 pm
Pop-up stores to get rid of the inventory they’ve accumulated over last 5 yrs
HackerDad31
Mar 5, 2015 at 6:26 pm
First everyone hates Taylormade for the stuff left over in the market. Taylormade come up with a plan to try to fix that model and liquidate it themselves. Everyone hates Taylormade for that. There’s no winning. You know why golf isn’t growing? Its not because of Taylormade or Callaways. Its because golfers are a-holes. I’m convinced of it.
Tim
Mar 7, 2015 at 4:07 am
True story…too much negativity. People forget how much fun the game is supposed to be and that nobody makes you buy new product.
obobgolf
Mar 5, 2015 at 6:01 pm
Isn’t this really about how to manage YoY stock price performance in a publicly traded golf equipment company. Stockholders in Addidas/TMAG, Callaway et. al. demand QoQ/YoY return on stockholder equity, otherwise they unload the stock. Ping and Wishon (just as an example, not a fanboy) are privately held, family managed companies not beholden to the public (only the golfer marketplace), therefore, they can basically do whatever they want (as long, of course as they make some profit to satisfy the owners/partners, etc. and remain somewhat competitive). Both Callaway and TMAG (as well as any other public stock corporation) believe they’ve had to accelerate their product release/marketing strategies to support stockholder demand for performance. Many, if not most of the folks on this site have some type of 401-K and likely aren’t too happy if they see lousy performance on their personal quarterly reports. My opinion is that the root cause here is more about economic cause and effect of publicly traded golf/sporting goods manufacturers. (BTW, I have no dog in the fight, nor do I work for or own any golf company stock) Just my $.02
Beacher50
Mar 10, 2015 at 3:48 am
I don’t have a dog in this fight, as I use equipment by another maker.
But isn’t this really about managing production, and not over producing when a new model is coming out in a few months. Every set sold at discount, is a lost customer for the new, higher priced, and thus more profitable product.
Corey
Mar 5, 2015 at 4:13 pm
I work for a big box retailer and Callaway has significant less amounts of stock clubs sent out this year. We get 200 taylormade drivers at once and they just sit and collect dust. And to answer questions about Tmade buying back old product that is correct. They have taken back all the slider product from us. My store has sold 2 r15 in fittings and done dozens of Ping, Titleist and over 100 of the new cally drivers in fittings.
B-man777
Mar 5, 2015 at 1:54 pm
Hey all: golf equipment companies can’t win with the public in that they are either releasing new equipment to often or not often enough go figure. I also think what’s hurting the equipment market is that golfers don’t feel the need to upgrade their clubs as often now as they did years ago since equipment advances aren’t as big now as they were years ago as well as there is just to much equipment available in what is a relatively small market. Thanks
shanker056
Mar 5, 2015 at 4:32 am
It’s almost like TaylorMade are trying to help out those retailers who keep whinging about having too much old product which they couldn’t sell. Can’t see the issue in allowing the retailer to just focus on selling new product with higher margin …
How much money were retailers making churning out RBZ II for $60?
slimeone
Mar 5, 2015 at 2:22 am
TM has had outlet stores in Japan for years. My wife used to work at one. To be honest it was pretty weak. The selection of clubs was very disappointing, with mostly 2-season old stuff aimed at the GI market. No TP or X flexes to be found. I got a nice polo and a glove, though!
Scooter McGavin
Mar 4, 2015 at 8:30 pm
What’s the way that this helps retailers? At the store I worked at, cheap folks buying last year’s TM equipment was a significant number of people. Is TM going to buy the old product back from retailers in order to stock the outlets, or are retailers going to be competing with factory-direct stores now?
CHRIS
Mar 5, 2015 at 10:22 am
Cheap folks? Just because some of us would rather spend $500 on a set of irons than $1000 doesn’t make us cheap. It’s hard to justify spending that kind of cash when you’re not making a living off of it.
Sammy Moon
Mar 4, 2015 at 5:11 pm
First of all its obvious who those commenters are who are Taylormade fan girls. If you are trying to state that Taylormade has smarter researchers than everyone else we can all laugh at that comment as they are starting to use technologies now that Ping and Callaway developed nearly 10 years ago (yeah that’s some real hard research).
Next, Ping and Titlest have very good supply management programs, keeping them from flooding the market and more companies are trying to go that direction now. Callaway’s CEO reported on this about a month ago, stating that they had been guilty of flooding the market in the past as well. They are now releasing the same amount of products in far more scarce quantities like ping and Titleist to better match market demand.
Lastly, Taylormade is going to hurt themselves and retail stores with this new business. The more old product they offer on the market, the weaker the demand will be for high priced versions of their new models. It will be a recurring cycle trying to clearance product. Keeping the market flooded will affect their bottom line as new products see diminishing sales. Consumers within distance of these Outlets will be sure to visit for inexpensive goods, stealing potential sales from Clubhouses and retailers, further hurting the industry as a whole. It is ok to release new products as often as they do, but they need to reduce the production runs to quantities that can actually be sold over the course of the year.
West
Mar 4, 2015 at 6:23 pm
nah…
People with tight wallets will buy at the outlets, and those who like to flaunt the latest and greatest will buy at the big-box retail stores. Taylormade will be be selling from both ends. It’s a win-win…
NWG
Mar 5, 2015 at 2:35 am
Callaway have launched more drivers in the past year than Ping and Titleist combined..
Johnny
Mar 4, 2015 at 2:21 pm
TM selling discontinued products?? With their short release cycles, I doubt there be any inventory shortages….
Keith
Mar 4, 2015 at 2:09 pm
Hmm…I guess this is helpful to the retailers. Not sure how it works, does TaylorMade sell retailers the product and merch and then buy it back at significantly cut prices and then mark it up and sell it direct to consumers?
I guess that is mutually beneficial.
A
Mar 4, 2015 at 2:07 pm
Something new and innovative from TMaG…. here come the haters crawling out of the woodwork
west
Mar 4, 2015 at 12:34 pm
Taylormade can thank me later for that one. Right Barney Adams?! 😉
Keith
Mar 4, 2015 at 8:13 pm
Hahaha where are all of the “how many companies have you run” comments?
Well played
glennithy
Mar 4, 2015 at 11:53 am
You wouldn’t have to help out the retailers if you’d stop flooding the market with products. Use the Titleist and Ping models; every 2 years not every 2 months.
tim
Mar 4, 2015 at 12:02 pm
True, but how many times do we have to hear this comment? It’s repeated over and over and over.
luck box
Mar 4, 2015 at 12:30 pm
I guess as many times as it takes for them to implement an “obvious” solution and stop trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to product cycles.
slider
Mar 4, 2015 at 1:50 pm
they just have smarter researchers working for them that develop ground breaking technology in 2 months vs 2years that the other companies take
What?
Mar 6, 2015 at 11:10 am
This is a completely ridiculous statement. Smarter researchers? No, they change the paint job jack the loft down and sell it as a ground breaking product. The tour preferred MC and CB are the exactly the same as their rsi counterparts with a different paint job.
Tim
Mar 7, 2015 at 4:14 am
And faceslots!!!!!!
CHRIS
Mar 5, 2015 at 10:28 am
Well their model must be working because their profits are currently double that of their competitors.
slider
Mar 5, 2015 at 3:41 pm
not profits revenue is greater they have the smartest people working for them so they lose profit in paying the top researchers. Look at the R15 it is like 500 drivers in one where ping only has 3 drivers in one looks like they did a better job with a huge development staff at Tmade
Roosterredneck
Mar 4, 2015 at 11:46 am
smells like Callaway !?