Equipment
Acushnet files with SEC for proposed IPO
Late last month, Reuters reported that Acushnet Holdings Corp., the umbrella company for Titleist and FootJoy, was preparing for an IPO. Today, the company made it official.
Related: Titleist unveils new 917 drivers at Quicken Loans National
Acushnet announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed IPO of its common stock under the symbol “GOLF,” with J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley acting as lead book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters. Credit Suisse, Daiwa Capital Markets Deutche Bank Securities, Jeffries and Wells Fargo Securities are also acting as joint book-running managers. The number of shares and price range have not yet been determined.
In 2011, Fortune Brands sold Acushnet to Fila Korea Ltd and Mirae Asset Private Equity for $1.23 billion.
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
bob
Jun 20, 2016 at 11:33 pm
the problem for the industry, if they let retailers do what they want with pricing, the internet will bust everybody thats left. if you just have a web site to pay for, you can sell everything at cost plus 5% and do well. the brick and mortar retailer needs at least 30-35% and high volume to survive. i was in the business for years before the internet, and at my peak my gross margins were 18-20%, but we did big numbers because of no internet. no way you could survive today.
Justin
Jun 20, 2016 at 7:16 pm
Pro V 1 most used ball by looser’s of 2016 U.S. Open…only one winner and he used a Taylormade ball….
Newsguy
Jun 20, 2016 at 9:15 pm
Losers….
Scooter McGavin
Jun 20, 2016 at 3:36 pm
Are there actually people that would buy stock in golf companies now?
Cam
Jun 20, 2016 at 7:14 pm
This just means the investors (Fila) has run the numbers and it makes no sense to keep pouring money into a dead horse….D J winning with a Taylor Made ball this week does not help, runner ups were only 1 out 3 with a Pro V 1 also……
Cr
Jun 20, 2016 at 7:17 pm
I think it’s more to do with attempting making the company more American owned, again, than having a foreign company be the major shareholder. People heard that Titleist is owned by Koreans and sales dropped
D Louis
Jun 20, 2016 at 1:50 pm
I agree it’s the beginning of the end, once they go public and are driven by shareholders that are only concerned with a return on their investment, the high quality products they’re known for will slowly be replaced with lower cost, higher margin products much like they direction Taylormade took. Eventually, it will be difficult to tell the fifference between TM and Titleist products.
Garry Pierce
Jun 20, 2016 at 1:40 pm
This is the beginning of the end. Why I say this. Titleist is a $500 million a year company. Be a terrible investment. Golf stocks have been non performers for years. Will Titleist become another Golfsmith addition. Snake eyes – MacGregor.
Tim you don’t know how many times I got my account suspended for selling below MAP. AND ebay is a real be no no now. Taylor thought they could shut ebay down and buyers would run to The PGA Store. BAD idea. NOW they are up for sale. They went from 1.5 billion to 900 million and dropping. MAP and MSRP are the biggest loads of crap. Let me as the retailer decide how much I want to make on an item. $35 on Pro V1’s won’t happen. That is wholesale cost to dealers. and add shipping on top of that. Balls is where the money is. Clubs are break even. Shirts and balls.
I have always maintained from the 18 years in the golf biz,,,, the dumbest people in business run the golf biz. Club pros are the laziest… they love that MAP and MSRP. They don’t have to leave the bar to make a sells pitch. ab=nd now add the USGA farce and you cab=n see why golf has a problem. Out of touch imbeciles driving the car over the cliff
Cam
Jun 20, 2016 at 7:10 pm
Most companies that go public are signing their death warrants….Most be a billion companies that ran fine and made Mom and Pop a good living for years….then talked into growing and farming control of the products out to Joe and Jane College, saw a huge jump only to end up on top of the mountain with one and a half feet hinging over the cliff and Joe and Jane College stepping on that half foot as they took there golden parachutes and walked away. If anyone is dump enough to buy titlist stock just remember for the most part you are paying off some investors and giving some higher ups a big check to go away smiling.
fred
Jun 20, 2016 at 1:17 pm
Does this mean that the ancient Acushnet Bullseye putter I have will now be worth something?
Cr
Jun 20, 2016 at 7:16 pm
No, worth less
Tim
Jun 20, 2016 at 12:46 pm
If all these big golf companies want to make money they will pull away from controlling the price their retailers can sell their stuff for…..It is still strange how they continue to control the pricing of their balls and clubs etc. Price fixing was outlawed years ago but these companies found a loop hole, something to do with patents or something. No retailer can even give you a dozen balls or free shipping in many cases unless the OEM approves. I have found a few independent golf pro shops that sell under market but that is always on a one to one thing,, never advertised. If the price fixing was out we may find a retailer selling some REAL specials like maybe PROV’s for $35 instead of $48, which still gives the manufacture his profit and lets the retailer go after some volume and foot traffic and a lot of Sporting/Golf stores could use some sales volume.