Luis Rivero
6 minutes
For those who take Golf seriously or maybe not… Here is a short story about one of the Greatest Brands in Golf.
We thought it would be nice for all of you who use this Brand and trust your game to their Golf Balls and Clubs to know a little bit more about them and how they became of the most popular brands in the US.
Titleist was founded in 1932 by Philip E. Young. and it is produced by Acushnet a subsidiary of the South Korean company Fila. Acushnet is best known for the Titleist golf balls.
The name Titleist is derived from the word "titlist", which means "title holder". There are several marketing mottos that you have probably seen or heard of, such as "The #1 ball in golf", "Serious clubs for serious golfers", "It's not how you mark your golf ball, it's how you mark your Titleist”. These are slogans that represent one of the biggest Brand in Golf and have had a great impact on young golfers and Tour Players, since the first day the Titleist Golf Ball was used in 1949 in the U.S Open.
The Titleist Golf balls were first created and thought of when Young was playing a round of golf with his dentist. Young missed a sure putt that seemed to be caused by the weight of the ball. He asked his dentist friend to X-ray the ball and the film showed that the rubber core was off-center. After this initial discovery, Young took X-rays of more golf balls and found that most were poorly constructed with off-center cores and prone to erratic shots. This inspired Young to produce his own line of golf balls, which would become known as Titleist.
In 1910, Phillip Young and two partners formed Acushnet Processing Company. It was the world's largest supplier of recycled uncured rubber by the end of World War I. This company focused on deresinating latex and supplying rubber to the industry, and over time began to make their own rubber-based products including water bottles and bathing caps.
Over the years, the company shifted its focus, eventually getting into golf; all because Young’s fondness for the sport and his frustration with the performance of golf balls.
After a few years, Young developed a machine that could uniformly wind rubber string around a rubber core, making a "dead center" golf ball. He named the ball "Titleist," noting it was the "winner" of the quest to create the best for the game.
In 1935 the Golf division of the Acushnet Process Company produced the Titleist golf ball, which had consistently been the company's most successful product.
In 1949 Titleist was the most used ball at the U.S. Open Tournament.
Thirty years later, Titleist was purchased by American Brands (now known as Fortune Brands).
In 1985 Fortune Brands sold off the Acushnet Company's Acushnet Rubber division, which was Acushnet's original business. And in 2002 Titleist reaches the $1 billion mark in annual revenues for the first time.
On December 8, 2010, Fortune Brands announced that it would soon sell or spin off Titleist and some other brands. It was then announced on May 20, 2011 that a Korean group associated with Fila Korea, Ltd. and Mirae Asset Private Equity would purchase Acushnet for $1.23 billion in cash.
Nowadays, Titleist golf balls are the top-selling golf balls in the United States.
To read more about it, you can go to the Acushnet Company Website here or go to Titleist.com here.
This information was provided by: Wikipedia
