Equipment
TaylorMade makes big investment in its golf balls
TaylorMade will invest $13 million in building a new 120,000-square-foot ball manufacturing plant in Liberty, S.C.
With the investment, TaylorMade is making its push to become a major player in the golf ball industry; an industry that is already saturated with products from many other manufacturers. While Titleist has a stranglehold on the top spot on the PGA Tour with its Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls, this move from TaylorMade could be the first move toward closing its gap to Titleist.
Already known to have an extremely advanced Research & Development department, the new plant will include a state-of-the-art R&D lab, which will look to take an already quality product even further.
The release of its new Lethal golf ball, one of the few five-layer golfs ball on the market, was received with overwhelmingly positive reviews among TaylorMade staffers. According to a company press release, Lethal sales have been higher than any Tour ball in company history through the first two months of the year, and its is currently the No. 2 golf ball played on the PGA Tour.
The move to a new plant will also improve the company’s profit margins by streamlining the ball-making process with new energy-efficient and eco-friendly machines. TaylorMade is also expecting much lower costs of maintenance.
“We are getting a new building in a booming area that will improve our unit production, quality and margin position,” said John Kawaja, TaylorMade’s executive vice president, in a press release. “Most important, we are committed to keeping jobs in South Carolina.”
The company currently manufactures its golf balls 26 miles away from the new site in Westminster, S.C. The new plant will replace the 52 year-old facility, but the company hopes to retain and add to the 90 workers currently employed at the plant.
The plant will serve as TaylorMade’s North American ball production headquarters. It is expected to manufacture 2.5 to 3 million dozen balls per year, compared to the 2 million dozen currently being produced.
Construction will break ground in May with an expected opening of the plant in January 2014 and a complete transition to the new building by July 2014.
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
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, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
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
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4 5-wood: Ping G440...
Eric Cole WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
Si Woo Kim WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
Wyndham Clark’s winning WITB: 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
Billie Canuck
Mar 27, 2015 at 8:54 pm
At least get your years right…! 2014? Wasn’t that last year? Good job proof reading folks
Joe Golfer
Apr 15, 2013 at 12:08 am
Good ideas in the comments section.
The name “Lethal” makes it sound like a purely distance ball, despite it being a multi-layered high end ball.
J
Apr 13, 2013 at 12:51 am
TM TourS
TM TourX
Just a thought… Improve the performance year after year
Jack
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:54 pm
True. I get confused and think none of them are top of the line. Like Callaway calls them Hex … I just checked and they have a million different Hexs. NVM.
DJ Golf
Apr 11, 2013 at 8:38 pm
They need to choose a name for their top-of-the-line golf ball, something similar to “PRO V1”. A singular, recognizable name for that specific ball. Every year it’s a new ball with a new name. Wanna catch Titleist?
Mimic them.