:: walterindenver ::

:: Sunday, January 05, 2003 ::

Guns and Golf

Occasionally I write about a subject I actually know something about. Readers may speculate how this would set me apart from the rest of the blogosphere, but I won't join them in that speculation. So, when David Kopel mentions golf in his bi-weekly Rocky Mountain News column that would be my cue.

A short item on the front page of the Dec. 24 News sports section announced that handgun manufacturer Smith & Wesson is introducing logo-branded golf clubs. The News claimed that "Marketing analysts said the move may carry risks," and supported this claim with a quote from a single marketing consultant who compared the program to "Philip Morris putting its brand on cheese."

That was indeed a silly piece of commentary on the part of the News writer. Golfers tend to be a rather conservative lot. (No kidding?) I doubt many of them will be put off by seeing a gun maker's logo on golf clubs. What the writer probably wouldn't know is that Browning was in the clubmaking business in the 1980's. They produced an innovative and popular line of clubs which sold well, but they got out of the business after a few years.(Golf club manufacturers have notoriously small profit margins.) It seems natural that a gun manufacturer could make golf clubs. They would have the necessary metallurgical knowledge in-house and access to the foundries needed for actual production.
My first set of new clubs were Browning 500's, bought in 1985. Good luck to Smith & Wesson.

:: Walter 9:57 AM [+] ::
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