Wilson Stuff ed

When Wilson Staff announced they were dropping Karen Stupples, now golfers get picked up and dropped all the time so why is it news?

Was Ms Stupples dropped for her performance ? No.
Was Ms Stupples dropped for not promoting the product ? No

So why was Ms Stupples dropped ? Well because she is a woman! To quote Wilson Staff’s own advertising, seriously ???

Apparently so!

The bean counters conducted market research that said women did not buy golf equipment! Seriously?

I have played with a lot of ladies and I have yet to see one tee up with a frying pan or put with a broom! Seriously.

Maybe the fact that Wilson Staff only produce 1 ladies iron has something to do with that ? Not exactly attacking the market?

But Wilson Staff are not alone, Titleist don’t produce a single ladies iron, Ping have one, Yonex, Lynx and Cleveland have 3, Adams Golf 4 and leading the way are TaylorMade, Callaway and Cobra have 5.

Given that the majority of lady golfers play with graphite shafts it makes the purchase of irons more expensive, this in turn makes them less likely to change equipment as regularly as men, also they don’t suffer from male egos!

There seems to be a real anti Wilson Staff bias on twitter at the moment and I can understand why.

Wilson Staff have more major wins than any other manufacturer.
Wilson Staff helped create the first ladies professional tour in the USA, part funding it.

So why the change ?

To say this has been a marketing disaster for Wilson Staff would be an understatement.

To make things weirder Wilson Staff have announced the signing of Russian golfer Maria Balikoeva, declaring, and I quote “It re-affirms Wilson golf’s commitment to the ladies game”

In 60 LET events Ms Balikoeva has 2 top tens and a stroke average of 74.65. In 26 LET events Ms Stupples has 2 wins, including a major, 8 top tens & a stroke average of 71.42, oh and 2 Solheim Cup appearances.

As far as I can find out she has never played an LPGA.

Both ladies are on Facebook but as far as I can see only Ms Stupples is on twitter, with over 12,000 followers.

The logic escapes me.

I don’t know Ms Balikoeva and I honestly mean no disrespect to her, but I hope she signed longer than a 1 year deal with Wilson Staff.

Some people are accusing Wilson Staff of using this as a token gesture to try and deflect the bad PR they are receiving, some may think that but I could never possibly comment.

Who know perhaps she is the first of many many LET players Wilson Staff are about to sign?

But lets look at the bigger picture, like many clubs, like the media, many club manufactures continue to treat lady golfers as second class compared to men.

Next time you watch n LPGA or LET take a close look at the players bags and hats, then compare the to the men on the PGA or European Tour.

While men get paid vast amounts in endorsements most women are just part of bonus pools and are more than happy to simply receive free of charge equipment.

For what Nike paid Rory and Tiger they could have virtually signed the entire LPGA and LET rosters!

Cobra, TaylorMade and Callaway have set the bench mark that everyone else needs to follow.