Acushnet introduces Union Green golf balls and takes a giant divot

Acushnet, the parent company of iconic golf brands like Titleist, FootJoy, Vokey, and Scotty Cameron, is embracing the heretofore unknown hordes of Hipster golfers with their newest golf ball brand – Union Green.

Before you paint me as some traditionalist who guards the gates at the Country Club with a priceless antique musket whilst sipping Pappy Van Winkle, my belief in growing the game and breaking down snooty traditions is well-documented. My professional background is in branding. I write about golf. These passions collide with the release of the new Union Green golf balls and I simply can’t resist jumping in.

Acushnet already has a low-end ball brand with Pinnacle. If you’re golfing a few times a year and carry a handicap over 30, Pinnacle is your brand. You can get a 15-pack of personalized Pinnacle Rush balls for $22.99. Sure, they feel harder than the balls Fred Flintstone plays, but at a little over a buck per pellet, who cares.

Union Green isn’t looking to take over the low end of the market. No, they are going after the ‘moderate disposable income, brand-conscious, urban, public course-playing, I-like-golf-ironically, Millennials’ market.

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Yep, all seven of them. OK, there might be more than seven. Let’s say 29.

I’m not picking on Millennials or public courses. Some of the best courses in the world are public – Pebble Beach, St. Andrews, Whistling Straits, etc. I’m really just flabbergasted with the pathetic pandering of Acushnet. How does a company that manages golf’s most hallowed brands come up with Union Green golf balls?

Who is paying $27.99 for a 3-piece Surlyn ball from a brand that promotes golfing in cargo shorts and thrift store Florsheim wingtips while blasting Tame Impala from a Kona wood-encased Bluetooth speaker?

This is directly from the Union Green website:

"“We’re not the golfers you see on tour. We’re different. The ones playing local, taking mulligans, over-celebrating and always going for it. Club Championships, rule books, 18 holes every time – that’s not our game. We’re here for golf that fits our life. For fellowship. For the love of the fairway. We’re united by the game.”"

Golf balls for people who don’t follow the rules of the game and/or quit after six and a half holes? Is this the great untapped demographic for golf manufacturers? And exactly how brand-loyal are these consumers who are defined by their lack of seriousness? NOW GET OFF MY LAWN!

Sorry, that last one just slipped out.

I think I know where Acushnet was going. In the last few years, there has been a raft of independent golf ball manufacturers. They appeal to the non-traditionalists who want to inject a little style and attitude into their game. And while the price is right, most of the balls in this category were lacking in quality.

That’s not the case anymore. Some of these independent brands have significantly upped their game. In particular, Vice, Snell, and OnCore are making Tour-quality balls for about $30 a dozen. Each won a Golf Digest Gold Award in the 2019 Golf Digest Hot List. They’re legit. And their multi-layer urethane Tour balls cost about the same as the Union Green 3-piece Surlyn “Pindrop” ball.

So why even think about buying Union Green if performance and price aren’t motivating factors?

I guess the thought was that many young golfers like slick branding. And that’s true. But I assume even those wearing Foster Grants, drinking a Hamms, and carrying a garage sale persimmon 7-wood in their bag also want value and performance.

What gets me riled up most about this ridiculous new brand is the pandering. It panders to Millenials, to flash over substance, and insults the intelligence of proud, serious golfers. (You know, people that observe the rules of golf and play 9 or 18 hole rounds, those weirdos.)

It almost seems to be a brand for golfers who don’t want to be identified as golfers. It’s the ball for people ashamed of telling their friends that they are going to play golf because it might hurt their street cred. And wouldn’t this crowd be more drawn to recycled balls? To save the groundhogs or something?

I understand that golf is trying to grow the game with audiences that have traditionally not been golf fans. Good. I want that. But Union Green somehow picked all the worst cliches to appeal to an audience that instinctively sees golf as bourgeois regardless of the coffeeshop-meets-Major Leauge Soccer branding and messaging.

If golf wants to bring new fans into the game, why would Acushnet make a brand that pokes its finger in the eye of golf’s most ardent supporters?

And let’s not forget that Acushnet – with Titleist and Pinnacle – already makes balls in this price and quality range. So why create another brand that cannibalizes your existing brands? You can argue that the audiences are different, but again, how big is the Union Green demographic?

Listen, I love golf lifestyle brands that are pushing the envelope. I play Snell balls, I wear questionable attire. I abhor the nose-in-the-air attitudes that have defined golf for most of the game’s existence. I’m team Ty Webb, not Team Smails.

But let’s not sell our collective golfing souls to attract a few fringe prospects. Union Green feels like Beto O’Rourke skateboarding onto the stage. It makes me want to scream, “Oh, give me a break with this crap!”.

Golf is not cornhole. Golf is defined by its history and traditions. Golf is about years of commitment and dedication. Yes, some of it is tiresome. Some of it doesn’t even make sense. But that’s what golf is. It’s also why we love it – every minute of it.

I’m reminded of that Coors Light commercial with the four young guys “golfing” with one-hand because they don’t want to put down their beer. This is the Union Green audience.

Do you know what I think when I see that ad?

How much did they pay in greens fees to just romp around like idiots?
Thanks for not repairing that 6-inch deep, 2-foot long divot.
Are the other foursomes at the course planning on killing them on the next tee box or perhaps just burying them up to their necks in a large bunker near the green?
What’s the penalty for vehicular manslaughter in a golf cart?
Why is Coors Light denigrating a sport I love? Why are they cheapening it, mocking it?

Most of all, I thought, “This ad was written by someone who doesn’t play golf.”

And that’s the same conclusion I draw when I look at Union Green. How did Acushnet – a company that has defined tradition and performance in golf for almost 90 years – create a product and brand that mocks the very traditions they’ve nurtured?

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It makes no sense. I suspect it makes no sales, either.

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