Callaway VIP

[ZAP]

As a high school coach in a middle income school district I was disappointed to learn that Callaway no longer offered any kid of team discount program for high school teams. I understand the economics of it totally and I have no problem with their decision. This is not a rant against Callaway.

 

This winter I outfitted a bunch of my players thanks to the generosity of people from my uncle's golf league and a number of my friends.

 

 

As my players progress in skill and interest it would be nice to have an avenue for them to get some new equipment at an affordable price.

 

What do you other high school coaches do to help your players find affordable equipment?

[Hot Rod 71]

I've been a VIP member for several years now and over the past two years the prices on the VIP website have increased dramatically. Its still a lot cheaper than I can get from a retailer, so I can't complain too much.

 

I would suggest starting a thread (get it ok'd by the powers that be first) about your golf team and see if any members here would be interested in donating some of their old golf gear to the team. Another member here is a golf coach in the Detroit area and has requested donation in the past with a very good response from the membership.

[ZAP]

Thanks for the idea. Maybe I can put together a list of possible needs and do just that. Season is starting Monday so I have banned equipment changes. For now.

[heavy_hitter]

Thanks for the idea. Maybe I can put together a list of possible needs and do just that. Season is starting Monday so I have banned equipment changes. For now.

 

No offense, but if my kid's high school coach told me he was banning equipment changes, I would tell him to take a hike. His/hers personal PGA Professional knows more about it than a high school coach.

 

As far as your question, try Taylormade or Titleist.

[ZAP]

Thanks for the idea. Maybe I can put together a list of possible needs and do just that. Season is starting Monday so I have banned equipment changes. For now.

 

No offense, but if my kid's high school coach told me he was banning equipment changes, I would tell him to take a hike. His/hers personal PGA Professional knows more about it than a high school coach.

 

As far as your question, try Taylormade or Titleist.

 

Sorry I was not clear. The equipment changes thing was a joke. These kids seem to show up with a different club they pilfered from their dad or uncles bag every practice.

But I do like hiking.

[heavy_hitter]

Thanks for the idea. Maybe I can put together a list of possible needs and do just that. Season is starting Monday so I have banned equipment changes. For now.

 

No offense, but if my kid's high school coach told me he was banning equipment changes, I would tell him to take a hike. His/hers personal PGA Professional knows more about it than a high school coach.

 

As far as your question, try Taylormade or Titleist.

 

Sorry I was not clear. The equipment changes thing was a joke. These kids seem to show up with a different club they pilfered from their dad or uncles bag every practice.

But I do like hiking.

 

I seem to forget that not every high school program is built the same. We are fortunate where we live.

 

The top 5 or 6 on our boy's team have their own private coach and play tournament golf outside of high school. The top 2 are always going to be around or under par. Very rarely are the top 6 going to be over 80.

 

The girl's team team it is the same. The top 4 have private instructors. The top 3 are always around 75 and travel the country playing tournament golf. The others are 85+.

 

The borrowing a club from a dad or uncle thing just doesn't happen around here.

 

If you call Taylormade direct, they may be able to help you. They do have a team division.

[ZAP]

Thanks I appreciate it. I'll call them this week when I get a chance.

 

I took over our program last year. We have a $300 pay to play fee that limits my team size to people who can afford the fee.

The coach before me did little to try to grow the program at the middle school level.

Last year I had six players total even try out for the team. Three of those six had never kept score on a golf course before our first practice.

This year I will have 10-12 kids with 5 of them being freshmen who never played in any kind of tournament.

My number one player from last year did not come out for his senior year because he lost his love for the game. I think he burnt out after playing since the age of 5.

 

We are better than we were last year. I think I have five players who will be able to break 50 for nine holes pretty regularly. Two of my players will break 40 a few times this year.

This is a great group of kids who have amazing attitudes and understand what a big learning curve we are up against. The parents of these kids are even better people and support their kids in many ways.

I would not trade them for any team. Ever.

 

Thanks again for the advice and ideas. We're working on it.

[Golfingdawg19]

Taylormade has a high school program and it is great. You get the clubs for 20 percent below cost and you can't beat it. Just google Taylor Made high school program and you should find it. I think you have to submit and application but it's nothing taxing at all. I've been using it for several years. Callaway is the only other program I have found that helps out the kids but it doesn't give the deals that Taylor Made does. Adidas and Nike have websites with apparel discounts for high school programs. Titleist has deals on balls and hats for your team but you have to go through a golf shop that has an account. Clic gear will give discounts on their push carts but like Titleist you have to go through a golf shop. Bushnell has a discount program for high schools on their rangefinders.

[ZAP]

Thanks to those of you who responded. Good news is my team won our first two matches. We played OK and happened to squeak by the other squad. I am happy that the kids got some success after all the work they put in over the winter and in the spring. The kids that showed up when it was -10 to hit foam balls in the gym at least got to taste winning a little bit.

 

I signed up for the TaylorMade program and we will see where that goes. At very least I should have an avenue for kids to get their hands on some better equipment than we currently have at our disposal.

 

Thanks again.

[Hot Rod 71]

Keep us posted on TaylorMade's response.

[ZAP]

TaylorMade has responded quickly and they sent me a current pricing guide for my players. There are a few criteria any purchases have to meet.

They have been more than helpful in providing me with at least an avenue for my players to purchase equipment.

I figure as our season winds down I will have a team parents meeting to let them know about this opportunity.

We will probably buy our team shirts through this program for next year.

 

All in all big thanks to TaylorMade. Wishing other manufacturers did this type of thing as well to give my players more options.

[Hot Rod 71]

Glad to hear TM is offering the help. What kind of criteria must be met for purchases?

[Golfingdawg19]

Cobra also has a program for high school teams. I just signed up for it today.

[Noles]

Thanks for the idea. Maybe I can put together a list of possible needs and do just that. Season is starting Monday so I have banned equipment changes. For now.

nevermind you already answered in another post

[Goldenhawk]

Cobra also has a program for high school teams. I just signed up for it today.

I saw that while registering my 10-year old's F6 Junior Driver. From the description, the Cobra Progeam is guaranteed.

[FloridaCoach]

The Callaway VIP program was never that good to be honest. The discounts were so so and depending upon when in the lifecycle you were ordering something, the price you would pay off the shelf might have been less.

 

TMAGs school program is top notch and very good for high school players through a separate web portal. Cobra's program is simply a discount off of whatever is available on the website. The only other ones that I know exist are Wilson, Srixon/Cleveland, and Bridgestone. These programs are extensions of their college programs, so it can be a little more difficult to work with depending on the rep in your area or your contact at the company.

 

The two big names everyone asks about - Titleist and PING - don't do any sort of program for high schoolers. The explanation I got was that they didn't want to take away business from local dealers. It's a bad excuse.

 

My recommendation is to just ask the company. It took me a few years to ask the right people and get connected with the right departments, but it has helped my budget and my student athlete families budget over and over again.

[Golfingdawg19]

The Callaway VIP program was never that good to be honest. The discounts were so so and depending upon when in the lifecycle you were ordering something, the price you would pay off the shelf might have been less.

 

TMAGs school program is top notch and very good for high school players through a separate web portal. Cobra's program is simply a discount off of whatever is available on the website. The only other ones that I know exist are Wilson, Srixon/Cleveland, and Bridgestone. These programs are extensions of their college programs, so it can be a little more difficult to work with depending on the rep in your area or your contact at the company.

 

The two big names everyone asks about - Titleist and PING - don't do any sort of program for high schoolers. The explanation I got was that they didn't want to take away business from local dealers. It's a bad excuse.

 

My recommendation is to just ask the company. It took me a few years to ask the right people and get connected with the right departments, but it has helped my budget and my student athlete families budget over and over again.

 

You are right in that the Callaway VIP program didn't offer the discounts that some of the other programs currently do. The one thing that I did like about the VIP program was that it allowed me to sign my kids up and they had their own access to the program. Each kid was enrolled until they graduated and they were allowed to buy allotments of the various things the program offered. This took me out of things and the kids could order things as needed. With all the other programs, the only person enrolled is the coach. I order everything for the kids and they reimburse me. If I remember right, Taylor Made gives around a 25 percent discount on their program where Cobra is around 40 percent. Titleist does a great job with the balls and hats as well as bags for the high school team. Bushnell also offers a really good deal to the high school kids for their range finders. Leupold has a similar program but the discounts aren't as high as with Bushnell. Sometimes you can get the reps of the various manufacturers to help you out. I had the Callaway rep help one of my kids out not to long ago when they ordered a new driver.

[ZAP]

Resurrecting an old thread with an update. I have been very impressed by Cobra's program. Basically my entire teams now has at least one Cobra club in the bag. Two of my players are entirely Cobra now with another having an entire set on the way. I have been able to get clubs in the hands of kids who otherwise could not have afforded them. Hats off to them for their commitment to golf at the high school level.

 

We have also been able to decrease our sports fees at the school so my team will be at least 16 players this year. It's a good problem to have.

I have had to bring on an assistant coach to help with numbers and supervision.

[Golfingdawg19]

> @ZAP said:

> Resurrecting an old thread with an update. I have been very impressed by Cobra's program. Basically my entire teams now has at least one Cobra club in the bag. Two of my players are entirely Cobra now with another having an entire set on the way. I have been able to get clubs in the hands of kids who otherwise could not have afforded them. Hats off to them for their commitment to golf at the high school level.

>

> We have also been able to decrease our sports fees at the school so my team will be at least 16 players this year. It's a good problem to have.

> I have had to bring on an assistant coach to help with numbers and supervision.

 

 

Cobra has done a great job with their high school program. We get 40 percent off retail which is hard to beat. Taylormade offers us 25 percent off which is good as well.

 

 

[heavy_hitter]

> @ZAP said:

> Resurrecting an old thread with an update. I have been very impressed by Cobra's program. Basically my entire teams now has at least one Cobra club in the bag. Two of my players are entirely Cobra now with another having an entire set on the way. I have been able to get clubs in the hands of kids who otherwise could not have afforded them. Hats off to them for their commitment to golf at the high school level.

>

> We have also been able to decrease our sports fees at the school so my team will be at least 16 players this year. It's a good problem to have.

> I have had to bring on an assistant coach to help with numbers and supervision.

 

Don't know what type of program your high school has, but Taylormade offers 40% off of everything through an AJGA membership.

[Scooby555]

Does Mizuno have anything like Callaway University\VIP programs?

[leezer99]

21 hours ago, Scooby555 said:

Does Mizuno have anything like Callaway University\VIP programs?

 

Mizuno partnered with the AJGA to provide a discount to those players so I don't see why they wouldn't help out high school programs.

[MD_]

Cobra has a program for team sales. 40% off anything on their cobragolf.com retail website.