Getty Image / Johnson Liu / AFP
A horrific golf ball factory fire in Taiwan resulted in 10 casualties and an additional 100 injuries. According to reports, additional bones were found that were not human.
The catastrophe unfolded over the weekend when an explosion at the Launch Technologies Co. golf ball factory led to part of the building collapsing and trapping workers. A second explosion went off approximately 20 minutes later according to the Associated Press.
It feels callous to discuss what impact this may have on the global golf ball economy given the loss of life and injuries, but the golf ball industry is bracing for a sweeping impact.
That is because Launch Technologies Co. manufactured golf balls for ‘Callaway, TaylorMade, Bridgestone, Mizuno and Wilson’ and others according to the Associated Press.
Launch Technologies shipped over 260 million golf balls last year and accounted for over 20% of all the golf balls sold worldwide. Furthermore, 80% of golf ball sales from Launch Technologies was in the United States so this could impact the American golf market pretty hard.
Footage from the catastrophic golf ball factory fire in Taiwan showed cars melted to the street and bodies strewn about as workers received critical medical attention. An investigation has now begun into what started the deadly fire that led to 4 firefighters losing their lives.
Is a golf ball shortage coming after the catastrophic fire?
CEO of Seed Golf, Dean Klatt, spoke with Golf Digest via email and said there would be a “complete shutdown, overnight, for at least 12 months.” He went on to say that the stock currently being shipped is the only stock of golf balls that will be available for quite some time.
The golf ball manufacturer went on to tell Golf Digest that “Moving manufacture is not easy in this case. Tooling (i.e. dimple patterns) will have most likely been destroyed, so it’s a complete rebuild at a new plant with many unknowns. Dimple tooling is expensive, and that set-up takes time, then there’s the quality control issues to consider once you get to production phase at a new plant. At best, I would say six months to reestablish supply elsewhere.”
I would never encourage panic buying of any sort, but I will stress that with the uncertainty ahead, it would be a good time to be extra vigilant about preserving the golf balls you have on hand.