The Acushnet Company is an American company focused on the golf market. The company operates a series of that manufacture golf equipment, clothing and accessories.
The principal brands operated by Acushnet are Titleist, best known for golf ball and golf club; FootJoy, an apparel brand with particular focus on shoes and gloves; Scotty Cameron, a leading putter brand; Vokey Design, a leading brand of wedge; Union Green, a golf ball and accessory brand marketed to casual players; and Pinnacle, a brand of distance ball.
In 1932, the company sectioned into two divisions: Rubber and Golf, both of which became quite successful. Three years later, the Golf division produced the Titleist golf ball, which has consistently been the company's most successful product.
In 1976, the company was purchased by American Brands (now known as Fortune Brands). In 1995, Fortune sold off the Acushnet Company's Acushnet Rubber division, which was Acushnet's original business (circa early 1900s).
Fortune Brands announced on December 8, 2010, that it planned to focus on its liquor business, and would spin off or sell other parts of the company — including home furnishings and hardware, and Acushnet (which includes Titleist, FootJoy, Scotty Cameron, and other golf product brands).Aaron Smith, Jim Beam, neat, is company's new strategy, CNN Money, December 8, 2010. Fortune Brands Announces Intent to Separate Company's Three Businesses, The Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2010. Fortune Brands to split into three companies , Lake Country News-Sun, December 9, 2010. On May 20, 2011, it was announced that a Korean group associated with Fila Korea, Ltd. and Mirae Asset would purchase Acushnet for $1.23 billion in cash. Fortune Brands to Sell Titleist Golf Unit to Fila Korea for $1.23 Billion, Cotten Timberlake and Lauren Coleman-Lochner, Bloomberg, May 20, 2011. Acushnet to be sold to Korean group led by Fila, Gene Yasuda, Golf Week, May 20, 2011. Fila set to buy Fortune Brands' golf unit for $1.2B , Dow Jones Newswire, May 20, 2011. Fila takes swing at golf biz with Titleist buy CBS News, May 20, 2011. The deal was completed on July 29, 2011.
On October 28, 2016, Acushnet was listed on the New York Stock Exchange via an initial public offering. In August 2018, Fila Korea acquired a controlling stake with the purchase of an additional 20% from several other investors, including Mirae Asset, to take their holdings to 53.1%.
They also have two golf ball manufacturing plants and an R&D Technology Center located in the New Bedford Industrial Park, as well as a Custom Golf Ball plant located in New Bedford.
Acushnet currently operates several facilities, many of which are in Massachusetts, as follows:
FootJoy products include athletic shoes, golf gloves, clothing (, shorts, pants, , sweater, , ,), and accessories (, , , ).
Cameron's putters, the most storied of which are inspired by Karsten Solheim's (PING) original designs (Anser, Zing, B60) are named after popular California beach towns (Newport Beach, Laguna Beach) and Northern California counties renowned for their golf, wine, and leisure tourism (Sonoma, Napa, Monterey). His original designs, usually mallet putters, are often named using ad hoc wordplay. Cameron is a master of prestige branding, going so far as to trademark (under the Acushnet name) the acronym "G.S.S." or German stainless steel. "G.S.S." is simply 303 stainless imported from Germany and used in Cameron's more exclusive releases. It is molecularly identical to other 303 steels.
Titleist's balls were also the most used balls at the 1949 U.S. Open.
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