September 6, 2016 – This Summer the holidays took me to the English countryside. This was my plan: Flight Barcelona – London (Gatwick), train to North Camp and change, new train destination … Alton! Wait a minute, Alton? Isn’t the Srixon Sports Europe Ltd headquarters here? So I decided to drop in for a courtesy visit to see the insides of the European centre of operations of Srixon, Cleveland Golf and XXIO, those heavyweights of the golf industry.

Having contacted Hauke ​​Lipp, Marketing Manager for Continental Europe, MyGolfWay.com was welcomed for a visit that lasted two days. The company is in the midst of product renovation and launch, so the first meeting was dedicated to an exclusive introduction to the new releases that will hit the stores this September.

The company tends to change the range of products in two-year cycles, so we are at an exciting time for its brands, which have significant technological and design improvements that will deliver more performance and fun on the course for players worldwide.

Srixon is launching the new Z65 line, highlighted by a range of competitive woods, with the adjustable Z 565 Driver (and the Z 765 only custom), with three unique technologies that make up the Ripple Effect: the Power Wave Sole, the Stretch Flex Cup Face, and the Lightweight Crown that maximize distance and control off the tee. The Z F65 Fairway Woods, also with Ripple Effect, have a closer and more extended face which gives you more confidence when playing. And in the same vein, the Z H65 Hybrid develops maximum distance with high a higher and more forgiving launch, like all the family of woods.

Well, we found the woods spectacular, but the irons seduced us even more with that muscle bar with its apex a little further towards the toe. There are three lines ranging from the blade to the cavity back, covering the full range of players. At first glance we’d say that the Z 965 blades will be for skilled players from scratch to handicap 10; the Z 765, a mid-cavity for serious players from scratch to handicap 15; and the Z 565 cavity, the most tolerant for handicaps of 10 to 20.

And regarding Cleveland Golf, what a surprise! New RTX-3 wedges to improve… what already looked unbeatable! Here the historical commitment of the brand to the short game has been revamped. Up to the month of July they total 351 victories on the Tour and 26 Majors, having been in the bag of eleven World Ranking Nº1s… After two years of the RTX 2.0 hegemony, the brand has leapt forward with new technologies such as the Feel Balancing, new sole grinds (V-LG, V-MG and V-FG), more sophisticated ROTEX grooves according to the loft, quality finishes (Satin and Black) and a super modern look in their blade and cavity versions.

In addition, Cleveland Golf is taking putters to a new level, with two sensational lines. Here you have the multi material TFi with the revolutionary alignment system, which places the visual mark at the height of the centre of the ball, with the new mallets the Cero, the Elevado (this one also will be in counterbalance version), and the Mezzo (centre shafted). It felt great to touch them and try them out in this presentation at Alton.

And finally, the new Huntington Beach putters, referenced as 1, 4 and 6. At first glance they seem very basic but… when you have them in your hands, they are amazing. They’re made of 304 stainless steel, with a remarkably soft touch, and have deeper grooves on the face, which give you a smooth feel and a super true roll.

We ended the first day at the Srixon Sports Europe offices talking about new golf balls, specifically the 10th generation of the popular Srixon Soft Feel (the green box), a two-piece with the new EGG core, and enjoying the latest video for the launch campaign about the Ripple Effect.

The second day of visit to the European headquarters of Srixon consisted of a tour of the instalations. “In the UK we have a European warehouse, located in Southampton, where we ship all goods to the European Union and to our distributors in Russia, Sweden, Denmark… to cover all Continental Europe”, explains Hauke ​​Lipp.

“In Alton we have our offices and our assembly unit. Here we make repairs and custom fit clubs, as well as having all components in the warehouse.” 

“If an order from Spain comes in, the order will be past to the logistics office in Alton, and we’ll build the clubs here and ship them to Spain. Normally, the player will receives his cubs in about seven working days.”

We are inside the logistics office of Srixon Sports Europe, and we get to see the process that follows when you order custom golf clubs from, for example, a Spanish golf shop. Orders arrive from all over Europe by computer to this office. The order is printed and the sheet becomes a ‘production order’ that is assigned to one of the many trollies we can see here.

With this trolley, the technician moves around the warehouse following the green lines on the floor. He has a code system, so that he knows exactly where each component is, that he needs to collect on the trolley according to the order specifications. In the classified storage containers we can see all available types of clubheads, shafts and grips of all brands and models in stock for Srixon, Cleveland and XXIO golf clubs.

When all components have been collected together, the order leaves the warehouse and comes into the workshop. The first section of the workshop is dedicated to the process of shaft cutting, as the shafts come uncut from the factory. There is a template of measurements with the shaft sizes for every model of each brand, whether it is Srixon, Cleveland or XXIO.

So, for example, the shafts for the 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 of a set of irons can be cut in one go. There are two workstations for this operation, all maintaining the highest health and safety conditions, to avoid any possible contamination. The shafts then pass on to the grinding machine to refine the tips.

Moving on to the next department, all the components are rechecked, the loft and lie, and heads are assembled with the shaft, along with the so-called ferruling, applying the ferules depending on the kind of club…

After the gluing and drying process, the product goes to another section. To finish the assembly, loft and lie are rechecked, the weighing is done and the swing weight adjusted, and finally we come to the gripping station where the grips are applied.

Before getting to the last stage we went through the repair department. Golf clubs under warranty come here, as do clubs sent by retailers to replace broken shafts or other damage.

When the golf clubs are finished we emerge from the workshop. The order is prepared and ready to ship, but before it goes, the logistics team recheck the order. They review and carry out quality control here, and if everything is correct and the club is custom-built, the company stamp the label on the box to make it clear that these are custom clubs for a player.

The clubs are packed with special boxes and stickers for each brand, so that when the retailer receives the goods he knows they’ve come from the company and correspond to a specific order.

“And that’s how all it works”. We said goodbye to Hauke ​​Lipp, very grateful to him for attending us. So, when placing an order of Srixon, Cleveland or XXIO custom clubs, you now know how they’re done!

We are delighted to have been to Alton!

Pictures: ©MyGolfWay.com

Por MIGUEL ANGEL BUIL