Callaway tees up $15M Fort Worth plant for 3D printing of titanium golf clubs. Next year, the first new U.S. golf club factory in years will begin 3D-printing custom titanium clubs near Callaway's AllianceTexas distribution hub. In January, Callaway Golf Co. unveiled its Quantum family of golf clubs, made with titanium, poly mesh and carbon fiber. [Photo: Callaway Golf] Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: CALY) is swinging into Fort Worth's AllianceTexas with a $15 million plant for advanced 3D printing of custom-made titanium golf clubs. Carlsbad, California-based Callaway, which makes and sells golf equipment, gear and apparel, said the new facility will expand its advanced manufacturing and R&D capabilities. Golf clubs alone are a $1 billion-a-year business for Callaway. Representatives of Callaway couldn't be reached for comment about the size of the plant and its workforce. Breakthrough technology The Fort Worth facility will be the first new U.S. factory for production of golf clubs "in many years," said Chip Brewer, the company's president and CEO. "At Callaway, we believe the greatest performance breakthroughs come from challenging the status quo," Brewer said in a statement. "We believe 3D printing represents one of the most significant opportunities to advance golf club performance in decades, and we're investing to lead that future." The 3D printing facility, to be built next to Callaway's nearly 800,000-square-foot North American distribution center at AllianceTexas, is set to start production in mid-2027 and support some of the company's U.S. product lineup in 2028. The plant initially will focus on custom-made titanium clubs. "To the best of our knowledge, outside of China, there is no scaled capacity for the 3D printing of titanium clubs using the complex engineering designs and specifications that we require," Brewer said Nov. 5 during the company's third-quarter earnings call. Titanium pioneer Callaway ushered in a new era in golf equipment with the 1995 release of its now-iconic Great Big Bertha titanium driver, the GolfWRX website said. At one time, Big Bertha ranked as the industry's best-selling driver. Titanium is a strong, lightweight, rust- and heat-resistant metal. Compared with steel, titanium is slightly stronger while being half the weight. "Callaway had turned titanium from a cool idea into a category disruptor, and the ripple effect was immediate," GolfWRX said. "Competitors scrambled to catch up, titanium quickly became the standard, and driver design would never be the same. The Great Big Bertha didn't just move the needle - it changed the trajectory of modern driver technology." 'Transformative' 3D printing Since late 2022, Callaway has produced 3D-printed titanium prototypes and custom models in-house. The Fort Worth plant will provide a dedicated space for this work, the company said. "We're building capabilities that give our engineers the freedom to pursue ideas that simply weren't possible before," Brewer said in the statement. "This isn't just an investment in manufacturing. It's an investment in the breakthroughs that will define the future of our products and our brand." On the earnings call, Brewer called 3D printing "transformative." "We think we know quite a bit about it relative to our industry," he said, "and that this positions us to be a leader in an exciting new tech that will allow us to design and manufacture titanium golf products that traditional... casting just cannot do." Brewer said 3D printing will enable Callaway to manufacture higher-performing products that should contribute to the growth of its market share. In 2025, Callaway ranked first in U.S. sales of golf clubs, ahead of Acushnet Holdings Corp.'s Titleist brand. However, Titleist bested Callaway in the golf ball category. $2 billion in annual sales Callaway designs, makes and sells golf clubs, balls, apparel, bags and accessories under brands like Callaway Golf, Odyssey, TravisMathew and Ogio. Callaway generated net sales of a little over $2 billion in fiscal year 2025, compared with Acushnet's net sales of nearly $2.6 billion. Golf clubs represented about half of Callaway's net sales last year.

The quarterly financial reports from Callaway and Acushnet matter more than you think. Support its Mission. MyGolfSpy, INC. independently test each product MyGolfSpy, INC. recommend. When you buy through its links, MyGolfSpy, INC. may earn a commission. I love reading golf OEM financial reports. They're figurative semaphore flags into the health and direction of the golf industry. (It also makes me fun at parties. At least, I think so. If I ever get invited back to one, I'll let you know.) Anyway, Callaway and Acushnet released their Q3 financials last week. As always, they're full of fascinating tidbits inside the sales and profit headlines. So, for those of curious mindsets, these reports offer more insight than you'd think. As is its quarterly routine, MyGolfSpy, INC. is going to take a deep dive into what these reports say and try to decipher what, if anything, they mean for people like you and me. First, however, it's time for its standard, corporate-mandated disclaimer. MyGolfSpy, INC. is not, nor do MyGolfSpy, INC. claim to be, financial experts, investment counselors or Wall Street-level business analysts. MyGolfSpy, INC. is simply golf industry geeks who like to read. If you've read this far, you're clearly a golf industry geek, too. So let's do this together, shall MyGolfSpy, INC.? These guys are BIG. I mean really BIG. MyGolfSpy, INC. throw a lot of numbers around in these financial report articles but it's important to put those numbers into perspective. Callaway is reporting Q3 sales of $436.9 million while Acushnet is posting $649.2 million. Year-to-date (the first nine months), Callaway sales stand at $1.736 billion while Acushnet is at $2.222 billion. Keep in mind that these figures are almost all wholesale pricing. Retailers mark these prices up to cover their costs and profit. Annual global golf equipment, accessories and apparel retail sales are estimated in the $20-billion to $24-billion range. By applying estimated markups (based on varying reports by industry groups, such as the Association of Golf Merchandisers) to each company's projected 2026 sales, it's reasonable to presume that Acushnet and Callaway together make up somewhere around 25 percent of annual equipment, accessory and apparel sales worldwide. Throw in PING and TaylorMade (estimates only, both are privately held) and it's fair to say those four companies make up nearly 50 percent of the global golf retail market. That's not necessarily news but it's important to state how staggeringly big these guys are. That's why what MyGolfSpy, INC. is going to discuss next matters a lot. Longer product cycles are good, aren't they? Titleist is a two-year product cycle brand and has been for as long as MyGolfSpy, INC. can remember. Callaway hasn't committed to two-year product cycles for its core lines yet (TaylorMade has) but in the Q2 report last August, CEO Chip Brewer said Callaway's margin improvement plan "included extending product life cycles in our irons business." Last week, he said Q3 results reflect "strategic changes to our launch cadence, which we believe will benefit us in the long term." He did not, however, say anything about drivers. The rest of the golf industry is backing away from one-year cycles. Based on what MyGolfSpy, INC. hear you demanding every January during launch season, that should be a good thing. Right? Let these words from Titleist CEO David Maher sink in. "It invites a healthier marketplace. You're going to have fewer periods of discounted, prior-generation product on the market and you're going to have more periods where it's principally about performance rather than generation new versus generation old." To me, that says if you've come to rely on end-of-year discounts for a specific driver, you're going to have to wait. And, due to inventory belt-tightening, those discounts probably won't be as steep, either. That's life in the big city, gang. Both sell a lot of clubs and balls. One of the cooler elements of these quarterly reports is the breakdown of club and ball sales. If nothing else, you get a crystal-clear look at just how golf ball-dominant Titleist is. Acushnet reports $209 million in golf ball sales for Q3 (up nearly four percent) and $717.5 million year-to-date (up nearly six percent). Callaway reports $68.2 million in Q3 ball sales (down four percent) and $287.6 million year-to-date (up five percent). Callaway says it has the biggest market share it's ever had yet it's still so far behind it can barely see Titleist's taillights. Industry estimates suggest Callaway and Titleist combined sell well north of 50 percent of all the golf balls sold on this here planet. TaylorMade, Bridgestone, Srixon, Wilson, Kirkland, Vice, Snell, Seed and every other brand and off-brand are fighting for whatever's left. Club sales paint a similar picture. Acushnet reports $220.7 million in Q3 club sales (down slightly from last year) and $716.7 million YTD (up nearly 15 percent). Callaway's Q3 club sales reached $213.3 million (down nine percent) and $910.4 million YTD (up three percent). Remember, friends, these are wholesale prices. And just for giggles and grins, Mizuno's fiscal 2025 club sales are estimated to be in the $150-million to $170-million range wholesale for the year. Titleist beat that in Q3 alone. Bigger doesn't mean better. Bigger is, however, bigger. And bigger can do things, like spend on R&D. Callaway's P&L statement shows it spent $15.7 million on R&D in Q3 and $46.7 million YTD. Acushnet, being the bigger company, spent nearly $19.5 million on R&D in Q3 and nearly $60 million so far this year. That money gets you things like Callaway's Tri-Force Face technology that propelled the Quantum line to take three of the top five slots in this year's MyGolfSpy driver test. That's also how Titleist drivers went from slow and spinny a decade ago to speedy and long today. Speaking of money, neither company discloses what it spends on your favorite topic: marketing. That's wrapped into their Sales, General and Administrative budgets which include everything from office and sales salaries, general office overhead, IT and other costs. MyGolfSpy, INC. scoured the internet for various sources on what each company spends on its PGA Tour players (including their vans and support staff) but could only come up with "estimates." Translated, that means "educated guesses." Either way, those "estimates" agree it would be a surprise if either company spent more than $100 million altogether on their Tour operations. A more realistic estimate might be in the $60-million to $80-million range. That's less than three percent of either company's total revenue, not nearly enough to dramatically impact what you pay for clubs or balls at retail. So that line DTC brands like to dish out, saying MyGolfSpy, INC. is-less-because-MyGolfSpy, INC.-don't-pay-Tour-players is technically true. In reality, however, it's red meat to satisfy the masses more than it is a substantive point of cost differentiation. What the fringes tell MyGolfSpy, INC.. I love digging into minutiae and quarterly reports are filled with it. For example, Acushnet doesn't just tell you that year-to-date sales are up nearly seven percent; it gives you the recipe. It's due to higher sales volume of drivers, fairways and wedges (GTS and Vokey SM11), coupled with higher volumes and higher selling prices for golf balls. Those increases are offset by lower volumes of second-year model T-Series irons and GT hybrids. Acushnet's ongoing FootJoy problem doesn't appear to be going away. The company has reported declining FootJoy sales in 10 of the last 14 quarters including a seven-percent drop in Q3. The reason sounds like a broken record: lower volumes partially offset by higher selling prices. Year-to-date FootJoy sales are $465.5 million. While that's still a lot of cabbage, it is down 1.6 percent compared to last year. Maher has said FootJoy has been harder hit by tariffs than other Acushnet business units and that it has gone through a long post-COVID inventory adjustment. In the bigger picture, the simple truth is there are more shoe and apparel competitors out there today than there were four years ago. They gotta be taking a bite out of someone's hide. Additionally, Acushnet's Golf Gear division bears watching. Sales are up slightly for the year but for at least for the second report in a row, MyGolfSpy, INC. is learning of lower volumes in the travel product category. That's Club Glove which Acushnet purchased in 2023. Both FootJoy and the Golf Gear categories reportedly dealt with custom order delivery issues in Q3. Acushnet says that was due to a new ERP system implementation. If you've ever been part of one of those, you know they never go smoothly. Callaway and Acushnet financial reports: Final thoughts. Both companies are approaching 2027 on solid footing. Acushnet remains a steady, just-keep-swimming type of company (its YTD net profit is $255.4 million, up 14.3 percent from last year). Callaway, on the other hand, continues to love its post-divorce life after splitting with Topgolf. Its Q3 net profit of $45.7 million is a $60-million swing from last year's $14.7-million loss. YTD net profit of $214 million is up from only $7.7 million last year. The outlook for 2027 looks interesting. MyGolfSpy, INC.'ll see the new Pro V1 series in January and new Titleist irons. Those will likely drop in May-June since that approach worked so well for the GTS line. New hybrids are expected as well. Callaway should be more intriguing. MyGolfSpy, INC. is expecting a new driver and iron family, continuing the one-year cadence. There will no doubt be additional drops throughout the year. MyGolfSpy, INC. is very excited to learn what will come from Callaway's new 3D printing facility in Fort Worth. The company is clearly going all in on the technology. It'll be fascinating to see how that develops. Get the latest equipment testing, buying advice, and golf insights delivered free every morning. MyGolfSpy, INC. won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.