Covington’s Bridgestone Golf facility to close after 36 years

A Georgia plant that has produced premium golf balls for more than three decades will shutter next month, a decision the manufacturer said was tied to ongoing supply chain challenges.

Bridgestone Golf said Friday it will shut down its Covington manufacturing and testing facility effective June 30. The company has been headquartered at the plant for decades.

The plant closure will affect 84 production workers, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the state. Bridgestone Golf said it will retain its corporate and business operations roles, which will relocate to a new headquarters in Georgia by the end of the year.

Bridgestone Golf is a subsidiary of tire and rubber giant Bridgestone Co., which is based in Tokyo.

The company decided to close the Covington plant after “a thorough assessment of the increasing volatility in global markets and evolving challenges related to supply chain, operational efficiency and cost management,” according to its announcement. The company didn’t detail the specific challenges it has faced.

Golf Digest reported Bridgestone Golf plans to move production to Seki, Japan, where it already makes golf balls. The measure will save costs and unlock more funding for marketing and tour promotion, which will allow Bridgestone to better compete in the U.S. golf ball market.

Dan Murphy, president of Bridgestone Golf, told the publication that 95% of golf products sold in the U.S. are made overseas.

Bridgestone opened in Covington in 1990, where it has since produced more than 1 billion golf balls. Golf pro Tiger Woods is among the players who use them, according to the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

It’s one of several manufacturers based out of Covington, which sits about 40 miles east of Atlanta, alongside Japanese brake supplier Nisshinbo Automotive Manufacturing, consumer goods giant General Mills and others.

The early 2020s brought a flurry of economic development projects to the Georgia town and surrounding areas, with manufacturers such as Rivian and lithium-ion battery recycling startup Battery Resourcers, now called Ascend Elements, promising to bring thousands of jobs to the area.

Bridgestone is not the only Georgia company that has had to reduce or completely wind down operations because of supply chain challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions and sent shipping prices soaring, and the changes in trade policies imposed by President Donald Trump over the past year have added more pain.

Murphy told Golf Digest that Bridgestone is proud of the legacy it has had in Covington, as well as the people who have made the company “what it’s become over all these years.”