After more than three decades of cranking out golf balls in Newton County, Bridgestone Golf is packing up its Covington manufacturing and testing operation and switching off the machines on June 30. The shutdown will erase roughly 85 factory jobs, while the company says it will keep its corporate and business positions in Georgia and move those roles to a new state headquarters later this year.
In a press release, Bridgestone Golf framed the decision as part of a broader effort to “optimize its global supply chain and strengthen the foundation of its global golf business.” The company listed the shutdown as effective June 30 and said the closure will affect 86 manufacturing employees. Bridgestone added it will work with local partners to connect workers with employment resources as the plant winds down.
What the company said
“Bridgestone Golf remains committed to providing the highest-performing products for golfers in North America and beyond,” Bridgestone Sports president Shunsuke Kunihisa said in the company’s release via Bridgestone Golf, adding that executives are confident the strategic move will strengthen the company’s global supply chain.
The release also notes that Bridgestone will keep its corporate and business operations that currently sit on the Covington campus, with plans to move those jobs to a new Georgia headquarters by the end of the year.
State filing shows slightly different job count
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the state tells a slightly different story on headcount. The notice lists 84 production workers who will lose their jobs in the closing, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also reported that Bridgestone opened the Covington plant in 1990 and that over the decades the site has produced more than 1 billion golf balls, a serious tally for a local operation that became a quiet workhorse in the golf industry.
Production will shift overseas
While the Covington plant heads for the rough, Bridgestone’s golf ball production is not disappearing, it is hopping continents. Industry reporting notes that much of the company’s manufacturing already happens outside the United States. Golf Digest reported that Bridgestone plans to move ball production to Seki, Japan, a long-standing hub for the company’s manufacturing.
Golf Digest also quoted company leaders saying that roughly 95% of golf products sold in the United States are already produced overseas, a global dynamic Bridgestone cited as part of the rationale for the Covington closure.
Covington reacts
For Covington and Newton County officials, the decision landed with a thud. Serra Hall, executive director of the Newton County Industrial Development Authority, said leaders were “saddened” by the news and pledged to work alongside Bridgestone and regional partners to help displaced employees find new jobs.
Local reporting from The Covington News traces the site’s local roots, noting that Bridgestone purchased 20 acres in 1989 and built out a facility that included a 135,000-square-foot testing range and a 24,000-square-foot production plant. For years, that complex quietly turned Covington into a niche player in the global golf supply chain.
Part of a wider footprint shake-up
The Covington shutdown is not an isolated trim, it is one piece of a larger cost and footprint restructuring at Bridgestone. Bridgestone Americas has announced facility consolidations and a Tennessee plant closure as part of its broader cost-management plan.
Manufacturing Dive reported on the closure of the LaVergne, Tennessee, truck and bus radial tire plant and related consolidation steps that fit into the same restructuring strategy now catching up to Covington.
What’s next
Bridgestone and local officials say the Covington plant will wind down through late June, with the company coordinating transition resources for workers as operations wrap up. So far, details on severance, job placement programs and other specifics have not been released publicly.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, state filings and company statements will shape the final timeline as the June 30 closure approaches, and local partners say they are gearing up to assist employees once the schedule is fully locked in.
