in the Golf Domain and reclaims the title of the No. 1 Metalwood Golf Company

In the kingdom of golf, scoring product successes are more the exception than the norm and in 2001 no other single golf manufacturer had such a diversity of product success than TaylorMade.

A banner year was first signaled when TaylorMade-adidas Golf reported first quarter revenues were up 21percent over the previous year to $145 million. Now, as of the third quarter, revenues had also increased by 19 percent over their 2000 results, making this the tenth straight quarter of sales increases! This past year’s results were primarily driven by a 57percent increase in metalwoods.

Undoubtedly, TaylorMade’s 300 Series of woods and irons simply outpaced and out drove the competition in terms of driver counts on the Tours and sales at retail level. In fact, the 300 Series broke the record for most titanium fairway woods ever put in play at a single PGA Tour event at the 2001 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am.

Perhaps TaylorMade’s biggest success of the year was the US Open win by Retief Goosen with the 360 Ti Driver.

Taking a closer look at TaylorMade’s success it is apparent that the successes can be directly attributed to the company’s broad appeal and product mix for the majority of the golfing public. Not to be overlooked were CEO Jim Stutts’ and president Mark King’s tactical business decisions on key additions to staff such as John Steinbach as Director of Public Relations, the formidable Hill & Knowlton Sports organization for PR and Steve Pelisek as vice president /general manager, North America.

The success attributed to the 300 Series with wins on all Tours almost every week, drove sales to new heights.

The next series of successes came through the introduction of the 300 Series irons that also increased the company’s market share and became one of the most popular irons available. The styling and pricing of these irons had the intangible “universal appeal” to golfers from the low-handicapper to the casual high-handicapper. Here again, personnel such as senior director of product marketing for irons, John Hoeflich was the catalyst behind the remarkable sales acceptance the irons produced.

TaylorMade re-invented different models for different styles of golfers and their swing techniques. Additionally, the opportunity for the consumer to have three different iron options of the same series to test immediately in the retailer’s store is an excellent marketing technique in itself.

In between the introduction of the 300 Series, TaylorMade’s adidas Golf introduced probably what is arguably, the very best golf shoe currently available in the Z Traxion. Both the Z Traxion and 300 Series metalwoods and irons were each awarded Golf Industry Online’s and Fairways & Greens Magazine’s “Top-10 Most Innovative & Beneficial Golf Products for 2001” awards.

Gaining ever-increasing market share, TaylorMade Golf produced an encore performance thereby further solidifying their position as the premier metalwood by introducing the 200 Steel driver and fairway woods. In a nutshell, these clubs offer a large 275 cc head and feature TaylorMade’s highest USGA  allowed COR in a steel driver. The results were outstanding and the distance achieved by the 200 versus the 300 Series is just a few yards less and wonderfully priced. More importantly, this new introduction also included the company’s new 200 cast irons featuring the same state-of-the-art construction as the 300 titanium series. The success by Mike Weir using the 200 Steel to capture the 2001 TOUR Championship further solidifies TaylorMade’s position as an industry leader. Their philosophy of “for every player there is a club” indeed resonates with authority.

The core golfer could feel the benefits of the 200 Steel immediately. The driver delivered the crisp, solid sound and feel of steel while offering the best launch conditions, forgiveness and playability in any steel product currently available.

In September, TaylorMade introduced their revamped version of their most popular fairway woods ever, the Tour Preferred ® and aptly named them as the Retro line of fairway woods. With all new technology both in club design and shaft composition incorporated into these two new user- friendly golf products, which include a 16- and 19-degree Raylor  and a 13-degree Tour Spoon®, demand exceeded supply for these clubs.

Finally, in October, TaylorMade introduced two new ball models that performed both on the course and at the retailers. The TP Tour ball’s three-piece multi-layer, solid construction was specifically developed to give a blend of control and distance primarily for the serious golfer. Gary McCord, a TaylorMade staff player, has already used the ball in three events and recorded three top-ten finishes. The other ball, the Distance Plus features the “TCBC” design (Thin Cover, Big Core), which offers a critical sense of soft and easy feedback at club impact. The pricing of both the Distance ($27.99 per dozen) and Tour ($34.99 per dozen) models were set at an affordable price compared to many other balls introduced in 2001.

In conclusion, TaylorMade had the best products, the most popular products and the best success of any golf manufacturer in the year 2001.

Barry Lotz, J.D., Ph.D. is the director of the Professional Golf Teachers Association of America. He is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America, the California Golf Writers Association, and serves both as a Consultant and Mediator to the golf industry. He is also the author of numerous books, including “333 Best Web Sites for Golfers” and his current book, “How to Build Business Relationships Through Golf” is in the Top Ten Golf Business Book’s best seller list.

He can be reached at www.pgtaa.com or drlotz@cbsgolf.net