performance-oriented products. We’re never
going to get them with adidas. A lot of our
adidas consumers were Ashworth consumers
who discovered the benefit of better performing products. For a lot of adidas consumers,
there’s a lifestyle element to what they want to
wear brand-wise, but I think there’s an opportunity for us to own the left and right sides of
the closet.
If it’s 80 degrees and you’re playing at 10 in
the morning, you’ll want to be wearing a
ClimaCool shirt for all of its performance benefits. But once you take a shower and meet in the
grille room, we see that same guy very likely
wanting to put on his favorite Ashworth polo
and sweatshirt and jeans before sitting down
with his buddies.
PGA Magazine: What are you planning on
changing at Ashworth?
Kawaja: We don’t want it to be a complete
change. One thing we did change was the logo,
just a little bit. When you looked at it, there
were some confusing moments. There were
different logo executions. We saw the opportunity to focus the brand on what it should be.
The “golf man” logo is the most important one
they had, but it needs more consistency. So we
modified it slightly, running it with the Ashworth
name into one logo. There will be a re-branding
of sorts in spring 2010.
PGA Magazine: And what about the styles?
Kawaja: I’m sure we have product strategies
that complement each other. adidas is so
focused on performance and it’s such an athletic
brand, that it’s very clear what those products
need to look like and how they need to perform.
For Ashworth, the scope is wider.
PGA Magazine: Callaway Golf had a previously
existing licensing agreement with Ashworth.
Obviously, that’s had to change?
Kawaja: Yes. Neither side wanted that. But it
is a successful asset that we purchased. So we
went to the people at Callaway right away and
together figured out an amicable way to separate, and do it in a way to not upset business.
We worked out an agreement that allows that.
We will continue to service, ship and invoice
and run the licensing business for Callaway
apparel through the end of April.
■
contributing significantly to a
shaft’s asymmetry. In the
design phase and in production,
we check stiffness at varying
planes of the shaft, to assure
symmetry. We check every
shaft’s tip flex, butt flex, and
CPM at their softest and stiffest
positions, and the variance
must be within a tight tolerance
or it’s rejected.
“Recently, we’ve developed
a new machine that can scan
the shaft and calculate the
bending stiffness distribution
entirely along the shaft length.
That machine is now the most
comprehensive way to assure
symmetry of the part. Also,
player testing is an important
part of our design qualification.
We use our Fujikura Academy
as a proving grounds to assure
each design is up to snuff.
We also take durability very
seriously. Our new fatigue
machine evaluates shaft life
about the entire circumference
of the part. Passing the test
means there are no weak spots
about the circumference, which
would generally be caused by
asymmetry. It’s a torturous test
and our shafts have to survive to
move on to production.”
Don Brown, product development manager, Grafalloy: “All
Grafalloy graphite shafts are
designed using our proprietary
System 9 design model, which
solves more than 40,000 calculations for every variable we
change in a shaft design.
System 9 enables us to design
flags that are optimized for
size, shape and orientation,
ensuring precise engineering
specifications and symmetry.
Every single shaft produced in
Grafalloy’s factory is checked
for proper flex, as well as other
engineering specifications to
make sure the 10,000th shaft
lives up to the same quality and
performance as the Tour shafts
built in our San Diego research
and development facility.”
Then we check them with a
laser, to assure straightness
and dimensional integrity.”
Tim Gillis, vice president of
sales and marketing, Graphite
Design: “We do a few things.
Graphite Design uses a manufacturing process called clocking. This is the alignment of
graphite flags on the mandrel
to eliminate overlaps and build
consistency. We also sort our
shafts and make sure they are a
+/- 3 CPM, which is lower than
most other manufacturers.
Jamie Pipes, manager
of product testing and field
research, UST: “Several items
affect making a symmetrical
shaft. It starts with design, and
having an experienced design
engineer who can calculate the
exact material dimensions
from the start. The design
engineer will determine the
process of how the carbon
fiber material is actually
wrapped on the mandrel.
Next, the technicians will set
up the rolling table to accommodate the mandrel and
shaft design. This allows the
shaft to be rolled symmetrically.
After rolling by hand with
machine assistance and
sanding to specifications
(using sanding machinery
precisely dialed in), the shaft is
inspected for stiffness and
straightness through various
measuring processes. Stiffness
is measured in two planes, 90
degrees from each other;
whereas straightness is measured from butt relative to the
tip end.” ●
this Just In
continued from previous page
products, I-ON’s LS-101B
and LS-101C products, and
Sightmark’s SM650 Laser
Rangefinder products infringe
the patents in suit.... Mizuno
unveiled the MX-700 driver
($299) with a “Hot Metal” Ti-
9 titanium face that’s plasma
welded to a 6-4 titanium
body, has an aligned grain
structure that expands the
COR area and increases ball
speed. The clubhead
geometry features a low/deep
CG and centrally located
sweet spot for enhanced
vertical stability, resulting in
low spin and a high,
penetrating ball flight. A
“Power Hull” body
construction utilizes internal
reinforcements for enhanced
feel and sound. Mizuno’s
billing it as its largest MOI
driver ever, as well as the
longest and most forgiving.
Titleist’s new 2009 Pro V1
and Pro V1x balls are officially
in play on the PGA Tour.
They’re distinguishable from
the previous versions by new
packaging and ball markings,
and reportedly offer improved
distance and durability....
TaylorMade-adidas Golf
announced a workforce
reduction of 70 employees
from across all areas of the
company, which officials
called a direct response to
today’s uncertain global
economic climate.
TaylorMade Golf also inked
17 new players for the 2009
season to use its equipment,
including Arjun Atwal,
Matthew Borchert, Paul
Goydos, Scott Gutschewski,
Richard S. Johnson, Frank
Lickliter II, Steve Lowery,
David Mathis, Leif Olson, DA
Points, Rick Price, Patrick
Sheehan, Brian Vranesh,
Duffy Waldorf, Charles
Warren, Aaron Watkins and
Tim Wilkinson.... aboutGolf
has partnered with the PGA
Tour to manufacture PGA Tour
simulators – the result of an
exclusive worldwide, six-year
licensing partnership....
Cleveland Golf/Srixon re-
signed David Toms to a multi-
year endorsement contract,
continued on next page
