PGA of Canada

28  | PGA Pro:ForMANCE Callaway brings its new driver to the Wells Fargo PGA Tour stop and has its staff players hit it. "We picked that tournament because a lot of our staff players would be there," says Alan Hocknell, Callaway's vice-pres- ident of innovation and design. "And the range is double-ended, so we could have them hit it away from people." Callaway announces first quarter financial results, including a 33% jump in fairway wood sales jumpstarted by new Big Bertha. Pro:gear you extort $100 for the lies. eir claims are fraudulent. or no one on the planet will ever reverse the pin. Every single human being will have the stick pointing down." Dr. Alan Hocknell, who heads Callaway's r&D team, said that wasn't the case. He said several PGA Tour pros on Callaway's staff were using the Alpha driver with the Gravity Core set for additional spin. In fact, of the six using Alpha so far this year, three had it set at the higher CG setting, something that doesn't affect MoI at all. He said Vincent's notion that every golfer needs less spin is misguided. Drivers with low-and-forward CG tend to also have lower MoI, or forgiveness, he said. But even professional golfers who like to move the ball may be more comfortable with higher spin, he added. "What [TaylorMade] is doing is a one-dimensional configuration that won't work for all players," Hocknell says, adding that's why Callaway is offering variations on its Big Bertha driver. "Alpha works for some of our golfers, but for higher handicaps we're finding they are getting five or six yards more with Big Bertha. It depends on what you're trying to do." And there are still companies that have not gone all-in with the low-spin movement—like Ping with its top-rated and very popular G25, which makes them more forgiving and increases MoI. Not every company fully buys into the notion, though many, like Ping with its new i25 driver that also emphasizes lower spin and sacrifices some MoI, want to have a foot in both camps. It is also clear that while Titleist, Ping, Cobra and others are staying out of the back-and-forth over the new driver technology, Call- away and TaylorMade are amping up the rhetoric. With Callaway once again viewed as a legitimate rival, Taylor- Made's senior executives, like Vincent, are willing to spend a lot of time trying to derail them. e results came quickly with Callaway's recent quar- terly results. With first-quarter sales of US$352-million, up 22% from the same quarter last year, Brewer heralded the results as an indication that the company's turnaround plan had indeed worked. "Callaway has incredible strengths as a brand," says Brewer, clearly in a more comfortable position than when he took the CEo job two years ago. "our heritage, the pre- mium nature of the brand and trust factor are all impor- tant. And you see how we go to market with fresh energy and fun, and a contemporary engaging swagger." at's the spin on a driver war that's all about how much they make the ball spin. How it turns out won't be decided by spinmasters with complicated talk about rpm rates and launch monitors. No. Instead, it'll be up to con- sumers who decide whether they can make sense of the debate and who will inevitably vote with their dollars. Callaway's Big Bertha and Big Bertha Alpha drivers are available at retail. Callaway starts touting new driver to accounts using a code name.

• Cover