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CALLAWAY
GOLF IS NUMBER ONE IN DRIVERS
FAIRWAY WOODS AND IRONS ON FIVE
MAJOR TOURS AND AT RETAIL
CARLSBAD,
Calif., March 23, 1999 Fueled by the successful introduction of
its latest technological breakthrough, the Hawk Eye" line of titanium
metal woods, Callaway Golf (NYSE:ELY) enters golf's major championship
season as the major manufacturing champion the #1 choice in drivers,
fairway woods and irons on the five major professional tours around
the world combined for the period of January 7 to March 14, 1999.
Callaway
Golf's tour dominance continues despite a number of major spending
cutbacks by the company, including a reduction in tour spending
of $7 million from 1998 levels. The cuts also included reduction
or elimination of bonus pools and tee-up programs, yet Callaway
has maintained its position as both the predominant clubs of choice
among touring pros and as the #1 selling brand at retail.
"This
reinforces our belief that superior products are this company's
biggest asset," said Ely Callaway, Founder and CEO of Callaway Golf.
"We have been able to maintain and, in some cases, expand our market
share while significantly lowering our spending on the professional
tours. This demonstrates that professionals continue to choose our
golf clubs to make their living and that amateur golfers around
the world, regardless of gender and skill level, find that our golf
clubs give them the most satisfaction and more opportunities to
hit enjoyable shots more often."
The
facts on Callaway Golf's 1999 tour penetration for the period according
to the Darrell Survey:
- PGA Tour:
Nearly one of every three PGA Tour pros (30.1%) uses a driver
made by Callaway Golf. That represents a decrease from 1998 levels
of 38.8%, but is offset by an increase in fairway wood penetration
which is up to 34%, easily #1 on the Tour.
- Senior PGA
Tour: Callaway is #1 in driver usage at 36%, #1 in fairway wood
usage at 41%, and #1 in iron usage at 22.4% -- a clean sweep.
The increase in fairway wood usage (up from 36% in 1998) comes
despite the fact that Callaway Golf does not pay tee-up or pool
money for fairway wood use.
- LPGA: Seven
of 10 LPGA pros (71.2%) use Callaway Golf fairway woods. That
is an increase over 1998 levels (67%) and is indicative of Callaway
Golf's dominance on the LPGA. Drivers from Callaway Golf are #1
at 56% usage and Big Bertha Irons from Callaway Golf are an overwhelming
#1 choice, used by 43.9% of LPGA pros compared to 13.9% by our
nearest competitor. In the first eight tournaments on the LPGA
schedule, five winners used drivers made by Callaway Golf.
- Nike Tour:
Although the company has no driver pool or driver tee-up programs
on this tour, Callaway Golf remains a strong #1, both in driver
usage (45%) and fairway wood usage (45.1%).
- PGA European
Tour: An ocean away, the story is the same. Callaway Golf's drivers
and fairway woods both are #1 among pros on the PGA European Tour,
with a driver penetration of 47.6% compared to 14.6% by the nearest
competitor, and a fairway wood margin of 54.3% compared to 13.6%
by the nearest competitor.
- The vast
majority of the Callaway drivers and fairway woods in use on the
tours are various models of the Big Bertha® line.
Counting
all five major tours combined from January 7 to March 14, 1999,
the numbers from the Darrell Survey are as follows: Drivers from
Callaway Golf are used by 42.3% of pros (nearest competitor is 22.6%);
Fairway Woods by Callaway Golf are used by 52% of pros (nearest
competitor is 13.8%); Irons by Callaway Golf are used by 18.3% of
pros (nearest competitor is 15.9%). According to figures compiled
by Golf Datatech and Sports Research Inc.'s Golf Dealer Trends reports,
Callaway Golf was the #1 seller of woods and irons at retail for
all of 1998 and for the first month of 1999 the most recent period
for which figures are available.
All
the numbers add up to a single indisputable fact: Callaway Golf
clubs are #1 with golfers around the world, from highly skilled
professional to amateurs.
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