Callaway Golf Essay

TaylorMade Golf is a subsidiary company of TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company. TaylorMade was founded by Gary Adams in 1979 as a small start-up company (TaylorMade, 2013). Adams had created a single new innovative design, the metalwood. This new metalwood sounded differently and most importantly performed differently. The new design shifted more of the weight to the perimeter, which provided more forgiveness on mishits. The center of gravity was also lowered, which made it easier to launch the ball in the air. Adams, being the son of a professional golfer, wanted his golf clubs to stay true to

It is unknown when the game of golf originated, but it is believed that people began playing in Europe during the middle ages. In the United States, golf was a sport primarily played by the wealthy individuals until tournaments began being televised. Since then, golf has grown to be a very lucrative industry with over 27 million golfers nationwide by the end of the 1990’s. “Competition in the Golf Equipment Industry,” a case study written by John E. Gamble of the University of South Alabama, is an overview of the problems currently facing major companies in the golf equipment industry: technological limitations (due to golf’s governing organizations), a decline in the number of golfers,

Imagine the sun bursting through the trees for the first time of the new day, the smell of freshly cut grass still potent to your nose as you tee the ball up for a round of golf in the cool mist of a spring morning. "That is what brings you back every time, the smell of the air, the coolness of the whether and the beautiful surroundings that make every shot enjoyable." (Suess, PI) This is the game of golf in its finest and most exquisite time to many people and many people it has touched in its long history. Golf is a lifestyle and not just games to people that are avid in playing. The game of golf has a history that is rich in technological advances and personal accomplishments, which through time has shown to shape

What is the market opportunity you see for the future? Who is Callaway’s target audience? Is it big enough to help turn sales around?

There are so many companies that boast that they have the best irons and longest driver in golf, but Titleist has associated themselves as the elite golf club manufacturer. Known mostly for golf balls, Titleist has come a long way with their exceptional feel and great looks to improve the games of every golfer. Titleist ran a print advertisement in the April 2010 Golf Digest magazine displaying advanced performance in their clubs. The tagline reads, “Improvements You Can Feel” (16-17). The Titleist AP1 & AP2 irons are the products being sold in this ad. When people think of golf, Nike or Callaway is normally what comes to mind, but Titleist is known for their performance in the clutch. The

Golf ball manufacturers would be looking to achieve several key strategic goals, such as increased sales, increased market share and / or increased profitability, to adopt and implement PI’s technology. Accordingly, manufacturers are mainly concerned with the cost and implications on manufacturing, competitor reactions (and customer perception), the forecast growth in the new balls market, the share they could capture and the financial details of agreement.

Fourteen clubs - four wedges, six irons, a rescue, a three wood, a driver, and a putter - this is golf. It is one of the most mentally challenging sports in the world. It can fool beginners who are deceived by its simplicity. Golf is often underestimated by those who have never attempted to play the sport. While it has often been known as a “rich man’s” sport, in recent years this perception has begun to change. There are a number of other generalizations made when talking about golf, yet these are most always from those who have never experienced, played, or followed the game. One should question how a critic with no knowledge of the activity could state whether or not golf should be considered a sport. Golf is a sport, regardless of what any critic has to say. Studies and experimentation, along with the experience itself, reveal all of the athletic aspects that make golf better than most sports.

The U.S. Golf Association (USGA) specified the characteristics of legal balls within tight parameters. These restrictions on size, weight, materials, texture, etc., seemingly left little room for product innovation. In fact, the USGA regulations specified not just what went into a ball, but how it could perform, stipulating to within 10-20 yards how far the ball could travel when hit by a certain type of club traveling at a certain speed, all verified under controlled conditions with robotic testing equipment. Nonetheless, new product introductions were rampant in the industry, with slight changes in surface coatings and dimple patterns, for example, being touted for their ability to add a handful of yards to a golfer’s shots, to give more accuracy, or to create greater control through faster spin on the ball. In addition, ball manufacturers spent millions of dollars on advertising campaigns for their balls. There were three basic types of balls, all conforming to the same general specifications. The oldest technology still in use was the three-piece ball, which consisted of a core, windings, and a cover; this ball was good for spin and overall control. The second, and most popular, type of ball was the twopiece ball, which eliminated the windings of the three-piece ball; this ball produced more distance. The newest technology was the “solid core, multi-layered ball,” which had taken the

The company’s CEO and founder Ely Callaway was a golf champion himself during his twenties and was a powerful motivator defining the company’s culture

Behind any great company usually sits a great leader and entrepreneur. For Callaway Golf, this was no exception. Ely Callaway was known for his business philosophy: “Demonstrably Superior, Pleasingly Different”- he believed that “in business, in leisure and in life, you need to differentiate yourself, stand out, be exceptional, fill a niche, over deliver and always, always stand for your principles and deliver what you promise (Callaway Golf Company).” Throughout his career, Ely Callaway found business success- as president of Burlington Industries, and successful creation of both Callaway Vineyard and Winery and then Callaway Golf Company- utilizing focused differentiation strategy and blue ocean strategy successfully (Gamble, 2000).

The founder, Ely Callaway’s vision is: “If we make a truly more satisfying product for the average golfer, not the professionals, and make it pleasingly different form the competition, the company would be successful.” However, this vision is change from other company’s visions; the difference being that the price is not mention.

Ely Callaway founded Callaway Golf Company in 1982. In the early years, the company was named Callaway Hickory Stick USA, Inc. and specialized in hickory shafted putters and wedges. In 1988 the name of the company was changed to Callaway Golf Company. In the '90s, Ely Callaway and his company changed the golf industry in ways no one could have anticipated. Richard Helmstetter and his R&D department found a way to create a stainless steel driver that had a larger and more forgiving

As anyone who has played a round of golf will attest to, the sport is based around many fundamental principals of physics. These basic laws are involved with every aspect of the game from how a player swings the club to how the ball moves through the air on its way toward the pin. It is the challenge that physics presents to the golfer that has allowed the game, and equipment used, to develop so drastically over the past one hundred years. The first golf balls used were called featheries. They were made with a horsehide cover packed with wet goose feathers. When the balls dried they became extremely hard. The major flaw with the featheries was that they could not be used when the conditions were wet because they

Since the age of four, when I was barely old enough to swing a putter, I have loved the game of golf. My dad, passing his love of the game down to me, would take me out every Sunday to Woods Edge Golf Course in Edgewood; he taught me the ins and outs and the dos and don’ts of the sport. One of the earliest memories I have of these trips to Woods Edge is being a mere couple of inches from driving the cart into a pond while dad was teeing off; this would definitely be considered a don’t in the world of golf. I received my first set of clubs for Christmas when I was eight and a year later, a pass to Pin Oak. Boy was I thrilled. I began to golf by myself and learn my own lessons through my experiences on the course. But as I grew as a golfer on my own, my dad was still there tweaking my swing in the back yard and taking trips to Edgewood with me. My dad is a big reason why I have a passion for the game of golf.

Helmstetter and his engineering team were very important to the execution of Callaway Golf’s competitive strategy. Callaway Golf Company consistently outspent its rivals in the industry on R&D which “allowed it to continually beat its competitors to the market with new innovations.” (P c210) In 1994, Callaway Golf opened the Helmstetter Test Center located a mile away from the main campus. The Helmstetter Test Center had two primary uses; it provided an ideal place to custom-fit clubs for the touring pros who used Callaway equipment, and it allowed Callaway R&D staff to test new products in the developmental stage. The development of new products at Callaway Golf Company not only included the research and development staff but also the sales and advertising staff. These teams worked hand in hand together. When the R&D would come up with a new product idea, the sales and advertisement staff would look over this idea and recommend changes based on the current market interests.