Adams Golf Comeback?

[YukonLiving]

Interesting! I love the old pompom headcovers!!

I’ve got an Adams DHY in my bag and super happy with it! A guy I play with still uses their irons too.

 

[DG_1234]

What Adams got....was that for 90% of golfers....low profile is needed.

You are correct. Sadly, these days engineers use CAD systems to design clubs (instead of actually focusing on how human beings swing a club). So, the engineers hang their hats on computer modeling, MOI etc... and good sense low profile heads don't make the cut.

 

[blueonblack]

If this is real life. I want two things from them..

View attachment 8958788View attachment 8958789

In my basement.
That is the LONGEST driver I have EVER hit. Only wish I had one in 10.5 now.
Have the LDA version with the LDA headcover and an RT Technologies Zeus Shaft which was also from that Nationwide Tour timeframe, along with Nickent, and lets see... Adams was huge on Nationwide and seniors.
Hard to compete against the bigs.
Have Barney's book downstairs. I'll have to dig into it one of these days.

 

[Templet0n]

In my basement.
That is the LONGEST driver I have EVER hit. Only wish I had one in 10.5 now.
Have the LDA version with the LDA headcover and an RT Technologies Zeus Shaft which was also from that Nationwide Tour timeframe, along with Nickent, and lets see... Adams was huge on Nationwide and seniors.
Hard to compete against the bigs.
Have Barney's book downstairs. I'll have to dig into it one of these days.

The 9016d? I had one of those too. Not as hot do to the reinforced face. But still good.

 

[annsguy]

Unless TM allows a new Adams to use their technologies I don’t get the point. Seems like they are putting a name on a piece of metal we might feel good about. Might as well dig up Yes, Hopkins, Olimar, Nike and the Perfect Club. Ok, not the Perfect Club.

 

[HipCheck]

Unless TM allows a new Adams to use their technologies I don’t get the point. Seems like they are putting a name on a piece of metal we might feel good about. Might as well dig up Yes, Hopkins, Olimar, Nike and the Perfect Club. Ok, not the Perfect Club.

Oh Hopkins. Remember when they were having UPS build their clubs? It was not so coincidentally just before they went OOB.

 

[Jman]

Oh Hopkins. Remember when they were having UPS build their clubs? It was not so coincidentally just before they went OOB.

Man I loved those Hopkins wedges though. The Tour Spoon was a hoot too.

 

[DG_1234]

For Adams you could not be more wrong product wise.. They had a long list of home runs. As far as how the company was run.. I have no idea.

From a business perspective, Adams and Orlimar were "one hit wonders" . Again, each company had an an initial two year run of incredible revenue and profit growth due to particular products being functionally unique and in demand from customers. For Adams it was the Original Tightlies fairway woods and for Orlimar the Trimetal fairway woods.
But rather than close up shop and keep the $100 plus million of earned cash. the company owners chose to invest the money into their businesses by adding employees, expanding the product lines, increasing advertising expenditures etc... and this bled away all the previous earned cash.
Both Barney Adams (Adams Golf) and the Ortiz family (Orlimar) had previous experience within the golf industry and probably should have been aware that the good timing and luck of their 2 year hot product runs would not likely continue. Sometimes in business it is best to get out while the getting is good.

 

[JB]

From a business perspective, Adams and Orlimar were "one hit wonders" . Again, each company had an an initial two year run of incredible revenue and profit growth due to particular products being functionally unique and in demand from customers. For Adams it was the Original Tightlies fairway woods and for Orlimar the Trimetal fairway woods.
But rather than close up shop and keep the $100 plus million of earned cash. the company owners chose to invest the money into their businesses by adding employees, expanding the product lines, increasing advertising expenditures etc... and this bled away all the previous earned cash.
Both Barney Adams (Adams Golf) and the Ortiz family (Orlimar) had previous experience within the golf industry and probably should have been aware that the good timing and luck of their 2 year hot product runs would not likely continue. Sometimes in business it is best to get out while the getting is good.

Except this isn't accurate. Heck in 2010, they had 10% of the iron marketshare in the N. America off course. That is more than Mizuno and Titleist and Cobra have now.
They weren't a one hit wonder in terms of sales or performance.

 

[Crapgame]

I loved their hybrids(except for the Red)! I would give them a chance again if they made a run.

I have a Red and like it. Curious what your issue with that line was specifically?

 

[Crapgame]

From a business perspective, Adams and Orlimar were "one hit wonders" . Again, each company had an an initial two year run of incredible revenue and profit growth due to particular products being functionally unique and in demand from customers. For Adams it was the Original Tightlies fairway woods and for Orlimar the Trimetal fairway woods.
But rather than close up shop and keep the $100 plus million of earned cash. the company owners chose to invest the money into their businesses by adding employees, expanding the product lines, increasing advertising expenditures etc... and this bled away all the previous earned cash.
Both Barney Adams (Adams Golf) and the Ortiz family (Orlimar) had previous experience within the golf industry and probably should have been aware that the good timing and luck of their 2 year hot product runs would not likely continue. Sometimes in business it is best to get out while the getting is good.

Regardless of accuracy, this is an interesting perspective. The hardest thing to do is to sell/exit while business is good.

The alternative that you alluded to would have been to harvest the cash cow in Tight Lies and when it succumbed to competition, close up shop

 

[JB]

Except this isn't accurate. Heck in 2010, they had 10% of the iron marketshare in the N. America off course. That is more than Mizuno and Titleist and Cobra have now.
They weren't a one hit wonder in terms of sales or performance.

Let me add more.

In 2011, they recorded their highest year ever in sales at right around 100 million.
Iron marketshare rose to 11% and woods was up to 6% and in January of 2012, it grew further.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Let me add more.

In 2011, they recorded their highest year ever in sales at right around 100 million.
Iron marketshare rose to 11% and woods was up to 6% and in January of 2012, it grew further.

Did they do hybrid market share? I recall them advertising as the #1 hybrid in golf right around this time.

 

[Hacker Rod]

From a business perspective, Adams and Orlimar were "one hit wonders" . Again, each company had an an initial two year run of incredible revenue and profit growth due to particular products being functionally unique and in demand from customers. For Adams it was the Original Tightlies fairway woods and for Orlimar the Trimetal fairway woods.
But rather than close up shop and keep the $100 plus million of earned cash. the company owners chose to invest the money into their businesses by adding employees, expanding the product lines, increasing advertising expenditures etc... and this bled away all the previous earned cash.
Both Barney Adams (Adams Golf) and the Ortiz family (Orlimar) had previous experience within the golf industry and probably should have been aware that the good timing and luck of their 2 year hot product runs would not likely continue. Sometimes in business it is best to get out while the getting is good.

TaylorMade paid $70 million for Adams. You don't do that for one hit wonders. You do that because: A.) They have tech you want;, B.) They're a threat and you want them out of the way; or C.) Both A & B. Given what occurred post-acquisition, "C" seems to be the correct answer in this case. Adams Golf was an innovator plain and simple.

 

[HipCheck]

Let me add more.

In 2011, they recorded their highest year ever in sales at right around 100 million.
Iron marketshare rose to 11% and woods was up to 6% and in January of 2012, it grew further.

JB with the facts!

 

[JB]

Did they do hybrid market share? I recall them advertising as the #1 hybrid in golf right around this time.

Yes. They had numerous hybrids that were #1 and almost always in the top 3. The a7 was a monster seller according to the person that created it @vgolfman

 

[mjkladis]

Did they do hybrid market share? I recall them advertising as the #1 hybrid in golf right around this time.

Speaking of hybrids, all of his Adams talk is making me want to search for an A7 hybrid again.

 

[DG_1234]

Except this isn't accurate. Heck in 2010, they had 10% of the iron marketshare in the N. America off course. That is more than Mizuno and Titleist and Cobra have now.
They weren't a one hit wonder in terms of sales or performance.

Already answered. Adams and Orlimar's two year runs had dramatic sales revenues growth combined with low expenses. This unique combination created for these companies the unique windfall of $100 plus million of earned cash reserves.
Certainly in later years the companies still had sales revenues , and even some good selling items, but so what ? Due to the increase in costs from added employees, higher inventory levels from product line expansion, larger advertising budgets etc... the profitability was gone and the cash reserves evaporated.

 

[MattyD-MPLS]

I have a Red and like it. Curious what your issue with that line was specifically?

The red plate on the bottom broke when I went to tighten it.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Speaking of hybrids, all of his Adams talk is making me want to search for an A7 hybrid again.

I don’t have to look far, I’m still playing the A7’s

 

[Jman]

Did I honest to God read that the XTD Forged were one of the worst feeling irons ever?

Wowza.

 

[Crapgame]

The red plate on the bottom broke when I went to tighten it.

 

[Templet0n]

Let me add more.

In 2011, they recorded their highest year ever in sales at right around 100 million.
Iron marketshare rose to 11% and woods was up to 6% and in January of 2012, it grew further.

I think in the golf hard goods industry there is a weird deal where it is really hard to stay medium sized. You either are able to stay small and maintain quality and accept a small market share but maintain a profit level. Or, you get really big and become a machine like callaway, taylormade, or titleist. That is why Nike bailed.

Cobra, is the only company I can think of that has successfully navigated that mid sized OEM water for a long time. They did/do it so well I think the past few years they have seen some good growth and acceptance At a controllable pace.

I think what may have be felled Adams was that they were a mid sized company. They put out some awesome products and gained a great following, then quality suffered due to not being able to handle it and the house of cards fell.

There may have been some leadership issues and bad decisions but I don’t know that. I do know they were very innovative and tech savvy. Many of the engineers going to callaway after the taylormade purchase.

I think that is why partly you see callaway leading the technology race at the moment.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

The red plate on the bottom broke when I went to tighten it.

Sounds like a Bryson problem!

 

[JB]

Already answered. Adams and Orlimar's two year runs had dramatic sales revenues growth combined with low expenses. This unique combination created for these companies the unique windfall of $100 plus million of earned cash reserves.
Certainly in later years the companies still had sales revenues , and even some good selling items, but so what ? Due to the increase in costs from added employees, higher inventory levels from product line expansion, larger advertising budgets etc... the profitability was gone and the cash reserves evaporated.

Except it's also not true. In 2012, which was late in the game for them, after losing their CEO, they still had well north of 50 million in capital.

You are speaking of a one hit wonder from a product that came out nearly 20 years before these record setting sales numbers. If that doesn't show tenure, nothing will.

The windfall you speak of was not over a short period either. In 1996, the company had 3.5 million in sales. In 97, 36 million. It grew from there and with that growth, so did the employee count.