Recap: LIVE Q&A with Adams Golf from Wed April 23, 2014

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='MJisGOAT' timestamp='1397992762' post='9129537']
[quote name='AdamsGolf' timestamp='1397839925' post='9119645']
Adams Golf engineers and club designers had some fun reading mean opinions & comments about our new XTD Irons. We get a chance to respond Wednesday, April 23 at 12:00pm CST/ 1:00pm EST.

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=j7lrJGdG6DQ[/media]
[/quote]What you need to worry about is getting exposure from the marquee players (Watson, Els, Bads, etc.) Talk is just talk until it's seen in the bags of the signature players.
[/quote]

We couldn’t agree more! Our tour reps have done a great job fitting all of our players into Adams gear (especially the three you mention). We certainly felt a bump in activity with the exposure gained when Ernie made it to the final four of match play! -SB

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='Zach Heusser' timestamp='1398027806' post='9131931']
I've struggled for years to find a hybrid I really like. Mainly because most are to upright for me and I hook them. Are you able to order custom lie angles for the Idea Pro?
Thanks Zach
[/quote]

The new Adams Pro Hybrid is bendable up to 2deg through our custom fitting department! -JG

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='GoIrish17' timestamp='1398036890' post='9132631']
I have a set of CB3's as backups for the last couple seasons (why is it SO hard to find a CB3 3 iron???), and they have regularly crept into the starter bag over that time. Not only are they performers, but some of the best looking irons now or then. Obviously, many here (myself included, and obviously noticed by you guys at Adams based on the hilarious video that's been making it's rounds here- well played, guys!) don't find the XTD's attractive at all. At what point in the design process does the balance between aesthetics and performance come into play? I realize that it is a slippery slope... make a gorgeous iron that doesn't perform well and you get the same ridicule as if you made the ugliest iron known to man that hits the ball high, straight, and far every time for everyone. Are concessions made in regards to looks versus performance, or is design based solely on performance?
[/quote]

Keep looking! The CB3 3-Iron does exist!
At Adams technology and performance is always a primary focus, but we understand that the look of an iron has been nearly the same for a long period of time (cavity back, undercut… yawn..) and as a result creates a level of comfort for many golfers. If we carried that position to a different industry, could you imagine how depressing life would be if cars on the road today still looked like Henry Ford’s original model T? If the XTD iron didn’t have a disruptive feel, we probably wouldn’t have your attention today! -JG

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='robengel' timestamp='1398095114' post='9136567']
Hi and thanks for taking the time. What hybrid would you suggest for someone who has hesitated switching from a 3 iron to a hybrid. I fight an occasional hook and don't like the offset of many hybrids and don't want something too bulky.
[/quote]

Adams is the perfect fit for you! Over the years we have listened to the professionals on tour and they don’t like offset in their hybrids for the same reason! -JG

[RookieBlue7]

Dear Adams,

Can we get another, larger scale release of Damascus putters? As a fan boy, I'd love to have one.

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='eaglestan66' timestamp='1398097150' post='9136821']
[quote name='HipCheck' timestamp='1397767912' post='9114093']
[attachment=2180163:golfwrx2.jpeg]

Join GolfWRX for a live chat with Adams Golf R&D and Marketing teams straight from Adams HQ in North Texas. Adams Golf is excited for the opportunity to have a no holds barred discussion regarding all things Adams Golf & owning the second shot. Ask them anything; nothing is off limits!

[b]Who Will Be Here:[/b][list]
[*]SR Director R&D: Justin Honea
[*]Engineering Manager, Hybrids & Irons: Justin Girard
[*]Design Engineer, Metalwoods: Alex Berger
[*]SVP Marketing: Scott Blevins
[*]Director Global Product Marketing: Michael Fox
[*]SR Director Marketing: Jeff Wood
[/list]
[b]Live Q&A Link:[/b]
This thread will be the live link.

[b]Giveaway:[/b]
15 GolfWRX members who have their questions answered will win brand new hybrids from Adams Pro series. Winners have the chance to choose from the Pro, Pro DHY or Pro Mini (stock shafts).

Can't make the chat? Go ahead and ask your questions below now!
[/quote]

My question is as follows: I have tried 3 hybrids and they all have draw-bias tendencies. I am looking to replace a 3-iron with a hybrid that does not hook. I play to a 3 Index. I hit the ball relatively straight or sometimes small draws. I think the hybids I've tried are all a bit too upright. Does Adams have something that is lilely a flatter lie angle or adjustable?
[/quote]


Absolutely! Within the Adams Pro family, we have a range of hybrids to test. I would start with the Pro and the Pro Mini Hybrids to start. Through Adams custom department you can get those hybrid adjusted up to 2deg. In the XTD family, the XTD hybrid is loft adjustable, but also lie adjustable too! To help you with the details, I suggest talking to your local club fitting professional or calling our customer service! -JG

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='shakey' timestamp='1398043072' post='9133219']
With regards to the tour staff of both Adams and TM, how lenient are the contracts for guys to crossover? Do you try to keep Adams guys mostly Adams clubs and TM the same, or are the clubs fair game so to speak?

Thx for taking the time to answer our questions!
[/quote]

[b]Player contracts are all different. Some players are contractually obligated to play X amount of Adams clubs and X amount of Taylormade clubs or are open to play another company’s clubs. In general, we have many players who play our Second Shot clubs only and many players who have a full bag of our clubs. -SB[/b]

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='teeituphigh' timestamp='1398044626' post='9133399']
As a international GolfWRX member: I would like to know how Adams is performing worldwide? What are your strengths and weaknesses in the market outside North America?

Thanks!
[/quote]

While probably the most challenging, we believe the International business is our largest opportunity for growth. Our international business was up 36% in 2013 and is tracking to similar growth for 2014. We achieved the #1 hybrid position on the European and Asian Tour’s in 2013, and we are tracking towards similar results on the Korean and Japan men’s PGA tours in 2014.

Our strengths are similar to those in our US business: our world class products, hybrid leadership on Tour (for the first time Internationally), and our employees. We have acquired top talent to lead our business growth in key markets around the world. These strengths will enable us to overcome the brand awareness challenges we currently face in markets outside of North America. Players like Tom Watson and Ernie Els who have world wide appeal also elevate the brand in countries where Adams is a “new”. Thanks! -SB

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='BENNYSUPREME' timestamp='1398045903' post='9133523']
Does Adams offer rebates to military like some other manufactures do?
[/quote]

We don’t have a rebate program at this time but have supported many military and charity programs throughout our history. We definitely look for opportunities to support different organizations and causes. -SB

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='suprnva' timestamp='1398113593' post='9138735']
Of all the players you have on all the tours, who is the craziest when it comes to their equipment and changing or trying new things? Basically, who's the biggest Adams club ho?
[/quote]

We love the guys and gals who like to try new things; even if it’s just to test them out for a few weeks. Since we don’t have Ryan Moore on our staff any longer, we don’t have a true tinkerer like some of you on GolfWRX. Kenny Perry to an extent will give new clubs a try quite often, as will Robert Garrigus and we’ve found Ernie Els likes to mix it up some already. -SB

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='tembolo1284' timestamp='1398168261' post='9142431']
Why don't we see more adams drivers out on tour? They are such great drivers!
[/quote]

Drivers are generally “locked” up in contracts. We agree – they are great drivers but given our focus on “second shot” products with our tour players – they get more awareness and trial. -SB

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='Dscvrr St Louis' timestamp='1398173086' post='9142833']
[quote name='tembolo1284' timestamp='1398168261' post='9142431']
Why don't we see more adams drivers out on tour? They are such great drivers!
[/quote]
When was the last time you saw an Adams driver advertised? Seen one in the bag of an Adams staffer. NO visibility at all in the mainstream. Maybe on Champions Tour, but only on Golf Channel. Wrx knows that Adams has made very solid players caliber irons for years, but you again see no advertising at all. When the A12 Pro and CB2 were out at my GG, I sold the heck out of them and to a person, they were amazed they were hitting an Adams iron. I couldn't keep CB2's in stock at all. They kept their head buried in the hybrid/iron set mentality...which they excelled at very well and still do.
[/quote]

1. We only advertise on Golf Channel, not network TV. 2. We have focused our advertising around the products driving our business (fairway woods, hybrids, irons). 3. Some of our tour contracts are based on second shot products in part because the player may have an opportunity for a “driver only” deal from another company. -SB

[GolferInAZ]

Which of your clubs do you recommend for beginners with a low-power swing?

[HandsomeMatt]

I've got several Adams clubs that I absolutely love, Fast12 LS driver, several of the Pro Black 9031 hybrids , but in all honesty I haven't been thrilled with any of the slotted items and tried the Superfast LS white headed fairway and thought it just felt and looked cheap regardless of what shaft I put in it. Will the future offerings continue to incorporate a slot? I'm really keen on everything from Adams I've played prior to the TM acquisition and there was quite a run of very solid offerings that just seems to have taken a wrong turn in my eyes. What can I expect moving forward?

[Golfingfanatic]

Thank you for your time and some very interesting answers. I hope we might see some blue gun mb3's eventually.

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='russian7' timestamp='1397973054' post='9129193']
[quote name='HipCheck' timestamp='1397767912' post='9114093']
[attachment=2180163:golfwrx2.jpeg]

Join GolfWRX for a live chat with Adams Golf R&D and Marketing teams straight from Adams HQ in North Texas. Adams Golf is excited for the opportunity to have a no holds barred discussion regarding all things Adams Golf & owning the second shot. Ask them anything; nothing is off limits!

[b]Who Will Be Here:[/b][list]
[*]SR Director R&D: Justin Honea
[*]Engineering Manager, Hybrids & Irons: Justin Girard
[*]Design Engineer, Metalwoods: Alex Berger
[*]SVP Marketing: Scott Blevins
[*]Director Global Product Marketing: Michael Fox
[*]SR Director Marketing: Jeff Wood
[/list]
[b]Live Q&A Link:[/b]
This thread will be the live link.

[b]Giveaway:[/b]
15 GolfWRX members who have their questions answered will win brand new hybrids from Adams Pro series. Winners have the chance to choose from the Pro, Pro DHY or Pro Mini (stock shafts).

Can't make the chat? Go ahead and ask your questions below now!
[/quote]

I am a huge fan of adams, and in light of innovation I believe they have made some of the best new products on the market! Will TM continue to allow Adams engineers to use their current vision of new products, or will the TM engineers be taking over R&D? Also will Adams be marketed with TM products with similar life cycles, and will Adams have a tour department for special products and design?
[/quote]


The short answer is yes, Adams engineers will be driving our designs and Taylormade engineers will be driving their designs. There are no plans to merge the two R&D teams and to be honest that is one place that a synergy would not benefit either brand. We need to maintain our own identity and having our own team is the best way to do that. Adams and TM will be marketed separate as we both have our own Marketing Working budget to support each brand. The tour department is one area we are leveraging Taylormade on. We will continue to have a small tour department at Adams in Plano, Texas but a lot of the logistical operation for Adams tour builds has shifted to the Carlsbad facility. We will continue to have Adams specific tour reps on all major tours and we still have our own trailer on the PGA Tour and that will not change. -JH

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='jph4387' timestamp='1397995312' post='9129649']
Where do you see the club market moving? In other words, COR is maxed out and adjustability is the big item right now, what is the next major area of improvement?
[/quote]

: I wouldn’t necessarily say that COR is maxed out but is getting closer and closer to the limit. It is true that center face CT’s are at the limit on drivers but the rest of the face still has room to improve. The day we hit max CT across 50% of the face will be the day we kick back and have a cold one. We have many other technology platforms in our play book but the next one on the list will be changing how we manufacture products and will merge two of our core technologies….more to come! -JH

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='stage1350' timestamp='1398009049' post='9130619']
When are you going to make some more Damascus putters?
[/quote]

It was a really cool idea but hard to execute. We spent well over $500 to make each putter which is probably not a great business plan. This was my baby back in the day so you never know……it may come back one day! -JH

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='Hitn18' timestamp='1398017657' post='9131187']
Your driver comes standard with the Red Tie shaft a great shaft but in order to get the right flex Matrix offers the shaft in at least 4 flexes instead of the normal 3, they have a stiff regular that falls in between the R flex and the S flex. When I was fitted for the new. XTD Ti driver that SR flex is the one that would have best suited me but it is not available from Adams. Adams suggested that I tip an R flex shaft a 1/2 inch and it would be the same, so I did, but it was not even close. Does Adams plan to add the rest of the Red Tie shafts? I have been told it is a real Red Tie so I would think you would want to have all the flexes available.

Thanks
Jeff



[quote name='HipCheck' timestamp='1397767912' post='9114093']
[attachment=2180163:golfwrx2.jpeg]

Join GolfWRX for a live chat with Adams Golf R&D and Marketing teams straight from Adams HQ in North Texas. Adams Golf is excited for the opportunity to have a no holds barred discussion regarding all things Adams Golf & owning the second shot. Ask them anything; nothing is off limits!

[b]Who Will Be Here:[/b][list]
[*]SR Director R&D: Justin Honea
[*]Engineering Manager, Hybrids & Irons: Justin Girard
[*]Design Engineer, Metalwoods: Alex Berger
[*]SVP Marketing: Scott Blevins
[*]Director Global Product Marketing: Michael Fox
[*]SR Director Marketing: Jeff Wood
[/list]
[b]Live Q&A Link:[/b]
This thread will be the live link.

[b]Giveaway:[/b]
15 GolfWRX members who have their questions answered will win brand new hybrids from Adams Pro series. Winners have the chance to choose from the Pro, Pro DHY or Pro Mini (stock shafts).

Can't make the chat? Go ahead and ask your questions below now!
[/quote]
[/quote]


The red tie is the “real deal” shaft from Matrix and we decided to offer only the 3 main flexes due to inventory management. It is really hard to forecast and order the correct quantity of a SR flex so we decided against it for our stock offering. In the future we plan to offer more stock custom offerings….for example in the future we would offer the M,Q and X series shafts as a stock custom offering at no up charge. -JH

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='_Hawk3y3_' timestamp='1398021456' post='9131509']
Adams,

First off, as a lefty, thank you for continuing to offer all of your products in left-handed when other companies have made the decision not to do so. I prefer to support the companies who keep us lefties in mind.

On to my question: While many other companies (including parent company TaylorMade) have moved towards a progressively longer shaft length in their drivers, Adams has kept the stock length on their "players" driver at 45", including this year's XTD. What has factored into your decision to buck this trend in the market?

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, and keep up the good work!
[/quote]

Basically everyone else in the market was chasing distance without regard for consistency or input from the consumer. Golfers did not ask for longer shafts in their drivers or fairways but in the search for distance some OEM’s decided to lengthen clubs to win this game. We decided to keep our driver standard length (still tour average at 45”) and add every bit of technology to the head itself to win the distance game. This is why our driver has 3 slots and also why we check the CT 4 times on all drivers to maintain the hottest face in golf. -JH

[WRXClarky]

What is the future direction of the hybrid, will they eventually replace all fairways considering some models (xtd) travel further than fairway woods already.

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='txaggieman' timestamp='1398278281' post='9153235']
[quote name='AdamsGolf' timestamp='1398278075' post='9153189']
[quote name='txaggieman' timestamp='1398275224' post='9152671']
Where do u see the Yes! putters going in the future? I have a Black Callie and love it....was not a fan of the white one.
And bring back the MB2 Blue finish!
Thx
[/quote]YES! is constantly developing new putter designs and applying new technologies to enhance the line.
There is a new set of putters out there now called the True Alignment Series check it out if you can and look at the new BUMP on the sole that allows the player to keep the face square at address whether the hands are forward of vertical at address.

Did anyone catch the second place at the Masters? Pretty cool and again shows how significant the technology is.

Roll em pure!!
[/quote]There's nothing on your website about them??
[/quote]

That is because Yes! is still treated as a separate entity with their own website. Check out yesgolf.com!

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='ProV1Basher' timestamp='1398040513' post='9132983']
With Adams joining Taylormade. What has been the biggest benefit to club making?
[/quote]


Sharing of key technologies has been the biggest advantage on the R&D side. -JH

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='GripRight' timestamp='1398048197' post='9133803']
What do the titanium ti upgrades provide? distance? thanks!
[/quote]

Titanium offers a couple of advantages…..speed = distance and weight = lower center of gravity. -JH

[jmvargas]

i have the adams V3 hybrid/forged irons as a back-up set and the V4s as my main gamers(see my signature)..

i now have 3 versions of the 7-iron---semi-hybrid V3, forged iron V4, hybrid V4...

..the V4 7-hybrid works best for me right now but i understand it's been discontinued...why?

..are there any plans to come out with a V5?

i really like my adams clubs and the V4 7-iiron hybrid is a superb club!!

[epixep]

Any plans to lose the "slot"?

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='MattyO1984' timestamp='1398084097' post='9135365']
How much involvement do staff players have with product development? Some companies seem to go in for it in a big way and others not so much.
[/quote]

Tour players play an integral part in the design of our product. We typically launch prototype product on tour to get player feedback and then we will go through a couple design iterations to perfect the look or launch/spin characteristics of the product before we launch it to the market. -JH

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='gophers79' timestamp='1398098021' post='9136941']
Another one: I have Titleist 910h hybrids and I like them a lot. I've found it hard to hit a hybrid that is "boxy" shaped as opposed to more of a "mini fairway wood" shape. Adams clearly is doing well in the hybrid market, but all of the Adams hybrids I've seen are that compact, boxy shape. Is there anything out there in the Adams line either now or coming up for someone who likes a little rounder, longer clubhead to look down on?
[/quote]

Through our player testing, we have found that with our upside down technology it will increase the launch while the spin can be controlled by the size of the footprint front to back. Our testing shows the opposite is true when you get closer to a FW shape where the launch angle decreases and the spin increases. If you are willing, I would give our Pro Hybrid a shot and if that doesn’t work try our Super S and LS lines. They have a more “mini fairway wood” shape that might fit your eye better. -JG

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='gmangolf' timestamp='1398101450' post='9137361']
I want to know what the most compelling reasons are for me to upgrade my Adams Super Hybrid. Love the look of the new Pro hybrids, but just curious if they would say there are tangible/noticeable benefits to upgrading.
[/quote]

Glad you like the Super family of Hybrids. My answer would depend on whether you are referring to the Super S or LS hybrids. What I can say is that the Pro Hybrid was the most used on Tour as a prototype in the back half of 2013. If the Pros are switching, it might not be a bad reason to give it try! -JG

[AdamsGolf]

[quote name='TheMerryTex' timestamp='1398102720' post='9137529']
What was the inspiration behind the design of the XTD irons?
[/quote]

The Cross Cavity design has a long historical timeline as a prototype! A version of the cross cavity design was prototyped back in 2009 -2010. Engineers were trying to alter the cg properties of a better player/tour inspired iron profile without affecting the look at address. We found this design could pull the cg further off the face improving the forgiveness and keeping off center shots more online. XTD was the perfect program to add it to with the added distance we needed a way to keep that extra distance more on line towards its intended target along with a way to improve the sound of the iron at impact! -JG