When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
John Strege on the sale of upscale golf clothier Peter Millar to Richemont, parent of brands like Alfred Dunhill, Cartier and Montblanc.
Couple that with a Brandt Snedeker Tour Championship win and it sounds like at least one golf company had a good week!
Even better, Strege answers one of the great mysteries in golf: who the heck is Peter Millar? And you say this blog doesn't lead you to life changing information?
Jim Achenbach and the likely mass hysteria and financial ruin that will come to makers of long putters who will not sell as many if the governing bodies eliminate anchoring. Stephen Boccieri of Boccieri Golf:
“Chaos,” Boccieri said. “I can see some golfers revolting against this. I can see them playing (in non-tournament rounds) by their own rules.”
Because that never happens now...
The folks at Odyssey see the ban as a chance to innovate.
Odyssey’s Koske was more optimistic.
“If they go and ban anchoring,” he said, “it opens up a whole new avenue of putting. There are so many different ways to do it. The opportunities are endless. There are a handful of things we are testing, and we expect to be ready for whatever happens down the road.”
Frank but accurate comment from Callaway CEO Chip Brewer in an exclusive interview with GolfDigest.com's Stachura and Johnson to explain staff cuts of 250 and other business restructuring.
"The golf club and golf ball business is what gets our excitement levels up. Clearly, we're very grounded in reality and we're going to come out with more aggressive, authentic and relevant programs, and that's going to extend from sales to marketing to product. In the past, they've claimed to be authentic and they haven't always been authentic, in my opinion. They've been high quality but they haven't always driven innovation and been as responsive as they could. We're changing all that and the team is excited as hell about that.
After spending two days walking backwards to new tees on classic courses, I'd be more than happy to suggest for the 8941st time that Callaway would be wise to establish itself as the friend of classic courses by developing a slightly rolled back ball for use at the museum pieces of the game. Now that's innovation!
Alex Miceli with a wildly entertaining story of ten-percenter sharks feasting on each other, with a legal battle breaking out between IMG and two former agents, Jon Wagner and Jon Heaston.
A pre-trial conference is scheduled for July 10 in Cleveland regarding a contempt-of-court allegation by IMG against Wagner, possibly stemming from what IMG contends was inappropriate contact between Wagner and Immelman. During a sponsor day at CordeValle resort in San Martin, Calif., on the Monday after the U.S. Open, Wagner, Immelman and David Fry attended and were videotaped together by a private investigator whom sources say was hired by IMG.
Still pictures from the video were submitted to the court as evidence of Wagner’s violation of the temporary restraining order.
Wagner would not comment about the pre-trial conference, but Immelman was not pleased by the allegation and what he sees as a violation of his privacy.
“I was caught totally off guard when I heard about the pictures,” Immelman said via phone. “I’m trying to do my best efforts for one of my long-standing partners, Old Mutual and its guests, and pictures were being taken. I understand there are legal issues outstanding, but I felt like it was crossing the line.”
All for a measly ten percent!
Michael Buteau with the news of agent Mark Steinberg's Ardley Ardsley, New York checkpoint arrest for "aggravated" driving while intoxicated at 10:30 p.m. Saturday night.
“He did inform us who he was,” Fisher said in a telephone interview. “It is what it is. He was intoxicated.”
Steinberg, in an e-mail, said “it’s a medical issue that I was dealing with. It’s not what you think.”
Fisher said Steinberg gave no indication of a medical issue.
“It was alcohol related,” Fisher said. “He submitted to a chemical test to determine alcohol-blood content and he failed that test.”
**Jason Sobel asked Tiger about the DWI in his post-Memorial presser:
Q. Last night your agent Mark Steinberg was arrested on dunk driving charges. Did you know that before the round, and what are your thoughts?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I did, and no comment.
**Mick Rouse Tweeted the Steinberg mugshot:
And the arrest report making the rounds and sure to become an IMG office refrigerator favorite.
Mike Stachura on Golf Town gobbling up Golfsmith for $96 million.
For Immediate Release...
TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company to acquire Adams Golf
Herzogenaurach and Carlsbad, Calif. (March 19, 2012) – The adidas Group and Adams Golf, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADGF) today announced that the TaylorMade-adidas Golf business segment has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Adams Golf for $10.80 per share in cash. The transaction value is approximately $ 70 million (approximately € 53 million), which represents a premium of approximately 71% to the share price prior to Adams Golf’s announcement that it was examining strategic alternatives on January 4, 2012.
Through the acquisition of Adams Golf, TaylorMade-adidas Golf reinforces its position as the world’s number one player in golf. The addition of Adams Golf enables TaylorMade-adidas Golf to broaden its product range and to extend its presence across a wider array of golfers.
“This acquisition reflects our commitment to continued growth in the golf category,” said adidas Group CEO Herbert Hainer. “The proposed combination of Adams Golf and TaylorMade-adidas Golf brings together two highly complementary sets of brands, combining Adams' focus on game-improvement as well as senior and women golfers with TaylorMade-adidas Golf’s focus on the younger and the low-to-mid handicap golfer.”
“We are very excited to team up with Adams Golf, whose management team we have respected for many years,” commented Mark King, President and CEO of TaylorMade-adidas Golf. “Our mission is to be the best golf company in the world across all geographies, products and customer demographics, and adding Adams Golf is another important step in achieving that goal.”
"This merger provides strong opportunities for our employees, suppliers and partners,” said Barney Adams, Interim CEO of Adams Golf. “The Adams Golf brand will fit nicely into TaylorMade-adidas Golf’s stable of brands, and together we will be able to increase our reach and better serve our customers by leveraging a wider set of resources. We are also excited that TaylorMade-adidas Golf has decided to maintain Adams Golf’s headquarters in Plano, Texas.”
The Board of Directors of Adams Golf has unanimously approved the transaction. Certain insiders, who include John M. Gregory, Joseph R. Gregory, SJ Strategic Investments LLC, B.H. (Barney) Adams, Russell L. Fleischer, Mark R. Mulvoy and Robert D. Rogers, collectively own approximately 35% of Adams Golf’s outstanding shares and have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the transaction. The adidas Group plans to finance the acquisition with cash on hand or through existing credit lines. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals as well as approval by Adams Golf shareholders. The transaction is expected to close mid-2012.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
