This is the first year Adams Golf has signed LPGA players to join their tour staff, and it's paid off well for both Adams and Brittany Lincicome.
Lincicome, who was runner-up in the year's first major, the Kraft Nabisco, and who picked up her second win at the Ginn Open last week. She came from six shots back on the final day to win in challenging conditions.
"I just tried to stay patient," Lincicome said. "I didn't really get off to a good start and was kind of getting frustrated. [I] just made sure that I worked on my swing and that I stayed patient and just made pars, and it worked out for me."
Lincicome carries an Adams Insight BTY driver and fairway wood, which are new to the market in 2007. Both are geared toward tour players and feature a classic shape, a 460cc clubhead with an adjustable weight port in the sole and thin titanium face and crown. Both the driver and fairway wood feature Grafalloy ProLaunch Red shafts that encourage a penetrating ball flight.
"The BTY driver and fairway wood are designed for better players who like traditional and tour-inspired shaping and low spin rates, even at high clubhead speeds," said Adams Golf President and CEO Chip Brewer.
Lincicome also uses an Adams Idea Pro Hybrid and Adams Idea Pro Forged irons, wears the Adams Golf logo and carries a tour staff bag.
Brewer said that signing LPGA players this year made sense for the company, which has a relatively large percentage of sales to women.
"We have definitely done very well in the women's category. The majority of our products are game improvement products - with a low swing speed, they're easier to hit," Brewer said. "We're well over 20 percent women's [sales], compared against our competitors who are as low as 5 percent.... Having LPGA staff makes sense."
Brewer said that while LPGA Tour play may attract more amateur women to the brand, that male viewers of LPGA events also take note of the equipment players are using.
"It depends on the research you do and who you ask. It may not correspond to the women's side of the business," he said. "Most viewers are male and it's really easier to segment consumers by skill level and affinity for the game.
"It's the brand nature of the golf business. Tour play adds cache to any brand. It's not the only element but it's an important one."
