Adams Golf Moves Forward Despite the Gloom

Lately, when golf industry tête-à-têtes turn to the subject of Adams Golf, there’s a lot of clucking and head shaking. What will become of the company, once an aggressive leader in the alternative fairway wood niche, whose earnings and stock prices have been wallowing over the past year? (Insert more gloomy head-shaking here.)
 
Someone forgot to tell Adams Golf about all the gloom.
 
At its headquarters north of Dallas, founder Barney Adams and his team have been busy ignoring naysayers and moving ahead. The company recently bit the downsizing bullet, eliminating some positions and switching its sales representatives from company employees to independent reps. That amounted a total staff cut of about 25 percent.
 
And some employees got new job descriptions, starting at the top.
 
Chip Brewer, already president, became the chief executive officer this week. Barney Adams stepped aside for him, but remains chairman of the board. That kind of news usually heralds retirement, but it’s just the opposite for Adams.
 
“This was my idea,” Adams said Jan. 17.
 
But he admits an ulterior motive as well. Barney Adams never fell in love with behind-the-desk duties, and never fell out of love with making and fitting clubs. He longs to get back to the practice range at Hank Haney’s Golf Ranch, where he had his first fitting shop.
 
“It’s more testing than anything else,” Adams said. “Our whole philosophy is based on clubs that are easier to hit. This move allows me to make sure everything we do conforms with that philosophy.”
 
And by testing, Adams means human testing. He wants to see different players swing all kinds of clubs, so he can understand their needs.
 
“Name me a player, at any skill level, who doesn’t want clubs that are easier to hit,” Adams said. “That’s swing speed 65 to warp.”