Reports of Adams death greatly exaggerated -- Ghost Slots from the Grave

[markb]

Count me among the guys who took the closure of Adams hqs as the death of the brand.  Now they release a new series of fairways and hybrids with "Ghost Slots" -- covered up top and bottom slots -- and it seems they're back from the grave to haunt us a little more into owning that second shot.  

 

Certainly nice to keep the turf out of the slots and they look pretty crisp.  Is this a sign of Adams continued viability or were these Ghost Slots on the drawing board before the closure and they figured "might as well launch 'em as lose 'em"?

 

[SeeRed]

They haven't hit the Adams website yet. I'm guessing they were in the pipeline already and the Mothership figured they should be released. Hard to go wrong with the Tight Lies name, also. They do look nice.

[revkev]

Let's face it if you're TMag it doesn't make sense to have two locations. I don't know that Adams will be dead. It seems to me that it's positioned for the senior player. Nice market to tap into I think.

[Aotearoa_Brad]

First time I saw the new Tight Lies I thought to myself - I feel like I've seen this before...

 

 

...don't get me wrong, the tech and shape are different and they don't actually look 'the same', but to my eye some of the design cues are similar - and I really don't think that's a bad thing - I think they look great!

 

It could just be me I guess...

[westy]

Thanks rev, just put a tight lies fairway in the bag - now I'm branded a senior! Mind you I am feeling my age!

 

Oh and loving it, shorter shaft means more control and just so straight off the deck or tee.

 

Seriously considering adding an adams hybrid and that new hybrid might be the one....

[jpcgolf]

Those look really nice.  I hope they don't go under because they are a solid company.

[ZenGolfer]

They look like K-Mart clubs to me.  IMO, Adams died the day that they were bought by TMAG.

[BIG STU]

Thanks rev, just put a tight lies fairway in the bag - now I'm branded a senior! Mind you I am feeling my age!

 

Oh and loving it, shorter shaft means more control and just so straight off the deck or tee.

 

Seriously considering adding an adams hybrid and that new hybrid might be the one....

OH NO! I don't have any Adams stuff in the bag so does that mean I am not a senior even though I have my AARP card??

[Jmikecpa]

I am on 37 and play Adams hybrids and will have my MB2s back in my bag soon enough...guess I should order my AARP card soon. I am not sure we will see the end of Adams but I am pretty sure the company will not continue on the trajectory that it was heading on during the Chip Brewer years. I fear that they will revert back to a hybrid and fairway wood company with no real offering in any other category.

[revkev]

Tough crowd.

 

Consider who their staff players are. Also consider that a strong and I mean really, really, really strong lower handicapper approaches numbers from the champions tour or more than likely in between the champions tour and the LPGA.

 

It's not an insult to be using the same equipment as Bernard Langer or Ernie Els.

[westy]

Quite right rev, no insult at all. In truth many 30 something amateurs have more in common with seniors and LPGA players - swing speeds etc so perhaps vanity should be put to one side and we should look away from those with 135 mph swing speeds (unless of course that's what you have!).

[revkev]

Quite right rev, no insult at all. In truth many 30 something amateurs have more in common with seniors and LPGA players - swing speeds etc so perhaps vanity should be put to one side and we should look away from those with 135 mph swing speeds (unless of course that's what you have!).

I'm happy with that as my ball speed.

[westy]

Ok fair point - I'd like to swing it as fast as some of the ladies!

[markb]

While a good club is a good club no matter who is swinging it, you can't dispute that all of Adams tour spend and advertising has been geared towards two narrow, focused demographics:  ladies and seniors.  This was clearly an attempt by the "wizards" at TMag to segment their market.   Adams was to be their Buick, if we were to use the old-school automative analogy. 

 

Ernie Els, still the possessor of the most admirable swing in golf IMO, simply "aged out" of his utility as brand ambassador at Callaway, which is trying to skew younger and flashier.    No problem, he aged right into the demographic Adams was chasing and he probably ended up with a better deal.

 

You've hit on a very good marketing point -- if you consciously shape yourself as the go-to brand for ladies and seniors, does this mean the younger male demographics will shun you?   How many kids and twenty to thirty somethings want to wear their father's clothes or drive his cars?   I think you do run the risk of alienating that larger group, but I'm no expert.   Lady golfers is one of the only segments that is GROWING.  (However, the seniors are dying or quitting in droves.)

 

As for these clubs themselves, I like what I see.  I love the slots on my Speedblades and TMag woods and I think they do help correct thin shots.   I like them even more when they are unobtrusive and don't clog with dirt.  So I don't doubt the clubs are fine.   Can they survive in this current climate?   I hope so.

[revkev]

BTW Brittany plays Adams and a few generations ago Adams at that.

[Jmikecpa]

No offense taken on my part, but my swing speed is more in the ballpark of the PGA than the LPGA.

[revkev]

No offense taken on my part, but my swing speed is more in the ballpark of the PGA than the LPGA.

 

 

So is Brittany's. 

[Salmon]

Well considering that the average swing "Speed at which the club impacts the ball (mph) on Par 4 and Par 5 tee shots where a radar measurement was taken" is only 113.4403 mph for the pga tour for 2014, I think a few of us would fit into that

[westy]

Only a few....