Game Changers

TaylorMade Metal Wood

In 1979, Gary Adams took out a US$24,000 loan on his McHenry, Illinois house and invested that money into building his dream golf club, a metal wood.

At the time, metalwoods, made from aluminum magnesium, were commonly used as rental clubs on driving ranges, built more for durability than performance. But Adams, who discovered that two-piece balls flew farther when struck with them, thought that golfers might like to actually use them on the course.

Adams started his company, called TaylorMade, in a leased 6,000 square foot warehouse. He had three employees and one product, a 12° stainless steel driver which cost US$39.

Shortly after launching his company, PGA Tour player Ron Streck put a TaylorMade 1-wood into play. Later that year, at a Tournament of Champions event, Jim Simons used one as well. Despite the fact that many in attendance at the 1979 PGA Merchandise Show laughed at the club, it wasn’t a total bust for the startup. Sales hit a modest US$47,000 for the year.

But things really boomed in 1982 when Simons won the Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. That year sales topped $12 million and the era of persimmon woods was all but over. The following year, more professionals played a TaylorMade driver than any other brand, averaging 60 players per week on the PGA Tour.

After leaving TaylorMade, Adams went on to start two other companies, Founders Club and McHenry Metals. He died of cancer in 2000 at the age of 56. In 2012, TaylorMade captured 47 cents of every dollar spent on woods in the United States.