Tournament Winner Plays Brand in Dramatic Playoff Victory
(Vista, CA – February 11, 2008) Fujikura won the Driver and All Woods shaft brand count which includes hybrids at the prestigious AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. The tournament’s winner played a Fujikura shaft in his dramatic playoff victory and first win in eight years.
The brand also won the Driver and All Woods Shaft brand counts which includes hybrids at the Allianz Championship on the Champions Tour.
The AT&T Pro-Am driving distance leader, with a 289-yard average, used Fujikura’s Rombax technology. Additionally, Rombax was the number one Driver shaft brand played by amateurs. Drivers are the only clubs recorded for amateurs at the event.
Fujikura has won the count at all five full-field Tour events this year, building on its seven-year position as the number one #1 Driver and all Woods Shaft Brand position on the PGA Tour. The brand also has won the count at the first three Champions Tour 2008 events.
"Winning the AT&T pro-am counts is thrilling because the pros and amateurs know that our shafts will perform on one of the Tour’s most notoriously tough courses with all the challenging conditions an Oceanside course offers," says Peter R. Sanchez, President/COO of Fujikura. "It’s great to see the AT&T Pr0-Am winner return to his earlier Tour success with his dramatic playoff win while playing Fujikura shafts."
"I’m excited to see these spectacular results at only my first event working with Tour pros," says former PGA Tour pro Mike Sposa, who started as a Fujikura Tour representative at Pebble Beach. "Fujikura winning the amateur driver count, Tour pro counts, driving distance and the tournament is my first grand slam on Tour, so I can’t wait to get to Los Angeles for the Northern Trust Open."
The company has introduced a new series of shafts for 2008 inspired by its Tour performance leadership and partnership with the world’s leading clubmakers and its extensive global Charter Dealer network.
The new shafts include the Rombax Z™ designed for top-level Tour and amateur players that desire a low, penetrating ball flight; Sakura Sport™ designed specifically for the female golfer with a faster, stronger swing tempo for drivers, fairway woods and irons; and the E 200™Series designed to fit the broadest range of golfers, desiring mid-launch and mid-spin characteristics for control and maximum distance; creating a series exclusive to our network of Charter Dealers.
Fujikura’s premier tour position was highlighted by being the #1 Driver Shaft Brand at all four men’s majors in 2007. On the LPGA and Champions Tours, Fujikura was the #1 Driver and Wood Shaft brand at their respective U.S. major championships.
The brand also showed dramatic, consistent growth over the last three years across all handicaps and ages in shafts used in new drivers and fairway woods/hybrids, according to the most recent Darrell Survey National Consumer Report. The report shows that Fujikura grew 189% in New Driver Usages and 200% in New Fairway/Hybrids, exceeding leading competition from 2005 to 2007.
The company’s new shafts and Tour success are the results of Fujikura’s new Fit-On Academy, an innovative, proprietary research and development system designed to create and test new breakthrough shaft designs and materials. Based at the company’s Vista CA offices, the Fit-On Academy uses the most advanced analysis and simulation technology to track golfer’s real swings and range of swing speeds to produce exclusive insights used to test and design performance shafts customized for the Tour and all levels of players of ages, skills and handicaps.
Fujikura is the primary supplier to many national brand OEM’s offering both proprietary and brand product shaft designs. Fujikura products also can be custom fitted through its network of over 900 Charter Dealers. To learn more about Fujikura, visit www.fujikuragolf.com.
Contact:
John Castle
Fujikura
(760) 598-6060
jcastle@fujikuragolf.com
Kevin Donnellon
Macali Communications
(312) 560-8065
kevin@macalicomm.com
