Driver Count Beats Next Two Competitors Combined; Winning Streak Extends to Six Events
(Vista, CA – April 4, 2008) Fujikura has won the Driver and Wood shaft brand count at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA’s first 2008 major championship. In the driver count, the brand beat its next two competitors combined, extending its winning streak in the driver and wood shaft brand count to the LPGA’s first six 2008 full-field events.
“Winning these counts at the LPGA’s first major demonstrates how this impressive field trusts the performance of our shafts in the most demanding competitions,” says Peter R. Sanchez, President/COO of Fujikura. “We are especially proud because these accomplished players know the importance of precisely fitting shafts to their clubs and game, and have made Fujikura their overwhelming choice.”
“This Kraft Nabisco Championship win is exciting because these talented and discriminating players continue to show their respect and confidence in the innovative material design and technology, and superior performance of Fujikura shafts when matched with our OEM clubmakers,” says John Hovis, Fujikura PGA Tour representative.
This week, Fujikura also was the #1 Driver Shaft Brand at the PGA Shell Houston Open and the Nationwide Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship.
On the 2007 LPGA Tour, Fujikura led the count for every full field event during the entire season. The brand also was the #1 Driver and Wood Shaft brand at its U.S. major championships.
Fujikura 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.
New shafts include the Rombax Z™ designed for top-level Tour and amateur players that desire a low, penetrating ball flight; the new 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 the Fujikura network of Charter Dealers.
The brand 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
