RIFE Putters and the Egolf Tarheel Tour announced today a strategic partnership for 2009 that will serve to increase exposure for both companies.
The tour provides a playing ground for hundreds of professional golfers each year as they work towards the PGA Tour and is an ideal setting for RIFE to place their Rollgroove Technology into the hands of the game’s future stars.
“I’m very pleased to have helped forge this new partnership with Egolf and the Tarheel Tour. Our work with professional golfers starts at this level and continues all the way to the top. I fully expect RIFE to lead the pack next year and will do all I can to support both the tour and the professional golfers who will be hard at work there in 2009,” said Glen Coombe, RIFE’s Carolinas regional sales representative and new Egolf Tarheel Tour rep said,
RIFE’s tour representative will be present at all eGolf Tarheel Tour events in 2009 and will assist tour members with product and support. In addition RIFE Putters will provide products for select eGolf Tarheel Tour pro-ams and special events in 2009.
“We are thrilled to bring RIFE on board with the Egolf Tarheel Tour, as their products and technology seem to be a perfect fit with our players looking to improve their putting and in turn take their games to the next level,” said Egolf Tarheel Tour president David Siegel.
Since 2004, RIFE has been the fastest growing putter company in the world, as evidenced by the fact that over 100 tour players worldwide are using their putters.
“We have long been aware of RIFE’s success on the world tours, in particular the Champions Tour. It just seemed logical to try and cross promote with them and provide yet another benefit to our players. It is the epitome of a win-win scenario,” said Siegel.
Both companies will receive recognition and brand awareness on the other’s respective website and RIFE will be the presenting sponsor for a putting segment on the Egolf Radio Show, heard weekly on radio stations throughout North Carolina. As part of the agreement, RIFE will also gain marketing access to the Egolf Amateur Tour and their 3,000 annual competitors in 32 markets across the country.
Matt Molloy, president of Rife Putters LLC, feels that the company is poised to weather the current economic downturn and continue their staggering growth in the coming years.
“Despite the tough economic environment, Rife Putters had a record year more than doubling revenue and market share. With a wide array of new price points and product designs for 2009, we are poised to continue this type of growth in 2009.”
RIFE is the only stand alone putter manufacturer in the top five putter companies in the U.S. today and their global market share is still growing with 35 distributors in place around the world.
“We view strategic relationships like this new opportunity with the Egolf Tarheel Tour as essential pieces to continuing to lay the foundation for the continued growth of our Tour Programs,” said Molloy.
“We are excited about the opportunity to be part of such a well run professional tour as we believe the Egolf Tarheel Tour to be. I believe the tour’s players, like those of other developmental tours, are the future of professional golf. Rife has had a great deal of success, graduating five out of 25 players to the PGA Tour from the Nationwide Tour in 2008, and we hope to be able to graduate a similar percentage of players from the Egolf Tarheel to the Nationwide or PGA Tours in 2009.”
The 2009 Egolf Tarheel Tour season will begin on March 11-13 in the greater Hilton Head Island, SC area at Oldfield Country Club and Tradition National Golf Club.
About Egolf Tarheel Tour
The eGolf Tarheel Tour is a Charlotte, NC-based professional golf tour that has conducted 54- and 72-hole tournaments in the Southeast since its inception in 2002. The tour features approximately 20 professional tournaments annually with purses ranging from $220,000 to $300,000 and field sizes from 156 to 240 players. In its seven-year history, the tour has seen the likes of Will MacKenzie, Jason Bohn, Steve Marino, Tommy Gainey, Matt Bettencourt and others ascend to the PGA Tour, while over 250 past Egolf Tarheel Tour players have gone on to play on the Nationwide Tour. In 2009, the tour will join in the green initiative by layering in product, practices and incentives for its more than 350 projected members in order to create a positive environmental impact in the arena of professional sports.
About RIFE Putters
All of RIFE’s Putters, including the new Two Bar Hybrid, are high-end CNC milled putters that offer the same patented RollGrooveTM Technology and patent pending Lie-Aline System.
RIFE Putters, LLC is the true innovator behind horizontal grooved face putter technology with a patent on specifically sized grooves since 1997. These precisely spaced grooves allow the putter to gently press into the cover of the ball and grip and lift it into an instant forward roll. Guerin Rife states, “Just as grooves in irons help control spin so do grooves in a putter face.” Other companies are now trying to imitate this patented technology but the spacing of the grooves is the true key to the gripping and lifting effect of grooved face putter technology. Horizontal RollGrooveTM faced putters create the truest “no skid” roll in golf no matter where you hit the ball on the putter face.
For Information:
Egolf http://egolf.com
The Tarheel Tour http://tarheeltour.com
Rife Putters http://rifeputters.com
Contact:
Joe Wieczorek
The Media Group, Inc.
joe@themediagroupinc.com
Egolf Tarheel Tour
Stewart Moore
Chief Operating Officer
smoore@tarheeltour.com