Adams Golf, Inc. is an American

sports equipment Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since th ...

manufacturing company based in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...

, focused on the

golf equipment Golf equipment encompasses the various items that are used to play the sport of golf. Types of equipment include the golf ball, golf clubs, golf divot tool, golf ball marker and devices that aid in the sport. Equipment Balls Originally, gol ...

market. The company produced golf equipment (more specifically

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands a ...

). In 2012 it was acquired by

TaylorMade TaylorMade Golf Company is an American sports equipment manufacturing company based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The company focuses on the golf equipment market, producing golf clubs, balls, and clothing. TaylorMade Golf is currentl ...

(owned by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

), becoming one of its

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

History

In 1983, Barney Adams joined

Dave Pelz David T. Pelz (October 8, 1939 – March 23, 2025) was an American golf coach, known for his expertise and published writing on the art of the short game, particularly putting. Pelz's ''Short Game Bible'' was a ''New York Times'' "national best ...

Golf in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...

. When Pelz's '' Preceptor Golf'' went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

in 1988, Adams bought the assets and started Adams Golf. He moved the company to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

in 1991. Adams Golf initially specialized in custom fitted golf clubs, initially becoming associated with

Hank Haney Hank Haney (born August 24, 1955) is an American professional golf instructor best known for coaching Tiger Woods and two-time major championship winner Mark O'Meara. Haney is a graduate of the University of Tulsa. Biography Haney says, "My ...

setting up a club fitting and repair shop at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch. Adams "Tight Lies" fairway

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

became a commercial success as the result of television infomercial, with sportscaster

Jack Whittaker Jack Whittaker may refer to: *Jack Whittaker (lottery winner) (1947–2020), American businessman *Jack Whittaker (politician), Canadian member of parliament See also

*Jack Whitaker (1924-2019), American sportscaster *Jack Whitaker (equestria ...

as the host and narrator; Haney, then

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

' coach; Bill Rogers, British Open winner and PGA Player of the Year in 1981; and LPGA Hall of Famer

Carol Mann Carol Mann (February 3, 1941 – May 20, 2018) was an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1961 and won two women's major golf championships, major championships and 38 LPGA Tour events in all. She is a member of ...

, as spokespersons. In 1998, Adams Golf went public on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

, with an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

underwritten by

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

. Barney Adams was selected as Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year by

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

in 1999. Although semi-retired since 2000, Barney Adams retains the title

Chairman of the Board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

until 2012. In 2012, Adams Golf was acquired by TaylorMade Golf (which was owned by

by then) for

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

10.80 per share in cash (roughly 70 million). As a result, Adams was added to the corporation set of golf brands, such as Adidas Golf and TaylorMade–adidas Golf. TaylorMade assured that Adams' headquarters in Plano, Texas, would remain. Nevertheless, by 2016 the Adams brand had lost market position, with some media considering it "an afterthought" at TaylorMade. In 2020, after a 5-year hiatus from releasing new models, Adams released their Tight Lies series, a one-off line of fairway woods and hybrids. In 2023, Adams Golf released a fully redesigned golf line. Including a full range of newly designed clubs and gear along with a full rebrand of logos, colors and marketing.

Sponsorships

Adams Golf has maintained endorsement deals with many

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

s playing on the leading

tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

, including

Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first number one ranked playe ...

Brittany Lincicome Brittany Grace Lincicome (born September 19, 1985) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. She currently resides in Gulfport, Florida. Lincicome is one of the longest drivers in the history of women's golf. In her rookie ...

Yani Tseng Yani Tseng (; born 23 January 1989) is a Taiwanese professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five major championships and was ranked number 1 in the Women's World Golf Ran ...

and Tom Watson.

References

External links

Adams Golf company
(archived, 3 Feb 2011)
Adams Golf
(TaylorMade brand) (archived, 5 Jul 2017) {{Adidas Golf equipment manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Texas Companies based in Plano, Texas Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Manufacturing companies established in 1991 1998 initial public offerings 2012 mergers and acquisitions 1991 establishments in Texas 2012 disestablishments in Texas Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2012