TaylorMade
TaylorMade began in 1979 with three employees and one product. Gary Adams, a golf equipment salesman, had borrowed $24,000 against his home and rented a former television assembly building. The club he set out to sell was a driver cast in stainless steel.1
TaylorMade
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The company’s founding account specifies 12 degrees of loft, the tilt of the hitting face. It describes weight concentrated around the head’s perimeter to make off-center strikes less punishing, and a low center of gravity to help lift the ball.12
TaylorMade’s later history calls the early metalwood Pittsburgh Persimmon. It kept a familiar driver shape while replacing the wooden head with metal. The pictured Tour Driver bears that name and an 8-degree marking, a different specification from the 12-degree club described in the founding account.3
At a glance
Sources
- TaylorMade GolfAbout Us: TaylorMade Golf
- PGA Play, The Professional Golfers’ AssociationGolfing Terminology: Loft and Clubface
- TaylorMade GolfLegacy of Golf Club Innovation and Performance