Industry insiders tell GOLFWEEK that Callaway Golf Chair Ely
Callaway met two weeks ago with investment bankers Donaldson
Lufkin & Jenrette, who are shopping Spalding for its Venezuela-
based parent, the Cisneros Group. Now Callaway execs, including
Chuck Yash, President of the new Callaway Golf Ball Co. and a
former Spalding VP, are presumably "doing their homework" on
Spalding (Adam Barr, GOLFWEEK, 5/25 issue). One industry source:
"They're planning on acquiring someone big and making a dent in
the whole golf ball market. Titleist's worst nightmare was that
Callaway would get into golfballs. With the money they've got,
they're the only people who can compete" (Lynn Henning, GOLFWEEK,
5/25 issue). Ely Callaway: "We're going to get into [the ball
market] seriously now, either by acquisition, or from scratch, or
a combination (GOLF WORLD, 5/24 issue).
GOLF NOTES: Karsten Solheim, creator of Ping clubs, has
been named the recipient of the Ernie Sabayrac Award for lifetime
contributions to the golf industry. ... Nike Golf Dir of
Marketing Rod Tallman said Nike has added 190 new accounts since
January, and the company plans to add another 1 million square
feet of office space to accommodate the growth (GOLF WORLD, 5/24
issue).... Despite reports to the contrary, Nick Price says he
wants to continue in his club deal with Atrigon Golf (GOLFWEEK,
5/25 issue)....Haggar Clothing has announced the introduction of
the Haggar Golf Collection of shirts, shorts and slacks for next
spring. Haggar has signed Paul Azinger as a spokesperson
(Haggar).
