Burnham, Maine, May 23, 2005 - Golf has long been a game of inches, but when it comes to golf tees, inches are miles. For decades, the long and often ignored wooden golf tee stood a mere 21/8" tall. Now, however, the advent of oversize drivers has finally pushed the golf tee to new heights.
Pride Golf Tee Company, the country's only wooden golf tee manufacturer and the world's leading producer of golf tees, has announced the average length, standard wooden golf tee is now 1/2" longer for the first time ever. In fact, ProLength™, Pride's 2 3/4" tee now represents 60% of the golf tee marketplace, as compared to just 15% in 2003.
This dramatic golf tee growth coincides with the golf industry's shift to large-head drivers, which are proven less-effective using the standard 2 " tee. In fact, just a decade ago, drivers typically had club faces about 1.7 inches high. Today, oversized drivers are up to 41% higher, with club faces as high as 2.4 inches. Because of these larger drivers, golfers must tee their ball higher to hit the club's sweet spot. The benefit of the longer tees is that they help maximize the launch angle of the clubhead, which produces less backspin and longer drives.
"The use of oversize tees is commonplace at both the amateur and professional levels, as many of today's leading golf instructors have become strong proponents of teeing the ball up higher," said Dan Tilton, Vice President of Pride Sports. "While we do not lay any claims to improving distance for golfers, simple physics dictate that the proper launch angle will positively impact distance. For this reason, its Pride's job to provide golfers with a variety of tee lengths, while educating them on which tees work best for their particular driver length."
As a result of the consumer demand for longer tees, and the continued confusion over tee lengths, in 2004 Pride abandoned the decades-old style of identifying golf tee lengths by inches and created the PTS -Professional Tee System™. Now, the Company calls the 2 3/4" tee, today's most popular size, ProLength™. In turn, the 3 1/4 " tee is called ProLength Plus™ and the "former"100-year standard 2 " is called Shortee™. The naming of tees was prompted by the fact that consumers, as well as today's touring professionals, were becoming confused as to which tee length best maximized the performance of their particular driver.
In January 2005, Pride took golf tee lengths to their highest level ever with the introduction of ProLength MAX™, a 4" wooden golf tee that is the longest tee allowed by the USGA's Rules of Golf.
"While the long golf tee phenomenon has surpassed our expectations, we never thought it would take us to the legal 4" limit," adds Tilton. "Tour players, on the advice of today's leading golf instructors, now demand longer tees for their large head drivers and pushed us to deliver a 4" model."
While the look and feel of golf tees has changed, the pricing of the product remains insignificant for the value they bring to golfers. In fact, suggested retail pricing for a 50-pack of the new ProLength MAX tees, the longest tees, cost just $4.99. For more information on Pride's PTS System log onto www.pridegolftee.com.
Pride Golf Tee Company is a division of Pride Sports, which was formed in January 2003, following Pride Manufacturing Company's purchase of Softspikes, Inc., and its sister company Trisport, Ltd. of England. This acquisition essentially formed the world's premier golf accessory company, as Pride and Softspikes are the world's leading manufacturers of golf tees and golf cleats, respectively. In addition, Pride Sports is the world leader in the design and manufacture of cleats, spikes and receptacles for the entire golf footwear industry.
Media Contact:
Glenn Mastro
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Heather Pennetti
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Mastro Communications, Inc.
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