My Thoughts on My Day with GM and Adams (Long Post)

GB72

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Sorry that my report on my day with Adams Golf is a bit late but I needed to wait until I was on a proper PC as I did not fancy trying to write this on my phone.
Firstly a massive thanks to GM, to Adams and to David Howell for what was an excellent day.
I did take a little while deciding whether to apply for this day. Having previously got my handicap down to 14, I spent much of last year thinking about moving away from Game Improvement kit but a succession of .1s made me reassess my position. I read a lot about what Adams was looking to achieve with the new range and realised that, actually, it probably suits me better than trying to move in the other direction. I do little practice and play with whatever swing I happen to have on any given day. Most importantly, however, I play for fun. On that basis, the idea of a set of clubs that were designed to take on the course and hit, designed to make the game as easy as possible seemed to fit my profile better than I thought. At my level, with a changeable swing, I also began to think how much difference and all singing, all dancing after market shaft in a fully adjustable club would make to me and I had to conclude it was not very much. I was very honest in my thoughts when I submitted my application to Mike and admitted that what I had to say could very much write me out of the running but it appears that Mike must have agreed with my thinking as I was lucky enough to get picked.
So, on the day I turned up far too early, I left a couple of hours for traffic on the M25 and there was none and so I turned up at 8.20 for a 10.20 start. Luckily the GM and Adams lads were already there and so after a chat with everyone I watched them film some swing videos with David Howell whilst I waited for the others to turn up. At this stage I should mention what others have said, that David Howell is about the nicest bloke you could meet and such a consummate professional. He chatted away, showed a total interest in my golf game and seemed to nail all of his videos first go.
Once everyone had arrived, we had a brief talk on what the new Blue range was aiming to achieve and I honestly felt it was a breath of fresh air against a background of custom fit this and adjustable that which can make the game more complicated than it needs to be. It was them upstairs to the top level of the range for some photos and then a chance to test the new range.
After a few slightly worrying duffs, I was soon hitting the Adams clubs as well as my own ones. They really are that forgiving and every shot had a high and long ball flight. The hybrids, as you would expect with Adams, were standout clubs for me but all of the range filled me with confidence, looked good and would find a place in my bag.
It was then on to a lesson with David Howell. I was last to go and, admittedly, nervous as hell. He put me at ease pretty quickly before describing my back swing as being so quick it was like an axe murderer and was quite scary. Needless to say we worked on temp, aim and also changing the position of my hands at the top of my backswing as this was causing my occasional hook. By the end of the lesson I was hitting the ball far better and this has already translated well on the course.
After the lesson it was time for a Q&A session with David Howell. He was willing to answer pretty much everything and gave some good replies to my questions about the withdrawals from the BMW at Wentworth (a tournament he seems particularly fond of) and also my questions on whether 72 hole strokeplay was the best format to attract a larger viewing audience to golf on TV.
After the Q&A lunch was on offer but being a bank holiday weekend I sadly took the sensible option and headed for the M25 to beat the traffic (I failed and it took 4 hours to get back).
It was a superb day. Forget the new clubs (which I cannot wait for them to arrive), the unforgettable part was having that close access to a Tour Pro, to chat away as if you had known him for years and to have him show an honest interest in my swing and how to improve it. GM and Adams were superb hosts and this will be one experience that I will not forget.
 

mab

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Thanks for the write-up - really interested to hear about this one.

Was any information provided on Adams' future direction following the TM acquisition? I originally heard they were to be run in parallel as separate commercial entities but with TM legitimately using Adams IP in their product development. I don't know how true this is, but...

The breadth of Adams' 2015 range hasn't inspired me as much this year - if you take a look at my bag and the gear I've played over the past few years, you can see I'm a bit of a fan!

Last years range was incredible:

- XTD driver with every head tested four times to get as close to max COR as poss
- XTD fairways and hybrids in titanium with huge COR
- Outstanding re-release of the infamous Tight Lies range of fairway woods
- Great range of 'Pro' hybrids including the pioneering Pro DHy
- XTD Forged irons, the first forged irons with slot technology
- XTD irons, which didn't feel great but introduced the 'cross-cavity'
- XTD Tour Limited Edition, which is a better feeling players version of XTD (developed with Ernie Els)

And that's just one year! Going back through the years, you have the CMB forged irons which are awesome, the Pro A12 forged irons which are awesome, the CB3 forged irons which are awesome... I guess you get the idea.

And then the shafts. Last year's range came with authentic aftermarket KBS C-Taper in the XTD Forged, KBS Tour in the XTD Tour, KBS C-Taper Lite in the XTD, Matrix Red Tie in the XTD range of driver / fairway / hybrids, Aldila Green / Blue / Red in the 'Pro' range of hybrids, etc.

When I look at the 2015 release, it seems to focus on the 'Blue' range which appears to target the game improvement segment and I can't see any 'firsts'. I don't have a problem whatsoever with game improvement, but I'm just wondering whether that is the future path for Adams with their broader offerings and innovation potentially being stifled by the TM acquisition... and/or future innovation being badged under the TM brand.

Any info you have on this would be appreciated. :)

Anyway, sounds like you had an unforgettable day and you'll soon be receiving some great clubs. As I said, I'm a huge Adams fan and I'm genuinely green with envy. :)
 

GB72

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They have the red hybrid aimed at better players and I can only assume tgat this will increase to a full range but I firgot to ask
 

garyinderry

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How high did they recommend you should go with hybrids?

I've ditched my 5i yesterday in favour of a 24 deg old 7 wood that I had sitting around. My 5i flight is too flat to hold firm greens. The 7 wood has only been in one round and I didn't get that many chances to use it. Certainly a higher flight but might be a bit too long. Time will tell.

Sorely tempted to get a high lofted hybrid. Most 2nd hands ones I see are in reg, ladies and senior flex.

Who is rocking a high lofted hybrid? Which one, what loft and what club does it replace?
 

GB72

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In all honesty, the Blue combined set comes with 2 and that is what I believe we will receive. That said, I am not a great fan of my 5 Iron and have often been tempted to add another.
 

pbrown7582

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How high did they recommend you should go with hybrids?

I've ditched my 5i yesterday in favour of a 24 deg old 7 wood that I had sitting around. My 5i flight is too flat to hold firm greens. The 7 wood has only been in one round and I didn't get that many chances to use it. Certainly a higher flight but might be a bit too long. Time will tell.

Sorely tempted to get a high lofted hybrid. Most 2nd hands ones I see are in reg, ladies and senior flex.

Who is rocking a high lofted hybrid? Which one, what loft and what club does it replace?


Senior flex will be fine alongside the 7 wood... :D








Great write GB glad you had a top day and thanks for sharing the write up.
 

Curls

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Great write-up, yeah with these things I get the impression that while the club fitting (and getting free new shineys!) is fantastic, its money-can't-buy aspect that makes the day out really special. Nice one!
 

Foxholer

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I too am an Adams fan! But also a bit fearful that the label will quietly fade away!

Howeller is a particularly nice guy. Met him a few times both in Golf and non-Golf environments. His blog about bringing their 1st born home was/is absolutely (scare-illy) hilarious!

Seems another fantastic GM Day!
 

Midnight

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Glad you had a cracking day mate. Sounds a amazing experience. Out of interest, what did you think of the driver?
 

TheDiablo

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Thanks for the write-up - really interested to hear about this one.

Was any information provided on Adams' future direction following the TM acquisition? I originally heard they were to be run in parallel as separate commercial entities but with TM legitimately using Adams IP in their product development. I don't know how true this is, but...

The breadth of Adams' 2015 range hasn't inspired me as much this year - if you take a look at my bag and the gear I've played over the past few years, you can see I'm a bit of a fan!

Last years range was incredible:

- XTD driver with every head tested four times to get as close to max COR as poss
- XTD fairways and hybrids in titanium with huge COR
- Outstanding re-release of the infamous Tight Lies range of fairway woods
- Great range of 'Pro' hybrids including the pioneering Pro DHy
- XTD Forged irons, the first forged irons with slot technology
- XTD irons, which didn't feel great but introduced the 'cross-cavity'
- XTD Tour Limited Edition, which is a better feeling players version of XTD (developed with Ernie Els)

And that's just one year! Going back through the years, you have the CMB forged irons which are awesome, the Pro A12 forged irons which are awesome, the CB3 forged irons which are awesome... I guess you get the idea.

And then the shafts. Last year's range came with authentic aftermarket KBS C-Taper in the XTD Forged, KBS Tour in the XTD Tour, KBS C-Taper Lite in the XTD, Matrix Red Tie in the XTD range of driver / fairway / hybrids, Aldila Green / Blue / Red in the 'Pro' range of hybrids, etc.

When I look at the 2015 release, it seems to focus on the 'Blue' range which appears to target the game improvement segment and I can't see any 'firsts'. I don't have a problem whatsoever with game improvement, but I'm just wondering whether that is the future path for Adams with their broader offerings and innovation potentially being stifled by the TM acquisition... and/or future innovation being badged under the TM brand.

Any info you have on this would be appreciated. :)

Anyway, sounds like you had an unforgettable day and you'll soon be receiving some great clubs. As I said, I'm a huge Adams fan and I'm genuinely green with envy. :)

They really made a big deal about moving away from an image of 'better player clubs' to 'pick up and play' clubs - i.e. no need for a full fitting, customisation etc - just giving the player the knowledge and therefore confidence that the technology is there to help players launch the ball high and straight. They were fantastically forgiving, I can hardly remember a bad contact and I'm awful!

There wasn't a single mention of TM on the day - and didn't really make sense to bring it up at all so I can't shed any light there.

If I were to place bets, I would think that Adams will continue to play to their main strength in producing top end hybrids and FWs (such as the new Red range), and then focus on broader appeal/mass market clubs (Blue range) which is somewhat new to them. They'll leave the TM brand to deliver the top end irons and drivers and maybe back out of that market over the next few years. The whole day (there was a large event for rest of media after us) had a real 'brand re-launch' feel rather than a 'product launch' feel to it. This is just my opinion following the tone of the messaging we got on the day.
 

GB72

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Driver appeared very good but hard to give a definitive opinion as I was using it in my lesson with Howeller and also was testing it from the upper floor of the driving range do distance would be a hit exagerated. Will report in full when my one arrives
 

TheDiablo

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Glad you had a cracking day mate. Sounds a amazing experience. Out of interest, what did you think of the driver?

I haven't had the pleasure of seeing what Greg can do with his usual clubs, but he was really getting it out there at the end of the range session! I personally didn't have one in the bag I was using so can't comment until our set arrives!
 
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