Callaway Golf Joins PGA Exchange Online Buying Service, Expands Support and Service for PGA Golf Professionals

February 4, 2003 at 1:38 PM EST

CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb 4, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) announced today that it is now a Charter Member of the PGA Exchange (www.pgaexchange.com), the official online wholesale buying destination for PGA Professionals in the United States. Through PGA Exchange, Callaway Golf will be able to efficiently sell its products and communicate important product and promotional information to PGA Professionals at more than 10,000 PGA Professional-staffed facilities. The PGA Exchange is a major initiative of PGA Interactive, the production alliance of The PGA of America and Turner Sports Interactive (TSI) -- an AOL Time Warner company -- in collaboration with iCongo, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative e-commerce systems and solutions.

The PGA Exchange enables PGA Professionals to make more informed buying decisions, purchase products online, collaborate with suppliers, and obtain up-to-date product, inventory, order status and other information over the Internet. The PGA Exchange consists of a suite of collaborative marketing and communication tools that allow for communication between a supplier's system and a retailer's system.

"We are excited to participate in The PGA of America's leading industry e-commerce initiative which is designed to create significant supply chain benefits for both PGA Professionals and golf industry suppliers," said Ron Drapeau, Chairman, President and CEO of Callaway Golf. "Currently, more than 5,000 accounts use our proprietary Callaway-Connect e-commerce system, and we expect to increase that usage by leveraging the PGA Exchange's marketing, advertising and educational efforts. Callaway Golf's participation in PGA Exchange demonstrates our strong commitment and support of The PGA of America and to all PGA Professionals."

"Callaway Golf is a leader in the golf industry and one of the most advanced companies in the area of e-commerce and we are excited about their participation in the PGA Exchange," said Irwin Kramer, President and CEO of iCongo, Inc., the developer and operator of the PGA Exchange. "By linking Callaway-Connect to the PGA Exchange we expect PGA Professionals to benefit greatly by having 24/7 access to the most up-to-date Callaway Golf product and order status information."

The PGA Exchange is now open for PGA Professionals to activate an online account, take an Online Training Course and order from suppliers' online catalogs. PGA Exchange is accessible online at www.pgaexchange.com.

Callaway Golf Company makes and sells Big Bertha(R) Metal Woods and Irons, including Great Big Bertha(R) II Titanium Drivers and Fairway Woods, Big Bertha Steelhead(TM) III Stainless Steel Drivers and Fairway Woods, Hawk Eye VFT Tungsten Injected(TM) Titanium Irons, Big Bertha Stainless Steel Irons, Steelhead X-16(TM) and Steelhead X-16 Pro Series Stainless Steel Irons, and Callaway Golf Forged Wedges. Callaway Golf Company also makes and sells Odyssey(R) Putters, including White Hot(R), TriHot(R), DFX(TM) and Dual Force(R) Putters. Callaway Golf Company makes and sells the Callaway Golf(R) HX(R) Blue and HX Red balls, the CTU 30(R) Blue and CTU 30 Red balls, the HX 2-Piece Blue and HX 2-Piece Red balls, the CB1(R) Blue and CB1 Red balls, and the Warbird(TM) golf balls. For more information about Callaway Golf Company, please visit our Web sites at www.callawaygolf.com and www.odysseygolf.com.

About PGA Exchange

The PGA Exchange, the official online wholesale buying destination for PGA Professionals, is a strategic alliance between PGA Interactive and iCongo, Inc. PGA Interactive is the production alliance of The PGA of America and Turner Sports Interactive (TSI) -- an AOL Time Warner company. iCongo, Inc. is a leading provider of collaborative e-commerce supply chain systems that enable companies and organizations to effectively collaborate and communicate with their trading partners, market their products and services online, generate new business opportunities and efficiently transact business over the Internet. The PGA Exchange improves efficiency in the golf industry by creating a single destination for the 27,000 PGA Professionals at over 10,000 golf facility and retail locations, to effectively communicate and conduct business online with golf industry suppliers.

 

CONTACT:
Callaway Golf Company
Larry Dorman, Patrice Hutin or Millie Speirs
760/931-1771
or
The PGA Exchange
Robert Rosenbloom, 617/782-1600
rrosenbloom@pgaexchange.com