Callaway Golf Staff Professional Colin Montgomerie Plans To Put ERC™ Driver In Play

April 19, 2000 at 12:00 AM EDT
CONTACT(S): Ely Callaway, Chuck Yash, Larry Dorman (760) 931-1771

CARLSBAD, CA., April 19, 2000 – Callaway Golf Company (NYSE:ELY) Staff Professional Colin Montgomerie, who has been experimenting with the new ERC Forged Titanium Driver over the past two weeks, repeated on April 18 that he is very interested in putting the new driver in play in his future competitive events. Montgomerie, the seven-time European Order of Merit winner, said yesterday that he is still considering carefully the various shaft options recommended to him by Callaway Golf.

“I think the ERC Driver is fabulous and I hope to be playing with it in competition soon,” Montgomerie said. “The technology that Callaway has built into the ERC Driver has certainly improved my ball flight. I believe I hit the ERC Driver quite a bit farther off the tee, and I am eager to complete my evaluation of this great new golf club.”

The new ERC Forged Titanium Driver has already been introduced to the market in Japan and will soon be available in Europe. Due to limited production capacities on the unique golf club, Callaway Golf does not currently plan to market the driver in the United States. The ERC Driver was designed to conform to the existing regulations of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A), and can be played in all competitive events governed by the R&A outside the U.S. and Mexico.

“We are pleased that a golfer of Colin Montgomerie’s stature is interested in using the new ERC Driver in competition on the PGA European Tour and that four other professionals, Michael Campbell, Kenichi Kuboya, Eiji Mizoguchi and Riko Higashio, recently chose to use the ERC Driver in their competitions in Australia and/or Japan,” said Ely Callaway, Founder and CEO of Callaway Golf. “Like all our golf clubs, the ERC Driver was designed to increase the enjoyment of the golfing public around the world. We are gratified to note that great golfers like Colin Montgomerie and the others mentioned above seem to want to enjoy the benefits also.”

Callaway Golf Company makes and sells Big Bertha® Metal Woods and Irons, including Great Big Bertha® Hawk Eye® Titanium Metal Woods and Tungsten Injected™ Titanium Irons, Big Bertha® Steelhead Plus™ Stainless Steel Metal Woods and Steelhead™ X-14™ Stainless Steel Irons, and Bobby Jones® and Carlsbad Series™ Putters. Callaway Golf Company also makes and sells Odyssey® Putters and wedges with Stronomic® and Lyconite® inserts, including the White Hot™ and TriForce™ Putters. Callaway Golf Ball Company launched its Firmfeel™ and Softfeel™ golf balls on February 4, 2000. For more information about Callaway Golf Company, please visit the Company’s Web sites at www.callawaygolf.com, www.callawaygolfball.com and www.odysseygolf.com.