Par 5 – 5 Questions with Chris Walling, Callaway Golf Canada
With the launch of the new FT-IQ Driver from Callaway Golf, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to interview Chris Walling, Callaway Golf Canada Director of Marketing. Stay tuned…the good people at Callaway Canada have also invited me to come down to the famous Callaway Performance Centre next week to try out the driver. Report to follow.
GL: This is being billed as your longest and straightest driver yet. What makes it so special?
CW: The FT-iQ is the next generation of complete inertial design. It has 35% higher MOI (Moment of Inertia) FTi, and the higher the Moment of Inertia the less twisting of the clubface at impact making for better contact and accuracy. The FT-iQ also features Hyperbolic Face Technology. Hyperbolic Face Technology increases the size of the clubs sweet spot and generates significantly higher ball speeds across the entire face for substantial distance gains on off-centre hits.
GL: It is a unique head. Is this by design and have you had any backlash or reluctance by traditionalists who like old school designs?
CW: There will always be some resistance and initial skepticism with the square-shaped drivers. However, as Callaway Golf’s CEO George Fellows mentioned at the launch of the club in New York earlier this month, we have proven the effectiveness of this new design and every year even traditionalists are becoming more receptive. There will always be those reluctant to change, but seeing is believing, and those who have tried it realize the technology works. Recently National Post writer Robert Thompson tested the FT-iQ and had this to say about it, “The new driver is a lot less attention grabbing, at least when it comes to the sound.
However, the performance is pretty damned impressive. I found the flight stopped my drives from becoming a hook, and the distance was stunning”.
GL: The economy has taken a severe hit the last little while. Are you seeing this effect on the golf industry? Do you think it will have a significant impact on sales or do diehard golfers like the best toys?
CW: We’ve lived through two minor recessions in the last eight years, but we still see rounds & participation strong in Canada. While everyone is looking at the coming year in a cautious manner, we feel confident in our product line.
GL: The Driver is set to launch in North America November 15th. There has been a big buzz about the driver in the blogosphere. Are you finding that blogs and other social media is helping to sell product and increase brand awareness? If so, what are you doing to capitalize on this?
CW: There is no doubt there is a shift in media consumption towards on-line.
To that end we have entered into the on-line/digital medium with mycallaway.ca. Mycallaway.ca is a gateway for us to build a meaningful one-on-one relationship with Canadian golfers. Golf is a “high-involvement” sport and the web is a medium which caters to that interest, it allows consumers to control what they want in terms of the information and content they view. As the on-line / social media world continues to evolve, I am sure that we will grow are communication activities in that forum, along with more traditional mediums.
GL: Callaway has always been on the cutting edge with design and technology. Can you give us a sneak peek into what else we can be expecting to see in the coming years?
CW: Next generations of Callaway clubs will continue to use cutting edge materials and design processes to best place weight for distance and control optimization.