Nike Golf Releases Secret Behind New Ignite Driver

Nike Golf Releases Secret Behind New Ignite Driver
Evolutionary New Material and Unique Construction Redefine Distance, Forgiveness



BEAVERTON, Ore., Dec. 10  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nike Golf's next generation
driver, the Ignite, has already been part of three professional victories thanks
to Tiger Woods, Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman. Its benefits and the goals
of Nike Golf's team of golf club engineers, peak distance and forgiveness, have
already been showcased yet it's the secret behind why Ignite helps players get
hot that Nike Golf has not disclosed until its launch event on Monday in
Moorpark, California. 

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In addition to Nike Golf executives and club team leaders, Nike Golf Tour Staff
members, David Duval, Grace Park, John Cook, Lanney Wadkins, Rory Sabbatini, and
K. Fukabori, attended the Ignite Launch.

Not one but two milestone advances in golf club technology -- NexTi and the
Around the Crown design -- provide the Ignite driver with "unequalled control
and workability," according to Woods, and "the greatest combination of distance
and forgiveness I have ever experienced in a driver," according to Sabbatini.

The following outlines the steps Nike Golf took to achieve its goal of a driver
that reaches peak distance and control beyond current standards.

Step 1: Material Matters

Nike Golf's club team determined that the goal of reaching peak distance and
forgiveness in a driver beyond current standards meant, simply, raising the
standards.

NexTi is the next generation in the evolution of Titanium, following Beta-
Titanium, which is currently the standard for driver face material. Some of the
world's top metallurgists developed NexTi exclusively for Nike Golf; it has
never before been used in the construction of the face of a driver club head in
the U.S.

Although the creation of NexTi, a titanium-based alloy that can be directionally
engineered, is a proprietary process that cannot be disclosed, the result is a
layered yet tightly compressed metal that is thinner, lighter, and stronger than
Beta-Titanium. Additionally, NexTi microfibers can be bent, shaped and formed
unlike previous forms of titanium. NexTi's unique strength even when bent and
formed allowed Nike Golf's engineers to free their minds and push the limits of
current standards of club head design. It also allowed Nike Golf to increase the
COR to previously unimaginable limits during the development process.

Step 2: Design Outside the Box

The unprecedented strength of NexTi gave Nike Golf's engineers the freedom to
expand the effective hitting area or "sweet spot" of the club head face -- the
area of the face with the highest and most consistent COR -- creating the most
efficient loss of energy from the center of the face to the edges of the face.
Common club head design has a face much like a trampoline that begins to lose
its effective bounce the further you move away from the center and the closer
you move towards the edges.

Nike Golf's engineers developed the Around the Crown construction that actually
wraps the face over the top line of the club head. Before the introduction of
NexTi, the Around the Crown construction was effectively unattainable in the
more forgiving larger head drivers without the risk of the face collapsing. The
expanded Sweet Spot was the next step toward reaching peak distance and
control.

Nike Golf also discovered that by combining NexTi with the Around the Crown
construction, it could increase the COR to as high as .890. In the development
of the Ignite driver Nike Golf started with club head faces that significantly
exceeded the USGA and R&A standard of .830 then dialed it back to legal limits
rather than starting with a lower COR and building upon it. The result is a face
that is toeing the line of the legal tolerance.

Step 3: Size Does Matter

With the goal of peak distance virtually within its grasp, Nike Golf's club team
focused on reaching extreme forgiveness. They already knew that a larger face
meant increased forgiveness and control and that the ability to create a large
head driver was not rocket science. With that said, the team investigated taking
the driver head size to the maximum tolerance allowed by the USGA, or 460cc, to
see how it would perform with the combination of NexTi and Around the Crown
construction in an effort to reach the goal of peak distance and forgiveness.

The team settled upon two sizes to appeal to a broad golfing audience -- a 460cc
and a 410cc -- with one design shape that makes the heads not appear as large as
their actual size. Often a barometer for acceptable standards, players on the
professional tour have already begun to switch to larger head drivers for the
performance enhancements they provide. This includes Woods, typically one of the
most traditional players on tour.

Ignition

The Ignite driver is the result of the right combination of design, construction
and material and Nike Golf's quest to reach peak distance and forgiveness in a
club intended for the broadest audience of golfers.

By combining a thinner, lighter, stronger metal, or NexTi, with a unique club
head design that expands the effective hitting area, or Around the Crown
construction, in a larger club head, Nike Golf is treating golfers to a driver
that attains and maintains peak distance and forgiveness performance. In a word
... Ignite.

Woods, Sabbatini, Immelman and a growing number of professional golfers across
all major professional tours including John Cook, David Duval, Spike McRoy,
Stephen Ames, Carl Petterson, Nick Faldo, Kyle Thompson, DJ Trahan, Bo Van Pelt,
Lanny Wadkins, Grace Park and Keiichiro Fukabori, have already experienced the
wonder and results of peak performance.

Availability

While the 460cc was designed for the ultimate distance and control through
increased forgiveness, Nike Golf's club team also knew that some players would
prefer a slightly smaller head design, and therefore created the 410cc. The
following outlines the Ignite availability:

   Size           Loft (Flexes)
   460cc          8.5-degree (X/S); 9.5-degree (X/S/R); 10.5-degree (S/R/A);
                  Lucky 13-degree (S/R/A)
   410cc          8.5-degree (X/S); 9.5-degree (X/S/R); 10.5-degree (S/R)
   460cc (LH)     9.5-degree (X/S/R); 10.5-degree (S/R/A)

   Available
   April 1, 2004 at golf shops and golf specialty stores nationwide

   SRP
   $469

  Golf's Evolution Continues


Advances in equipment technology and design have sparked widespread change
throughout golf over the years -- the persimmon head driver gave way to the cast
steel head in 1979; cast steel head made room for 6-4 titanium drivers beginning
around 1993; more subtly, Alpha (rolled) titanium face plates replaced the cast
titanium head in popularity beginning in 1997; and the Beta (forged) titanium
face plates became the standard around 2001. In 2004, the Ignite driver will
herald the first use of NexTi in driver face construction and the advent of the
Around the Crown design -- combining for peak distance and control and setting a
benchmark for new-age drivers.

Nike Golf, located in Beaverton, Oregon, is passionately dedicated to honoring
and respecting the traditions and heritage of the game, and to providing
committed golfers with the absolute best equipment in the game in every product
category. For more information on Nike Golf, visit our Web site at
http://www.nikegolf.com/. Editors and journalists seeking editorial information
and downloadable images, visit http://www.nikegolf.com/presscenter. 

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DATASOURCE: Nike Golf



CONTACT:  Dean Stoyer of Nike Golf, [phone], or





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