When Bud Hillerich turned his first wooden baseball bat in 1884, I doubt that he could envisage the path he was laying down for his ancestors to follow over the next 126 years.
In that small workshop in Louisville, Kentucky, Bud had produced the earliest version of what was to become the world famous Louisville Slugger, a bat that today, sells more than 2.5 million every year.
From those early seeds the Hillerich & Bradsbury golf division emerged and in 1934 it became known as PowerBilt.
Over the next 50 years, PowerBilt became one of the best know names in golf. Through its stable of touring professionals, PowerBilt clubs were in the bag of the winner at six Major Championships most famously in the hands of Fuzzy Zoeller who continues to play the brand.
While PowerBilt has been away from the UK market for a number of years, it is the heritage of the family run company and its commitment to research and development that has led to its return. Ian Waddicar of distributor GSS, the company that brought Rife Putters to the UK explains: “When I first saw the PowerBilt Air Foil range at the PGA show in Orlando, I got the same feeling as when we signed up Rife. It’s not the best known name in the UK but the company is huge in the U.S. The technology they have developed is incredible and the products really have that feel of quality. It also helps that the sales figures there back up the company’s claims.”
The launch of the PowerBilt brand back to the UK market is being led by the Air Foil Driver. The Air Foil and the Air Foil Tour incorporate PowerBilt’s unique Nitrogen Charged Technology. This enables most golfers to hit the ball 10–30 yards further and to hit the ball consistently straighter.
This point was proven at the launch of the Air Foil Driver in the UK. PowerBilt assembled representatives from some of the UK’s best know golfing magazines to put its claims to the test. Each tester was asked to hit several shots with their own driver and then several with the Air Foil or Air Foil Tour – each being monitored by a Trackman launch monitor. The results saw every tester, where comparison was available, record drives with the Air Foil that were longer, straighter or both.
Joe Whitley of National Club Golfer commented: “This club is built for distance – it improved my club speed by 5 mph and my average carry by 24 yards. The longest driver I have ever hit.” David Connor, equipment editor for Today’s Golfer, went on to say: “The Air Foil line is one of the most interesting technological innovations in golf club manufacture we have seen in recent years.” An early sample of the Air Foil Tour was also submitted to the Today’s Golfer driver test and came out as the straightest driver on test from the 36 on show.
The Nitrogen Charged technology used in the Air Foil is based on similar technology Hillerich and Bradsbury have used in some versions of the Louisville Slugger. The head of the Air Foil is filled with compressed Nitrogen, which supports the face of the driver and removes the need for traditional internal braces. This means PowerBilt can use thinner club faces – as little as 2.6 mm in some cases - that in turn enables the golfer, whatever their swing speed, to generate the maximum benefits that are legally possible.
PowerBilt found that many golfers also saw an increase in accuracy with Nitrogen Charged Technology. As the face of the Air Foil has no internal support other than Nitrogen, there are no hot or dead spots that can cause increased dispersion on off centre hits. More of the face of the Air Foil is also able to flex at impact leading to dispersion patterns, particularly on strikes close to the heel, to be significantly reduced.
The Air Foil comes to the UK 6 months after its US launch and the signs from across the pond are incredibly positive. Customers have responded to the benefits offered by Nitrogen Charging to the extent that PowerBilt sold more Air Foil drivers in the first 3 months of 2010 than they sold in the whole of 2009. With sell through exceeding all expectations in the U.S. early signs in the UK have been very similar with feedback from consumers who have seen and used the product being very positive.
The UK launch of the Air Foil is being supported with a nationwide marketing, advertising and PR campaign. New products will be introduced into the range later in the year with the launch of the Air Foil Irons, Hybrids and Fairway Woods. Early tests of the irons by Today’s Golfer show that the technology works across all club types so watch this space.
It isn’t very often that the opportunity arises to stock a brand new innovation from a company with over 100 years of heritage. The Air Foil combines the best of the two. From its 19th century beginnings to its 21st century technology, PowerBilt has taken the values of quality, craftsmanship and innovation that were borne out of that small workshop in Louisville and applied them to the modern world. PowerBilt now has a very big workshop in Louisville where it continues in its endeavour to make simple games of bat or club on ball a little easier for us mere mortals. In the Air Foil it has truly succeeded.
