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| A Look Back: Dec. 20 1968: The PGA Championship, which had been cancelled after a dispute with the touring pros, is restored to the 1969 schedule. 1987: Nancy Lopez and Miller Barber team to win the Mazda Champions in Jamaica. 1992: Nick Faldo defeats Greg Norman on the first playoff hole to win the Johnnie Walker World Championship in Montego Bay, Jamaica. |
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Equipment
The
U.S. Golf Association announces two new proposals: one that updates its
method of testing golf balls for conformance to the Rules of Golf and one that
would limit clubhead size to less than 385ccs and club length to less than 47
inches. USGA senior technical director Dick Rugge will answer any questions about
the proprosals.
For
more about the golf ball proposal...
For
more about the clubhead size and club length proposal...
People
Tiger Woods,
Allen Doyle and Chad Campbell have been selected as the Players
of the Year on the PGA Tour, Senior PGA Tour and Buy.com Tour, respectively, by
the membership of each Tour. The winners will be honored at the PGA Tour's Annual
Awards Ceremony to be held Jan. 30 during the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
in California.
For
more...
Gaylord
Event Television hires Emmy-Award winning sports and golf producer Frank Chirkinian
as its president and executive producer. Chirkinian, who worked for CBS Sports
for many years, has often been referred to as the "Father of Television Golf"
for his numerous innovations in the game including the over and under par scoring
system.
For
more...
Plastic
cleat maker Softspikes names Andy Short as its new green grass sales representative
for the state of Arizona. Short has been a PGA of America member for 10 years
and was director of golf at Rancho Manana Golf Club in Cave Creek, Ariz.
For
more...
The Royal
and Ancient Golf Club appoints Garth McGimpsey to be captain of the Great
Britain and Ireland teams for the St Andrews Trophy being played in Lausanne,
Switzerland, Aug. 30-31, 2002 and for the Walker Cup at Ganton on Sept. 6-7, 2003.
McGimpsey won the Britihs Amateur Championship in 1985 and was a member of the
Walker Cup team in 1985, 1989 and 1991.
For
more...
Associations
Callaway
Golf Canada Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Callaway Golf Company, and the
Canadian Golf Foundation establish the Callaway Golf Company Fund. The
Fund, which will be used by the CGF to launch its Canadian Player Development
Program, starts with a pledge of CAN$300,000 from Callaway.
For
more...
Business
Apparel
maker Oxford Industries reports a decline in sales of 19.7 percent in its
second quarter, including a 26.3 percent sales drop in its shirt, golf and children's
divisions. Oxford licenses brands that include Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica and Izod
Club.
For
more...
|
The 19th Hole As usual this time of year, there are plenty of lists being checked. So The Wire thought it would check one of its own. We want to know what/who you, the reader, think is (1) the best course in the United States; (2) the course you most want to play; (3) the best course designer -- past or present. Send your picks to stuart@gpagolf.com with RE: Poll in the subject line and the results will be published in The Wire in early January. |
Five Questions
James Craigie, Spalding
president and chief executive
Jim Craigie, who has been with Spalding since November 1998, oversaw the launch of the Top-Flite XL 2000 which became the No. 1 selling golf ball in 1999 and has successfully consolidated and marketed golf balls under the Top-Flite and Strata brands. Craigie, who was formerly with Kraft Foods, also revitalized the Ben Hogan brand. The Wire talked to Craigie Oct. 24 about the future of Spalding.
Q: Last month Spalding decided not to make an interest payment that was due and now is attempting to convert a percentage of the bondholders into ownership, presumably stock. What as the impetus behind that and where are you in the process currently?
A: The impetus behind it was very simple. It's been no secret this company's capital structure is out of line with the size of the business. The capital structure is roughly $600 million, split $400 million to debt and $200 million to bonds. That's pretty onerous for a company that does about $400+ million in sales. It leads us to have interest payments in the tune of $60 million a year, which is about the same size as EBIDTA.
Our operating margin is as good or better than most of our key competitors, but all the money we make ends up being paid off to the banks or the bondholders, which limits our ability to continue to do stuff to grow the company to invest in capital, to invest in marketing, to do things we think are good for the business. The business results have gotten significantly better since 1997-1998 when the company was doing poorly. We've turned a company that was losing around $90 million to a company that is making $60+ million a year.
Despite all that, that $60 million right now is getting paid back to the bankers and the bondholder. So the whole impetus behind the debt restructuring was to strike a deal where the bondholders -- that's the $200 million -- would in essence be willing to trade those bonds in for a piece of the equity of the company. The equity holders been primarily KKR (Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts Co.) and the bondholders have basically come to a meeting of the minds that that would be in the best interest of the company long-term so we can continue the kind of progress we've had and have money to invest in capital and marketing going forward. So that was what was behind the whole thing and those two sides are in the stages of negotiating with each other over how much of the equity the bondholders get and those kind of details.
Hopefully that will be resolved in the next week or two, but it's always as Yogi say "it ain't over till it's over."
Q: How much money will you save in interest payments? Approximately $60 million?
A: No, $60 million today is the total interest payments. The bondholders' piece is about 20 of it.
For the complete interview with James Craigie, click here.