EDISON, N.J. – Adams Golf tour reps made a new, 17° Idea a12 hybrid for James Driscoll on Monday at Plainfield Country Club. Like the Adams Idea Pro a12 and Idea Pro Black hybrids, there is a place in the sole for a weighted screw to be added to lower the club's center of gravity, but gearheads will notice in the photos below that unlike other hybrids, this one features a channel in both the sole and the crown. Adams has only featured channels like these in the Speedline F11 and Speedline LP fairway woods.

Adams calls these channels duel velocity slots, and according to Christen Cervantes, an Adams tour rep, they allow a larger area of the face to flex back as the club hits the ball. "That expands the hot spot farther across the face," Cervantes says.

Does the technology actually work? During GOLF Magazine's most recent ClubTest, golfers who tried the Speedline F11 fairway woods said the clubs, "sacrificed little in terms of direction or distance on off-center hits."

Plenty of golfers would like to say that about their hybrids, too. As we learn more about the club, we'll be sure to let you know.

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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The allure of super-lightweight drivers is based on the idea that a lighter club is easier to swing faster, and that increased clubhead speed should translate into more distance off the tee. Think of them as Sugar Ray Leonard drivers instead of George Foreman drivers.

Later this summer Adams Golf plans to enter the market in sub-300 gram drivers with the Speedline 9088 UL.

According to a company source, the Adams 9088 UL’s unique swing weight will separate it from other drivers in its category. The 9088 UL will have a swing weight of D0, which is slightly lower than a typical iron (D2-D4) and significantly lighter than other extremely light drivers. By comparison, Cleveland's 270-gram Launcher UltraLite XL270 has a swing weight of D6 and TaylorMade's Burner SuperFast 2.0 has a swing weight of D9.

The clubmaker hopes that golfers will be able to release the head of the 9088 UL more effectively and reduce slicing because of that lighter swing weight.

Look for the 9088 UL driver to come standard with a Matrix Radix HD shaft and start appearing in pro shops in August, with a draw version of the club coming later in the fall.

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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Irving, Texas – So far, 2011 has been a solid year for Adams Golf.

Based in Plano, Texas, which is less than 20 miles from the TPC Four Seasons where this week's Byron Nelson Championship is being played, Adams purchased Yes! Golf in January for just under $2 million, giving Adams a place in the putter market for the first time.

In mid-April, the company released the new Redline Series of max-game improvement irons.

A few days later, Brandt Snedeker won the Heritage on Hilton Head Island with an Adams Idea Pro a12 Proto G hybrid in his bag. Less than 48 hours later, Adams released the club, which his now available in pro shops.

While the company has been successful launching other types of clubs, Adams still hangs its hat on hybrids. If you peek under the headcovers, you will find at least one Adams hybrid in the bag of Stuart Appleby (Idea Pro Gold, 18°), Rickie Fowler (Idea Pro Black, 18° and 20°), Graeme McDowell (Idea Pro, 17°, 21°), Heath Slocum (Idea Pro Gold, 18°), Rory Sabatini (Super Pro Black, 20°) and Steve Marino (Idea Pro Black, 20°). It's worth noting that none of these players are Adams staff professionals.

Today Adams filmed a new television commercial that will feature Steve "Wally" Walakovitz, the man who builds clubs in the company's tour van. But Jeff Wood, the director of marketing for Adams Golf, said the company's budgets are still humble by tour standards, so don't expect to hear a lot about the acquisition of Yes!. The putter brand will operate as an independent unit in the same way Odyssey is independent a Callaway.

Wood did confirm that there would be numerically fewer putter models available than in years past. If you go to yesgolf.com, you will now see just eight models featured; a few weeks ago there were about 30 on the site.

True, the irons used by Aaron Baddeley and Chad Campbell, two of their PGA Tour players, are custom-made and not available at retail. And yes, another Adams staffer, Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey, has failed to break through and win his first PGA Tour event.

But think about it this way: Adams Golf, a small company, is still around 23 years after it was founded, and it is quietly growing. If those players can pick up some Ws, or if Champions Tour staffers like Tom Watson, Bernhard Langer and Paul Azinger can keep making noise on the weekends, maybe the small company won't stay small for much longer.

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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Three players at last week's PGA Tour event, the Heritage, had the new Adams Idea Pro a12 hybrids in their bags, including Brandt Snedeker, the eventual winner. Tom Watson and Ryan Moore also currently play the Idea Pro a12.

On May 5, when the clubs begin arriving in pro shops, you can play them too.

With the Idea Pro a12, the Plano, Texas, company continues its trend of producing hybrids with a high toe area, compact head, square face and dark color for reduced glare.

The a12 also features a steel sole plate and a weight screw that rests flush along the bottom of the club. The sole plate helps the a12 work through the turf more effectively, and the added weight helps launch the ball on a higher trajectory.

The Idea Pro a12, which will have a suggested retail price of $299, will be available in lofts between 16 and 26. Players can chose between regular, stiff or x-stiff versions of two stock shafts, an Aldila RIP VS Proto or a Matrix OZIK Altus.

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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DRIVER: TaylorMade Burner SuperFast (10.5°) with a Fujikura Morore F1 2.0 shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade Burner SuperFast (15°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana Blue Board 73 shaft
HYBRID: Adams Pro A12 Proto G (20°) with an NVentix Nunchuk GH 2660 shaft
IRONS: Bridgestone Tourstage GR C-1 (3-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts
WEDGES: Bridgestone J38 (54°), Cleveland 588 (60°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot XG Rossie
BALL: Bridgestone B330-S

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams, Bridgestone, Callaway/Odyssey and TaylorMade clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Adams Golf is releasing a new hybrid-iron set, the Redline series, max-game improvement clubs designed specifically for golfers who want to hit the ball farther.

The eight-club Redline sets will be available with either one, two or three hybrid clubs that can replace the 3-, 4- or 5-irons. The heads of the hybrids are slightly oversized and come with longer shafts. Combined with a thin steel face and a sole designed to reduce turf interaction, they should help golfers swing faster and create more ball speed.

The irons in the Redline set have wide soles that allowed Adams engineers to move more weight down and away from the face, making them more forgiving. A polyurethane insert is designed to soften impact and improve feel.

Look for new Adams Redline iron sets to start arriving in pro shops April 20 for $899 with UST Mamiya ATTAS-T2 graphite shafts and $799 with Redline Performance 85 steel shafts. Those prices will be the same whether you decide to go with one, two or three hybrids.

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams clubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC and Golfsmith.

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"My favorite club is the driver—I'm the most accurate with it—so if I had to pick just one, that would be it."—Heath Slocum

DRIVER: Ping G15 (9°) with an Aldila RIP 70X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Adams 9032Ti (14.5°) with an Aldila VS Proto 70X shaft
HYBRID: Adams Idea Pro Gold (18°) with an Aldila VS Proto 95X shaft
IRONS: Ping i15 (3-PW) with Ping Z-Z65 shafts
WEDGES: Ping Tour-S (52°), Fourteen MT28V5 (58°)
PUTTER: Ping Redwood Anser 
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Ping and Adams clubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC and Golfsmith.

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(Photo by Kohjiro Kinno/SI)

DRIVER: TaylorMade R11 (10.5°) with a Mitsubishi Fukubi 60 shaft
FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade Burner SuperFast 2.0 (13°), R9 (19°) with Aldila RIP 80 shafts
HYBRID: Adams 9031 Pro Black proto (20°) with an Aldila RIP 105 shaft
IRONS: TaylorMade Tour Preferred Forged MC (4-PW) with KBS Tour shafts
WEDGES: TaylorMade TP with xFT (56°, 60°) with KBS Tour shafts
PUTTER: TaylorMade Ghost 770 Tour prototype
BALL: TaylorMade Penta TP

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about ClubTest: Irons, Adams and Mizuno clubs, and schedule your fitting with  GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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DRIVER: Adams Speedline Fast 10 (10.5°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana 'ilima 80 shaft
FAIRWAY WOODS: Adams F11 (15°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana 'ilima 80, Insight (18.5°) with a ACCRA SC95 shaft
IRONS: Adams Idea Pro Black Muscle Back (3-PW) with Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts
WEDGES: Adams Puguelli (55°), Titleist Vokey Spin Milled (60°) with Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron for Titleist Newport
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams and Titleist clubs, and schedule your fitting with  GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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(Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo)

Adams Golf, the Plano, Texas, company that is especially well-known for making hybrid clubs and game-improvement equipment, made the wining bid in a bankruptcy court auction on Jan. 18 for the purchase of Yes! Golf. The winning bid was $1.5 million, but according to a statement released by Adams Golf, the total purchase price will be about $1.65 million when administrative costs are added.

The purchase includes acquisition of all of Yes! Golf’s patented putter technology designs (including C-Groove Putters) , the company's registered trademarks and all existing inventory and capital equipment. Yes! Golf will be integrated into the Adams Golf operations in Plano, Texas. The purchase is subject to funding that is expected to occur within the next two business days. Historical financials prepared by Yes! Golf show that its revenues were approximately $10.2 million in 2007 and approximately $2.4 million in 2010.

"We have been looking for an attractive avenue into the putter market for some time and believe the Yes! Golf brand and technology platform provides us just such an opportunity,"said Chip Brewer, President and CEO of Adams Golf. "Yes! Golf provides Adams Golf compelling putter technology and a positive brand image, including ongoing tour usage based on the performance of the product alone. The Yes! Golf brand will likely benefit from the inclusion into our operational infrastructure and we intend for it to serve as a source of future growth for our company."

The two most famous wins for Yes! putters came when Retief Goosen used a Yes! Tracy to win the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and just last season, when Jim Furyk used a Yes! Sophia en route to winning the 2010 PGA Tour Championship at East Lake.

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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"My favorite recovery club is my 59° Vokey. I hit a variety of shots with it, and it's my go-to club."

DRIVER: Titleist 909D2 (7.5°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana White 73X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Titleist 910F2 (13.5°) with a UST Mamiya ProForce V2 86X shaft
HYBRIDS: Adams Idea a7 (17°), Idea Pro Black (20°) with Matrix Ozik XCON HM2 X shafts
IRONS: Titleist 710MB (4-9) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (48°, 54°, 59°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron for Titleist Circa 62 No. 3
BALL:  Titleist Pro V1x

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Titleist and Adams clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC.

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

DRIVER: Callaway FT-9 Tour Authentic (8.5°) with an Aldila RIP shaft
FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Diablo Edge Tour (15°) with an Aldila RIP shaft
HYBRID: Adams Idea Pro Gold (18°) with an Aldila NV Hybrid shaft
IRONS: Callaway X Forged (3) and Tour Authentic Proto X (4-PW) with Project X 7.0 shafts
WEDGES: Callaway X Tour (54°, 58°) with Project X 7.0 shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot XG 330 Mallet
BALL: Callaway Tour i(z)

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Callaway/Odyssey clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC.

For years, Adams Golf has quietly been making hybrid clubs enjoyed by some of golf's best players. Anthony Kim, Vijay Singh, and Jim Furyk, as well as other top pros, have all used one in recent years.

Now, with the release of the Idea Pro Black CB1s, Adams is hoping that accomplished players will also consider its irons, too.

Forged from 8620 carbon steel, the Pro Black CB1 irons have subtle perimeter weighting, but a thin topline and sole, which should be pleasing to the eye for golfers who like to shape the ball.

In a release, Chip Brewer, CEO and President of Adams Golf, said:

"Originally developed exclusively for our professional staff players like Tom Watson, the overwhelmingly positive comments about the feel and performance of the CB1s from the tour inevitably led us to make this set an integral part of the successful Idea family of irons. This stealth-looking set has already received high marks from golf enthusiasts plugged into the online community so we look forward to bringing the CB1s to low-handicap golfers everywhere who appreciate the control and workability of this forged set of irons."

The standard set of CB1s will come with eight clubs (4-GW), and all will have grooves that conform to the new USGA standard for competition. Players can choose between two stock shaft options, Rifle Project X Flighted ($899, suggested retail) or Mitsubishi Rayon Javin FX i95 graphite shafts ($1,099, suggested retail).

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams clubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC.

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(Photo by Adams Golf)