Grace Park Tests Nike Golf's Newest Irons in Competition

Grace Park Tests Nike Golf's Newest Irons in Competition
Press Release

Grace Park entered last week's Asahi Ryokuken International Championship in North Augusta, S.C. with a new bag of goodies courtesy of Nike Golf. She came up short on the final few holes of the 72-hole tournament for her fifth second place finish of 2004, but the Nike Distance Series (NDS) Irons she put into competition for the first time proved to be a real winner.

Park had played the same irons for more than eight years including throughout most of her college career at Arizona State University. She was ready to shelve her battled-tested sticks in favor Nike Golf's new NDS Irons after a recent test near her home in Phoenix, Ariz.

Nike Golf's highest ranked LPGA player also plays the Ignite driver and the new Nike One Black golf ball - the combination gave her more than 285 average yards off the tee at Asahi and she is ranked fourth on the Tour in driving distance. A T100 hybrid iron and 54-degree and 58-degree Forged Wedges round out the Nike Golf clubs in Park's bag.

What Park liked about the newest irons set from Nike Golf was the feel and the look at set up. Little did she know that the NDS Irons would be priced and positioned as an entry-level set to complement Nike Golf's revolutionary Slingshot Irons and the company's accomplished players' irons - the Forged Pro Combo Irons and the Forged Blade Irons.

Performance is critical for a player like Park who is ranked No. 3 in the world, and has nine Top 10 finishes in 19 starts this year including a Major victory at the Kraft Nabisco. She trusts her livelihood to the equipment in her bag, so the playability of the NDS Irons won her over long before she knew the irons were positioned as entry-level with a Suggested Retail Price of $599 (with an exclusive NDS Fujikura graphite shaft) and $479 (with an exclusive NDS True Temper steel shaft).

Nike Golf designed the new NDS Irons from research and materials gleaned from previous award-winning projects such as the Slingshot. By applying what it has learned through the manipulation of the center of gravity, progressive weighting and various shaft options, Nike Golf has been able to create clubs for golfers that will make the game more enjoyable and immensely more affordable. Now, with the introduction of NDS, golf's fastest growing company brings performance innovation to golfers in a cost-effective set of clubs.

"We want to bring golf to everyone and for the game to be enjoyable to everyone," said Tom Stites, Nike Golf's Director of Product Creation. "The Nike Distance Series is ideal for golfers looking for a name that they associate with quality and performance, as well as a product that won't break the bank."

The NDS Irons are as competitive in performance as they are beautiful to behold. They incorporate a simple notch weight progression system based on the same manipulation of center of gravity or CG that has made Nike's Slingshot Irons so popular and easy to play. The result is a full range of affordable irons that will still help beginners and high handicappers find their way from the tee to the green. The long irons have a larger notch to increase the heel and toe weighting, allowing for greater forgiveness. The short irons have a narrower notch, raising the centre of gravity to increase the workability and avoid ballooning. Made with a wide sole and progressive offset, the NDS irons are constructed from 431 Stainless Steel for a softer feel.

The NDS Irons (Men's: #3-PW/Women's: #4-SW) will be available in both left hand and right hand models with an exclusive NDS steel shaft from True Temper (Uniflex) or an exclusive NDS graphite shaft from Fujikura (Stiff, Regular, Women's, Senior). The NDS Irons with the exclusive NDS Fujikura graphite shaft (SRP: $599/MAP: $499) and the NDS Irons with the exclusive NDS True Temper steel shaft (SRP: $479/MAP: $399) are available now at golf shops and golf specialty stores nationwide.