Great golf gear from Taylormade

"The year we had was the biggest in the 500-year history of people selling golf clubs," said Toulon, a Madison native. "We made more money last year than every other golf equipment company in the world combined."

At the 59th PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando in January, TaylorMade rolled out its new product line in an elaborate exhibition space that was many times bigger than those of its competitors.

The company followed its success of 2011 by generating another big buzz with the introduction of its RocketBallz fairway woods - white, of course, and purportedly as long as many drivers on the market.

Golfers can check out RocketBallz, along with equipment from other manufacturers and products and services from dozens of exhibitors, at the callaway razr x irons Greater Milwaukee Golf Show presented by the Journal Sentinel, Friday through next Sunday at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex, 6000 W. Ryan Road in Franklin.

Companies such as Callaway, Ping, Cobra and Cleveland have new-and-improved products, too, but all eyes are on TaylorMade, which appears poised to do to the fairway metal-wood market what the R11 did to the driver market.

Founded in McHenry, Ill., and now based in Carlsbad, Calif., TaylorMade topped $1.5 billion in sales last year. Its formula for success is building big-bucks marketing campaigns around cutting-edge products wielded by touring professionals (who are paid handsomely to sport the company logo).

"Our company was founded in 1979, and the thing Gary Adams always talked about was the power of the best players in the Taylormade Burner 2.0 irons world," Toulon said. "It's called the pyramid of influence."

The R11 was the dominant driver on the PGA Tour last year and the R11S - a bigger, better version - promises to be No. 1 this year.

"We grew almost 25% over 2010 and we believe we're going to grow 25% again this year," Toulon said. "We're now the largest iron company in the world and by the end of the year we expect to have 35% market share. We're the No. 2 putter and the No. 4 golf ball."

But the driver, Toulon said, is the "engine" that drives the company.

TaylorMade developed and brought to market the first adjustable driver and the third-generation R11 added features so that the golfer could essentially custom-fit the club to his or her swing.

Unlike most driver heads, which are black or dark and are largely indistinguishable from one another, the R11 was instantly identifiable to TV audiences tuned in to discount golf clubs PGA Tour events.

Because it was so unconventional in appearance, the R11 could have been a flop. But golfers flocked to golf shops and retail outlets to buy it.

The other part of the equation was that the R11 had to deliver on its promise of improved performance.

"We're not going to take a chance with performance," Toulon said. "It's difficult to look Sergio Garcia in the eye and tell him, 'This club performs better,' and then it doesn't."