In the spring of 1979 a golf equipment salesman named Gary Adams took out a $24,000 loan on his home and founded the Adams Golf Company. He rented a 6,000 square-foot building that at one time housed a television assembly plant. Counting him, there were three employees and a single, innovative product: a 12-degree driver cast of stainless steel. This new metalwood looked and sounded different from a wooden wood, and most important, it performed differently. The clubhead's perimeter-weighting offered greater forgiveness on mis-hits, while the lower center of gravity made it easier to launch the ball in the air.