Equipment
TaylorMade’s Tom Olsavsky to join Cobra-Puma Golf
Tom Olsavsky, senior director of product creation at TaylorMade, will replace Tom Preece as the vice president of research and development for Cobra-Puma Golf.
Olsavsky, 49, spent 17 years at TaylorMade, the last seven in his current role. Many in the industry consider Olsavsky to be a big part of TaylorMade’s recent success, which includes record sales of $1.7 billion and a 47 percent market share in the metalwood category in 2012.
According to sources close to the matter, Olsavsky’s signing is considered a “big win” by top Cobra-Puma officials, who have struggled to establish Cobra as a true rival to larger golf equipment companies such as TaylorMade, Callaway, Nike, Ping and Titleist, whose parent company Acushnet sold Cobra to Puma SE in March 2010.
“Tom is a great industry talent and we look forward to him continuing Cobra Golf’s innovation of the game,” said Bob Philion, president of Cobra-Puma Golf in a statement. “His wealth of experience, industry knowledge and exceptional success will help us to continue our development of industry leading technologies. I’m confident that Tom will play a key role in our business growth and provide a great future for Cobra Golf.”
Preece decided to leave Cobra-Puma in September after spending almost 10 years with the company. He is currently listed as the Senior Vice President of R&D at BST Nano Carbon, a company based in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. that specializes in designing and manufacturing products from carbon nano tube materials. According to sources, Preece will stay on with Cobra-Puma as a consultant through the end of the year. Olsavsky is scheduled to begin his duties with Cobra-Puma on Oct. 31.
TaylorMade has chosen Brian Bazzel, who has 14 years of experience with the company, to fill Olsavsky’s post as senior director of product creation for metal woods. Bazzel previously worked as the director of product creation for irons, wedges and putters, a role that will be filled by Tomo Bystedt, who most recently oversaw TaylorMade’s Asian product and marketing operation.
“Tom Olsavsky was part of the TaylorMade family for the better part of 15 years,” said Sean Toulon, TaylorMade’s executive vice president, in a statement. “As individuals, and as an organization, we wish Tom the best of luck in his new endeavor. He will be missed. With that said, TaylorMade’s R&D will continue to operate under the expert leadership of Benoit Vincent, who has overseen every meaningful innovation TaylorMade has produced in the past decade. Our product creation team also consists of a very deep bench.”
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX
Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
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Driver: Titleist GTS3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting) Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 53 S 3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees,...
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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (16.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
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YtownFHS
Nov 12, 2013 at 12:09 pm
TO will be an awesome addition to Cobra. His engineering/ golf knowledge will be the lift Cobra needs
Dolph Lundgrenade
Nov 4, 2013 at 4:39 pm
King Cobra III irons to be released in the Spring!
Seriously though, what will they do next to metalwoods? Put aerodynamic holes (cylinder tubes)that run through the face to the back? Something like a good hazing paddle!
Nah, I expect the next Cobra line to have more graphics on the top. Because… that will help.
Jack
Nov 4, 2013 at 4:21 am
Maybe Cobra products will start to look better too. Bit too curvy right now (from the logo to driver sole plate) for my liking.
Matt
Oct 31, 2013 at 11:58 pm
Great, so can we expect to see amp cell phase 3 with a velocity hole in it???? Or a patented AMP grass trap??
Andrew
Oct 30, 2013 at 10:10 pm
Why is GolfWRX writing this piece? Is it precedent for every exec that switches horses? IMHO, you would do well to stay out of manufacturer politics…
Charlie
Oct 31, 2013 at 9:03 am
Why not write about this? A friend of mine is always telling me stuff like this and he calls it ” a little human interest story” . It is relevant and informative yet not earthshaking.
Slim
Oct 31, 2013 at 4:41 pm
I liked this article – interesting info.
Jack
Nov 4, 2013 at 4:18 am
It’s industry insider information. Fun stuff! Next logical step to all the golf equipment being made is to pay attention to the people responsible in making it.
totebagger
Oct 30, 2013 at 10:11 am
he’s totebaggin around. what a goon
R
Oct 30, 2013 at 7:42 pm
So you are still in your original job and have never taken a promotion or moved within your chosen occupation (or career path) for something better (financially or otherwise)???
Hmmm – Senior Director vs. VP role.
I wonder what I would do?
It sounds like you wouldn’t even consider it.
So, NO – I do not want fries with that.
What a doofus…dumbest comment I’ve seen in a VERY long time.
It's Called a PROMOTION
Oct 31, 2013 at 1:29 pm
grocery totebagger obviously isn’t smart enough to have a real job, much less a “career”. He has no clue what you’re talking about. Career advancement? What is that??
Jack
Nov 4, 2013 at 4:20 am
I thought director was higher than VP? Or I’m thinking managing director. it’s also different for different companies/industries.
M
Oct 30, 2013 at 6:44 am
So i guess know they are going to have something out every 6 months
Charles Damascus
Oct 29, 2013 at 12:03 pm
Judas!!!!
FredWomble
Oct 29, 2013 at 11:27 am
I hope he’s left the gimmicks behind. Not that CPG can’t stand improvement — significant imo — but their players’ irons, S3 Pro and APC of late, are fine sticks. Had the S3 Pro, now game APC and they are great clubs.
Fan of T.O.
Oct 29, 2013 at 11:07 am
Great move by T.O.
TaylorMade, from a company culture, is a very cut-throat organization. Huge egos, huge pressure and huge demand every single day.
T.O. probably got courted heavily by Cobra/Puma. And rightly so. He definitely knows what he is doing but there was always a glass ceiling for him at TaylorMade.
Now with Cobra, he will have more money, more decision making power and a higher level of influence and respect. And probably a better work environment.
I am excited to see his influence on Cobra equipment. Because, let’s be honest, the stuff may work fine, but they’re not the most appealing clubs out there, nor are they at the forefront of club innovation.
froneputt
Oct 29, 2013 at 5:54 am
TM probably has 5 years of R&D in the pipeline. Of course, Olsavsky knows what it is, so TM may have to speed up the more advanced product to introduction.
Lloyd
Oct 29, 2013 at 1:33 am
LEAVING TAYLORMADE FOR COBRA REALY ? HE MUST OF DONE A RORY $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
J
Oct 28, 2013 at 11:43 pm
Cobra-ier? Puma-ier?