'Best of 2003' Honors Bestowed Upon Nike Golf's Slingshot Irons by Business Week, Men's Health New Clubs Featured in Spot Debuting with Charles Barkley, Tiger Woods BEAVERTON, Ore., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Less than one month after its launch at retail, Nike Golf's new Slingshot Irons are receiving Best of 2003 honors from respected sources such as Business Week Magazine and Men's Health. The announcement comes on the eve of a new commercial spot featuring the revolutionary Slingshot Irons with the world's No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods and NBA analyst and renowned avid golfer Charles Barkley. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020719/NKGOLFLOGO ) Woods and his now-famous confidante, Frank the head cover, look on while Barkley swings the more forgiving Slingshot irons in new creative for Nike Golf from Wieden & Kennedy airing for the first time this weekend on ABC. "Innovation, big and small" -- that's what Business Week looked for in picking the Best Products of 2003 in its December 15 issue, while Men's Health supposedly tested thousands of new products and selected 77 to honor with its 1st Annual Tons of Useful Stuff Awards in the December 2003 issue. According to Business Week, Slingshot is one of this year's creme de la creme: "If you're a weekend golfer who struggles on the fairway, you might find Nike's Slingshot irons more forgiving and easier to use than your current clubs. Ten years in the making, the unconventional-looking irons ($699 with steel shafts; $799 for graphite) have a special "bridge" across the back of each clubface. That moves the center of gravity well behind the club face, making it easier to get each shot airborne and minimizing any slicing." Under the heading "Master Your Game -- 5 new ways to grab the competitive edge," Men's Health said: "Nike Golf's Slingshot Irons -- Moving the center of gravity lower helps inexperienced golfers get the ball up." What started with a plan to develop game improvement irons for his son led Tom Stites, Director of Product Creation for Nike Golf, on a decade-long journey of designs, prototypes, and testing -- all intent on shifting the center of gravity (CG) of each club to promote launching the ball with minimal effort and increased forgiveness. For the details on Slingshot and the Slingback design, visit http://www.nikegolf.com/. Nike Golf, located in Beaverton, Oregon, is passionately dedicated to honoring and respecting the traditions and heritage of the game, and to providing committed golfers with the absolute best equipment in the game in every product category. For more information on Nike Golf, visit our Web site at http://www.nikegolf.com/. Editors and journalists seeking editorial information and downloadable images, visit http://www.nikegolf.com/presscenter. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020719/NKGOLFLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Nike Golf CONTACT: Dean Stoyer of Nike Golf, +1-503-532-6018 or Web site: http://www.nikebiz.com/ http://www.nikegolf.com/

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