Callaway Lamborghini collaborate on RD

• By Golf Channel Digital
• Oct 7, 2010 3:21 PM ET

Callaway Golf announced that it is teaming with Automobili Lamborghini to collaborate on research and development initiatives. The two companies made the joint announcement last week at the Paris Motor Show and said it now formalizes a relationship that dates back several years.

The companies have co-developed a material called Forged Composite, a material they contend is the lightest, strongest and most precise used by either. Encompassing more than 500,000 intertwined turbostratic fibers per square inch, the material features a high threshold for withstanding extreme forces. Forged Composite is one-third the density of titanium, yet features a greater load carrying capacity per unit mass in bending.

"Forged Composite provides us with the ability to engineer performance enhancements like never before, and we've only just begun to tap the potential of this material," said Dr. Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s senior vice president of research and development. "We're looking forward to collaborating on future applications that push our designs beyond any preconceptions."

Said Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini: "We see power-to-weight ratio and weight reduction as the keys for future super sports cars and carbon fiber as the material to achieve these goals. Callaway's expertise in specific technologies is strategic for our research projects and therefore we welcome this partnership as a further, important milestone in our over 30 years long history of carbon fiber applications."

Lamborghini unveiled its first design featuring Forged Composite at the Paris Motor Show. Callaway will introduce a line of premium golf equipment featuring the material in several weeks and throughout 2011.