Sports firm enters crowded golf market in tough times.

Is it a duffer move or the wily strategy of an old pro?

Westlake Village-based Pacific Sports Holdings has landed an exclusive licensing agreement with venerable European ski maker Head to take a shot at the crowded golf equipment market. Under the agreement, Pacific Sports will design and produce clubs that use new technology to improve the game of struggling golfers.

The flagship product line will range from $199 for fairway woods to $800 for a set of titanium irons.

"We're not after the Freddie Couples of the world," said Pacific Sports CEO Jim Moodhe. "We're after people with problems who want to improve their game without spending hours and hours on the driving range."

But it could be tough to find success in a market flooded with several hundred equipment manufacturers, especially while existing industry titans such as Callaway, Taylor Made Golf Co. and Cobra Golf Inc. are seeing sales sink.

Industrywide, sales of golf equipment plummeted by roughly $1 billion to $2.5 billion in 1997, according to the National Sporting Goods Association in Mr. Prospect, Ill.

"It's certainly a tough time for anybody to make inroads. The market overproduced so there's lots of inventory," said Evan Rotham, editor of the New York-based trade magazine, Golf Retailer. "People thought that golf was undergoing a wild boom, but it only had a small jump. It wasn't the growth that was predicted."

Still, the popularity of the game has grown dramatically in recent years thanks in part to the appeal of Tiger Woods. The number of Americans who now consider themselves golfers grew by 7 percent last year, to 26.5 million, according to Judy Thompson, spokeswoman for the National Golf Foundation in Jupiter, Fla. Meanwhile, the number of beginners soared 51 percent.

To reach those high handicappers, Moodhe said Pacific Sports will employ an aggressive print campaign, a.s well as television commercials featuring game show host Bob Eubanks, a founding member of Pacific Sports Holdings and a member of its board. He believes the new products will find a niche in the golf market.

"A small company can compete with the big guys," Eubanks said. "We've seen companies in the past three years do it and that's why we're enthused."

The Pacific Sports line - called Head FI Maraging Irons and Woods - features titanium clubs with a thinner face and brazed alloy insert to increase the distance of drives, and a lowered center of gravity to help launch the bail with less effort.

The firm plans to have the product in golf and pro shops within the next month by offering attractive profit margins to retailers and an incentive program to consumers, offering free plane tickets to a golf resort for a major purchase.

But some retailers are waiting to see how the clubs sell before stocking their shelves. Kevin Hefner, general manager of Roger Dunn, a chain of discount golf equipment shops, has no immediate plans to can-y the line.

"We're not market leaders in bringing new product to the shelves," he said. "We're more cautious. We let them prove that the numbers they're saying can happen."