[Ed. note: This article is scheduled to break on Yahoo! Sports on Saturday, November 3rd. As Goodboys Nation followers, you get the exclusive scoop here first!]

According to a press release just issued, five-time Goodboys Invitational winner and “Founding Father” Doug “The Great White Shank” Richard has signed a six-figure, multi-year endorsement deal with Callaway Golf. Effective in 2013, The Great White Shank will be exchanging his long-time Cobra clubs and affiliation for Callaway and their RAZR X HL series of woods, hybrids, and irons. As part of the agreement, The Great White Shank will b permitted to retain use of his 20+ year old Dynacraft putter, as well as his preference for Wilson golf calls (both orange and white).

“The Great White Shank matches up perfectly with Callaway’s core values,” said Nick Raffaele, Vice President of Sports Marketing, Callaway Golf. “His desire to play the best equipment and focus more sharply on returning to the Goodboys winner’s circle in the next few years makes him an ideal fit for Callaway. We are excited to add The Great White Shank to our stable of champions, and we look forward to helping him achieve his goals.”

And according to the press release, as far as The Great White Shank is concerned, the feeling is mutual.

“While my nearly twenty year association with Cobra golf has been great, it was time to move on. People change, companies change, equipment changes, and I just felt the time was right. I played the RAXR X HLs at Las Vegas National back in May of this year, and thought they were great. Then, after playing them once again just a few weeks ago, I really felt they were the clubs for me and it was time to make a change. After meeting with the Callaway folks, seeing their technology first-hand, and just feeling how good it performed, the decision was a no-brainer. Effective in 2013, I will be a proud new member of the Callaway staff and hope to add to their winning legacy.”

John J. Newhauer, Callaway’s Northeast Regional Marketing Vice President and liaison to Goodboys Invitational Exec-Comm, also expressed his pleasure at The Great White Shank joining the Callaway brand.

“The Great White Shank is a five-time winner of the Goodboys Invitational, and we are thrilled to have him join our team of Callaway Golf staff professionals,” said Newhauer. “We’re confident that our equipment will help Shank shave the 5-6 strokes off his game so that he is breaking 100 on a regular basis. Of course, The Great White Shank knows he also needs to improve the way he manages his game on the course to better exploit the benefits our equipment brings to his game. We’re confident that in working together he’ll be accomplishing his goals with Callaway equipment.”

Specific details of the agreement were not available at press release time.

The Great White Shank expects to trade in his Cobra clubs over the next few months with the expectation that he’ll be hitting Callaway RAZR X HLs by the time he begins preparation for the 2013 Goodboys Invitational.