THE BEN HOGAN GOLF EQUIPMENT COMPANY RETURNS

[fozcycle]

I got an email from Eidelon yesterday .....

 

     Thank you for signing up to Follow The Story of the new Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company. It's been an extremely busy five months, as we have been driving hard to perfect the new Ben Hogan golf clubs to anchor this historic event.
 
     As you might imagine, we have also been overwhelmed by the emails, phone calls and LinkedIn messages of support. Thank you for your interest, encouragement and enthusiasm.
 
     Now, we get to begin to tell the story…

 

By Terry Koehler

 

I still can't believe this is happening.

In my 30+ year golf industry career, I would never let myself dream this big. The opportunity—and immense responsibility—to make sure every product and business practice that carries the name “Ben Hogan” actually earns that distinction . . . well, it is more than I could ever have dreamed.

Where Did It Begin?

I don't remember life before golf. My childhood revolved around a little 9-hole golf course, and my father was my hero. He was an excellent player and patient teacher, never pushing but always there with encouragement and words of wisdom. The “heavy lifting” he left to our golf professional, Carl Gustafson, who had a unique and effective way of making things understandable and fun.

My other hero was Ben Hogan. My Dad played golf with Mr. Hogan before the war, and idolized him. So I did, too. As I look back, I see many behavior patterns that were much the same. Did my Dad model himself after Mr. Hogan, or were they just products of the same era? I don't know, but they both rolled up the cuffs on their trousers (usually gray) when they played golf, to avoid soil and wear. They both wore a hat very often . . . but never inside. They both had an appreciation for fine clothing, always dressing properly for the occasion. And they both were stern men, who also had huge hearts.

From his first book, Power Golf, I was introduced to Mr. Hogan's teachings. To my father, Mr. Hogan's way was the way. Five Lessons – The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, as you know, was initially published as a series of articles in Sports Illustrated. I grew up thinking it wasn't a coincidence that the first in the series had the issue date of March 11, 1957 – my fifth birthday. I think every club I played through my entire childhood was a Ben Hogan. My father always reminded us, “the secret is in the dirt”, and “there's nothing wrong with your game another 5,000 practice balls won't cure.”

A Career In Golf

I had, and still have, an insatiable curiosity. I was that kid that was always asking “Why?”?”

And I took that curiosity and quest for answers into the golf equipment industry in 1979.

There And Back Again

My uncharted career path took me to the Ben Hogan Company in 1991, just after it had been sold and moved to Richmond, Virginia. Taking over the marketing function was my dream job . . . but then it wasn't. The new ownership didn't appear to be committed to the ideals of Mr. Hogan's. They didn't really understand the relationship between the Ben Hogan legacy and mission and those who played, fitted and sold Ben Hogan clubs. .

So I left the Ben Hogan Company to pursue Mr. Hogan's ideals on my own. . That company was called Reid Lockhart and our tag line was “Clubs for Shotmakers” (Ben Hogan's values, right?) We delivered on that promise with pure performance values and the visual art of a well-designed golf club. And we made a commitment to golf professionals as our only “partners” in the business.  Reid Lockhart was a tough learning experience, but that which doesn't break you makes you stronger, it is often said.

In the early 2000s, we decided to start another golf company . . . a wedge company. We named it “EIDOLON”, as we liked the definition of that obscure word – the image of an ideal.

When the USGA changed the rules regarding grooves, the rest of the wedge industry simply put the new conforming grooves on their old wedge designs. We went in an entirely different direction . . .

A More Accurate System For Scoring

With this change in grooves, I saw an opportunity, and a need, to completely re-design the short end of the set – all the high-loft clubs we have long called “wedges”, and even down to the 9-iron lofts.

So SCOR Golf was born in 2011. Its mission was to revolutionize the short end of the set, turning these left-in-the-past clubs we call “wedges” into precision scoring clubs, and to dramatically improve the 9-iron and ‘P-club” – which look like a 6-iron but don't work very well at all. We completely re-engineered weight placement to deliver the most consistent full-swing trajectories and distance control in the category (Iron Byron proves that, by the way). Our SC3™ Progressive Weighting applies slightly different mass distribution to each club in the set. Each individual club – from 41 to 61 degrees – was designed to optimize ball flight for that particular loft.

They have earned Golf Digest Hot List recognition three years running.   They were the top rated wedges tested in GOLF Magazine's ClubTest in 2013, and a top performer in 2014. And they have built a loyal following, simply because they work better than whatever else might be in your bag.

So now that you know where we came from, we can begin to tell the story of how it came about that the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company is returning to golf.

Hmmmm, the image of an ideal . . . .

Please stay tuned.

 

[markb]

Good stuff!  I can tell you that I am more interested in this relaunch now, having tried and bagged 5 Scor Wedges 41 to 58, than I was before!   I can't wait to see what their take on a new Hogan will be.   Some sort of progressive weight and cavity is a must I think.

[SeeRed]

Also having bagged Eidolon and now SCOR wedges, my opinion is that the Hogan equipment brand is in very good hands. Very excited to see what comes of it.

[ZenGolfer]

Pretty cool.  Sounds like they are committed to reviving the Hogan brand. 

[markb]

For my money, they could simply transition a forged Hogan set of irons 4 - 8 iron straight into the existing Scor 41 to 61 progressive wedges and if they had a progressively deeper cavities, they'd probably be fine.  The existing Scor brushed satin finish would look Hoganesque and a BH sunburst logo would not look out of place.   Since Eidolon already chooses great shafts and grips (KBS, UST and Lamkin) I can't complain on any count.   When I think about it, that's only 5 more clubs than I have now, 4i 5i 6i 7i 8i.   Not even really a "set" in the traditional sense.    If they keep the same online ordering mechanism and the Hogan irons appear to transition into Scor wedges, they'll get a lot of existing Scor fans who simply expand their Eidolon sets upwards into Hogan.    Guys who have hit Scor, tend to stay loyal.

 

[revkev]

It has been a long time since I have been this excited about a golf club release. I would love a bag full of SCOR/hogans. I will want to be the first kid on the block with this one.

[Kenny B]

It has been a long time since I have been this excited about a golf club release. I would love a bag full of SCOR/hogans. I will want to be the first kid on the block with this one.

 

+1 on that!  

Looking forward to it.

[markb]

I just went to benhogan.com and noticed some very interesting things.   First of all, benhogan.com seems to be a Perry Ellis website, but it contains a link to the benhogangolf.com, which seems to be an Eidolon/Scor website.   It appears that the two companies are cooperating and maybe even working closely together, which I think is a very good thing and perhaps even necessary, since a third company (Callaway) owns Apex and Edge and another company in Texas (which I will not deign to name) is putting out some high-priced Hoganesque irons made in the old Ft. Worth factory and further muddying the waters.  

 

PE owns the sunburst BH logo, it seems.   Will they share or license it to Eidolon?   The BH apparel that I've seen PE put out so far at Walmart is actually pretty good and very low priced.   Will PE introduce a more upscale line in coordination with 2015 roll out of clubs?   It looks like the answer may be yes.  

 

There is also a link to Balls and gear, indicating we'll see the return of BH balls as well.   In case you don't remember, BH made some fantastic and spinny urethane balls before they shut down.   I played a found one recently and it was every bit as good as a ProV.   It also looks like they are going to sell everything through green-grass fitters, not via an online store.

 

All very interesting developments.

[whiskey golf]

I would be into this if SCOR produced the rest of the set. 

[MattF]

I just went to benhogan.com and noticed some very interesting things.   First of all, benhogan.com seems to be a Perry Ellis website, but it contains a link to the benhogangolf.com, which seems to be an Eidolon/Scor website.   It appears that the two companies are cooperating and maybe even working closely together, which I think is a very good thing and perhaps even necessary, since a third company (Callaway) owns Apex and Edge and another company in Texas (which I will not deign to name) is putting out some high-priced Hoganesque irons made in the old Ft. Worth factory and further muddying the waters.  

 

PE owns the sunburst BH logo, it seems.   Will they share or license it to Eidolon?   The BH apparel that I've seen PE put out so far at Walmart is actually pretty good and very low priced.   Will PE introduce a more upscale line in coordination with 2015 roll out of clubs?   It looks like the answer may be yes.  

 

There is also a link to Balls and gear, indicating we'll see the return of BH balls as well.   In case you don't remember, BH made some fantastic and spinny urethane balls before they shut down.   I played a found one recently and it was every bit as good as a ProV.   It also looks like they are going to sell everything through green-grass fitters, not via an online store.

 

All very interesting developments.

 

Perry Ellis bought what remained of the Ben Hogan company some years ago (Except the APEX name). And yes, Perry Ellis and SCOR are collaberating on the irons/company. In fact, Perry Ellis and SCOR have been working on the deal since, I believe, last year.

 

The Ben Hogan clothing, made by Perry Ellis, is sold at Walmart...actually quality goods.

[fozcycle]

With these prices, why would you shop anywhere else for golf clothing?

 

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?ic=16_0&Find=Find&search_query=ben+hogan&Find=Find&search_constraint=0

 

 

I am impressed. Somebody should do a review regarding comfort and quality.....possibly the best value in golf clothing?

[markb]

Trust me, go to your local Walmart, go to the men's sportswear corner (a place you've never noticed before) and touch the real goods.   They won't have much, but you'll like what you see.   It'll be a bit more than the on-line specials, but not much more.

[fozcycle]

I am not a Walmart person, but one just opened less than a mile from my house.  I will definitely take a gander at the Ben Hogan apparel they have to offer.

[MattF]

I've got 2 pairs of shorts and 3 or 4 shirts and am impressed with them. The quality is good and ther performance is, to me, the same as the $50 Nike etc golf shirts.

[markb]

Just had a long talk with Barry at Scor as I was ordering a custom Scor 41 bent to 40 to match my Speedblade 9.   He disclaimed "not for publication" on much of what he said, but we spent a good amount of time talking about the new Hogans.   He wouldn't comment on whether they will be progressive or not, but they will have the V-sole and he said that existing Scor fans should find it very easy to transition into Hogan mid irons.  

 

This made me very happy, because I keep creeping upwards replacing one club after another with a new Scor.  I can make these replacements by knowing the loft, length, flex, shaft weight, and lie of the club I'm trying replace.   I'd buy a Scor "8" or even a "7" right now if it existed.    Barry doesn't like to think in terms of the numbers on the bottoms of the clubs, he likes to think in terms of loft length and lie.   So I'd really need a Scor 35 and a 30.   I can't see myself ever hitting a forged 4 iron consistently, but you could probably pull my GI seven or eight away from me.   I might very well end up buying 3 or 4 Hogan clubs in the middle of the set and no more.

 

Don't expect to see the Hogans until about March however.  That makes sense, winter is dead anyway.   Maybe we'll see some peeks around the PGA show, I dunno.

[Kenny B]

I am thinking the same thing. Might get one more SCOR for my 9-iron.

 

I asked Barry about the shafts hoping I could buy a few to convert my Macgregors from 8 down to 5; he said they don't sell the shafts. Rats! I am loving the Genius 9. But if they come up with Hogan mid irons that match the SCORs, I could be happy with those if they have the same shaft.

[RoverRick]

I bought two pairs of Ben Hogan shorts from Walmart in June '13.  I have worn them to play golf at least 50-70 times during this period, and washed them accordingly.  My wife is rather insistent about that type of thing.  What is interesting is I also bought some Nike golf shirts at the same time and have worn the shirts a few more times because of weather, but Hogan shorts have held up better than the Nike shirts.  The shirts have lost about 40% of their color and the shorts look as good as the day they were opened.

[Aotearoa_Brad]

I bought two pairs of Ben Hogan shorts from Walmart in June '13.  I have worn them to play golf at least 50-70 times during this period, and washed them accordingly.  My wife is rather insistent about that type of thing.  

 

...just for clarity Rick... is your wife insistent that you wash your shorts after you play golf... or that you actually wear shorts when you play golf...