Ben Hogan Irons from Eidolon Golf

[jbil8802]

Got the "special offer" email today as I'm sure some others here have that we can reserve our Hogan irons now. I clicked on the link for the heck of it and was directed straight into a shopping cart on the SCOR golf website with a "Ben Hogan Club Reservation" item in the cart with a price tag of $500. Like a lot of you guys, I'm very excited about the irons but I'm not thrilled with the idea of putting down a $500 deposit for something that I haven't even seen yet. What do you guys think?

[t5timesb]

I saw this mentioned else where.  I was starting to wonder what is going on over there.  

 

I don't have $500 to just throw down for something I cannot see, but have a few buddies who might be interested.  

 

My favorite part was the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5bh_2J2t5c

[wbealsd]

I hope to demo them in a few weeks. I don't plan to make a deposit unless I've tried them out and made a decision to purchase.

[Kenny B]

The $500 is only the deposit, not the total. I'm sure we haven't heard the last from them.

[revkev]

I got the same offer. Not only is it hard to put a deposit on something you haven't seen but how about on something that you don't know the price tag for?

 

I'm anxious to see and try these irons but certainly not that anxious.

 

Let's see what comes next.

[xxio]

IMHO Not a good sign when a company is asking for a "deposit" or a pre-sell/reservation. Unless they honestly think their product is so limited and will run out. Otherwise it is either a cashflow or an equity issue.

[markb]

Yeah, not a good sign.   

 

Now if it was combined with some sort of discounted Kickstarter guarantee, like for the first 500 who popped for $500 then they'd get a 4 to PW set, well I'd jump and so would many others, sight unseen, just based on what we know of Scor.   But paying a reservation fee, which gives me the distinct privilege of paying MORE once I do get to see a set?   No thank you.   I'll wait.  There is residual love for Hogan and respect for Scor -- but not THAT much of either!

 

I'm halfway in the bag to buying endo forged Srixon 745's with the v-sole anyway.

[Aotearoa_Brad]

Hmmm.... Not an ideal scenario at all!!!

[RoverRick]

I don't see how you can say this is a bad sign. They are not saying that they need the money to develop the product. On the contrary, this is a much anticipated product. People are asking about when it will be revealed, and how much, and all kinds of questions. I would not be surprised that a significant number of inquires have been made about getting the first sets and how to go about this.

 

Solution? Here, send me $500 and you can be at the front of the line.

 

I am not, nor can I ever foresee sending my $500, but some people may have done it, and, what the heck, let's send out an email and see if we have any other takers. $500 buys a lot of email stamps.

 

And even if there are no takers, we are once again talking and speculating about Ben Hogan Golf Clubs.

[jbil8802]

I don't necessarily think it's a bad sign. Just not thrilled with shelling out $500 on something I may or may not like once I actually get some type of information about. They do stress that you'll be able to get your deposit back easily if you end up not wanting them. At the most I'd be ordering 5-9 irons so maybe that's why the $500 deposit seems steep to me.

[markb]

Well, if they are using this to see how we test the waters, then they are noticing how we are squealing "too cold" and turning away.   And if MGS'ers are doing it (we're about the biggest Hogan/Scor homers on the net) what are others doing?

[Ace of Clubs Golf Co.]

I would never put down deposit for a set of golf clubs that I have never seen or demoed prior. But I might pick up a set if they look and feel anything like the 1999 Apex Blades.

[SeeRed]

Also received the email and took it as a "here's your opportunity to get in first" sort of a thing. Financial commitment from your customers is not usually a bad thing, I don't think. Pretty sure enough buzz has been generated over the return of the Hogan brand, and under Eidolon/SCOR supervision no less, that the company have received a fair number of pre-orders.

 

However, I'm curious but, like many others here, not curious enough to plunk down $500 on something I know nothing about. Can't wait to see 'em, though!

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

One offshoot of this, whether you make a deposit or not, is that it's building anticipation. Doesn't matter if anyone pre-orders or not - it's getting the brand name out there and people are talking about Hogan. Rick is correct above in stating that regardless of whether we send in any money, another day has gone by with Ben Hogan clubs being discussed on MGS.

 

Personally - can't remember the last time I was this interested in a club release.

[revkev]

One offshoot of this, whether you make a deposit or not, is that it's building anticipation. Doesn't matter if anyone pre-orders or not - it's getting the brand name out there and people are talking about Hogan. Rick is correct above in stating that regardless of whether we send in any money, another day has gone by with Ben Hogan clubs being discussed on MGS.

 

Personally - can't remember the last time I was this interested in a club release.

No doubt - I'm exceedingly content with my current gamers but these irons will tempt me. If you've read the 5 (7) questions with T my irons are right on the edge of what I can stand to look at. I don't mind them so much at address but I hate them in the bag. I was just looking at them when I put my beautiful SCOR wedge back in the bag and I wished that they were gone.

 

Having written that I've shot two sub par rounds in the past month and one even. I'm not plunking down $500 when I'm already playing with house money.

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

No doubt - I'm exceedingly content with my current gamers but these irons will tempt me. If you've read the 5 (7) questions with T my irons are right on the edge of what I can stand to look at. I don't mind them so much at address but I hate them in the bag. I was just looking at them when I put my beautiful SCOR wedge back in the bag and I wished that they were gone.

 

Having written that I've shot two sub par rounds in the past month and one even. I'm not plunking down $500 when I'm already playing with house money.

 

Ha ha!!  There's "need" and then there's "want."  Which one wins??? For me, need is like the Jacksonville Jaguars - a perennial also-ran.  It' like 1 and 15 this season...

[Kenny B]

Will they make me a better player? Probably not. Do I want them? Hell yes, if they are like the SCORs. Just have to wait and see.

 

I don't think we have heard the last from the Ben Hogan Golf Co. before they hit the streets.

[markb]

After another astonishingly good day on the links from the Scors today (24 of 27 greens hit, 3 kick in birdies due to pin sticking with Scors), I'm back to the cult of the starry-eyed devotees.  But I still don't want to pay $500 on a dream.

 

But here's what I would do in A NEW YORK MINUTE -- ARE YOU LISTENING Terry and Barry?

 

I'll give you $125 right now, sight unseen, for a 6, 7 or 8 iron. 

 

I'm assuming that these will be $1000 sets, 3 thru E.   They'll be forged and so they couldn't be less.   I don't care if you stamp Hello KItty on it instead of Bantam Ben.   I'll take whatever you produce, whenever you decide to ship it.   I'll use that 7 or 8 to make my go or no go decision and expect no refunds.  

 

Hell, as that 7 demo club gets passed around, you'll probably sell ten sets.   We all know that once a guy gets a Scor in his hands, you can't pry it out again.

[xxio]

^^that would be a lot better than this $500 strategy. Single demo clubs, I would get an E and probably a 6i to try.

 

I don't mind the reservation fee strategy. I have seen it work, just not at 50% or more of what msrp would be. That is why I mentioned cash flow, it is the amount that gets me wondering. If they took off a 0 alarms would not be going off.

[Kenny B]

When I talked to Barry on my 42 purchase, he said that those of us that bought SCORs would get some kind of deal when the Hogans came out. Like I said before, I expect them to send us an offer soon. I will be disappointed if they don't.

 

I would like to hear from SCOR that we can get the Hogans in the same SCOR configuration as we have on file. I like the idea of a trial club built to our specs since we probably won't see them in stores for awhile, and then only select ones.

 

I'm still worried that since my SCORs start at my 9-iron, I won't be able to get a partial set. Tell me I can and I will feel better about the wait.

[jbil8802]

If they didn't allow us guys with SCORs to order partial sets I'd be extremely disappointed.

[jbil8802]

Second email received just now.

 

[Kenny B]

Wow! That was quick. Now I feel better; at least he answered part of my question. Partial set.

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Wow! That was quick. Now I feel better; at least he answered part of my question. Partial set.

 

It's almost like they have - gulp - a plan!

 

This is gonna be fun to watch unfold...

[xxio]

Can someone ask why such a high reservation fee?

 

It actually limits the amount of people that will reserve. Being out $500 for a month is not a joke to me anyway.

 

I guess they are wanting their product to be exclusive.

[revkev]

I got the same email and thought the same thing as Barbajo. My gripe on the worst release thread is that several OEMS appear to have no direction to the outsider. This however looks very carefully choreographed. The additional information, that I may order individual clus, is huge.

 

Next up is will they flow smoothly from my strongest SCOR a (44) and into my weakest hybrid (5). Perhaps there will be hybrids to come, who knows.

 

It's fun to speculate but if I could pick these off piece meal or at a reasonable price as a SCOR owner I could be enticed. I won my FFB a league and have a nice check coming. It will be my made money for a while. There are worse ways to invest it. ☺

[markb]

That's a nice response.   Partial sets is good.   I think, but I'm not sure, that you will even be able to specify the degree of loft of each club in the set as a part of the total custom fit.  

 

When you think of it like that, and assuming the full set costs $1000 - $1200, a $500 deposit isn't much.   It's a 4 club deposit.

[revkev]

That's a nice response.   Partial sets is good.   I think, but I'm not sure, that you will even be able to specify the degree of loft of each club in the set as a part of the total custom fit.  

 

When you think of it like that, and assuming the full set costs $1000 - $1200, a $500 deposit isn't much.   It's a 4 club deposit.

 

 

I do agree that it's not much if you are thinking 8 clubs @ 150 give or take a few.  I'm wondering if you can name your loft also.  That would take some serious work for most people - The shortest SCOR that I have is a 44 - so do you go for 4 degree gaps or 5 or is there a proper alternating pattern?  I'm used to adjusting my clubs at one end or the other but in the middle not so much and I'm fairly well educated about equipment.

 

Here's the other concern I have with degree only (I'm not saying that will be the case. I've just been thinking about it.  Right now it's very easy for me to tell the difference between a 6 and a 7 and I pull the proper club quickly or toss it aside if I've got both without much difficulty.

 

What if I have 40,44,48?  Could you see where confusion might set in?  Now what if it's cart path only.  I had the 44,48 out earlier and put them back in the wrong slots.  I see the 40, grab it and what I think is the 44, walk to my ball and it's the 48 but I need the 44 -

 

I see chaos if that is the case.

 

Alright so I've been sitting and working too hard ...... Time to get ready for church service number 1 or wait is that number 3 or 2?

[Kenny B]

I'm also concerned about the shaft. If I remember correctly, rev has the Genius 7 UST graphite, I have the Genius 9 UST graphite, and I think markb has steel shaft from KBS. Will the Hogans have the same shaft selections? If not, some or all of us might not get a similar feel from the Hogans as our SCORs. The Genius 9 shaft feels great to me. If I can't have that shaft, it might be a game changer for me.

[xxio]

At this point I just hope it lives up to the discussion that is being generated. The MM protos lived up to the hype. The Detour didn't "revolutionize putting". I hope the new Hogans belong to the former.

 

I would have rather had a moderate build ip, the a blitzkrieg.

 

My far out theory on the $500 based on my limited experience in sales. ...Cash is always easier to spend during the holidays. Their product rolls out when people have spent their Christmas, Boxing day, New Years money. Better to get that money in their direction now. Teaser pics of manufacturing and/or finished product would have gotten a few more deposits.