Ben Hogan Closes its doors

[BIG STU]

8 hours ago, BadgerRick said:

Don't sleep on New Level golf too, Steven Alker uses the 623 CB's. I got a very lightly used set, and they feel great.

Yep and he is doing very well on the Senior Tour this year too

[BIG STU]

11 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... Soap Box Warning! What really pi$$es me off is the tobacco industry pays a fortune for actors to smoke in films. Is a teenager going to be more influenced by a TV/Print AD or a cool character smoking in a film? For transparency I have never taken a single puff in my life and when I was 10 my Mom started smoking. I refused to talk to her and after a week she quit but was pretty mad at me. She is in her mid 90's and just yesterday she thanked me again for stopping her before she could get started. 

Man when and where I grew up everyone smoked---- I never did I took up chewing because of my Grand Dad. Of course growing up in NC it was a "tobacco state"  I smoke a cigar on the course every now and then.

Now I guess in the 70s it was starting to get some stigma. I can remember in the Summer Months the Old Man employed some teachers to work in the club house. They smoked. My Old Man  talked to me one time just before school started. Told me not to say anything at school about Miss or Mrs such and such and such smoking and drinking beer at the golf course. I did as I was told but gave no thought to it because everyone in my world smoked. Now I do remember in high school we had designated smoking areas in the Quardangle for those students over 16 to smoke. Just one of the things I never did. I never hung out with that bunch either. Now I will admit in those days I did smoke quite a few left handed Marlboros. For me it was a thing. I remember at 16 or so everyone thought Pot was great. I shrugged it off as well meh I had been doing it since I was like 14 being around some of the adult element I was around

[BIG STU]

11 hours ago, MGoBlue100 said:

Had to have this shirt a couple years ago.  You're never as cool as Hogan, lighting one smoke off another...

That is the way my old man was--- He used a lighter one time a day that was when he got up and lit the first one. He died of old age and natural causes too never had cancer or COPD

[BIG STU]

9 hours ago, Frye said:

If they decide to sell off inventory, I would definitely be interested in picking up a few things.

If and I say if they indeed shut down and do that. More than likely companies like DTG or Hierko or maybe even Golfworks may buy the remaining inventory. A lot of it depends on and I say if again how it works out with the creditors and if bankrupty court is involved---- All of this is just mere speculation on my part I also say this too the remaining inventory may be scrapped for the quick buck to pay off creditors too. I still have contacts in the scrap industry and a couple of restricted industry sites I can go on and i will keep an eye out

[MattF]

13 hours ago, [email protected] said:

Where in the original post does it note the company is going or is out of business? 
What I did see was an issue - technical difficulties - engineers working on the site and to check back.

Where in that does it state the Ben Hogan Company has closed? 

From other sources, they let all the staff go last week. @GolfSpy Barbajo tweeted about it last night. Looks like he spoke to the CEO and pretty much confirmed it.

BTW MGS, you're welcome for breaking the story here.

[GolfSpy_APH]

Sucks to see but also not a big surprise. 

IMHO this is what I'd like to see with the Hogan brand... I would love to see a company like Cobra or Callaway or another OEM purchase the naming rights and do a special edition Ben Hogan series ever 3 or so years. Callaway may make the most sense as they were the ones who kept the Hogan original apex iron name, but just maybe for Cobra it could be a cost too and add a touch more Heritage to the brand. 

Anyway just a thought. Outside of old old Hogan irons i never had a chance to hit any. Being a lefty there often weren't a ton of options.

[null]

12 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Sucks to see but also not a big surprise. 

IMHO this is what I'd like to see with the Hogan brand... I would love to see a company like Cobra or Callaway or another OEM purchase the naming rights and do a special edition Ben Hogan series ever 3 or so years. Callaway may make the most sense as they were the ones who kept the Hogan original apex iron name, but just maybe for Cobra it could be a cost too and add a touch more Heritage to the brand. 

Anyway just a thought. Outside of old old Hogan irons i never had a chance to hit any. Being a lefty there often weren't a ton of options.

Not too outside the box. Callaway already purchased Hogan golf in 2003. They bought the brand and kept most of the IP and then sold the Ben Hogan brand in 2012. In early 2014, Callaway launched their now industry leading Apex iron brands. Apex was a name attained when they bought Hogan

[bens197]

Reading John’s blog post is interesting when considering ExWorks’ role.  
 

Zero chance PE finances a company that can’t make them money yet, Hogan CEO says they would be in business if they had funding. That tells me they were doing well with new product and new lines of irons. 
 

So it may have actually been a profitable venture, they were just choked out by their financier.  

[Golfspy_CG2]

link to the Blog Home page article by @golfspy ba

https://mygolfspy.com/ben-hogan-has-closed-for-good/

[WiTerp50]

22 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

As usual, you are 100% spot on sir

22 hours ago, BIG STU said:

And if you ask some people what brand over the years has won more majors they would say Callaway or TM etc. Even a confirmed etched Macgregor man knows and admits the answer is Wilson

Being LH, I gravitated to Ping and Titleist for full line options. I can’t even find a LH Wilson or Tour Edge to try, let alone get fit. Other DTC companies are a problem as I am, unfortunately, not the average player to use stock options. Even flow putters are intriguing but I don’t live in Southern California. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

19 minutes ago, WiTerp50 said:

Being LH, I gravitated to Ping and Titleist for full line options. I can’t even find a LH Wilson or Tour Edge to try, let alone get fit. Other DTC companies are a problem as I am, unfortunately, not the average player to use stock options. Even flow putters are intriguing but I don’t live in Southern California. 

Need to check out Sub70. They are what I think are the best for availability of LH options across their whole lineup. 

[vandyland]

17 hours ago, BadgerRick said:

Don't sleep on New Level golf too, Steven Alker uses the 623 CB's. I got a very lightly used set, and they feel great.

A year ago I went on a demo splurge and I hit Sub 70 639 CBs vs PTxPros vs 902 Forged (older New Level Model) vs MODB-1 (older New Level Model) and found all of the build quality and performance to be as good as the Major OEM stuff. On a pure center strike, nothing felt better than the 639 CBs but my overall dispersion and performance was best with the PTxPros. The New Level irons performed very well and were solid in all areas and I could have easily gamed them as well. I think, for me, the aesthetics of the Hogans put them over the top. I want as many options as possible going forward and I think that irons are tools you can keep around for years and years so choosing them is no small process. I was pretty painstaking in doing 4-5 outdoor trackman sessions to make sure I had the best irons, for me. That said, many people do not have the time or patience to "fit" themselves and, candidly, I was only able to do that after I had used a real fitter to fit me into an iron shaft profile (Modus 120 / KBS Tour 120) that I liked. After that, it was just finding a head that gave me what I wanted from a feedback and forgiveness balance (more feedback typically means less forgiveness) as well as a turf interaction standpoint (I found I liked the v-sole of the hogans). 

 

All that is to say, LONG LIVE THE DTCs! Especially for irons and wedges where I don't know that there is that much "tech" to be enjoyed anymore. Companies like those mentioned above as well as Haywood (I wished I had demoed those as well but, at the time, their demo inventory was low but they make BEAUTIFUL clubs) will hopefully stay afloat and keep making good product.

[hartrick11]

When I hit the $800mm mega millions jackpot I will go ahead and buy the company. After all, someone needs to carry the torch offering the beautiful and indestructible DBM finish 

[Middler]

Sad I guess, I hadn't seen or considered BH clubs for at least 20 years. I remember when MacGregor, Haig Ultra, Founders Club, Wilson and others were kings - no more, and they aren't coming back in any significant way though Wilson continues to try.

[chisag]

11 hours ago, BIG STU said:

The most iconic Hogan irons ever were the 54 Precisions and the Endo forged 99 Apex--- Even though I am a Mac man I have a set of each.

 

... Back when I cared about the aesthetics I thought the Apex 99's were the most beautiful iron I had ever seen and ordered a set. Posted this before but I played them a few rounds and the performance was excellent but I found them just too crisp feeling for my tastes and took them back and exchanged them for some MP33's that were very soft feeling irons. I was at the range next to a young Asian kid in his early 20's just striping a new set of Apex 99's and asked him how he liked them. He said he loved them and had just traded in his MP33's because they felt like "mush" and he loved the crisper feeling 99's that had much better feedback. I told him I loved the soft feel of the 33's as the 99's felt like a cast stainless steel iron heads and we both had a good laugh. I had not been reviewing clubs very long at that time and it was a valuable lesson that "feel" is not universal. 

[fixyurdivot]

22 hours ago, TPIClub_Pro said:

Its a fitting end to a company who has had its peaks and valleys over the years. I find it odd that nobody mention that if today is the day they closed their doors it is exactly the date Mr. Hogan passed away in 1997. Kind of ironic when you think about it!

It's also a little eerie, melodramatic, and contrived at the same time... presuming it is true.  I personally hate seeing companies like this go under.  There is so much rich history, particularly for those of us who grew up with them being the top names in golf during their heyday.  Fast forward a decade or two, or three, and there could very well be a similar thread about one of today's market dynamo's closing up shop. 

[fixyurdivot]

5 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

link to the Blog Home page article by @golfspy ba

https://mygolfspy.com/ben-hogan-has-closed-for-good/

Perry Ellis associated with LIV by any chance?   I'm sure there is another side of the story and perhaps Hogan was simply not making money (or enough anyway) but if that investment group wanted out, why not sell the trademark license back?  Clearly they have no scruples as it pertains to golf history and what Hogan means to the game. 

[BIG STU]

1 hour ago, chisag said:

 

... Back when I cared about the aesthetics I thought the Apex 99's were the most beautiful iron I had ever seen and ordered a set. Posted this before but I played them a few rounds and the performance was excellent but I found them just too crisp feeling for my tastes and took them back and exchanged them for some MP33's that were very soft feeling irons. I was at the range next to a young Asian kid in his early 20's just striping a new set of Apex 99's and asked him how he liked them. He said he loved them and had just traded in his MP33's because they felt like "mush" and he loved the crisper feeling 99's that had much better feedback. I told him I loved the soft feel of the 33's as the 99's felt like a cast stainless steel iron heads and we both had a good laugh. I had not been reviewing clubs very long at that time and it was a valuable lesson that "feel" is not universal. 

Yep feel ia an acquired personal thing-- I played 33s for a while and liked them and to me like the 99 Apex have a softer feel than any of my Mac blades. But then again I prefer the more harder harsh feel of Mac irons. 

[chisag]

5 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

Yep feel ia an acquired personal thing-- I played 33s for a while and liked them and to me like the 99 Apex have a softer feel than any of my Mac blades. But then again I prefer the more harder harsh feel of Mac irons. 

 

... Exactly why I started adding to my reviews "If you like a crisp (soft) feel these should work well for you" kinda comments, instead of saying softer irons have "a perfect feel". 

[MacTourney]

13 hours ago, BIG STU said:

Yes and this is harsh here so forgive me--- It turns my stomach everytime I hear " Apex" mentioned when associated with Callaway---- A company that owned Spalding at the time purchased Hogan and then Callaway purchased the whole ball of wax. They basically killed off Spalding selling the Top Flite branding to DSG and the Hogan brand to whoever. But they did keep the rights to the Iconic Apex name

Still burns my ass and Ely can kiss my roses!  

[BIG STU]

12 hours ago, MattF said:

From other sources, they let all the staff go last week. @GolfSpy Barbajo tweeted about it last night. Looks like he spoke to the CEO and pretty much confirmed it.

BTW MGS, you're welcome for breaking the story here.

Golf Monthly confirmed it a few hours ago

[BIG STU]

16 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

link to the Blog Home page article by @golfspy ba

https://mygolfspy.com/ben-hogan-has-closed-for-good/

As usual John is on top of things

[BIG STU]

19 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Sucks to see but also not a big surprise. 

IMHO this is what I'd like to see with the Hogan brand... I would love to see a company like Cobra or Callaway or another OEM purchase the naming rights and do a special edition Ben Hogan series ever 3 or so years. Callaway may make the most sense as they were the ones who kept the Hogan original apex iron name, but just maybe for Cobra it could be a cost too and add a touch more Heritage to the brand. 

Anyway just a thought. Outside of old old Hogan irons i never had a chance to hit any. Being a lefty there often weren't a ton of options.

I love your heartfelt sentiment on this. In reality Cally had the chance and blew it and like I said it turns my stomach to see or hear " Callaway Apex Irons". I do not think any major brand would put in the effort to keep the name and traditions. In todays marketing I can see the decision makers saying and the general population too "Hogan ? man those are old peoples clubs". Mainstream folks today in general are not interested in tradition. I can see a somewhat quandry now if one of the big companies ressurected the brand. They would want to make a super jacked GI or CB iron and folks like us screaming no no no. One of Mr Hogans famous quotes attributed about the time Pings came out was " no club with a hole in the head is going to bear my name as long as I am alive" Of course you know what happened after he passed. First set of Edge forged CBs I saw I thought Ben Hogan has rolled in his grave. I get a chuckle out of that quote everytine I look at my newer Hogan TK 15 wedge. It is not CB per say but does have that scallop in the back. It hits ok per say but I have distance control issues with it. 

[BIG STU]

10 hours ago, MacTourney said:

Still burns my ass and Ely can kiss my roses!  

Do not remember if I said it on here or WRX but it bears repeating--- Do not get me started either on Golfsmith and Macgregor. Another thing that gets my hackles up again involving Callaway is Roger Cleveland and Callaway. Man I may have to take an extra BP med this morning

[MyWifesSwingCoach]

On 7/26/2022 at 12:03 AM, tucker_jct said:

along with my Sub70 TAIIIs in my bag

Hey Tucker, I don't want to hijack the thread too much but I would love to hear more about your experience with the TAIIIs. You should do an unofficial review or even just a thread about them.

They are on my short list for my next set, along with the Maltby TS3s or TS4s that are due to come out in the next year

[MyWifesSwingCoach]

18 hours ago, hartrick11 said:

When I hit the $800mm mega millions jackpot I will go ahead and buy the company. After all, someone needs to carry the torch offering the beautiful and indestructible DBM finish 

You might need that money to fill up your gas tank haha

But GolfWorks offers an iron set in a DBM finish just an fyi

[BIG STU]

Ok someone please explain this to me--- If the Hogan company is closed down then why are they running commercials on the GC? Saw one just an hour ago and no I am not smoking any left handed Marlboros. It was on about 2:00 PM EST today 7/27/22

[chisag]

1 minute ago, BIG STU said:

Ok someone please explain this to me--- If the Hogan company is closed down then why are they running commercials on the GC? Saw one just an hour ago and no I am not smoking any left handed Marlboros. It was on about 2:00 PM EST today 7/27/22

 

... It is amazing how inept TV is when it comes to ads. These ads are already paid for and in the que to run, so they run them. Also a chance it was a mistake. There just isn't any checks and balances to see if ads are still relevant. 

[cnosil]

4 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

Ok someone please explain this to me--- If the Hogan company is closed down then why are they running commercials on the GC? Saw one just an hour ago and no I am not smoking any left handed Marlboros. It was on about 2:00 PM EST today 7/27/22

Most likely the spots were paid for and they are just running as scheduled.   

[MyWifesSwingCoach]

15 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Most likely the spots were paid for and they are just running as scheduled.   

Things have to run smoothly you know... otherwise this is what you get lol