When Callaway eventually sold its rights to Perry Ellis in 2012 - it retained key pieces of the Hogan brand like the Apex and Edge names - there was a belief that Hogan had officially disappeared into the equipment abyss.įollowing eight months of discussions with Perry Ellis, the two companies came to partnership agreement that will see Koehler's Eidolon Brands start producing irons under the Ben Hogan name in 2015. Until recently, there was little hope within the industry that the equipment line would ever be revived. For the past seven years, Hogan irons have been scooped up and stockpiled by collectors. However, following a successful stretch in the late 1990s, Hogan started to lose ground to the competition after Top-Flite Golf (which owned Top-Flite, Strata and Ben Hogan) was acquired by Callaway for $125 million in a bankruptcy agreement in 2003.Ĭallaway eventually halted production of Hogan equipment in 2008, closing the doors on the iconic brand. The company enjoyed 40 years of success in the industry thanks, in large part, to that loyalty and reverence for the man who created the company.
Both, fittingly enough, were Texans and proud to play the Hogan brand.Īlthough the Hogan line of clubs was never a juggernaut in professional golf equipment, its irons always had a loyal following amongst professionals and amateurs alike.
Justin Leonard followed the next year, winning the 1997 Open Championship. Mark Brooks won the 1996 PGA Championship using Hogan irons. Open with a set of custom-made Hogan irons and wedges (Hogan personally delivered the wedges).
Jack Fleck, a former municipal course pro from Iowa, stunned the golf world when he beat Hogan in a playoff at the 1955 U.S. Hogan's equipment company also had a major presence in professional golf.
While the statement may have seemed a little presumptuous at the time, it didn't take long for Hogan to translate his grasp on the mechanics of the game and start producing simple, efficient irons that were ahead of the times in terms of innovation and design.ĭuring the next five decades, the Ben Hogan Company produced some of the most popular iron models in golf history, from the original Apex design to the highly successful Edge that featured the feel of forged with the benefits of perimeter-weighting. When Hogan decided to cut back on his playing schedule and open up his Fort Worth equipment company in 1953, he noted in a letter to pro shops that he had what he believed were the "finest golf clubs ever made." Just saying those words to an equipment enthusiast usually elicits a feeling of nostalgia for the forged irons that were a staple of the company for more than 50 years. "These clubs shall be as near perfect as modern day tools and instruments can perform." - Ben Hogan Since then, the Ben Hogan line has been dormant, fading into memory even as Hogan's legacy itself endures. Eleven years later, the last shipment of golf clubs with the Ben Hogan name were produced, a victim of business shortcomings more than club quality. "I'm a Hogan disciple," Koehler unabashedly declares.
It was the thrill of a lifetime and also the most intimidating. For a three-year period in the 1990s, Koehler actually worked for the legend as the marketing director for the Ben Hogan Company. He is a walking Hogan encyclopedia.īut his association with Hogan is more than just mere fan. Open? The number of 5s Hogan had on his scorecard at the 1950 Greenbrier Pro-Am? The number of consecutive greens Hogan hit during the 1960 U.S. While discussing Hogan's career, he can rattle off stats and records, even the most obscure ones. In his office, Koehler has a variety of Hogan mementoes. That reverance and respect for Hogan continues to this day. His very first set of clubs were cut-down Hogan 5- and 9-irons. The textbooks of his youth were Hogan's "Power Golf" and "Five Lessons," two of the sport's seminal instructional books. Terry Koehler is a fourth-generation Texan and loves golf, so it's no surprise that he grew up idolizing Ben Hogan.