Ben Hogan Golf - Can they survive?

I hope they do, I'd love nothing more than to have another set of Hogans in the hogan staff bag. They were by far my favorite brand of clubs and brought me a great sense of pride playing well with them.
 
It will go the same way every company Terry Koehler has been part of.
 
Gof equipment is a tough industry. I think they should start with a very narrow focus and grow the company there first.

It takes a lot of resources, human and capital, to succeed in one area let alone multiple. They may find themselves stretched too thin to survive.
 
Ben Hogan Golf - Can they survive?

Balance sheet (especially working capital) and income statement will tell the story. You can be a small fish and make money so long as inventory management is good and you hold margins steady..Being a big fish in the golf business seems to be a recipe for losses...TM and Callaway (up until recently). Margins in the golf business stink...give you one example. In 1997 Callaway had $848 million in sales and made $132 million. In 2015 they had $843 million in sales and made...$15 million. There is no room for error anymore.

So no. Ben Hogan will not survive.
 
The hogan name lives with diehard fans. I just don't see that as enough to keep the company relevant. It's more of a boutique product at this point and I don't see enough chatter happening to keep interest up.

The owner has passion and has brought some great products to market. But in the end they fizzled out.

If given the choice between the BH hybrid and Apex, I see more going Apex. Same with the irons. I think there will be a following but not enough to be a real player, IMHO
 
Interesting thoughts. Seems to me that Hogan is managing inventory by likely having minimal in stores (meaning nearly impossible to purchase off the shelf) and just about everything will be a custom order given the loft philosophy that makes them unique in today's world.

FW irons won't make them....but PTx irons/hybrids could be enormous if they are as good as advertised. No, they won't rival Callaway in sales (not even close) but could turn a nice profit for a small company. Clubs have to shine though...the Hogan name is a plus but won't do the selling.
 
I surely hope so. They make the most beautiful Irons I have ever seen...
 
I've got the same question as Dean - what's the definition of "long term" here? I think they've got a chance - the equipment has been reviewed well so far, and they'll have a line that is better for the everyday golfer available soon. But, even then, is the best case for them that they're someone like Scratch where they're around for a while as somewhat of a boutique brand and fade away? I don't know - I think the Hogan name gives them a little more runway there, and will intrigue people enough to actually put swings on the clubs, which is the most important. The good news here is that I've seen the Ft. Worth irons in at least one store. And like JB said, the folks who are going to have the pull towards the Hogan name are the types of golfers who are spending money right now.

So, in short - I'm optimistic for them, but I think they stay in that smaller/boutique niche.

This was my feeling. Boutique brand seems the way to go for them. I would think they can pull it off


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One thing that boggles my mind a bit about hogan in general is that they seem to be very stuck on lofts. How long have we (people on this site and oems) been trying to educate people that lofts are not the end all be all of iron launch and distance? I've done the hoganfit and the driving message I get is that my current set is not setup properly due to lofts. Makes me scratch my head
 
Here is an idea : as good as the product is, why not license it to one of the major oems as a niche product in their line? This gives them access to distribution and will bring production costs down.

This keeps the line alive, while maybe not independent.
 
I hope they do. I think having another brand to choose from is a good thing but they need to build up the marketing. I don't think I have seen or heard anything about them up here.
 
Here is an idea : as good as the product is, why not license it to one of the major oems as a niche product in their line? This gives them access to distribution and will bring production costs down.

This keeps the line alive, while maybe not independent.

I think from the lack of interest since the Hogan brand went into hibernation, that OEMs do not think the brand has much value other than to a limited number of afficionados. Although a legend, Hogan is not a legend to the mass market. His last win was in '67. History has less meaning these days.
 
During my several trips to the PGA SS in the last couple of weeks I have noticed that there are Ft. Worth irons are on the rack, I did stop and hold them for a minute but did not hit them.

I would think they would tape up one for you to try, but there was no fitting cart that I saw and it does seem to me that selling a super custom set with lofts set to "your game" off the rack is a tough way to sell in a big box store. There were 3 sets so maybe a low, mid, high type package, I am going back there tomorrow and will get more information on the make up. The price was in line with the APEX Pro / Titleist AP2 sets, so high end of off the rack gear.

Interesting thoughts. Seems to me that Hogan is managing inventory by likely having minimal in stores (meaning nearly impossible to purchase off the shelf) and just about everything will be a custom order given the loft philosophy that makes them unique in today's world.

FW irons won't make them....but PTx irons/hybrids could be enormous if they are as good as advertised. No, they won't rival Callaway in sales (not even close) but could turn a nice profit for a small company. Clubs have to shine though...the Hogan name is a plus but won't do the selling.
 
Here is an idea : as good as the product is, why not license it to one of the major oems as a niche product in their line? This gives them access to distribution and will bring production costs down.

This keeps the line alive, while maybe not independent.

I think from the lack of interest since the Hogan brand went into hibernation, that OEMs do not think the brand has much value other than to a limited number of afficionados. Although a legend, Hogan is not a legend to the mass market. His last win was in '67. History has less meaning these days.

Hard to license something that is not owned. Perry Ellie's is already licensing the name in this situation.
 
Can they survive, sure. I'd put my chips behind them playing in the Bobby Jones and Hopkins market though. As long as they keep costs down they should be fine.
 
Hard to license something that is not owned. Perry Ellie's is already licensing the name in this situation.

Callaway owned the Hogan name for a while after they obtained the Company from Spalding in 2003. Probably for branding reasons, they did not want to use the Hogan name -- they probably feared diluting the Callaway brand, but kept the Apex name.

From golfweek: Callaway owned the Hogan brand from 2003 to 2012, although Hogan products were limited. Perry Ellis, which manufactures and sells a line of Ben Hogan apparel and accessories, acquired the brand from Callaway. Several trademarks previously identified with Hogan, such as Apex and Edge, are owned by Callaway, which sells Apex and Apex Pro irons without the Hogan name.
 
Callaway owned the Hogan name for a while after they obtained the Company from Spalding in 2003. Probably for branding reasons, they did not want to use the Hogan name -- they probably feared diluting the Callaway brand, but kept the Apex name.

From golfweek: Callaway owned the Hogan brand from 2003 to 2012, although Hogan products were limited. Perry Ellis, which manufactures and sells a line of Ben Hogan apparel and accessories, acquired the brand from Callaway. Several trademarks previously identified with Hogan, such as Apex and Edge, are owned by Callaway, which sells Apex and Apex Pro irons without the Hogan name.

Yes. Which is what I said. Ben Hogan Golf name is licensed from PEI to Eidolon for creation of the Ben Hogan equipment.
 
Yes. Which is what I said. Ben Hogan Golf name is licensed from PEI to Eidolon for creation of the Ben Hogan equipment.

Exactly -- just reviewing the history. It's what lawyers do (sorry). And wanted to show how one OEM did not want to dilute their brand as a way to explain why a large OEM would not pick up and use "Hogan" when they did own the name.
 
They do make some beautiful irons but I feel their secret to survival is to make sure that the irons are marketed as playable (read in game-improvement) irons. Looking at them they look like irons that only lower handicap players would benefit from, even though I haven't hit or even seen them. Almost like Titleist blades that I have no business in hitting because I know what would happen. Still, I would love to try and hit these irons, they look that good. Might make a fool of myself, but who cares!!
 
One thing that boggles my mind a bit about hogan in general is that they seem to be very stuck on lofts. How long have we (people on this site and oems) been trying to educate people that lofts are not the end all be all of iron launch and distance? I've done the hoganfit and the driving message I get is that my current set is not setup properly due to lofts. Makes me scratch my head
I understand what you are saying. Here's the part where I'm on board - I don't have great gapping at the bottom of my bag. Whatever the reasons, I hit those clubs too close to the same distance. Having bigger gaps at that end could be helpful. And if that opens up a slot at the top end of the bag then I'll use it.
 
I understand what you are saying. Here's the part where I'm on board - I don't have great gapping at the bottom of my bag. Whatever the reasons, I hit those clubs too close to the same distance. Having bigger gaps at that end could be helpful. And if that opens up a slot at the top end of the bag then I'll use it.
Makes sense. Plus the ptx irons seems to be pretty packed with tech and look very good
 
they've made a lot of great products over the years, had some Carnoustie wedges that I really liked
 
Ben Hogan/Koheler are using the same strategy used with Eidolon, Scor, and now Hogan, and previous to that, probably Reid-Lockhart. None of those have worked long term. I think they are trying to hit a homerun when a homerun isn't there -- I think a smaller operation with custom clubmakers is a better long term strategy in terms of use and conservation of resources.
 
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