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Callaway Golf acquires Toulon Design

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Since launching last year, Vista, California-based Toulon Design has rocketed ahead on a highway strewn with the wreckage of minor equipment manufacturers.

Sean Toulon and company’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed in major OEM circles. Callaway Golf announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Toulon Design. And Toulon, a 30-year-industry veteran, will join Callaway as Senior Vice President, Callaway Golf and General Manager, Odyssey Brand.

For Callaway, the acquisition complements its Odyssey brand, which stands as the No. 1 putter brand across all major tours.

“Sean is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable leaders in the golf equipment industry, and we are excited to have him come aboard to help us continue to lead the putter category with great designs and the highest performing innovations,” said Chip Brewer, President and Chief Executive Officer at Callaway Golf Company. “With today’s announcement we fortify our position as the number one equipment company in golf and add valuable experience to our leadership team.”

Regarding the acquisition, Sean Toulon said:

“We are so excited to be joining forces with Callaway and Odyssey. We have been inspired by the innovation of these two great brands over a long period of time. But what might be even more impressive is the engagement these great brands have with golfers,” he continued. “We have always believed that a deep connection to the game and to those that love it is the key to creating world class products and experiences that golfers love. We feel like we have found the perfect home and look forward to creating incredible products for passionate golfers for many years to come.”

Toulon offered an initial slate of putters last year (Madison, San Diego, Rochester, San Francisco, and Memphis). The former 16-year TaylorMade company man started the putter-making effort with his sons Tony and Joe with the lofty goal of making the best performing and looking putters in the world.

It’s unclear at this point whether the Toulon brand will now exist under the Callaway umbrella. But given Mr. Toulon’s title as General Manager, Odyssey brand, it seems more likely he’ll be working to craft premium offerings under the Odyssey label, likely in an effort to cut into Scotty Cameron’s share of the premium putter space.

Check out some of Toulon’s work below, as well as our review of Toulon Design putters.

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

18 Comments

18 Comments

  1. Mike

    Sep 18, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    Still looks like a ping…

  2. JThunder

    Sep 9, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    Why is the only way to be “successful” to “take down Scotty”? Does it occur to anyone that being the #2 or #5 name in putters might still be a profitable way to make a living? It’s amazing anyone has a free hand to type, you’re all so busy drinking the corporate culture Kool Aid.

  3. Charles

    Sep 2, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    The word is Toulon was funding the whole venture on his own. Hard to pass up the opportunity presented when just about your entire family is involved. Plus, Arnett used to work for TM and with Sean. I’m sure he lobbied hard for this.

  4. C

    Sep 1, 2016 at 9:28 pm

    I’ve never understood why someone would want a scored face on a putter?

  5. Dave R

    Aug 31, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    As long as golfers will pay $400.00 for putters the company’s will keep making them. Remember being seen with high priced putters makes you a better golfer .

  6. Bigboy

    Aug 31, 2016 at 7:46 am

    All putters over $50 are overpriced, but if it makes you feel good as they say…..

    • JOEL GOODMAN

      Aug 31, 2016 at 7:36 pm

      1 MILLION % CORRECT.. AS THE OLD SAYING “IT AINT THE ARROW, IT’S THE INDIAN”

      PAYING BIG BUCKS FOR A PUTTER IS GREAT —ONLY FOR YOUR EGO AND THE ENVY VALUE OF YOUR HACKER PALS.

      • JThunder

        Sep 9, 2016 at 10:55 pm

        I feel exactly the same about anyone who feels the need for more than a cardboard box to live in. Waste!

  7. BSGolf

    Aug 30, 2016 at 4:38 pm

    So the #1 putter company right now goes out and purchases another person to run the show for Odyssey? I only see this going down hill from here…Weird move

  8. Mat

    Aug 30, 2016 at 4:29 pm

    Someone on Callaway’s board got caught with a Scotty, and retorted, “Well, it’s not like Callaway has these.”

    At least, I imagine that.

  9. Brian

    Aug 30, 2016 at 10:36 am

    Must have really loved working with his sons’?

  10. RG

    Aug 30, 2016 at 1:43 am

    Wow. So you clone some Ping designs, make them real shiny, add some kooky stamped on graphics and you’re considered cutting edge?!? It seems that every OEM comes out and copies the Anser and jacks the price. Crazy.

  11. Golfer1

    Aug 29, 2016 at 2:48 pm

    Yay! More 400$ putters!

  12. Michael

    Aug 29, 2016 at 1:55 pm

    Holy cow. Didn’t see that coming. So did Austie Rollinson leave Odyssey?

  13. Charlie

    Aug 29, 2016 at 1:24 pm

    Good for Toulon.

    However, I don’t see how they were hurting Callaway’s bottom line, nor do I see any noteworthy tech being bought out. Maybe Toulon got their hands on some patents?

    • rymail00

      Aug 29, 2016 at 4:17 pm

      Charlie,

      I agree. I never saw anything special in their designs, or tech. Not saying they are bad putters at all, but I don’t think SC is to worried. I thought Odyssey’s milled putters looked way better than what I’ve seen so far from Toulon’s designs.

      But interested to see what they come up with.

    • Gt

      Aug 29, 2016 at 10:16 pm

      Charlie

      This is Callaway’s plan to take down Scotty, is all

  14. Michael

    Aug 29, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    It’s a shame they didn’t think they could make a go of the company and make inroads in the ‘premium putter’ market as an independent company. Would be a shame if they just fall under the Odyssey umbrella.

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

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I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear

OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.

LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break

Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.

Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.

On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.

On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.

On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.

PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home

Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.

On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?

Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.

Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?

PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates

Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.

Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.

Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.

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Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

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GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.

Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.

Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

 

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BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

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Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX

7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)

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