Equipment
Not Dead: Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company announces restructuring
After rumors circulated this morning on social media that the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company had laid off all its employees and was going out of business, the company responded with a press release that calls the reports “greatly exaggerated.”
“While our organization does not look the same today as it did in 2016, we are confident that the changes we are making will make us a stronger and better company in the future,” said Ben Hogan Golf Equipment CEO Scott White.
According to the release, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company is going through a voluntary reorganization with the stated goals of minimizing expenses and streamlining operations — “approximately 30 [employees]” were laid off, according to Golf Digest, and “CEO Scott White said it hoped to rehire some as contract employees.”
“The company has not declared bankruptcy nor been foreclosed upon, and remains in the business of producing and selling the highest quality and most precise golf equipment in the world,” the press release said. Company representatives did not return calls from GolfWRX for comment.
The Ben Hogan Golf Company was re-launched under the leadership of golf equipment industry veteran Terry Koehler in 2014, who worked at the original company founded by nine-time major championship winner Ben Hogan. The company is best known for its lines of forged irons and wedges, which are sold in individual lofts (20-63 degrees) to help golfers improve their distance control and gapping.
Koehler stepped down as CEO this summer, and was replaced by Scott White.
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
Mike
Jan 28, 2017 at 1:03 pm
Need to get some bags out on tour so people can see the name. Most golfers don’t know the history of Hogan clubs. Need someone to come in and help with business model
rex235
Jan 12, 2017 at 7:30 pm
Dead?
The “new” Ben Hogan Golf Company has always been RH Only.
Apparently they chose to ignore what Ben Hogan wrote in “Power Golf”.
JThunder
Jan 9, 2017 at 5:05 pm
“Restructuring” = keep CEO and mgmt pay high, lay off and cut back on everyone/everything else.
Never works, just delays the inevitable. Allows the “company” to be milked another year or two.
As with Scor, the necessity of having a club for every single loft is both costly for the mfr and stores, and confusing for the vast, vast majority of non-super-tweak-Golfwrx golfers.
In other words, it’s a fine business model if you want to corner a niche and make a fair income. A horrible, awful idea if you want to “crush the competition” and become major. According to every “business” thread on Golfwrx, the latter is the only reason to get into business. See: Toulon selling out, Miura selling out, Nike giving up… etc.
John Schwartz
Jan 9, 2017 at 12:19 pm
Anyone know where I can purchase a set of Fort Worth iron at a discount?
Mike t
Jan 4, 2017 at 9:49 pm
Tough market under best of circumstances. Big 5 dominates and traditional blades are a hard sell.
Pavel
Jan 4, 2017 at 2:27 pm
Sorry to hear about problems at BH.
I got a few SCOR wedges a few years ago, really liked them.
Heard about BH ramping up, got some mid-irons, really like them.
After working a bit of a deal with BH, replaced the SCORs with BH wedges, really like them.
Realized that some of the clubs had the wrong grip size, worked with BH, got the right grips and credit off a new VKTR hybrid, which I really like, to pay for local regripping.
Overall price was no worse than the Ping i15s I got when I (re-)entered golf back in 2010.
I’m a happy camper, BH-wise. I hope they succeed, but will play these clubs regardless…
My 0.02.
BIG STU
Jan 4, 2017 at 1:39 pm
I do know that all but one guy on another site that tested them has dropped them. I looked at a set at PGASS and did not like the way they sat period and I am a blade player. I do know some of the devoted classic Hogan fans did not like them either. But hey I wish the company all the luck in the world
Mat
Jan 3, 2017 at 10:55 pm
New tech? No.
New sales method? No.
New fitting method? No.
New look? No.
Bespoke design? No.
Wide range of no-upcharge shafts? No.
But damn it, we have BH and the loft on there!
Pulling a Nike in 5…4…3…
Boobsy McKiss
Jan 3, 2017 at 10:06 pm
ROFL at the creative banter in here. +1 to you fellas.
Would not want to be in the business of making golf equipment these days. Have to move a lot of clubs to pay for all that overhead and R&D. Sounds like Hogan didn’t have much of the later though.
Rich Douglas
Jan 3, 2017 at 9:50 pm
I loved my Hogan Edge irons, the first cavity-back forged iron offered by a major manufacturer. But that was 1992. What’s changed? Individual loft numbers instead of club numbers? Really? That’s just a gimmick, and not a very good one. After all, you might find yourself tweaking lofts on a normal set anyway, and you can’t possibly know which exact lofts will provide the distances and gaps you need; you might find yourself tweaking these lofts, too.
I sold them when I realized I needed more help (I was a 16 back then, a 6 now) than those barely-cavity almost-blades could provide.
The company is going to need something else.
Jack
Jan 4, 2017 at 2:33 am
LOL yeah who remembers the loft of their 7 iron? and all 9 other irons? Terrible idea that required people to relearn something that made the game even more difficult.
farmer
Jan 3, 2017 at 9:26 pm
I have hit the new Hogan irons, and they were fine. There’s the problem, there are a bunch of irons that feel fine, with real distribution networks, a presence in the retail world. Hogan has none of these. Remember when Scratch was all the buzz? Same issues, and Scratch is no more, even though they made fine irons.
Lowell
Jan 3, 2017 at 8:38 pm
As everything else in life you either reinvent your product to attract new buyers or be left waiting for the traditionalist to buy your product. I loved Hogan clubs back in the day but lost touch and never had a reason to go back. I hope they make it but somebody is starting to write on the wall. I give them a dumb and dumbest chance. Go Loyd!!!
KK
Jan 3, 2017 at 6:50 pm
Anyone really surprised? Ben Hogan Golf Co. is trying to sell 80s clubs in 2016.
Buck
Jan 3, 2017 at 8:24 pm
By 80’s clubs, do you mean ones you can’t hit? Just kidding.
I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with the clubs themselves. As others have already stated, it was their business model that sealed their fate.
Matt
Jan 3, 2017 at 6:15 pm
They seem to be very expensive.
Lowell
Jan 3, 2017 at 8:40 pm
I remember in the early 2000’s when a buddy of mine flew to their home office, got fitted and left with a new set of clubs. I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $3000. Not sure what else you got.
bogeypro
Jan 3, 2017 at 4:09 pm
If they would just put iron numbers on their clubs….I’d probably look at them. Great equipment with a weird idea.
Brian
Jan 3, 2017 at 4:13 pm
They started doing that last year, in addition to the lofts.
McPickens
Jan 3, 2017 at 5:39 pm
“…started doing it…” poorly. Awful looking etch job. Should have stayed with traditional numbering with custom lofts.
John H. Brink
Jan 3, 2017 at 4:59 pm
Trying to deal with them directly was exasperating at best. Those who offered to help open sales territories were basically ignored. Flawed sales strategy and clubs priced to line someone’s pockets.
Feel the Bern
Jan 3, 2017 at 3:36 pm
Seems to me Ben Hogan would be rolling in his grave if he were still alive.
Captain Obvious
Jan 3, 2017 at 3:45 pm
Seems to me that if he were still alive, he wouldn’t be in his grave.
Double Mocha Man
Jan 3, 2017 at 3:47 pm
Ah, living up to your username, I see.
RanchoBob
Jan 3, 2017 at 4:02 pm
Actually, if he were alive he’d be in his grave scratching at the lid.
*ba dum tss*
Feel the Bern
Jan 3, 2017 at 5:02 pm
Just seems that news like this would make good ol’ gentle Ben glad he isn’t around to see his name tarnished.
Hawk
Jan 3, 2017 at 5:21 pm
I don’t believe that the word “gentle” was ever used to describe Hogan. Gentle Ben Crenshaw, yes. Gentle Hogan? Not quite.
the bishop
Jan 3, 2017 at 5:35 pm
A guy I know relayed a personal Ben Crenshaw story that might make you rethink the term “Gently Ben” as well.
Feel the Bern
Jan 3, 2017 at 9:06 pm
He’d be pretty ornery if he heard you say that. Hope he doesn’t have the internet in heaven.