42 Comments

1. 

   Mike t

   Feb 4, 2017 at 8:30 am

   Sorry to see classic clu makers gone. The big boys with their marketing prevail.

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2. 

   ivor robson

   Feb 4, 2017 at 1:07 am

   I could never buy a club with “ft worth” stamped on the hosel. My good friend mr. Langer played his irons until there were no grooves.

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   • 

     Harry

     Jun 19, 2017 at 9:15 pm

     Don’t mess with Texas, brother.

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3. 

   Kourt

   Feb 2, 2017 at 7:04 pm

   I really liked the ft worths. They were a fun club to play. But the cost to manufacture every club head from 21-61, 40 clubs, vs 10 clubs in a traditional 3-lw had to have been insane. Would have been better to just manufacture 3-lw clubs and then bend them to specified loft and stamp the new loft onto the club. The V-sole was functional and cool but not a remarkable technology by any means. If they just stayed with the ft worth model only instead of rushing to make the ptx’s against manufacturing every loft, and then the hybrids and hollow irons, I think they could have done just fine. Slow growth with only a set of classic ben hogan blades and sold to the select market that already knew their name. Would never have been a big booming company but I think they could have sold a lot of clubs and a much higher profit margin. And kept the price to $119 a club instead of $150-$180 depending on shaft choice. Thats just absurd.

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4. 

   Mat

   Feb 1, 2017 at 8:36 pm

   Wasted opportunity. Stood out with nothing but loft stamping.

   The industry is littered with advertising. If you don’t have a big ad budget, you darn well need to be doing something unique and doing it very well. Would have been better if they’d partnered with Grenade or something so you could have at least a decent lineup.

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5. 

   larry fox

   Feb 1, 2017 at 7:34 pm

   Does anyone know the difference between the Hohan apex irons with the red line and #’s and the green line and #’s? I emailed the hogan company and a nice lady called me back but said that the company had changed hands so many times that no one there knew the difference! Looking for a friend

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   • 

     Jim

     Feb 7, 2017 at 9:41 am

     Used to mean lie angle from factory – like special ordered. Green used to be 2 up – at least in earlier Hogan incarnations

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6. 

   Kromulous

   Feb 1, 2017 at 9:14 am

   Liquidation sale coming up? I would be down for buying some heads.

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7. 

   Brian

   Feb 1, 2017 at 3:21 am

   Shame, Ft Worth irons were the best irons I’ve ever hit. Didn’t much care about the lofts on the clubs ( done for consistent gapping from club to club ) but the feel, trajectory , and accuracy were, in my opinion, the best on the market.

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8. 

   S Hitter

   Feb 1, 2017 at 1:07 am

   Callaway should just buy these remaining patents and copyrights and use it for their own as they already did with the Apex name. Not that Callaway needs any more stuff

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9. 

   Scud Missile

   Jan 31, 2017 at 11:38 pm

   At least they saved money on research and development by ripping off the Adams Idea Pro 😉

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10. 

    ubrgolfer

    Jan 31, 2017 at 10:00 pm

    Their irons were ok but their hybrids literally whistled when you swung it. How does that get passed testing? Knew right there they were doomed.

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11. 

    The dude

    Jan 31, 2017 at 9:57 pm

    First set…Apex 2’s….RIP

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12. 

    Cotton

    Jan 31, 2017 at 9:55 pm

    I feel shocked

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    • 

      S Hitter

      Feb 1, 2017 at 1:07 am

      Nice sarcasm

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13. 

    KK

    Jan 31, 2017 at 9:17 pm

    Old and clumsy-looking clubs in 2016? Come on, man.

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14. 

    Bowdog78

    Jan 31, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    #1 problem with Ben Hogan. No one under 55 recognized what they were to the industry. And last time I checked the seniors do not push the needle in club sales. Callaway tried failed. Now this.

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    • 

      Tom

      Feb 1, 2017 at 11:57 am

      damn millennials

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15. 

    Matt

    Jan 31, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    Not shocked. I question how much longer PXG and Miura will be around. Golf is holding on but not sure how many are dropping $2500 on irons every few years.

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    • 

      S Hitter

      Feb 1, 2017 at 1:08 am

      PXG and Miura are not the same as the re-branded Hogan that this was

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    • 

      gunmetal

      Feb 1, 2017 at 1:41 pm

      Strictly numbers wise, PXG and Miura have to sell about 1 set of irons for every 4 Hogan would need to. Plus the pockets Parsons has allow him a little more freedom so to speak.

      There’s clearly a market for the ultra expensive clubs. One guy on WRX commented “I only play clubs that other people can’t”. PXG and Miura aren’t competing with Titleist, Ping, and Callaway. Hogan was. That’s the problem.

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16. 

    TexasSnowman

    Jan 31, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    They were so close with the loft system …..Revised Business Plan and Formula for success: Allow consumer to decide what loft they want for each iron, and what number they would like stamped on the sole. 23 degree 6 Iron? No Problem. You now hit your six iron longer than anyone in your foursome. Would have been a big seller.

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17. 

    Hennybogan

    Jan 31, 2017 at 5:52 pm

    The problem was not the product, they made quality clubs for a reasonable price.
    They failed in getting their product out to the green grass accounts. Instead of providing demo clubs to the pro-shops, they followed the typical selling model the major club manufacturers use….. requiring shops to purchase A minimum amount of clubs and demos before they could open and account. As a new company this did nothing to make them stand out and shops just went with what they know already sells. Budgets are budgets …….for a shop to bring in the Hogan Company, another company would have to be to cut out.
    Giving demo clubs out early on would have brought down profits initially but would have made a huge difference in getting clubs in the hands of consumers and gain some traction in the market

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    • 

      Jim

      Feb 3, 2017 at 1:25 am

      For as long as I have been doin’ golf business, I have never understood the idiot MBA’s that CAN’T get their heads out of their butts….my firsr run in with this intractable penny wise dollar stoopid stupidity was back in 80’s. Bridgestone’s first big leap into the US market – Precept EV extra spin balls were amazing! We couldn’t keep ’em in stock. After six months we had too many people to count that wouldn’t tee up anything else – didn’t even want to try anything else…before that first year, our indie shop was the biggest seller in the country (in a wealthy golf area too).

      We’d receive 24 new Callaway GBB drivers, immediately cut the shaft shaft off, install AJ Tech’s and put em on the floor for 599. They were selling as fast as we could build them – people didn’t even ‘demo’ them….

      in comes our Bridgestone rep, with a forged Ti driver for 599 (their clubs were still unknown here) and tells us how awesome it is, etc…we hit it on our SOTA “launch monitor” (then) and it was great. He said since we were killin it with the balls, the conpany was hoping to begin to introduce clubs and we’d be one of their select shops to “INTRODUCE THE CLUBS into US market”….Sounds pretty important – right? We tell him sure – give us a couple and we’ll put em peoples hands – we’ll make sure to get it in peoples hands….
      To which he says I can get ONE DEMO if we order a dozen….

      WTF?! People are sending their wives in to grab the reshafted Callaway – ’cause their buddy had it, and he wants me to have to explain his club to someone whose’s never heard of it (cause we’re their BEST account) and I have to PAY for the friggin demo – or buy a dozen and only get ONE?!

      Not much after that RAM comes in with a $900 multi-piece plasma welded blah blah blah (FIRST EVER @ THAT KINDA MONEY) awesome new hi-tech driver and pulls the same BS – buy it so I can let people hit it…

      IF you have something that good – you truly believe in, how can you NOT give a couple to your TOP TRUSTED ACCOUNTS to get into THEIR top players/buyers hands?

      unbelievable

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18. 

    Tim

    Jan 31, 2017 at 5:45 pm

    Did not follow the lead of Ely Callaway, come out with a $199 driver that cost $15 to make and use all the profits to pay Pro’s to play the club (different shaft of course)…How long till Tour Edge bits the dust not paying pros…soon we will see maybe four or five names on tour…remember everyone knows you cannot go from a 15 handicap to a 10 without playing the same clubs (Name on club) as pros.

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    • 

      Kromulous

      Feb 1, 2017 at 9:10 am

      LOL, sad but true.

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    • 

      Fitz

      Apr 25, 2019 at 5:55 am

      TE growing, TV ads, Sr tour too.

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19. 

    JThunder

    Jan 31, 2017 at 4:43 pm

    Sorry to see them go, though I wonder if they were content to be the niche company they were destined to be, or if they were drinking too much of the modern corporate conquer and smash Kool-Aid. Not a stretch when we see Miura going down that path. Golf isn’t likely to regain the bubble numbers of TigerMania in the near future. Companies need to dial back their expectations without going bankrupt or laying off scads of people. (I mean, Hogan wasn’t paying big money to any tour pros, were they?)

    It would also be nice to see the Golf Media get a clue. I have several friends who would call it “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”. The Golf Media (present company NOT excluded) have been telling people for 20 years that the game isn’t worth watching unless Tiger is in contention. They’ve been bemoaning the ball, the grooves, the long putter, “the game’s gotten too easy for the pros”, “they hit the ball too far”, “too many people are shooting 59”, etc, etc. Meanwhile “the game is too difficult for amateurs”, “pace of play is too slow”, “it’s too expensive”, “it takes too much time”. Well, the Media has spoken, and unfortunately, people listen. The Media has more or less told people to stop playing and stop watching golf. Two decades of sensationalism and heavy-petting the Tiger, while the manufacturers, courses and design firms, apparently entirely ignorant of all history, saw money dancing into their pockets for the rest of time.

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20. 

    Jim

    Jan 31, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    saw ads recently seeking reps in Met section…doubt loft vs number had anything to do with this. Simple case of bad management/planning
    Irons were (are) very nice. Gave em all a good workout @ 2015 PGA show demo day. IF we hadn’t dumped Nike 5yrs ago – and ‘survived quite nicely – we probably would’ve taken them in. Shame they couldn’t / didn’t fill that gap in shops

    …bad timing…

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21. 

    rex235

    Jan 31, 2017 at 4:32 pm

    They were always RH Only…and proud of it.

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22. 

    Johnny

    Jan 31, 2017 at 4:28 pm

    Yea, I still haven’t figured out what the big deal was about having lofts instead on numbers on the irons. Of course, the wife will tell you that there’s a lot of things I haven’t figured out.

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    • 

      gwillis7

      Jan 31, 2017 at 7:25 pm

      lol, nice

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23. 

    Jordan

    Jan 31, 2017 at 4:00 pm

    I would love to see these guys in the Shark Tank. “Our clubs use a patented labeling system aimed at creating true distance gaps”

    Mark Cuban: “So you’re just putting lofts on there instead of numbers?”….”I’m out.”

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24. 

    TigerArmy

    Jan 31, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    Amateurs at work. They never understood the market.

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    • 

      Kirk Noyes

      Jan 31, 2017 at 5:58 pm

      seriously? Do you actually know anything about the industry? This company was comprised of some the the longest running careers in the industry that were here WAY before your “tiger army”. Do some homework on something before saying Amateurs at work. I know one of the employees who went back and he was with the Hogan company when Mr. Hogan was still running it. He knew loads more about clubs and the game itself than most of the kids working in it today. I think it was the consumer who never understood the brand. It was a damn good product.

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      • 

        The dude

        Jan 31, 2017 at 9:55 pm

        Most kids today barely know who BH was…….

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      • 

        robin

        Feb 15, 2017 at 12:58 pm

        You’re right

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25. 

    Charles Bartholomew

    Jan 31, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    Glad I got a set when they were still in business. Sad.

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26. 

    NolanMBA

    Jan 31, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    Bummer. I loved how they labeled their irons with loft *

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27. 

    Matt

    Jan 31, 2017 at 2:36 pm

    what a shame. They made great irons and loved their hybrid. Hope to still see them making clubs going forward!

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28. 

    Dat

    Jan 31, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    Newcomer in a cut-throat business, declining industry, 0 distribution and no marketing. That had chapter 11 written all over it. Real shame because I heard they made good stuff.

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    • 

      DrRob1963

      Jan 31, 2017 at 2:45 pm

      Great clubs, too. I bought a set when they were first available – best set I’ve ever had, and still hitting them! RIP.

      Reply Report comment

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