One of golf's most lofty names is landing back in town. Starting next year, the newly launched Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Co. will roll out a set of golf clubs - the first Ben Hogan-branded clubs to hit the market in seven years. Perry Ellis International and Victoria-headquartered golf club maker Eidolon Brands inked the deal. Terry Koehler, former director of marketing for the Ben Hogan Co. and current president and CEO of Eidolon, will front the Fort Worth-based company. (For the uninitiated, the Ben Hogan Co. set up shop here in 1953 as an equipment manufacturing business, employing as many as 500 staffers during the boom years of the "70s and "80s. Callaway Golf bought the iconic company in 2003, shifting production out of Texas and ultimately discontinuing the Hogan line in 2008.)
The Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Co. established a temporary manufacturing facility on the city's Southside back in March, with plans to debut a permanent site in the coming months. According to local news sources, the company will place between 40 and 60 people under Koehler's purview over the next two years.
A professional golfer and Fort Worth resident for many years, Hogan was widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of the sport. The stuff of legend, his striking ability is still lauded - and emulated - by golf aficionados far and wide. Known as a consummate perfectionist, the nine-time championship winner is said to have spent hours dissecting his performance and studying his craft.
So if the buzz we're hearing plays out - that the facility will be fabricating some of the most exacting irons ever to be built - we have a feeling Mr. Hogan would heartily approve. We'll keep you updated as the details are (ahem) ironed out.
