After a seven-year absence from the market, Perry Ellis International, which purchased the brands in 2012, has announced plans to restore the Ben Hogan Company through its Eidolon Brands LLC subsidiary and re-introduce Ben Hogan golf clubs in 2015.
Eidolon Brands, LLC, a subsidiary of Perry Ellis International, has announced that after a seven-year absence, The Ben Hogan Company will be formed again to bring the Ben Hogan brand of golf clubs back to the market in 2015.
“Since our purchase of the Ben Hogan brands in 2012, we have been contacted by many parties inquiring about the return of this revered brand to the equipment business”, said Oscar Feldemkreis, President of Perry Ellis International. “We are excited to have Eidolon Brands reintroduce the Ben Hogan brand to the golf equipment sector.”
The Ben Hogan Company was founded in Hogan’s hometown of Fort Worth, Texas in late 1953, following his unprecedented season in winning what became known as the “Hogan Slam” (Hogan won the Masters, British Open and U.S.Open, but was unable to compete for the PGA Championship because it conflicted with the British Open).
The Ben Hogan Company’s first set of irons, named “Precision,” was introduced in 1954, and for over 40 years, Ben Hogan irons were connected with hundreds of victories on all of the professional tours and favored by thousands of club professionals and top amateur golfers.
The company was moved from Fort Worth in the early 1990s, and then returned there for a short time a few years later. But no golf clubs bearing the Ben Hogan brand have been introduced to market during the past seven years.
The re-introduction of Ben Hogan golf clubs, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the first Ben Hogan irons in the fall of 1954, will be led by Terry Koehler, President/COO of Eidolon Brands and a former Director of Marketing for The Ben Hogan Company. Eidolon, based in Victoria, Texas, was formed in 2011 to market a new line of high-loft scoring clubs, including its flagship SCOR4161 line. Eidolon, which held the rights to the Ben Hogan brand, was acquired by Perry Ellis in 2012.
Koehler said that an R&D team has already been working on the new Ben Hogan club designs, with the first offerings targeted for introduction in 2015.
“We are studying all the things Mr. Hogan believed about golf clubs, and dissecting early Ben Hogan designs to understand his performance principles and knowledge of what a golf club should do,” he said. “There was a wealth of genius in those early clubs.
“Our commitment to the Ben Hogan legacy is to ensure that every product delivers unmatched precision and dedication to the art of shotmaking, providing equipment that allows golfers of all abilities the opportunity to optimize their skills,” Koehler added.
The new Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company will be based in Fort Worth, Koehler noted. “Ben Hogan and his golf company were, and always should be, Fort Worth treasures,” he said. “We even recently moved our SCOR4161 production facility to Fort Worth, in anticipation of returning the Ben Hogan Company to its rightful and historic place in the top tier of golf equipment brands.”
Koehler noted that creating the ‘new’ Ben Hogan Company represents an opportunity to honor the legacy of two of his heroes—his father, and Hogan. “My golf life began with an introduction to Mr. Hogan’s values and principles from my father,” Koehler reminisced. “He played with Mr. Hogan before the war and considered him a true hero, so I did, too. I grew up with “Power Golf” and “Five Lessons” as my golf textbooks, and always played Hogan irons, from my very first cut-down 5- and 9-iron. To be in a position to assemble and lead a team of equally committed Hogan disciples is an honor I could not even have imagined.”
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