Quick Notes on Ben Hogan Golf Co. Closing Shop

The Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company has officially shut its doors (again) this week, marking yet another disappointing bump in the road for a legendary brand name. Initially reported by The Hackers Paradise and then followed up by John Barba of My Golf Spy, all signs point to this being the end of the road instead of a mere detour.

While the news is still fresh and developing, it’s worth noting a few areas where the brand excelled, and others where it did not.

The Hogan brand has gone through multiple iterations over the last few decades; the most recent being a direct-to-consumer (DTC) equipment brand that offered premium golf clubs at an affordable price point. Full disclosure: Hogan was a sponsor of Golf Unfiltered for a short stint two years ago as listeners to their ad on our podcast can attest.

Most importantly: the equipment was really, really damn good. Hogan’s ICON player irons are some of the best in their category, and a renewed focus on their wedges and woods resulted in products that showed a ton of promise for the years ahead. In terms of the golf industry, COVID’s golf boom jolted sales across the board for hard goods in almost every category, and Hogan was no different. A close friend of mine plays an entire bag of Hogan clubs as he has for most of his playing career.

Therein lies the sad irony in this entire story, however. For a brand to close its doors at a time when the DTC model is as popular as ever when the game is as strong as ever is downright tragic. It’s hard to not sit back, scratch one’s head, and ask “how the hell could this have happened?”

One could make the argument that the very nature of the Hogan brand name’s license is to blame, or at least that fact that it’s a license and not a standalone entity. Perry Ellis owns the name and licensed “Hogan” to what would become the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company. Coupling that with an investor who ultimately declared bankruptcy and no immediate alternative buyers and you’ve got no where else to go but under.

Another argument is the severe lack of marketing we saw (or more appropriately, did not see) from the Hogan company. While their social media feeds would occasionally post an update on a new club release or an image of someone playing their equipment, these were few and far between. Did you know that the Hogan company had a brand ambassador program? Chances are you did not.

However, this is not a time to kick a brand when it’s down. Many will be playing the “if only” game for weeks — if not months — but none of that will change what has already occurred. It would seem that the brand name of “Hogan” carries with it a curse as its multiple iterations have all suffered the same fate.

Personally, I’d love to see Perry Ellis do something with the Hogan name that extends beyond apparel. While Ben Hogan was a fashion icon during his time, I’m not sure the same can be said in modern-day golf trends. Retro is always cool, however, and perhaps the right mixture of progression and nostalgia will hit a niche waiting to be discovered. Don’t hold your breath.

Ben Hogan was also a superb and innovative golf club designer who cared most about equipment, sometimes even more than the instruction side of the game. To not have a premium brand create clubs in the manner and quality Hogan himself demanded is absurd. Callaway Golf, for example, once owned the rights to the Hogan name before selling it to Perry Ellis years ago. What’s to say a reversal of fortune couldn’t happen now, as there is little doubt a brand like Callaway would know exactly what to do with an icon?

There is no doubt that customers and loyalists to Hogan still exist and are primed to grow in volume. I believe that what the Hogan name needs is a well-established home, perhaps as a premium product offering within an existing club line, in order to maintain some semblance of security for the long haul.