Shame to see this (Ben Hogan bust)

[Oddsocks]

Depends if they were influencers with Saudi connections (RS) ?

 

[Mel Smooth]

Depends if they were influencers with Saudi connections (RS) ?

you mean the one that was working for Sky I believe, at The Open. ?

 

[Orikoru]

Where did they focus their marketing? Honestly can’t say I’ve seen anything from them to suggest they were still in the golf equipment market.

I'm not sure they've sold clubs over here in years. They were still selling them in America I believe. I have PGA 2k21 on the PS4, you can choose from a load of branded clubs to use in-game (with different stats etc), and I remember seeing Hogan clubs on there next to the usual suspects and wondering why I'd never seen them in real life.

 

[r0wly86]

They made very good clubs but did not have any point of difference. They weren't cheap enough to disrupt the big companies, something like Wilson are doing offering really good clubs for fair chunk less than say Callaway.

They weren't boutique enough to catch the eyes of those with more money like Miura, and they didn't have the budget or tour presence to mix it up with the main manufacturers.

There was no gimmick like PXG.

They were just kind of floating around in the market.

When I was 16 my dad offered to buy me a set, and it got narrowed down between a Ben Hogan set and Ping i3+. Being 16 I opted for the Pings because of the name, something I regret as the Hogan's were wonderful clubs to play with, if I could go back now I would have gone for them

 

[Oddsocks]

They made very good clubs but did not have any point of difference. They weren't cheap enough to disrupt the big companies, something like Wilson are doing offering really good clubs for fair chunk less than say Callaway.

They weren't boutique enough to catch the eyes of those with more money like Miura, and they didn't have the budget or tour presence to mix it up with the main manufacturers.

There was no gimmick like PXG.

They were just kind of floating around in the market.

When I was 16 my dad offered to buy me a set, and it got narrowed down between a Ben Hogan set and Ping i3+. Being 16 I opted for the Pings because of the name, something I regret as the Hogan's were wonderful clubs to play with, if I could go back now I would have gone for them

Perfectly summed up. Ironically my friend was the pros assistant and the addington and he bought apex’s around 96, he still has them in the bag now slapping them around off 5ish Hc

 

[HeftyHacker]

I'm not sure they've sold clubs over here in years. They were still selling them in America I believe. I have PGA 2k21 on the PS4, you can choose from a load of branded clubs to use in-game (with different stats etc), and I remember seeing Hogan clubs on there next to the usual suspects and wondering why I'd never seen them in real life.

They were available but they were direct to consumer. They actually had quite a good try before you buy system whereby they'd send you a 7i or any of their clubs to use for a period before ordering.

I actually considered them before settling on my mizzys, but they looked like they'd be a little bit too bladed for me.

 

[Orikoru]

They were available but they were direct to consumer. They actually had quite a good try before you buy system whereby they'd send you a 7i or any of their clubs to use for a period before ordering.

I actually considered them before settling on my mizzys, but they looked like they'd be a little bit too bladed for me.

I had absolutely no idea about that. Clearly their marketing left a lot to be desired. Sounds like something I actually would have tried. (Well unless they only had blades then probably not.?)

 

[HeftyHacker]

I had absolutely no idea about that. Clearly their marketing left a lot to be desired. Sounds like something I actually would have tried. (Well unless they only had blades then probably not.?)

I was targeted pretty heavily by them on Facebook ads ? but this was when I first started golf and everything I was looking at was golf related.

 

[Oddsocks]

It was, but they eventually passed them on.
They became a direct-to-consmer brand and were apparently reasonably successful. Then Covid came along!
I expect some investment company will pick them up reasonably cheaply and resurrect them as the brand has significant value.

Thinking back on this comment in particular , covid should have actually helped the business as every brand boomed. I can only assume they had no stock to build or had already satisfied their small target audience