Callaway Golf of Carlsbad, CA is one of the better known manufacturers of golf sporting equipment.

The company's origins date to 1982 and former vintner and Burlington Industries president Ely Callaway's purchase of a half-stake in a golf club manufacturing company named Hickory Sticks USA. Eventually, Mr. Callaway acquired complete control of the enterprise and re-named it Callaway Golf USA in 1988.

Callaway Golf's fortunes took a positive turn in 1991 when it launched the "Big Bertha" driver. This club was very different from its contemporaries with a (at the time) large volume steel clubhead of 190 cc's when persimmon and other "wooden woods" were still overwhelmingly used by both touring pros and ordinary amateur golfers. The Big Bertha was also notorious for its lack of a hosel, the hollow tube which fits the shaft to the clubhead. Instead, the shaft of the club fit directly into the head and was seated in the heel with a bore-thru design that would later become ubiquitous among Callaway metal woods. (At one point, the company was so protective of this design feature that it filed a lawsuit against clubmaker Titleist for a bore-thru design in its 975 series of woods even though the company had used the bore-thru with many older clubs, such as the Titleist Pro Trajectory). Callaway called this design the "Short Straight Hollow Hosel" or S2H2. The S2H2 design actually dates back to 1989, and if compared side to side, there is little cosmetic difference between the original Big Bertha Driver and its far less successful predecessor. Although the Big Bertha sold well, it was not until 1994 that the company's fortunes really took off.

PGA Professional Johnny Miller, winner of the US Open and British Open Championships, had suffered through a severe slump in the latter stages of his professional career. In fact, Miller's play was so poor (against his own standards), that he essentially quit the pro tour in favor of becoming a broadcaster for NBC Sports' Golf coverage. However, one of Miller's favorite courses, Pebble Beach, and the annual tournament held at the courses on its grounds, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am, extended a sponsor's exemption to Miller in 1994. Miller came seemingly from nowhere to win the golf tournament. At the time, Miller was sponsored by Callaway Golf, and the greater golfing community saw his win as an endorsement of the viability of Callaway clubs. Consumers were widely believed to have thought "If Miller came out of the booth and won a PGA event, imagine what those clubs can do for my game". Almost overnight, a company that had been steadily gaining momentum throughout the early 1990s exploded like a freight train to the forefront of the golf manufacturing industry.

The significance of the Big Bertha club is how it impacted the evolution of the game of golf. Before Big Bertha, the cultural perception of golf equipment, even within the game, was of something that could be finely made like a wine, rather than something that was technologically evolving and would be "better" with every annual iteration, like a computer or a car. For example, Jack Nicklaus used the same MacGregor driver for over half of his professional major championships. The Big Bertha club changed that perception, and manufacturers (not just Callaway) are now constantly evolving the club to hit harder and be larger. This has led to modern drivers with 460 cc's (USGA limit) of volume and constructed of aerospace-quality materials such as titanium and carbon composite. Most modern players now switch clubs every year or two (as opposed to Nicklaus using the same club for well over a decade), and a dedicated technological staff is at the disposal of all elite professionals in order to ensure that their equipment is as finely tuned to their game as physically possible.

Callaway spread out into other markets with mixed success throughout the 1990's. The primary developments were the introduction of Callaway branded golf balls (which became a significant financial setback for the company), and the acquisition of older names in the club-making business, such as the Ben Hogan brand, and up-and-comers such as Odyssey Golf, renowned for their Dual Force line of insert putters. Callaway also received a bit of notoriety with various TV advertisements in the 1990's featuring a tongue-in-cheek endorsement of Callaway clubs by Bill Gates; richest man in the world and a amateur golfer with a notoriously high handicap. Other cultural luminaries associated with Callaway golf equipment include rock star Alice Cooper, an avid low handicap golfer, and various touring professional golfers signed to play Callaway equipment such as Annika Sorenstam, Phil Mickelson and the 2005 U.S. Open Winner, Michael Campbell.

Callaway Golf is traded publicly on the NYSE under the symbol ELY.

External links

• Official Callaway Golf website

Golf equipment | Companies based in San Diego County | Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States