Twenty-five years old this year, Callaway continues to innovate
It’s hard to imagine that 25 years have passed since the late Ely Callaway gave up winemaking to get into the golf equipment business, but they have.
As “Callaway Golf” magazine describes its own beginnings: “In 1982, Ely Callaway spied a unique set of hickory-shafted wedges and putters that incorporated a steel core for strength and consistency. He liked the idea of combining old-world craftsmanship with new technology, and before long Hickory Stick USA became Callaway Golf.”
In a way, the company was borne because a businessman had recently sold his namesake vineyards for a nifty $9 million profit and was looking for something else to do. Earlier in his career, Callaway, a Georgia native and 1940 Emory University graduate, had been an innovative and highly successful textile magnate. The pioneering Callaway died in 2001 at the age of 82.
The Callaway company hasn’t been making a big to-do so far this year about the 25th anniversary milestone, other than some acknowledgements in materials and a few events. Recently it conducted a “25th Anniversary Sweepstakes” with the winner receiving a special XXV silver tour bag and full set of clubs and balls. But the occasion does present an opportunity to look back and reflect a bit on what Callaway the founder and Callaway the company have given to the world of golf.
“It really was a simple beginning, with Ely Callaway seeing a small company that had something different and innovative,” said John Melican, senior vp of brand management who’s been with the company since 2001. “And that philosophy of his, ‘Demonstrably Superior and Pleasingly Different,’ started right there. Internally, he always drove everyone to think about innovation, to think about what hasn’t been done and about what can be done.”
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| Callaway's FT-5 driver was introduced earlier this year. |
“When you think of Callaway innovation, and there have been many, you’ve got to put the advent of Big Bertha (in 1991) among those at the top,” said Jeff Colton, Callaway senior vp of research & development and a 13-year company vet. “Even though it was stainless steel, it was the first true, oversized driver.”
Of course, oversized back then would be miniscule today. The original Big Bertha driver was 190cc. Modern drivers, made of lighter materials, are 380 to 460cc, while 190cc today is roughly the size of a 3-wood or, in some cases, a 5-wood.
“Big Bertha was not only a significant step forward for the company, but it impacted the whole industry,” said Melican. “It was a product that revolutionized the game.”
The subsequent development and switch to titanium allowed Callaway Golf to dramatically increase the size of its drivers, and the company did. Great Big Bertha drivers shot up to 250cc while the Biggest Big Bertha skied to 290-300cc.
Size, for many golfers, made drivers more forgiving, but the introduction of ERC drivers (named for the boss, Ely Reeves Callaway) with forged, cup face technology “made the face of the driver hotter than anything before, providing 10 to 15 yards more distance off the tee,” said Colton.
As many will recall, Callaway went through a loud debate with the U.S. Golf Association just six years ago. The USGA, concerned about “hot faces,” proceeded to institute a limit on the COR -- or spring-like effect -- allowable in drivers. Despite recruiting Arnold Palmer to protest any limits alongside founder Ely Callaway, the USGA restrictions have prevailed with manufacturers conforming to the regulations.
A quick list of other technologies pioneered by Callaway Golf would include 360 undercut cavitybacks in irons, the four-facet soleplate in woods, variable face technology in both woods and irons. Rule 35, the first product from the Callaway Golf Ball Co., was a pioneering thermoset product, while the company also has developed HEX aerodynamics for both two-piece and three-piece balls.
