Essay About Callaway Golf Company And Ely Callaway

Callaway
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THE MARKET
More than two decades ago, Ely Callaway
set out to build a company that would bring
more enjoyment and game improvement to
golfers of all skill levels. He accomplished
much of that goal in 1991, introducing a
technological wonder called the Big Bertha
Driver. By creating in Big Bertha a larger
clubhead without adding weight, the late
founder of Callaway Golf Company turned
the most-feared club into the most-loved
almost overnight. The driver became the
fastest-selling club at retail. Many innovations
have followed. From woods, irons,
and putters to golf balls and golf accessories,
Callaway Golf has consistently used
ingenuity, quality construction, and technology
to make the finest premium products
in the industry.
Callaway Golf has also become a
global company, doing business in 107
countries and 29 languages. Through an
unwavering commitment to product innovation,
Callaway Golf creates products
and services designed to make every
golfer a better golfer.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Simply put, Callaway Golf has changed the way
the game is played. Golfers around the world have
used the companys products to increase enjoyment
and improve performance. The best example
is the revolutionary Big Bertha line of metal
woods. In the era B.B. — Before Bertha — the
driving club induced dread in most golfers. It was
too difficult to hit for more than just a few highly
skilled players. Then in 1991, Callaway Golfs
ambitious attempt to create an oversize metal
driver with increased forgiveness and performance
succeeded where other companies efforts
had failed. The original Big Bertha Stainless Steel
Driver was born, and ever since, Big Bertha and
her progeny — including such current products as
the Big Bertha Fusion FT-3 Driver and the Big
Bertha Titanium 454 Driver — have replaced fear
with fun and made millions of players better.
Callaway Golf now designs and produces a
complete line of drivers, fairway woods, irons,
putters, and golf balls that aim to make the game
more fun and make golfers of all skill levels, from
first-time golfers to Tour professionals, better
golfers. In fact, Callaway Golf products are among
the most popular on the worlds professional tours
and have been used to set several scoring records
and win hundreds of tournaments.
This success helped Callaway Golf become
the worlds largest manufacturer of golf clubs
within five years of the Big Bertha Drivers
launch, prompting major changes within the golf
industry. Callaway Golfs success enabled it to
become the first major golf company to go public,
as shares of company stock began trading on
the NewYork Stock Exchange in 1992, under the
ELY ticker symbol.
HISTORY
Callaway Golfs success story begins with
a small three-person golf company called
Hickory Stick USA, which was founded in
1982 in Temecula, California. The company
initially made wedges and putters
that had unique shafts constructed of hickory
with a steel core. These clubs caught
the eye of Ely Callaway, who bought an
interest in the company the following year.
Mr. Callaway had already been a successful
businessman in the fields of textiles
and wine, and golf would become the third
and most successful act in his entrepreneurial
career. His business philosophy —
that every product his company makes
should be demonstrably superior and
pleasingly different from every other product
on the market — is the cornerstone for
the company that has become one of the
largest makers of golf clubs in the world.
By 1988, the company had been
renamed Callaway Golf and had shifted
from trying to re-create classic clubs of
the past to pioneering innovative design
ideas. Under the direction of Richard