Callaway Golf

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Callaway Golf Company

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN US1311931042
founding 1982
Seat Carlsbad , United States
management Oliver Brewer, CEO
Number of employees 1700
sales $ 871 million
Branch Golf equipment
Website www.callawaygolf.com
As of December 31, 2016

Golf ball and packaging.

The Callaway Golf Company is a publicly traded , US company based in Carlsbad , California . 1700 employees develop and produce golf equipment such as golf clubs , golf balls and other accessories. With annual sales of $ 870 million, Callaway is one of the three largest and best-known golf manufacturers in the world, alongside TaylorMade and the Acushnet Company .

history

The company was founded in 1982 by Ely Callaway , then 63 . He acquired half of the Hickory Stick Ltd. company for $ 400,000 . This small company produced clubs in a niche with a shaft made of steel-reinforced hickory wood. After a short time he took over the company completely and renamed it Callaway Hickory Stick USA .
The company grew rapidly. Initially, the founder personally delivered the goods in his own Cadillac . Between 1988 ($ 5 million) and 1998 ($ 800 million), sales grew tremendously. As early as 1996 Callaway was considered the world's largest manufacturer of golf equipment. Callaway has been listed on the stock exchange since 1992.

Products and brands

A 4 wood from Callaway

In addition to clubs, the American company also produces golf balls and other golf items. The breakthrough came with the wood series (woods are golf clubs with large, teardrop to pear-shaped club heads ; see picture) Big Bertha . The Callaway Group includes the putter manufacturer Odyssey and the club manufacturer Ben Hogan as well as, since January 2019, the German manufacturer of functional outdoor clothing Jack Wolfskin , for which the Callaway Golf Company spent 418 million euros.

Big Bertha

Closely related to the rise of Callaway is the Big Bertha driver , which was launched in the early 1990s. The name was given to the German thick Bertha howitzer gun , which was used in Germany during the First World War and was feared as a weapon. Founder Callaway found this name suitable for his innovative driver. While common models at that time were still made of persimmon wood, the Big Bertha was made of steel. In addition, at 190 cm 3 it was unusually large for the time. Callaway had sales of $ 21.5 million in its first year.

This success has been expanded over the years through further developments of the driver. Great Big Bertha and the Biggest Big Bertha came on the market. Titanium was used as the material. Since 1994 iron clubs have also been produced under this label with the Big Bertha Irons .

player

A large number of well-known professional golfers are equipped by Callaway. These include Annika Sörenstam , Phil Mickelson , Ernie Els , Rich Beem and Thomas Bjørn .

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. a b Callaway Golf 2016 Form 10-K Report , accessed April 9, 2017
  2. Sale completed: Jack Wolfskin goes to Callaway Golf Company Report on the fashion specialist portal Fashion United on January 7, 2019, accessed on March 16, 2019
  3. Outdoor brand: US company buys Jack Wolfskin . In: Spiegel Online . November 30, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 1, 2018]).
  4. US golf outfitter Callaway takes over Jack Wolfskin . ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed December 1, 2018]).