Golf Clubs – Callaway – Ely Callaway

Callaway are one of the most famous makers of golf clubs in the world. Ely Callaway was the visionary behind the business.

The death of a golfing legend

In 2001 aged 82, Ely Callaway – the visionary responsible for turning Callaway Golf Clubs into the world’s most popular golf club – died of pancreatic cancer.

He launched Callaway Golf Clubs at the ripe age of 63 and began to revolutionize the sport, introducing the ‘Big Bertha’ driver to weekend golfers. Bertha, which came along just as baby boomers were hitting their middle years, contributed to a surge of interest in golf and helped shed its elitist image.

Technology and Callaway golf clubs

After 30 years in the textile industry, Ely Callaway bought a small golf company called Hickory Stick in 1984 but Callaway golf clubs quickly became well known. Technological breakthroughs helped increase sales and after buying the firm for $400,000, by the late 1990s, Callaway’s Golf Company was worth a whopping $800 million.

The human dynamo

Ely Callaway was renowned for his energy and burning ideas – he has been described as a ‘human dynamo’ for the enthusiasm he had for Callaway golf clubs.
“On Mondays, you had to have your track shoes on, because Ely was moving fast,” Callaway’s sports marketing manager Mike Galeski told Business Week magazine. “There was always excitement at what he would come up with, and there was always surprise.”

Callaway ambition

Callaway had three children and the youngest is editor of Callaway Editions, keeping the family name alive. Ely had tremendous ambition for Callaway golf clubs and his son said his ambition grew as he got older rather than diminished as is the usual way things go with age.

Callaway golf clubs changed the golf industry

Callaway golf clubs and Ely Callaway probably had a larger influence on the golf industry than anyone or anything else in the golf industry. He was friend to royalty, politicians and presidents, artists and entertainers. He also drove through technological advances and innovation through the Callaway golf club brand.

More than marketing

Despite the heavy marketing and extreme wealth Ely flaunted when the company went on the stock market, Callaway believed in the quality of the Callaway golf clubs as a product. “I'm not a good enough salesman to sell a mediocre product,” he said. “People who say it is all marketing, well, they are just wrong. I am a product creator who understands what it takes to move people to a new product.”
And he was well liked from Royalty down to the caddies – his friendly persona was well suited to selling Callaway golf clubs to the wider public, making Callaway golf clubs the huge success they still are today.

The Sports HQ is the European division for Confidence Sporting Goods, inc., the famous manufacturer from Palm Springs, California. We sell a huge range of sporting equipment, including golf clubs. Because we sell directly to you, you can expect to save up to 70% on normal retail prices when buying from us. Call us today on 01527 598388 for more information or to place an order.