Callaway Golf Co.
By: Kevin • Case Study • 614 Words • November 20, 2009 • 1,224 Views
Essay title: Callaway Golf Co.
Callaway Golf Co.
In 1982, Ely Reeves Callaway had bought his small wedge and putter golf business and called it Hickory Stick USA and created clubs that were enjoyable for the average golfer. He called these clubs the Demonstrably Superior and Pleasingly Different (DSPD) clubs. This was a code he had always lived by. The family of Ely Callaway are not involved with the company today because he was told to choose his successor, and had chose Ron Draqpeau. He is a man who only shared the same vision and thought of golf, but also had the skills as a leader to continue his wonderful golf company. The goal was to make a good product and tell the truth about the game. In those days Ely would provide them to his customers personally in the back of his Cadillac. He made sales calls and talked to pros, amateurs, and those who came to be known as an average golfer. Finally, Hickory Stick USA came to be knows as Callaway Hickory Stick U.S.A, and not too long after that, Callaway Golf.
By 1985, the company moved from the California desert to its coastal Carlsbad home. Which is presently the main headquarters of the company today as well. This was where he saw opportunities in undeveloped land, along with a talented labor force fueled by the nearby aerospace industry. Around that same time he met and lured a man named Richard C. Helmstetter away from a successful career designing high-end pool cues in Japan. Mr. Helmstetter and his R&D team designed and created a larger, more forgiving stainless steel driver. Today, there are a total of 2,600 employees working with the Callaway Golf Company.
Celebrities such as Bill Gates, Kenny G., Celine Dion, and Alice Cooper uses the latest technology of Callaway Golf. Even the pros such as, Annika Sorenstam, Charles Howell III, and Phil Mickelson use Callaway Golf as well! It had eventually become one of the biggest names on the tour.
Mr. Callaway had once stated, “ We feel we have been extremely fortunate in our success as a company so much so that we would like to give something back to the community that helped make us so