The Ben Hogan Golf Equipment brand is "in the midst of reinventing itself as a direct-to-consumer, cut-out-the-retail-mark-up, e-commerce business -- all while trying to stay true to the timeless appeal of its namesake," according to Mike Stachura of GOLF DIGEST STIX. Recently reorganized into BH Golf Equipment LLC, CEO Scott White said that the "change to move away from traditional retail and green-grass pro shops wasn’t easy, but it was necessary." White said, "We’re going to be precise and focused on the Hogan aficionado, the more accomplished player who plays a lot of golf." He added the traditional retail route just became "too expensive." With funding from ExWorks Capital, a "primary investor in the original reincarnation of the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company and now a significant owner in BH Golf Equipment LLC, the Ben Hogan brand will offer many of the clubs it introduced" in '15 and '16 at "greatly reduced prices." White said that the new distribution plan is a "sign of the times," and he thinks that the reputation of the Ben Hogan brand "won’t be negatively impacted by the lower prices and website-only availability." White: "It’s a delicate balancing act, and I can tell you that if this were five years ago, we wouldn’t have gone this route. But as e-commerce in general becomes more popular, this is the way of the future so I don’t think there is any kind of a negative connotation associated with it anymore" (GOLFDIGESTSTIX.com, 8/14).
