Ben Hogan Golf Equipment files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Co., launched two years ago to try and revive the iconic brand’s place in the golf club business, filed for bankruptcy over the weekend.

The Chapter 11 petition, filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth on Saturday, came less than a month after the company laid off most of its workforce in Fort Worth.

The filing listed both assets and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million. Among its top creditors are Perry Ellis International, which licensed the Hogan name to the company, owed $267,500, and Conti Edgecliff-Sias LLC, its landlord in south Fort Worth, owed $77,256.74.

The Fort Worth maker of premium golf clubs, backed by Corbett Capital in Fort Worth, was brought back to the marketplace two years ago by Terry Koehler, a onetime director of marketing of the original Ben Hogan Co. The company introduced its first set of irons, the Fort Worth 15, in 2015, and a second set, called PTx, a year ago.

But the new products came at a time when the golf business was in the rough. The new Hogan golf company tried to separate itself from the pack with the novel approach of numbering irons by loft — anywhere from 20 degrees to 63 — instead of the traditional 2-9 plus wedges. But the products, carried by country club pro shops and select retailers, failed to catch on.

Last August, Koehler was replaced as president and CEO by Scott White, who previously worked as an executive at Callaway Golf and TaylorMade. In November, the company said it would add the traditional 2-9 numbers on the hosels of the clubs.

White could not be reached for comment Monday. A phone number at the company’s facility, in the former Star-Telegram printing facility near Interstate 35 and Interstate 20 in south Fort Worth, was disconnected.

On Jan. 3, about 30 workers were laid off, leaving less than 10 employees at the company. One former employee, who asked not to be identified, said workers were told they would be paid for accrued vacation time, but it was never received. The employee also said the company had only a handful of executives left.

In a statement released earlier this month, Hogan called the layoffs “re-tooling and right-sizing in an effort to become more nimble” and indicated some workers might be rehired on a contract basis to handle incoming orders. “Reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated,” White said at the time.

This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Ben Hogan Golf Equipment files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy."