History
Callaway Golf’s success story began with a small three-person golf company called Hickory Stick USA. The company initially made wedges and putters that had unique shafts made of hickory with a steel core. These clubs caught the eye of Ely Callaway during a visit to a golf shop near Palm Springs, California, in 1982, and he bought an interest in the company. Callaway had already been a successful businessman in the fields of textiles and wine, and golf would become the third and most successful act in his entrepreneurial career. By 1988, the company had been renamed Callaway Golf, moved to Carlsbad, California, and had shifted from trying to re-create classic clubs. A series of engineering and production advancements led to the creation of the Big Bertha Stainless Steel Driver in 1991, a breakthrough product that lifted Callaway Golf to the top of the golf industry.
The company continues to flourish. In 2003, Callaway Golf bought the assets of The Top-Flite Golf Company, adding the popular Top-Flite and Ben Hogan brands to its portfolio. Though Ely Callaway passed away in 2001, his spirit lives on in every product that the company produces.
