Flashback: The Brewers And Callaway

Jim Achenbach shares some fun stories about Ely Callaway and their new CEO Chip Brewer, and drops this little reminder:

His father, O. Gordon Brewer, is the longtime president of Pine Valley (N.J.) Golf Club and a two-time USGA Senior Amateur champion. The Brewer patriarch also is a former member of the USGA Executive Committee who served as chairman of the Implements & Ball Committee (now called the Equipment Standards Committee).

For a fun flashback, check out this Joe Logan interview with O. Gordon back when he was in a battle with Callaway over spring-like effect drivers and the USGA's split with the R&A at the time.

Q: At the outset of the controversy, a delegation from the USGA met with Ely Callaway. Were you there?

A: I have met with Ely. Ely says he seeks to make the game more enjoyable, and by making it more enjoyable you are going to attract more people to the game. I am not going to quarrel with Ely's motives in that regard.

Golf is a game, but it is also an industry. What anyone involved in the governing body of golf must understand is that they have shareholders and they have employees, and they are competing in a market that hasn't been growing.

The USGA, as the governing body, has a responsibility that is a bit different, to protect and preserve the game. Unfortunately, on occasion, there is some conflict on fulfilling these different responsibilities.