NWO Golf Links November 2016

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David Hueber has been
around the golf industry for
four decades, including a
stint as President and CEO
of the Ben Hogan Company.
That experience gave him
a unique vantage point to
view the industry. The book
includes interesting tales from
course operations, to real
estate development, as well
as, the actual manufacture of
golf clubs.
“In the Rough: The Business
Game of Golf” relates
Hueber’s journey through
golf. He began as a caddie at
the club where his father was
the professional and learned
to play well enough to earn
a scholarship to Florida State
University. His describes his
time on the FSU team,
“I playedwithout distinction,”
College convinced him a
career as a touring pro may
have been out of his reach,
but he wanted to be involved
in the golf industry in some
capacity.
An entry level job with the
National Golf Foundation
gave him the chance to see
the inside of golf course
development. Along the way,
he met the top pioneers in the
industry, Karsten Solheim the
founder of Ping, as well as,
Gary Adams of TaylorMade,
Tom Crowe of Cobra and Ely
Callaway of Callaway Golf.
These incidents are all
interesting, but when Hueber
took a job working for
Deane Beman, who was the
Commissioner of the PGA
Tour, his experience becomes
a lens to the changes in the
golf industry.
He is best known as the head
of BenHoganCompany,when
it was owned by Japanese
entrepreneur Minoru Isutani’s
Cosmo World. Hueber
also ran Pebble Beach as
president of Ben Hogan
Properties, another of Isutani’s
companies.
There are two extremely
interesting segments to “In
the Rough” that will attract
the attention of most golf fans.
Book Review:
By ED TRAVIS
NWO Golf Links