Equipment
Breaking: Cleveland Golf CEO Greg Hopkins Resigns
GolfWRX Staff
Cleveland Golf/Srixon has announced that Greg Hopkins has resigned as CEO of the company, effective immediately. Yesterday, Sept. 24, 2012, Hopkins officially tendered his resignation to the Board of Dunlop Sports in Kobe, Japan.
“I’ve been with Cleveland for sixteen years and have seen tremendous growth for the company during that time,” Hopkins said. “Now I’m at a point in my life where I want to do some things and explore some ideas that I’ve always wanted to pursue.”
Cleveland Golf is an American golf equipment company based in Huntington Beach, Calif. The company was founded in 1979 by Roger Cleveland, and originally produced replicas of classic golf clubs from the 1940s and 1950s.
In 1990, Roger Cleveland sold his company to ski manufacturer Rossignol. New high tech products called VAS woods and irons were introduced. Corey Pavin won the U.S. Open in 1995 with these products which provided greater awareness of the brand. However, consumers didn’t take to the radical look of these products so by the end of 1996 finances were hampered.
Greg Hopkins was chosen as president of Cleveland in 1997 and under his leadership things began to turn around. Product designs returned to the original great looks of classic clubs while incorporating modern technology for enhanced playability and Cleveland began to sponsor world class players like Vijay Singh. Sales increased five times the levels of 1997 by 2005.
In the summer of 2005, Rossignol was bought out by Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver. However, in 2007 Quicksilver sold Cleveland Golf and its Never Compromise subsidiary to Japan-based SRI Sports Limited, owner of the Dunlop Sport brand in Japan. It was later announced that Cleveland Golf operations would be consolidated with those of Srixon, SRI Sports’ other golf brand. Although both brands would continue, Cleveland took over marketing in North America, with Srixon taking over in Europe.
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Goober
Sep 26, 2012 at 10:31 am
Greg presented a good image. The current product line-up is okay, except new drivers are needed, and the wedges need some leading edge tweaking.
John
Sep 26, 2012 at 9:03 am
I always enjoyed playing Cleveland products (from irons to drivers), but in my opinion, they’ve lost their way the last few years. Time for a change, although, an effective immediately resignation usually means that someone got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Todd M
Sep 26, 2012 at 1:21 am
I would not read too much in it. The economy is terrible and people are not spending money.
Adam
Sep 25, 2012 at 4:27 pm
You don’t resign out of the blue without notice or some hint in advance unless you have done something bad. I would bet he was told “Get out or we will put you out”.