1-1 1 1-2 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 501 1-3 WHEREAS, The Texas Senate is proud to recognize the 1-4 Ben Hogan Company as its representatives and Mrs. Ben Hogan come 1-5 to the State Capitol on March 31, 1999, to honor the company; and 1-6 WHEREAS, In 1953, Ben Hogan of Fort Worth, Texas, world 1-7 famous golfer, won five of the six events he entered, including 1-8 the Masters, the United States Open, and the British Open; he was 1-9 honored with a ticker tape parade through New York City and was a 1-10 nationally known hero; and 1-11 WHEREAS, When he returned to Fort Worth, he established his 1-12 company in October of 1953; his standard of excellence was to be 1-13 reflected in his company and the manufacture of his golf clubs; and 1-14 WHEREAS, This pursuit of superiority became a standard by 1-15 which all golf equipment was judged; these standards were continued 1-16 when his company was sold to AMF in 1960, because Mr. Hogan remained 1-17 as Chairman of the Board; and 1-18 WHEREAS, Ultimately, the company changed hands three more 1-19 times, and the factory for making Ben Hogan golf clubs was moved to 1-20 Richmond, Virginia, in April, 1993; this move from Fort Worth caused 1-21 over 400 employees to lose their jobs; and 1-22 WHEREAS, Spalding Worldwide Sports purchased the business 1-23 in November, 1997, and began to rebuild the reputation of the once 1-24 great company; among Spalding's first actions was the relocating of 2-1 the Ben Hogan Company to Fort Worth and the rehiring of the former 2-2 highly trained craftsmen who worked there; and 2-3 WHEREAS, The return of the Ben Hogan Company to its roots in 2-4 Fort Worth was completed and production of the 1999 Apex iron was 2-5 begun on October 19, 1998; and 2-6 WHEREAS, Building Ben Hogan forged irons one at a time, a 2-7 small team of craftsmen in Fort Worth keeps Mr. Hogan's vision 2-8 before it; he believed that a golf club should be as perfect as 2-9 modern day tools and procedures can make it; since the average 2-10 tenure of the employees is 17 years, they know what Mr. Hogan 2-11 meant by perfect; and 2-12 WHEREAS, One of these highly valued employees is Leon Taylor, 2-13 who had been with the business for 25 years; after the five-year 2-14 layoff, Mr. Taylor was the first of many former workers to be 2-15 reunited with the career he cherished; today, Mr. Taylor is Quality 2-16 Assurance Technician, and he is responsible for all raw material 2-17 inspections as well as for finished product inspections; and 2-18 WHEREAS, Accompanying the group also is Nick Raffaele, 2-19 presently the Ben Hogan Operations Manager, whose primary 2-20 responsibilities are the coordination and growth plans for 2-21 Fort Worth production; and 2-22 WHEREAS, Rick Watson, the Director of Marketing and Brand 2-23 Manager for the company is from the corporate headquarters of 2-24 Spalding Sports Worldwide; he was instrumental in making the 2-25 decision to relocate to Texas, and he is responsible for the 2-26 day-to-day operation of the Ben Hogan Company; now, therefore, 3-1 be it 3-2 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 3-3 76th Legislature, hereby welcome Mrs. Ben Hogan and the delegation 3-4 from the Ben Hogan Company to the State Capitol and extend best 3-5 wishes to them; and, be it further 3-6 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared as an 3-7 expression of the highest regard and esteem of the Texas Senate. 3-8 Moncrief 3-9 Armbrister Gallegos Ogden 3-10 Barrientos Harris Ratliff 3-11 Bernsen Haywood Shapiro 3-12 Bivins Jackson Shapleigh 3-13 Brown Lindsay Sibley 3-14 Cain Lucio Truan 3-15 Carona Luna Wentworth 3-16 Duncan Madla West 3-17 Ellis Nelson Whitmire 3-18 Fraser Nixon Zaffirini 3-19 Perry, President of the Senate 3-20 ______________________________________ 3-21 President of the Senate 3-22 I hereby certify that the above 3-23 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 3-24 on March 31, 1999. 3-25 ______________________________________ 3-26 Secretary of the Senate 3-27 ______________________________________ 3-28 Member, Texas Senate