Ben Sayers & Son
The Ben Sayers & Son factory in North Berwick has been responsible for creating several revolutionary pieces of golf equipment, from gutta-percha balls and the "Benny" putter (the first to have a square-edged handgrip) to, in later years, the first set of carbon-shafted clubs and a specially commissioned putter for Jack Nicklaus. Ben Sayers Jnr. also designed the first "oversized" driver. After operating from the Ben Sayers factory in North Berwick for 126 years, production was moved to China in 2003.
Ben Sayers as a company was founded in 1873 and is thought to be the oldest golf company in the world.
Apart from making clubs and carrying out repairs, Ben Sayers first venture was in making golf balls.
Ben's first shop was a lean-to shed adjacent to the new 18th tee at North Berwick Golf Club. It was from this shed that he started to acquire a reputation both as a player and teacher.
Over the years he played in many famous golf matches. Such matches attracted terrific interest and took place at North Berwick Golf Club, St Andrews Golf Club, Old Prestwick Golf Club and other famous courses of that time. The matches were watched by crowds of 2,000 to 3,000 and fairly high stakes were played for.
Today Ben Sayers manufactures a range of high quality clubs, golf bags and accessories and supplies them all over the world wherever a game of golf is being played you can guarantee a Ben Sayers club will be present.
How Ben would have enjoyed that, and the fact 136 years after he first got to work on those hickory shafted clubs, his name is greater than ever in golf.
