Richard Parente, co-founder of Hickory Stick and the first president of Callaway Golf, passed away on January 1, 2025 at age 85.
Parente was born in San Jose, CA, to an immigrant father. Growing up, he bonded with his Dad over their love of golf. Although skilled at golf, he never saw it as a career. After high school, he joined his father, working at the Altadena Cannery, a job he disliked. Dreaming of a different life, he considered moving to Alaska to mine for gold.
One day, while working at the cannery, a co-worker known as “Wino George,” a caddy during the summer who had never spoken to him before, turned to Rich and asked, “You play golf, right?” Rich replied replied, “Yes.” George responded, “Get your best pair of slacks—I got you a job interview for an assistant pro position at Sharon Heights.” He went to the interview the next day and got the job.
For the next 10 years, Parente worked as an assistant golf pro, running the pro shop and, on Mondays, driving club members to play at Pebble Beach, Cypress and Spyglass. In 1970, Ken Venturi recommended him for a head pro position at Whitewater Country Club in Palm Springs. After flying down for the interview, he returned with exciting family news: the young Parente family was moving.
He did not know that the Chicago “Unions” ran the Whitewater Country. Parente soon found himself as a golf pro for them. As Parente recalled, “The unions were attempting to seem more respectful in the 1970s, and country club memberships were their gateway to middle-class respectability.” However, some members, he said, “were less than polished,” and he “often had to teach them not to drive golf carts into sand traps or greens.”
Although he enjoyed being a golf pro, his true passion was design. He left the country club and, with the help of two friends, started Hickory Stick Golf, a small company in Temecula, CA, that created hickory shafts reinforced with steel cores for added strength. One day, Ely Callaway cold-called the company, and Parente answered. Ely had just sold his winery and wanted to invest in a golf club company. Hickory Stick soon became Callaway Hickory Stick and eventually Callaway Golf.
As the first President of Callaway Golf, Parente was instrumental in creating the first production-milled putters and the S2H2 designs.
After leaving Callaway, Parente continued to innovate in golf design, working with Founders Golf and Gary Adams, and later, he founded Goldwin Golf. At Goldwin, he pioneered the first milled driver heads and developed AVDP, a lightweight grip-and-shaft system designed for faster swinging irons and drivers.
Parente’s lifelong passion was putter design. In his later years, he returned to his roots, designing putters for Sacks Parente. He experimented with large amounts of tungsten with fewer budget constraints, creating high-MOI putters showcasing his technical expertise and artistic vision. Parente has over 30 golf patents.
Parente lived a full life and raised two boys who became men. All who knew him will continue to honor his legacy by living passionately and maintaining his irreverent sense of humor.
Image courtesy Pebble Beach Golf Club
