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History of Standard Golf Company

Standard Golf Company was founded in 1910 by Walter K. Voorhees and 4 other local businessmen. The company, originally called Standard Manufacturing Company, produced steel farm gates. In its early days, the company expanded its farm gate line to include ornamental gates, and also produced a diverse range of products including cistern covers, street signs, boat docks, wagon tongues, and automatic hog waterers.

Walter Voorhees was a member of the Cedar Falls Park Board when the Washington Park Golf Course was built in 1921. At that time, no company offered a complete, standardized line of golf course equipment. So in 1926, Voorhees decided to add golf course equipment to Standard’s product line. “The idea struck me” he said, “that here was a new field for an alert manufacturer. Why not develop a complete line of needs in this field, a standard line. Why not develop a product so good that it would be in demand all over the United States.”

Over the years, golf course equipment became an increasingly important part of Standard’s business. In 1971, the last of the agricultural and miscellaneous lines of business was sold, and in 1974, the company changed its name to Standard Golf Company. Today, Standard is the world’s leading producer of golf course accessories. Its products are sold by over 250 distributors on six continents.

Walter K. Voorhees served as President and General Manager from 1910 until his retirement in 1956. At that time, his sons, Robert W. Voorhees and Maynard K. Voorhees, became President and Vice President respectively. The company’s current president is Peter E. Voorhees, who is the son of Robert Voorhees.

The company began its business in an old paper mill located at the end of East Third Street. In 1913, the company erected a building at 220 East Fourth Street. Over the years, several additions were constructed and several tracts of adjoining property were added to the complex. The company opened a warehouse in Holland to serve its European customers in 1991.

On June 6, 1992, a fire destroyed the original building and a substantial portion of the rest of the complex. Shortly thereafter, the company began construction of a new 75,000 square foot building in the Cedar Falls Industrial Park, which it occupied in December of 1992. A 30,000 square foot addition was added to the building in 2000.

On January 3, 2018 Peter Voorhees sold the business to the employees making Standard Golf a 100% employee owned company, with Peter continuing to lead the way as Chairman of the Board after stepping down as president in January 2022.

Now, Scott Hottle has assumed the role of President and Matt Pauli as Vice-President.