(FORTUNE Magazine) – Ely Callaway, 72, is making loads of money off an addiction that afflicts millions of Americans -- golf. An admitted former addict who now has his habit under control, he runs Callaway Golf, a fast-growing U.S. maker of golf clubs. Callaway, whose Carlsbad, California, company went public in February in one of the hottest IPOs of the year, says of his customers: ''They can't help it. If someone comes up with a golf club that addicts recognize as being a super help to their game, they become addicted to the tool. We've got that tool.'' He is referring to ''Big Bertha,'' a revolutionary oversize stainless-steel driver introduced in January 1991. The $250 club helps average hackers hit longer, straighter shots. A fan: President George Bush. - Big Bertha's triumph marks another successful career for Callaway. After graduating from Emory University in 1940, he joined the Army and by the end of World War II was running a $500-million-a-year military-purchasing operation -- as a 24-year-old major. After the war he went to work for Deering Milliken, where he pioneered the idea of putting brand names like Visa on fabrics, and then moved to Burlington Industries. His marketing wizardry earned Callaway five years as Burlington's president -- but not the CEO spot. So he quit in 1973 and started Callaway Vineyard & Winery in Temecula, California, which soon had such chichi New York restaurants as the Four Seasons among its customers. In 1981 he sold the business to Hiram Walker for $14 million for a full-bodied $9 million profit.

Out of work and playing a lot of golf, Callaway came across a hickory- shafted wedge that he liked so much, he called the manufacturer to tell him so. ''We need your money,'' said the owner. ''Help us.'' Callaway did, to the tune of $2.5 million, renaming the company after himself. That was in 1982. Ten years later Callaway is cashing in his stock. He sold 300,000 shares in the initial public offering for an estimated $6 million and may sell his remaining 11.4% stake in the next year. ''I'm 72,'' he says. ''How long would you wait? Until you were 104?'' Besides, he has a new project -- his autobiography. No doubt it will include such secrets of success as knowing the competition and the customer. If Callaway's history is any guide, the book could well hole in one.