Award-winning Buttheads now sold in 29 countries

Alice and Danny Scott did not set out to turn the world of golf upside down. If anything, the Gilbert couple was just playing a little golf — talking business — when they decided to flip the coin of life and it came up “tails.’’

As a result, Butthead Covers were born in 2004. The irreverent headcovers for golf clubs feature the bottom end of an animal, bird, bug, fish or body rather than the more conventional head or top end that adorn most golfers’ bags.

“We were playing golf with a friend in North Carolina, and he made the statement that Alice’s head cover on her driver looked like a turkey butt,’’ related Danny, who is the chief operating officer of Butthead Covers while Alice serves as the company’s CEO.

“The head cover he referred to was actually a worn-out deer with antlers. We joked around about it, and a couple of holes later, Alice referred to the head cover as 'my butthead cover.’ ’’

When the Scotts returned to Arizona, they ran the “butthead’’ concept past Alice’s son, Michael Schieffer, who just happens to be a stained-glass artist.

“Danny and I had been looking for some type of business opportunity, but without much success,’’ Alice explained. “But when we told Michael about Butthead Covers, he said, 'Mom, that’s the first good idea you’ve had.’’’

So good that Butthead Covers were named the best new product at the 2005 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando and are now sold in 29 countries. Each head cover is envisioned by the Scotts and created by Schieffer, and then sent to China for production.

A sign of the couple’s success is their huge warehouse in Chandler, which includes an inventory of some 35,000 Buttheads. There are 83 different models in all.

“They’ve become so popular that we are literally working our butts off,’’ quipped Danny, 53, who formerly worked in mining management while Alice, 51, had taken early retirement from the high-tech industry.

But it’s also a labor of love, as both Alice and Danny are heavily involved in the local golf community. Like last week, when they served as volunteers at the LPGA Safeway International.

“We love it,’’ said Alice, who as a member of the Banner Health Golf Council serves as the chair for the media center, with Danny being her top assistant.

“Over the years, we’ve met so many interesting people, especially the LPGA players,’’ Alice added. “And in turn that has led us to some great relationships.’’

No kidding. Usually, players have to carry certain headcovers with their sponsor’s name on it, be it Callaway, PING, TaylorMade, Nike, etc. But several players on the LPGA like Maria Hjorth, Karine Icher, Betsy King, Brittany Linciome and even the most recent champ of the Safeway International, Lorena Ochoa, have occasionally put the Butthead on the bag.

“This year, we gave out 25 different headcovers to the gals,’’ Alice said with obvious pride. “And while players like Annika (Sorenstam) can’t use them because of her endorsement contract with Callaway, we did give a couple of Buttheads to Annika’s dad and mom not long ago.’’

The baboon — “Kaboom Baboon’’ — is the big seller among the Buttheads, the Scotts agreed. “In every country but Germany,’’ Alice added. “Evidently the Germans don’t see the humor.’’

In addition, there is a line of fish (like Whale Tail), cats and dogs (Hot Spots and Siber Tooth Tiger), forests friends (Buck Shot), exotics (Man Da Panda) and “Bootyful People’’ (Jail Bird).

“We did these custom covers for Sheriff Joe (Arpaio)’s tournament with upside-down inmates that featured pink underwear, pink flips-flops and shackles on the ankles,’’ Danny noted. “And we do other custom work for tournaments and corporations, but the focus still is on our main line of Butthead covers.’’

Yes, when Hamlet the Hacker (pig), Udderly Ridiculous (cow), Ee-fore (donkey) and Lady Luck (lady bug) still are kicking butt in the headcovers market, why mess with the magic of playing golf upside down?