Former officers cited

For the second time in less than two years a major golf apparel company is in trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has filed a lawsuit against Denver-based Sport-Haley Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOR), its chairman and former chief executive officer, Robert Tomlinson, and its former controller, Steve Auger.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, alleges the defendants misrepresented inventories, period costs and losses on the sale of headwear in financial statements for the company's fiscal years 2000, 1999 and 1998.

The suit alleges that Tomlinson and Auger aided and abetted the company's violations and seeks to bar them from serving as a director or officer of any publicly held company, among other penalties. In a statement, Sport-Haley said the defendants intend to "vigorously defend" the allegations.

Sport-Haley recently reported sales for the fiscal year that ended this past June 30 of $19.2 million, up 12 percent. The company reported a loss of approximately $388,000 for the fiscal year, an improvement of $585,000 compared with a loss of approximately $973,000 for the prior fiscal year.

This past August Cutter & Buck (NASDAQ: CBUK) reached an agreement with the SEC to resolve an investigation of its revenue recognition policies that allegedly involved former executives. Cutter & Buck is continuing to cooperate with the Justice Department in its separate, ongoing probe of the matter.