WEBVTT
1
00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.679
Hi, This is Peat Makepeace calling from Solihull in the
2
00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:09.439
United Kingdom and I play at Stonebridge Golf Club. This
3
00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:11.320
is golf Smart number.
4
00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:15.279
Four hundred and eighty four, published on April fourteen, twenty fifteen.
5
00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:20.559
Welcome to Golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain
6
00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:24.199
insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the
7
00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:30.199
Golf Smarter podcast. Great Golf Instruction Never gets Old. Our
8
00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:35.119
interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations
9
00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:38.679
like this that are no longer available in any podcast app.
10
00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:41.560
Within the series Golfers that are out there, there's a
11
00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:46.320
definite faction who look at this possibility of non conforming
12
00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:49.799
equipment playing simple level of cheating. Well, okay, it is
13
00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.840
cheating if you use it in a real competition, even
14
00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:56.320
if it's anywhere from your Saturday morning sweeps to the
15
00:00:56.359 --> 00:00:59.799
club championship to the County diameter to the Staumeter. And
16
00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:03.359
but there's a whole bunch of people who probably would
17
00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:05.959
never play in those things simply want to go out
18
00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:07.719
and just get it a little bit better than they do.
19
00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:10.719
Right now, nice side is recording a little different because
20
00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:13.879
I've watched how the whole business model is that all
21
00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.200
the big golf companies go out and they do their
22
00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:19.560
engineering and they develop their new clubhead technology, and then
23
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.879
they build their golf clubs so they're all the same length,
24
00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:26.000
same loss, same lying angles, seem everything, so that they
25
00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:28.599
can be shipped into all the retail stores to more
26
00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:31.159
easily be sold off the rack. That's how you sell
27
00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:33.599
four hundred million dollars where the golf clubs a year.
28
00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:36.640
But the point still remains, golfers are as different in
29
00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:40.079
our size, our strength, our athletic ability, and especially in
30
00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:43.640
our swing characteristics. Standard made clubs are not going to
31
00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:45.719
help every single golfer play to the best of their
32
00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:48.599
given ability. That's where custom fitting can step in and
33
00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:50.799
help people play better and play more.
34
00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:58.319
Surprising information on how to cut seven to ten strokes
35
00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:02.400
from your handicap using proper fitted clubs with Tom wish On.
36
00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:06.000
This is Golf Smarter Premium.
37
00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:09.919
Here's your host, Fred Green. Welcome back to the Golf
38
00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:12.159
Smarter Podcast. Tom.
39
00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:14.560
Thanks very much, cred it's a pleasure to be back
40
00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:15.680
to talk about golf.
41
00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:18.960
We could talk about golf, we can talk about golf clubs,
42
00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.800
we can talk about custom club fitting. We can talk
43
00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.039
about the state of Actually we are going to talk
44
00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:29.759
about all of those things. Okay, how is the state
45
00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:32.639
of the golf club industry. Let's get right to it.
46
00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:35.439
How is the state of the industry from your perspective
47
00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:35.919
right now?
48
00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:40.800
Well, it's very interesting. You know, the industry's big major player,
49
00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:43.759
tailor Mate, took a gigantic hit last year. They were
50
00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:48.000
down like twenty nine percent in sales, you know, largely
51
00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:52.439
due to the fad of white driver heads being over
52
00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:57.520
so that went away from them, but also because you know,
53
00:02:57.560 --> 00:03:00.240
there's been a little bit of a backlash from some
54
00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:03.599
of the major retailers in golf that they're you know,
55
00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:06.080
not real happy with the way that the big giant
56
00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:09.599
companies have been bringing out new models every six months
57
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:13.240
and how difficult that is to manage on a retail
58
00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:17.960
inventory standpoint, you know. So, you know, right now it's
59
00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:20.199
you know, up in the air. You know, it's hard
60
00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:22.560
to say exactly what's going to happen to the golf
61
00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:28.680
equipment industry. Participation in the game continues to sag, you
62
00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:31.039
know a little bit for all of the post recession
63
00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:34.719
reasons you know that are out there. Games expensive, takes
64
00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:38.280
too long to play. The millennials, you know, are not
65
00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.960
impressed with playing their father's game, so to speak. And
66
00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:45.879
so you know, we're living you know, with about five
67
00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.639
ten percent, well actually won that twenty percent fewer golfers
68
00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:53.000
and we had ten years ago, you know, with that,
69
00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:56.080
So you know, but the game is still the game.
70
00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:00.960
It's still the greatest game there is, and you know
71
00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.240
it still is something that you know is going to
72
00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:04.080
live forever though.
73
00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:08.159
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's interesting as we're talking right now,
74
00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:11.960
we're in day two of the Masters twenty fifteen and
75
00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:16.319
Jordan's speaf Is is kind of running away with things here.
76
00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:22.600
He's having another amazing round after yesterday's. Is is someone
77
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.600
like a Jordan's Speef do you think? Is he the
78
00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.759
kind of character he does? He have the what it
79
00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:33.759
takes to be a person that will get the millennials
80
00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:37.120
back on the golf or to the golf course, you know,
81
00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:39.879
the way Tiger. You know, when Tiger was at his peak,
82
00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:43.240
everybody was building golf courses left and right, and everyone
83
00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:45.000
was happy, and we were coming out with new clubs
84
00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:48.199
every few weeks. And now you know, that kind of
85
00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:51.480
died away and everyone started leaving and everyone's waiting for
86
00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:54.600
the next Messiah. Could Jordan Speed be that character?
87
00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.000
Well, I think he can have influence on younger kids,
88
00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.199
you know, let's say twelve seventeen year olds, you know,
89
00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:04.160
to maybe get more into the game or start to
90
00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:06.720
play the game. But I'm not really sure. You know,
91
00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:11.360
among the millennials.
92
00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:14.120
He's too young, no, a different attention span.
93
00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:15.800
Let me put it that way, you know what I mean,
94
00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.279
they're the kids, you know, they're the generation that's grown
95
00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:22.000
up going nuts. If they walk out the door without
96
00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:25.240
a smartphone in their pocket, you know, it rules their life.
97
00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:28.199
And you know, and from that, you know, most of
98
00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.560
the things that I think an awful lot of millennials
99
00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:34.040
do for pleasure and enjoyment are things that don't take
100
00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:38.360
them very long. You know, to do workouts, you know, cycling,
101
00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:42.480
you know that sort of thing. And to be into golf,
102
00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:45.079
you've got to make a long commitment, you know, for
103
00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:47.480
practicing to get to the point where the game can
104
00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:49.879
be enjoyable. And then when you go play the game,
105
00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:52.839
you know, it's you know, four or five hours if
106
00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.480
you're going to play eighteen holes plus cost. So you know,
107
00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:58.560
I'm not sure. I mean I had a discussion at
108
00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:02.639
one point with Jerry Tarti, the editor of Golf Digest,
109
00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:05.480
and and you know, I noted that Golf Digest has
110
00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:09.160
changed their look, you know, of their magazine to try
111
00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:11.720
to appeal more to the millennials. And my point with
112
00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:15.240
him was, well, that's fine among the millennials who already
113
00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:18.000
do play golf, but the biggest segment of our population
114
00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:22.000
that is not playing golf and appears to not want
115
00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:24.720
to have anything to do with the game are the millennials.
116
00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:28.160
So you know, you know, what about things that need
117
00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:30.639
to be done to try to attract those people to
118
00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:33.399
the game, to get them to start playing, you know,
119
00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.439
for it. And you know, I made the suggestion to him,
120
00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:39.759
you know, just tossing something out of you know, why
121
00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:43.199
don't all the big entities in the game who have money,
122
00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:47.879
the PGA Tour, the PGA of America, the Augusta National
123
00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:51.199
Golf Club, the United States Golf Association, you know, throw
124
00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:55.360
some money in the pot and start making some commercials
125
00:06:55.399 --> 00:07:01.439
to put on television which feature celebrities and stars, well
126
00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.560
known sports heroes who love and play the game, and
127
00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:07.399
get on the commercial and tell people this is why
128
00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:09.040
this game is so great and why you need to
129
00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:09.519
play it.
130
00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:12.800
You know, for that and you know, yeah, where's justin
131
00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:14.439
Timberlake when we need him?
132
00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:18.600
Yeah, exactly, things like that, you know, or any of
133
00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:22.079
the you know Steph Curry, you know in basketball, who's
134
00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:23.319
a great player.
135
00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:23.920
And oh is that right?
136
00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.160
Loves tremendedly you know for that. Yeah. I mean he's
137
00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.680
a three four handicap and plays extremely well.
138
00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:36.160
Did not know that? That's interesting? Yeah, he's uh, yeah,
139
00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:42.879
he's very special. What's what he's doing this year in basketball? Uh?
140
00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.720
Their attention span? You're absolutely right. They want to they
141
00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:49.079
want to be able to play well because they can
142
00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:51.120
do it on their video games. So why can't they
143
00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:53.720
just translate that onto the golf course. Why does it
144
00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:55.600
have to be so difficult?
145
00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:58.920
Yeah, well, you can play eighteen homes in a video
146
00:07:58.959 --> 00:07:59.959
game in a half an hour.
147
00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:02.680
Yeah, right, exactly. You know, I live next to a
148
00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:06.040
golf course. We've talked about this because I Marine Country Club,
149
00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:09.519
which you your mom lives near here too, so you're
150
00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.680
familiar with the golf course. And just last week they
151
00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:17.360
they did an experiment. They had two pins on each
152
00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:21.560
green and one was a regulation size hole and the
153
00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:25.120
other one was a fifteen inch hole good for them
154
00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:29.040
and yeah, and they just as an experiment to see
155
00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:30.879
how people liked it to be able to get the
156
00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:33.200
kids out on the golf course with the family because
157
00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:37.960
it's a very family oriented country club, and the feedback
158
00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:42.960
they were getting was an hour faster to play and
159
00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:47.559
seven to ten strokes per per person was saved. Now,
160
00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:50.159
I don't think this is going to be the future
161
00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.120
of the game as far as tournament play, of course not.
162
00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:55.919
But for fun, why not.
163
00:08:57.679 --> 00:08:59.399
I think, you know, all of those things like that
164
00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:01.799
are okay, you know, I mean for a little bit
165
00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:04.279
of a boost to play. But at the end of
166
00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:08.799
the day, you know, for golf to continue to grow,
167
00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:12.679
the game has to attract people for what it brings
168
00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:15.600
and what it has always brought from day one. You know,
169
00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:19.240
with that, you know, a chance to be you against yourself,
170
00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:22.279
you against the golf course, to master a skill that
171
00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.200
it's difficult to master, you know, to be able to
172
00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:28.519
spend time with friends in a social environment where you're
173
00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:31.960
you know, you're also playing a game. And then the
174
00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.799
pure enjoyment of the fact that you know, all these
175
00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:37.440
different golf courses around the country and around the world,
176
00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.000
they're all different, they're beautiful examples of how we can
177
00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:45.440
shape land into you know, gorgeous agronomy. And it's fun
178
00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:47.159
to go out and play all the different kinds of
179
00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:49.639
courses out there. You know, those are the things that
180
00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:51.960
have to draw the people you know into the game
181
00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.759
to play, you know, play the game the way it's
182
00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:57.960
always meant to be played, you know, for that. So yeah,
183
00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.399
I mean I welcome the Badiach Cup, of the fifteen
184
00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:02.320
inch Cup, you know, in that for you know, the
185
00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:04.600
occasional fun thing to get a few people out who
186
00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:07.639
may not have been coming out regularly. But it's not
187
00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:09.759
the answer for long term.
188
00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:13.159
No, I don't think I don't think so either. I
189
00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:17.840
don't think so either. But you know, even if there
190
00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:20.000
is a fifteen inch hole it and it saves you
191
00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:22.559
an hour and it saves you some strokes, hitting a
192
00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:27.159
golf ball, not putting, hitting a golf ball is still
193
00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:32.120
not an easy thing to do, no doing it well.
194
00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:35.559
Yeah, yeah, you know, and that's it takes time to
195
00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:37.080
get to the point where you can hit it well
196
00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:39.600
enough that you can go out and have fun, right.
197
00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.600
Right, It takes years for it to be fun, because
198
00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:44.519
it's not really fun until you get good.
199
00:10:45.639 --> 00:10:47.759
Yeah, either that or else you play it strictly for
200
00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:50.840
the social side, which is tremendous, you know, and so
201
00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:53.440
regardless if you don't score well, you're out there with
202
00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:56.200
good friends, laughing and having a good time outside.
203
00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:59.840
Right, What can the equipment industry do? And I'm sure
204
00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:04.600
they would spend quadrillions of dollars, whether it be advertising
205
00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:07.679
or R and D. But what can they do to
206
00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:10.440
make it easier to hit a golf ball? Do you
207
00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:14.120
think there's something that is in their hands that would help.
208
00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:17.159
Well, there's nothing that can be done to get to
209
00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.440
the point where you hit you know, ninety eight percent
210
00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:22.320
of your shots in the air. That's you and your
211
00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:27.120
neural unpet system and proper instruction followed by practice, you know,
212
00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:28.480
to get to a point where you can make a
213
00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:30.799
good swing to hit the ball airporn, you know, as
214
00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.279
far as getting people a little bit more distance or
215
00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:36.440
hitting the ball a little straighter. You know, there are
216
00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:39.519
some people in the in the world golf industries who
217
00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:42.519
are starting to look at this and say, you know,
218
00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:45.720
for those people who strictly play for fun, who would
219
00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:50.639
never play in serious competition, why shouldn't we manufacture non
220
00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:54.080
conforming clubs? You know that would you know, just simply
221
00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:56.559
be out there to add to the fun in the game.
222
00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:00.000
Not that long ago, I think in the month of February,
223
00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:06.039
the Japan Golf Manufacturers Association came out with us with
224
00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:10.559
a statement saying that they were in favor of this. Okay,
225
00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:13.320
they got criticized heavily because, you know, one group of
226
00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:16.240
people said, well, the only reason that the Japan manufacturers
227
00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:18.320
want to make non conforming clubs is so they can
228
00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:21.320
sell more clubs and make more money. Okay, Well, there's
229
00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:23.399
another side of the coin, you know, where you know,
230
00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:25.600
there are apparently an awful lot of people over there
231
00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:27.720
who don't hit the ball as far as they would
232
00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:32.960
like to, who don't play in serious handicapped competition, and
233
00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:35.919
they feel that maybe this could keep that group of
234
00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:39.159
people more interested in the game, you know, for that So,
235
00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:42.279
you know, because we can design drivers that hit the
236
00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:47.600
ball ten fifteen yards further by exceeding the rule in
237
00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:50.440
the game for the coficient and restitution for the spring
238
00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:54.519
face capability of the face, we could also design shafts
239
00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:00.080
which self correct during the swing basically and could and