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 Kia Ma is the man behind the success of TaylorMade’s popular Rossa brand of putters. Born in South Vietnam, Ma came to Southern California in 1979 with little more than the clothes on his back. “My first jobs were as a boat pilot and a truck driver,” said Ma, an Escondido resident. “I couldn’t speak English and felt completely lost. The transition came through meeting someone who was kind enough to let me stay on their couch. I learned the language through newspapers, TV and radio. It was tougher than anything I have ever done.” In 1981, Ma landed a job on the assembly line at Shamrock Golf, an Irvine-based club manufacturer. It was his first exposure to the game. “I was making $4 an hour, and learned how to assemble putters, irons and metal woods,” he said. “I also learned how to grind and polish clubheads.” Ma discovered he had an aptitude for putters. In 1987, he moved to Ray Cook Golf and rose to vice president, overseeing nearly 50 employees. “That company’s focus was about 99 percent putters,” Ma said. “By the time I went to work there, I already had a lot of experience working with golf clubs. It was around this time that I started using my imagination and experimenting with different putter hosel set-ups, shapes and grindings.” While working on the M1, the signature putter model for Ray Cook, Ma experimented with the hosel design and shaft bend. “I ended up just tweaking the existing look,” he said. “One of the salesmen saw it, liked it and brought it to [President] Bob Bauer. They felt it could do very well in retail. Six months later, they were selling my design, the M1-X. Nobody asked me to come up with it. I was just playing around and wound up creating a putter that went on to become very successful.” Ma had realized his calling. “Making putters was a piece of cake,” he said. “I felt very familiar working with them and they always gave me the most joy.” In 1992, he formed his own company, K&M Golf, developing relationships with most of the major putter manufacturers. In 2003, TaylorMade bought his company and he joined the club construction staff. He designed several top-selling brands, his favorite being the Mezza Monza. “It was the inspiration behind many of the putters that we went on to build,” Ma said. “It was a mid-sized mallet putter that had a lot of MOI (moment of inertia). It also had our new AGSI technology face insert.” Ma also had a lot to do with making TaylorMade’s Rossa brand appealing to customers. Though it had been established a year before he joined the company, he quickly integrated with the other engineers in helping create the popular line. “TaylorMade has engineered such great technology and been responsible for so many great products over the years,” Ma said. “Our engineers work well together. Just because an engineer works on the metal wood team or the iron team or the Rossa team doesn’t mean that we don’t share ideas and methods for creating better products.” Ma now has his own product line for Rossa: TP by Kia Ma. Like other models in the TP Line, it’s designed and engineered for “the best players who demand a certain type of response, feel and performance from their equipment.” Every club in the Rossa TP by Kia Ma line is milled from soft 1020 carbon steel, and “a lot of time and detail goes into each putter,” he said. “These are the putters that are built for tour professionals who want the feel that a milled putter offers. The one thing I have learned from my experience in building putters for tour players is that they are more particular about their equipment. “A consumer can walk into a golf shop and purchase a putter that will work just fine for them. A tour player, however, tends to be pickier about his or her likes and dislikes. Some will ask us to remove or customize the sight-line graphics. Others want different grips or lighter-weight heads. Golf is their livelihood and they spend hours experimenting with different shapes, graphic designs, lie and loft angles.”  But though the average golfer may not have the same high demands as a touring pro, the design process for Ma’s putters ensures that a golfer who buys one receives the same type of performance as a leading professional.While performance is critical in a putter’s success, Ma appreciates the visual aesthetic, as well. “Whether one of our Rossa putters is sitting in a local golf shop or it’s being used on the practice green at a tour event, we want to make sure it’s visually stimulating enough to get noticed,” he said. “But golfers have different tastes. Some want a larger mallet and other like a more traditional blade. The one constant is performance.” As an example, Ma points to the Rossa Monza Spider, one of the largest putters ever designed by TaylorMade. “At first glance, some golfers found it to be too large, but its success speaks for itself,” he said. “The feedback we’ve received on tour indicated it was one of the best-performing putters ever. So, while I think that we’ll continue to see golfers playing with all different types of putters, performance is the one thing that will keep them all happy.” Ma also believes that putter companies will continue to be innovative. “Many of the space-agey putters on the market today are built that way for a reason,” he said. “Companies are looking for ways to increase MOI in putters, which really helps the average golfer.” But while futuristic putters will continue to be made, Ma said there is still a demand for classic designs. “Our Daytona model, for example, is a classic-looking blade-style putter that is very appealing to many people who crave that old look.” And how does it feel to be at the top of his game? “I am humbled by the success of the Rossa brand,” Ma said. “We love when a player wins a tournament using one of our putters. But there are many people who help make up the brand, and we work really well together.” And, who knows, maybe that success will reach his homeland someday. “A lot of new courses have opened in Vietnam recently,” he said. “I am happy and surprised, even though, for the most part, golf remains too expensive for most of the people living there. “I have been back a few times in the past several years and always ask golf pros about their business. They can get 200 or more people on the weekend, but are slow during the week. But the courses are great for Taiwanese, Japanese, Chinese and American business travelers. Even if [local residents] can’t afford to play the courses, the recent growth has created more jobs within the community, which is fantastic.” A CLOSER LOOK AT KIA MA Birthplace: South Vietnam. Residence: Escondido. Your heroes: My parents. How often do you play golf: Two or three times a week. Your favorite Southern California course: Journey at Pechanga in Temecula. The first golf industry job you ever had: Working at Shamrock Golf in 1981. What would you be doing if you weren't in the golf industry: I’d be a mechanic. I know a lot about engines and can take an engine apart and put it back together. Your favorite professional golfer: Fred Couples. The most famous person you’ve ever met: Sylvester Stallone. Three things you can't live without: Golf, the Golf Channel and my team in the Rossa lab. Living in the U.S. I truly feel like I am living the American dream. Your greatest achievement: Moving to U.S. from Vietnam, getting a job, a house, and starting a family. Hidden talents: Working on cars. One thing not many people know about you: I love to fish. Your most cherished childhood memory: Spending time with my dad. He taught me how to treat people and to have good morals. |
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| Comment at 11/7/2009 |
You haven't played a round of golf until you have putted with a Kia Ma putter. "Kia Ma putters are works of art!"
| Comment at 11/11/2009 |
WHAT A GREAT STORY!! I have a KiaMa putter and it is the best i have ever used. The attention to detil is second to none.
| Comment at 11/11/2009 |
THX that's a great awnser!
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