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 But for every large company selling millions of dollars of products worldwide, there are smaller niche companies designing and marketing products they feel are equal to, if not better than, clubs made by manufacturers that benefit from huge advertising budgets. We caught up with seven regional people on the front lines of golf club research, development and design. We asked them what makes their companies, and clubs, unique and what the future holds in this sector of the golf industry. Some are relatively new to the golf industry and come from aerospace or other backgrounds. Others have worked with larger manufacturers for years and are using that experience to help start new companies. But whether new, or firmly established, these seven individuals — and the companies they help run — embody the same spirit of enterprise and commitment to high quality that any company must possess in order to gain a foothold in this incredibly competitive market. JOE SCIENSKI TOURMAKER GOLF Explain your job in 100 words or less. As CEO and co-founder of Tourmaker Golf, I have my hands on nearly every part of our day-to-day operations. Although my responsibilities include sales, marketing strategies and bookkeeping, my biggest contribution is research, development and club design. How long have you been with the company? I co-founded Tourmaker Golf in July 2004. How did you get involved in the golf club business? Having somewhat retired from my first career at 35, I took the age-old adage to heart: “Take what you love to do, and figure out how to make a living at it.” What are the most popular clubs you sell? Our complete set of hybrid irons (3 through pitching wedge). What sets your clubs apart from the competition? We have taken the concept of hybrids to its natural conclusion. While numerous manufacturers offer hybrids to replace two or maybe three clubs in your bag, we can replace your entire set of irons. In terms of design and quality, I would put our clubs up against anyone’s. Put us on a robot and we won’t get beat. What’s your biggest challenge in the business? Designing and manufacturing a high-performing golf club was relatively easy, but breaking through the marketing juggernauts that make up this industry has proven to be a much more difficult task. What’s the favorite club in your bag? My Tourmaker 8-iron. What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? Never do anything just because someone else tells you to. How often do you play? Not nearly as often as before I owned a golf club company. What is your handicap? 13. How old were you when you started playing golf? 24. How did you become interested in the game? Golf has always been a part of my family, starting with my grandfather, who was a near scratch player in his day. What is your favorite part of the game? There are many reasons to enjoy playing golf, but I think the bond one shares with others who love the game is really special. You can start a round of golf with two or three complete strangers and finish 18 holes with two or three good friends. What’s your best round ever and where? After opening with a triple bogey, I went on to shoot 74 at San Juan Hills in San Juan Capistrano. What are your favorite courses in Southern California? My home course at Pacific Golf and Country Club. After that I would say Pelican Hill and Monarch Beach. What was your most enjoyable moment ever on the golf course? There are many, but this one really stands out. After playing golf for a number of years, I had yet to make an eagle. One day I was playing with Bob Whitmarsh, my co-founding partner at Tourmaker Golf, and found myself hitting my third shot on a long, difficult par 5 from a fairway bunker about 140 yards from the green. I took an 8-iron and hit the ball pin-high about 3 or 4 feet to the right of the hole. The ball took one hop and, like a yo-yo on a string, zipped straight into the hole for my first eagle 3. And if that’s not enough, Bob chipped in on the very next hole for an eagle 2. Back-to-back eagles! What was your most humbling moment on the golf course? I have been humbled more times than I care to recount. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on the course? I’d have to go with Evel Knievel. Who are your golf heroes? Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Payne Stewart. What’s your greatest achievement in golf? The only thing I ever really won was the 2000 match-play tournament at our club, but it was for the fifth flight. In terms of achievements, having developed a club that makes the game more enjoyable for people is what I am most proud of. What’s your personal motto on the golf course? There is always tomorrow. What’s the most influential book you’ve ever read? “The Final Rounds” by James Dodson. What is your most treasured golf possession? I was given my grandfather’s original set of Spalding Kro-Flite Bobby Jones Signature clubs. The set includes two woods, four irons and a Calamity Jane putter. Including yourself, who would make up your ultimate foursome? I never had the opportunity to play golf with my grandfather, so I would say my grandfather, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. What do you think is the one radical change that may happen in the game over the next decade? If they ever make an official tournament ball for the PGA Tour, it will eliminate much of the debate and criticisms surrounding equipment manufacturers and golf course designers. Tourmaker Golf is located at 34700 Pacific Coast Highway, Ste. 206, in Capo Beach. For more information, call (949) 429-7690 or visit www.tourmakergolf.com. JESSE ORTIZ BOBBY JONES GOLF Explain your job in 100 words or less. I design, produce and promote clubs of extraordinary beauty and performance. It’s that simple. How long have you been with the company? I founded Bobby Jones Golf with my partner, Walter Rosenthal [of Malibu], in 2004. Previously, I was with Orlimar for more than 35 years. How did you get involved in the golf club business? My father founded Orlimar in 1960. I grew up in the business. What are the most popular clubs you sell? The Bobby Jones Players Series. What sets your clubs apart from the competition? They’re beautiful. Everyone has some technology, but my woods just look and sound different. After spending decades hand-grinding hundreds of thousands of persimmon woods, the grace and beauty of the shapes of my clubs are very unique. What’s your biggest challenge in the business? Getting pros and retailers to realize that millions of dollars in research and development means nothing if you don’t have the eye for what a club should look like, or the knowledge of what makes a club really work. What’s the next big breakthrough in clubmaking? My expertise is in woods, so I always look for materials that let me move weight around within the clubhead. That’s how TriMetal was born. I feel that a new material for drivers, other than titanium, will be the next real breakthrough. What’s the favorite club in your bag? My 15-degree Bobby Jones 3-wood. What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? If it’s worth doing, then be sure you do it well. And don’t confuse efforts with results. I think about these two mottos often. How often do you get to play? About eight rounds a year, and four are in a row each year! What is your handicap? 9.8. How old were you when you started playing golf? 13 years old. I also made clubs before I ever played, just like my father. How did you become interested in the game? My father, Lou Ortiz, founded Orlimar in 1960. After working in the business several years on Saturdays and during summer vacations, it was natural to give the sticks I was making a try, so I started taking lessons. What is your favorite part of the game? The camaraderie. I just love being outdoors and experiencing new friendships. I really believe that every time I play I have the opportunity to make a new friend for life. How great is that? What’s your best round ever and where? I shot a par 71 at Graeagle Meadows in the Sierras once. What made it my best round was that I was 5 over after the first four holes. I had five birdies in a row and an eagle in a roller-coaster round. What was your most enjoyable moment ever on the golf course? At a father-son tournament several years back, my son (11 at the time) made his first par on a short par-3, and I made a bogey. The look on his face of complete amazement, joy and satisfaction was something I will always remember with warmth, pride and embarrassment. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on the course? On a par 5, I drove the ball out of bounds. I reloaded and drove it deep into a forest. I’m 250 yards from the pin and I need a compass to find the fairway. I hit a 1-iron (yes, I used to carry one) and hook it onto the green. I hit the putt and immediately started walking to the cup in an attempt to silence my friends. A par! I learned to never give up on any hole, and they learned never to count me out. Who are your golf heroes? Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller and Seve Ballesteros. What’s your greatest achievement in golf? The success of the TriMetal club. It was a true miracle after 37 years of hard work. What’s your personal motto on the golf course? Have fun. I don’t play enough to get upset over poor shots. What’s the most influential book you’ve ever read? “Tuesdays With Morrie” gave me pause to reflect on what’s important in life. It was simple, to-the-point and very moving. What is your most treasured golf possession? The first persimmon driver I made completely by myself. Including yourself, who would make up your ultimate foursome? Every year for the past 25 years I’ve played in a pro-am with my three best friends: Len, Peter and Rick. Through divorces, family deaths, job changes, cross-country relocations, business failures and other assorted curve balls of life, we set the week after Labor Day as our time. How can any game of golf be better than with your best buddies? What do you think is the one radical change that may happen in the game over the next decade? As a clubmaker, wouldn’t it be great if we could get the 14-club rule moved to 15? Bobby Jones Golf is located at 3326 Arden Road in Hayward. For more information, call (866) 858-5522 or visit www.bobbyjonesgolf.net. TORU KAMATARI SONARTEC Explain your job in 100 words or less. As president, my main focus is working with the executive management team to plan the growth of our product lines. This means working with my partners in Japan, our legal team and various financial advisers to determine how we want the company to grow both in the short and long term. I am also involved in the design and development of new products. How long have you been with the company? It was established in Hawaii in 1999 and was a two-person operation run from home the first year. We eventually moved into a small industrial warehouse in San Marcos for one year. In just six years, it has become a team of more than 20 in-house employees. How did you get involved in the golf club business? I got my start with the second-largest golf retail shop in Hawaii called Piece of Time. We specialized in retailing new and antique golf equipment. I handled most of the purchasing, marketing and sales. What are the most popular clubs you sell? Like everyone else, our hybrid sales have been through the roof the past two years. But I think our most loyal customers would also agree that our best products are our premium fairway metal woods. What sets your clubs apart from the competition? Without getting too technical, our driving cavity allows players of all skill levels to hit long, penetrating shots without the balloon effect commonly associated with fairway metals and hybrids. It also makes our clubs extremely forgiving and easy to hit from anywhere, regardless of handicap. What’s your biggest challenge in the business? Monitoring the growth of the company and making sure we don’t allow ourselves to grow too quickly. We have been successful because we have maintained a planned growth strategy. What’s the next big breakthrough in clubmaking? Someone will find a way to refine the use of carbon materials in clubheads. What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? A company lives and dies by the work ethic of its employees. Hard-working, results-oriented people breed an environment for success. How often do you get to play? I might have played four or five rounds all of last year. What is your handicap? I would be lucky to play to a 15 with as little as I play. How old were you when you started playing golf? I was 25 and living in Hawaii. With so many great golf courses to play, it would have been foolish not to play. What is your favorite part of the game? Finding new ways to challenge myself and the golf course. It’s a game that forces everyone to search for — and hopefully find — the best in themselves. What’s your best round ever and where? I once shot a 78 at Mid Pacific Country Club in Hawaii. What are your favorite courses in Southern California? Pelican Hill and Rancho Santa Fe. They are both very beautiful and very challenging. What was your most enjoyable moment on the golf course? Any of the five times I eagled a par 5. I get a rush reaching the long par 5s in two, and then sinking the putt is the ultimate accomplishment. What was your most humbling moment on the golf course? I have had one or two rounds where I ran out of balls before I finished 18. I think that would humble pretty much anyone. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on the course? People do the strangest things with their carts on a golf course. I’ve seen them driving onto the green, into sand traps and into lakes. I’d say that’s pretty strange. Who are your golf heroes? I have always admired Ben Crenshaw. Not just because he won two Masters, but also because he conducts himself in such a respectful manner. What’s your personal motto on the golf course? Loft is your friend. You can never have too much loft. What’s the most influential book you’ve ever read? I forget the name because it’s been so long, but it was written by Rocky Aoki, the founder of Benihana. I found his success so inspiring that it convinced me to move to the United States. What is your most treasured golf possession? My Ping Anser Scottsdale Putter (from the 1960s). Including yourself, who would make up your ultimate foursome? Michael Jordan, Al Pacino and Bill Murray. That would be the ideal combination of intensity and humor for a foursome. What do you think is the one radical change that may happen in the game over the next decade? I think it won’t be long before we are able to use our cell phones to measure distances, wind speed and direction, green slope and speed while playing golf. We are already so technologically advanced, it’s only a matter of time before someone finds a way to integrate cell phones into the game. Sonartec is located at 1939 Palomar Oaks Way, Suite B, in Carlsbad. For more information, call (760) 930-2454 or visit www.sonartec.com. GREG MARTIN PINFIRE GOLF Explain your job in 100 words or less. I wear many hats, but mainly I’m the VP of professional tours. My primary focus is to make sure all our players on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Canadian Tour get the equipment they need. How long have you been with the company? Since the beginning. My partners and I founded Pinfire Golf in January 2005. How did you get involved in the golf club business? My friend said he had an idea for a putter design and asked me to be his partner, and the rest is history. What are the most popular clubs you sell? The Eagle model putter. What sets your clubs apart from the competition? We feel we have the best putters because of the feel, alignment aids, look and quality that goes into every one of them. What’s your biggest challenge in the business? Breaking through in the industry. We know we make the best putter. Getting the public and wholesale buyers to realize that is quite an undertaking, but we’re proving it. What’s the next big breakthrough in clubmaking? Wherever the USGA takes it. What’s the favorite club in your bag? The putter, for obvious reasons. What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? Don’t grow too fast. We’ve had a huge demand for our equipment, and it’s been challenging to meet that demand. How often do you get to play? It depends. Sometimes I play twice a week, sometimes not at all. What is your handicap? 7. How old were you when you started playing golf? I was about 15. How did you become interested in the game? My father used to take me out to the course. What is your favorite part of the game? Honesty. What other sport does an athlete call a penalty on himself? What’s your best round and where? 71 at Eagle Glen in Corona. What are your favorite courses in Southern California? South Hills, Industry Hills, Pelican Hill, Bear Creek and Eagle Glen. What was your most enjoyable moment on the golf course? I was caddying for my friend, Brien Davis, on the Canadian Tour, and he had six or seven birdies in a row. What was your most humbling moment on the golf course? Watching my business partner reach a 650- yard par-5 in two. He came into the green with a 4-iron. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on the course? I saw a mountain lion run right across the green. He was close to 200 pounds. Who are your golf heroes? Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Fred Couples, Steve Pate and John Daly. What’s your greatest golf achievement? Winning a Pepsi Tour event. What’s your personal motto on the golf course? Play one shot at a time. What’s the most influential book you’ve ever read? “Golf Begins At 50” by Gary Player. I know that day will come sooner or later. What is your most treasured golf possession? My St. Andrews humidor. Including yourself, who would make up your ultimate foursome? Jack, Arnold and my late father. What do you think is the one radical change that may happen in the game over the next decade? Anything within USGA standards. Pinfire Golf is located at 4887 E. La Palma Ave. in Anaheim. For more information, call (951) 898-1000 or visit www.pinfiregolf.com. JIM YEH ALPHA GOLF CLUBS Explain your job in 100 words or less. I’m the chief designer for all of our product lines, so I create the direction and make sure the specifics of each club are implemented correctly. I’m also the general manager, which really is just a fancy title for a glorified heat shield for the rest of the company. How long have you been with the company? A little more than 13 years. How did you get involved in the golf club business? While I was still in the aerospace field, a good friend of mine persuaded me to do some club design work for his company. We both knew there was much room for improvement given the current market’s designs. After we started collaborating, I decided to partner with him and help fund and develop the business. What are the most popular clubs you sell? RX drivers, and RX and C1 irons. What sets your clubs apart from the competition? We do not chase trends in our designs just because they are popular, and we do not phase out designs just because it’s a new year. We design to push the limit in optimizing performance potential for a specific type of player. We then do the same thing for a player with different characteristics and their unique potential. What’s the next big breakthrough in clubmaking? I believe clubmaking will reach a point where players will be able to be perfectly fitted through a streamlined procedure after their body profile has been completely understood. It will be a process where designs and materials are selected through an evaluation of the benefits and features of each design. At some point, designs will be filtered out and there will be one optimal design for each player profile and category, such as driving and chipping. There’s a limit to how much performance you can attain out of each material type. The key is in understanding the body type and the benefits of each feature of the club designs. What’s the favorite club in your bag? A V5 titanium hybrid. That and my C830.2 driver. What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? Do everything to the best of your ability. Never compromise. Don’t worry about the market. Just create the best products possible. How often do you get to play? About once every three or four weeks. How old were you when you started playing golf? Late 20s, right before I finished grad school. How did you become interested in the game? Some friends in grad school in New York convinced me to give it a try. I was finishing up my thesis, working two day jobs and an evening job mopping hospital floors, and I had just become a new father. Among all the craziness of life, I found it to be a mental retreat. What’s your best round ever and where? An 80 at Kangsan Golf Course in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. What are your favorite courses in Southern California? North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village and The Valley Club of Montecito in Santa Barbara. What was your most enjoyable moment on the golf course? Playing at Mission Hills Golf Course in China with my wife. What was your most humbling moment on the golf course? Missing three swings in a row with some executives, the third of which managed to roll the ball a few inches to where one of the executives was standing. Who are your golf heroes? Gene Sarazen, who played into his 90s. I hope to have that kind of energy when I’m in my 90s. The second is my father, Fuji, who’s a part owner of a new course in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. What’s your greatest achievement in golf? I’m happy with the way the Alpha reputation has been built up over the past few years. The quality of our products has really spoken for itself, and for that, I’m quite pleased. What’s your personal motto on the golf course? Be in the moment. What’s the most influential book you’ve ever read? “Straight from the Gut” by Jack Welch. What is your most treasured golf possession? The first Alpha driver I built — the Alpha Reaction. I was elated with the design and eager to hear the reviews. Including yourself, who would make up your ultimate foursome? My brothers, RJ and HJ, and my father, Fuji. Everyone is so busy these days, we rarely have time to go out for a game. What do you think is the one radical change that may happen in the game over the next decade? I’m hoping, because there are so many benefits to playing, that golf will become less of an elitist sport and become affordable and accessible for younger generations in every country. Alpha Golf Clubs is located at 20500 Plummer St. in Chatsworth. For more information, call (818) 725-9720 or visit www.alphagolfclubs.com. LES MILLER LA JOLLA CLUB Explain your job in 100 words or less. My job is broken down into three categories: 1) Build sales and relationships with major retailers and green-grass golf accounts in the U.S. and worldwide. The company hired me to refocus its efforts on the junior and women’s golf equipment business. 2) Create an integrated marketing program to support the company’s sales efforts. 3) Develop new products and update our lines of equipment. We are in the first stages of this transition. How long have you been with the company? Since September 2005. How did you get involved in the golf club business? My father was a scratch golfer and started me playing golf at 3 years old. I was a scratch golfer by the time I was 13 years old. What are the most popular clubs you sell? Our Snoopy junior sets. These are the best-selling junior clubs of all time. What sets your clubs apart from the competition? The quality and innovation of our equipment. Our junior clubs are manufactured with the same high-quality standards that the major manufacturers use on their equipment. We have several patents on our junior clubs that distinguish us from other junior golf club companies, and we have developed a calibrated shaft-fitting system designed to fit players from 2 to 18 years of age. We are the only junior golf club manufacturer to calibrate the shaft system for each targeted size and age group. What’s your biggest challenge in the business? To regain our position as the No. 1 junior golf club company. What’s the next big breakthrough in clubmaking? Materials. Clubhead design has gone about as far as the rules will allow. New materials will allow clubmakers to rearrange the weight throughout the clubhead, shaft and grip to produce clubs that are easier for golfers to use. What’s the favorite club in your bag? The sand wedge. This is based on my many years working with Roger Cleveland, who I consider the best designer of wedges ever. What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? Plan well. Companies that take the time to do good planning and monitor their business plan well usually are successful companies. How often do you get to play? Once or twice a week. What is your handicap? Zero. What is your favorite part of the game? The short game, especially the wedge game. What’s your best round ever and where? A 61 at my home course in Illinois where I grew up. I was 16 and I believe it’s still the course record. What are your favorite courses in Southern California? Rancho Santa Fe, Pauma Valley Country Club and CrossCreek. What was your most enjoyable moment ever on the golf course? I have two. First, playing golf with my wife and three sons. Second, playing a round of golf with Byron Nelson. What was your most humbling moment ever on the golf course? I have had so many it’s hard to just think of just one. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on the course? Recently when playing golf in Southern California there was a mountain lion that came down from the hills and was roaming the edge of the course I was playing. Who are your golf heroes? Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, and the man who most taught me how to play. His name was John Wagner. What’s your greatest achievement in golf? Being responsible for the launch of Cleveland Golf’s VAS product line. It still remains the most controversial product launched in the golf business over the past 30 years. I was in charge of sales and marketing at Cleveland Golf. At the time this product was developed, all golf equipment was very bland. We decided to change that and it was my decision to make the VAS product line purple. The decision caused a stir in the industry and helped elevate Cleveland Golf into an industry leader in both image and sales. What’s your personal motto on the golf course? Play fast! What’s the most influential book you’ve ever read? “Extraordinary Golf,” by Fred Shoemaker. What is your most treasured golf possession? The first-place trophy I won when I was 6 years old. Including yourself, who would make up your ultimate foursome? Byron Nelson, Bobby Jones and Sam Torrance. La Jolla Club Golf Company is located at 1390-A Engineer St. in Vista. For more information, call (760) 599-9400 or visit www.ljcgolf.com. DICK DE LA CRUZ DELACRUZ GOLF Explain your job in 100 words or less. I design all DeLaCruz Golf products. How long have you been with the company? Two-and-a-half years. How did you get involved in the golf club business? By finishing investment cast golf clubs for the father of investment cast golf clubs, Bob McClellen. What are the most popular clubs you sell? Wedges and putters. What sets your clubs apart from the competition? Material design and computer technology. What’s your biggest challenge in the business? Generating sales. What’s the next big breakthrough in clubmaking? Using lightweight, high-impact, exotic materials. What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? Do original designs. How often do you get to play? Once a year, but I still enjoy going to the range frequently to test new designs. What is your handicap? 20. How old were you when you started playing golf? 40 years old. I got a late start. How did you become interested in the game? I got interested from the manufacturing side of the business. What is your favorite part of the game? The short game. What’s your best round ever and where? An 80 at Pauma Valley Country Club. What is your favorite course in Southern California? Pauma Valley. What was your most enjoyable moment on the golf course? Hitting a drive 260 yards. What was your most humbling moment on the golf course? Topping the ball in a tournament with a large gallery watching. What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen on the course? Watching a ball hit a tree branch, deflect to the green and roll in for a hole-in-one on a par 4. Who are your golf heroes? Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer, Nick Price and Tiger Woods. What’s your greatest achievement in golf? Being associated with Ely Callaway and Tosaku Nishida. What’s your personal motto on the golf course? Honor the rules of etiquette. What’s the most influential book you’ve ever read? “Search for the Perfect Swing,” by Alastair Cochran and John Stobbs. What is your most treasured golf possession? A 1930s MacGregor-Canby persimmon, hickory-shafted driver. Including yourself, who would make up your ultimate foursome? Billy Casper, Bob McClellen and Ben Crenshaw. What do you think is the one radical change that may happen in the game over the next decade? The USGA is going to impose more rules on restricting the performance of golf balls and might impose rules of limitation on the moment of inertia (MOI) in a clubhead. I started my career searching for special materials for the aerospace industry and learned how to evaluate them. This is where the future of the golf industry lies. These new materials are plentiful and cost effective but will require new manufacturing techniques. DeLaCruz Golf is located at 2865 Scott St., Ste. 101, in Vista. For more information, call (877) 430-4653 or visit www.delacruzgolf.com. PHOTOS BY MARK SAVAGE |
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