RAY: Don't we all want to have products that come with built in demand!! The golf industry is tougher than nails these days because the demand has dropped a little and the OEMs are desperate to keep their revenues up at the "boom year" levels. Therefore, the clubmakers who make it in these times will not be the ones who have the club that sells itself, but are the ones who TALK, TALK, EDUCATE, EDUCATE their customers telling them things about a golf club that they never knew and that piques their interest enough to build a trust a confidence in the clubmaker. Trust and confidence WILL beat the heck out of brand names.
Most consumers don't know me, won't know my name on the bottom of a head or on the side of a shaft. For sure, I think that on our line of heads, shafts, grips, you will have a very professional High End looking product. And we're going to help with some information that tries to tell the consumer our background and qualifications, but all of that might get you 20% of the way. The other 80% of the sale is going to be YOU educating them about the benefits of fitting, about how golf clubs work, telling them things like trivial things about what happens in that 5 ten thousandths of a second at impact so that they begin to see you in the same light as they look at the custom tailor who makes the best suit of clothes. So if you are not completely "fluent" in all of the information in mine and some of the other good clubmaking/technical books and articles, start 'boning up' on them and then when we start dispensing the new technical points from our new company, you work with that too with the goal to be - YOU want to become the most informed person about golf equipment in your entire city and county AND to make darn sure you make people know that by what you tell them about equipment. Best place to start in my opinion is to know Cochran & Stobbs Search for the Perfect Swing forward and backward and recite it to your customers. Sure, it's a 35 yr old book, but the facts and tidbits in there are PERFECT for talking the talk to your customers. OK< I better get off my soapbox because it sort of sounds like I am lecturing you!!! And heck, all I wanted to do was to tell you thanks for the catalog request and that we will get it out on Feb 1 and do the best we can to earn YOUR trust just like you have to earn YOUR customers' trust. See the parallel there? Thanks again, TOM WISHON -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of MPRUITT Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 10:18 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Tom Wishon's New Company Tom , Congrats on your new venture. My father and I just 4 weeks ago opened a new off course shop to complement our driving range, so we know some of your feelings. I would like to be able to buy components from someone with your knowledge and skills , at a price that allows profit ,and has a "look" that consumers want . Even the oem's are producing lesser priced sets that are aimed at killing the market for custom built sets. I will eagerly look at your new products. I am always looking for an edge regarding shafts and technical knowledge , so I hope you can provide that service. I would not expect you to participate on shoptalk a lot , because , like myself , there are only so many hours in a day to run your business and fulfill family responsibilities. If you can , add [EMAIL PROTECTED] to your email list ,and I will try to call you soon. God Bless and Good Luck. Ray Pruitt Tightsqueeze Driving Range Rays Golf Shop 1.434.792.5880 ----- Original Message ----- From: "tom wishon " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 4:35 PM Subject: RE: ShopTalk: Tom Wishon's New Company > Dan, Bernie, John, Bruce, Arnie and especially you Al, > > If you don't mind a little noxious promotion on Shop > Talk...................!!!!!!!!! > > This week when the new January issue of Golf Digest arrives in the > mailbox, if you scan through the back section of ads you might see a new > ad in there popping up at you. I am pleased to announce the > introduction of Tom Wishon Golf Technology, aka my own component > company! After 30yrs as a clubmaker, it was about time for me and > Mary-Ellen to finally do this for ourselves! > > Mary-Ellen and I have located the company in Durango, Colorado. > WHAT!!!?? Yes, Durango, Colorado!! For one, I am a native of Colorado, > born in Denver and grew up through high school in this state. The > mountains and this climate (beat the Texas summer heat!) are something I > always missed over the many years since I left. Since the nature of > this business is phone/mail/internet orders and all communication with > clubmakers is done by catalog/newsletter/email we felt that we could be > anywhere to build this business as long as there was adequate trucking > in and UPS out, which Durango does have. Durango is in a unique > location in that not only are there three UPS hubs within a couple > hundred miles (Denver, Albuquerque, Grand Junction) but the climate here > is really mild. Two of the 4 golf courses here stay open 12 months, the > other two do not only because they are winter feeding grounds for > thousands of elk who have no concept of the etiquette of staying off the > greens!! Yet if you drive 30 mins north of Durango, you are litereally > in the shadow of more 13,000-14,000 foot granite peaks than anywhere > else in the country. If I was looking for inspiration from the > surroundings to keep working on clubmaking technology, it is here!! The > other reason we decided to launch our own company and locate here is > partly personal - in the span of 4 months in 2001 I lost three very > close friends in the golf business to tragic circumstances, who were all > my age or younger. In short, the old adage of "life's too short" hit me > like a 2X4 'tween the eyes in 2001 and made me realize it was time for > me to get away and get back to work on just what I wanted to do with the > rest of my working life in golf. So here we are, and I look forward to > doing the best work of my entire career in the next several years. > > If you don't mind, I would like to tell you a little about what we are > planning, because we are going to be a little different in terms of our > product design offerings in some areas. Our catalog is in the final > stages of creation and will mail on February 1, 2003, but here's a > general overview of what we have planned. > > First of all, in 2003 you will see what I really feel is the best > overall clubhead product line I have ever designed. Virtually all of > the various materials imaginable plus a few new ones, and the various > methods of manufacture from casting to forging, are included in the 8 > sets of woodheads, 8 sets of irons, 4 models of stand-alone wedges and 3 > separate models of putters I created for the opening catalog. The > design tone is clean, solid, unpretentious but intended to stand toe to > toe with ANY clubheads in the market, whether component or OEM. And > there will be a very good representation in there for the left handers > too! > > In the area of shafts and grips, this is where we are pursuing a little > different direction in our design and product development. Our shaft > and grip offerings are going to be 95% all of our own designs. I really > feel that the years I have put in doing research on shafts, including > the book I did in 1991 called The Modern Guide to Shaft Fitting, and all > of the following testing and analysis that was published in various > magazines/newsletters, etc., gave me a really solid foundation to design > a very strong line of shafts. In addition, I am working closely on all > of our shaft designs with Robin Arthur, the designer of the ProLite when > he was at Grafalloy and now designer of all the Rifle graphites for > Royal Precision, and the two of us really are convinced with his > composites engineering experience and my testing and analysis and > fitting experience, that we can make the best shafts on the planet. > Because we know that some vendor branded shafts are always going to be > in high demand, we are going to stock a few of the popular Grafalloy, > True Temper Steel, UST and Aldila shafts, but only a few that we chose > for their variety of playability for golfers. For example, we will > stock the ProLite 35S and 45R, but not the 35R or 45S because I believe > from my work that a shaft like the ProLite 35 is only suited for higher > swing speed players, and a shaft like the 45 is only modeled for medium > swing speed players. > > In the area of grips, we are offering a totally 100% proprietary line of > our own grip designs. We will offer no other vendor's grips in our > product line because I really had a fun time working with two of the > biggest and best grip manufacturing companies in the world on different > rubber compounds, molding techniques, and new styles and grip design > features. The result is 6 different lines of grips from soft to firm > molded compounds to simulated leather slip-ons. For example, the 2 > different cord grips are really different in that they feature different > populations of cord fiber with a much less harsh texture on the hands. > Or for example, the rubber wrap style grips are made with a wider and > different angled wrap design that feels better in both hands, or a > bigger lower hand section as a standard feature. > > The Tools and Technology section is also going to show clubmakers a > completely different approach in our product line. For one, we are not > going to offer clubmaking tools for assembly or repair. Instead, we are > going to focus on fitting tools/devices and technology items to help > clubmakers learn more and do a better job of fitting and educating their > customers. For example, our new putter fitting tool will fit all > lengths from normal to Belly to Long and will do it all in a way that > puts the golfer's eyes directly over the ball to ensure accuracy of the > length/lie fit. There will also be a number of new software programs to > help clubmakers learn more about how golf clubs work, and how to fit > golfers more accurately. On the R&D side I have three of the BEST > engineering/testing/analytical minds in golf helping me so that we can > continue to keep helping clubmakers learn and educate their customers. > That's a little tough on an opening year budget, but it was important to > ensure we keep putting out the best tech information so I bit the bullet > to do that right from the start. > > Right now we are all working our tails off here to get things up and > running for the time of the catalog mailing. Our web site will go live > around Jan 1, 2003 and I have finished a lot of new tech information but > have a lot more I want to get ready to post before our site goes "live". > We will also have a program for serious clubmakers to gain a 15-30% > pricing advantage over the clubmakers who order less frequently that > will be a little different program than anyone has tried in this > industry so far. > > Mary-Ellen and I do not want to build this into a company that is as > large as the current sales leaders or ever to try to do what they do. > Our goal is to be the best in tech info, best in product, and just be > here in Durango doing what we do best. We have plans to build our own > testing range reasonably soon with all the bells and whistles, and to > provide the golf equipment and advise on the instruction to make golf a > permanent part of the P.E. curriculum of the Durango middle schools and > high school, but we have to walk first before we can run, so that will > be down the road a year or two. > > Anyway, sorry to run off at the mouth on this, but I am pretty pumped > about this and now that our ad is about to appear, I wanted to share > this with you. > > Oh, and the other reason we chose Durango is that at my age and with > what I have already done for my own golf clubs over the years, the ONLY > thing I can draw on to hit the ball farther myself is the 6500 feet > elevation!!!!!!!!!! Of course I have also been told when we buy the > land for our testing range, we have to buy more of it because 300 yards > ain't going to be enough thanks to this air density up here!!! > > TOM WISHON > > Tom Wishon Golf Technology > 695 County Road 233 > Durango, Colorado 81301 > Catalog request - 1-800-480-0017 (Catalog mails on February 1, 2003) > Voice - 970-375-0411 > Fax - 970-375-0412 > Email - [EMAIL PROTECTED] > URL - www.wishongolf.com (not until January 6, 2003) > > > >
