Speaker 1: In a world where fairways meet the airwaves, where berties
Speaker 1: and banker collide. Welcome to the show that takes you
Speaker 1: beyond the clubhouse and onto the green. There is balls
Speaker 1: and teas, your passport to the golfing universe, where every
Speaker 1: swing tells the story and every part has its punchline.
Speaker 1: Get ready to step onto the lost screens and dive
Speaker 1: into the world of givets, drives and delightful better.
Speaker 2: The Magician.
Speaker 3: All right, ladies and gentlemen, it is yet another Wednesday,
Speaker 3: and it is the one and only Tony told the
Speaker 3: ball with a lot of flair. I am the Magician,
Speaker 3: and yes, of course, if you've seen me on the
Speaker 3: golf course, you realize that I am a classic man. Listen,
Speaker 3: ladies and gentlemen. It is that day where I get
Speaker 3: to check to experts within the social golfing sphere and
Speaker 3: all the other professionals who would be listening. Man, I'm
Speaker 3: so delighted that we have started the year. This is
Speaker 3: our second episode and now what better way to actually
Speaker 3: uh than to actually started off on a high note.
Speaker 3: Last week we had three guests, and now we had
Speaker 3: a beautiful conversation with our guests, and I just want
Speaker 3: to say thank you once again to them. And then
Speaker 3: this week we've got someone who is an expert when
Speaker 3: it comes to golf equipment, golfing gear, and he knows
Speaker 3: all about the gadgets that are currently dominating the industry.
Speaker 3: So ladies and gentlemen, please allow me the opportunity to
Speaker 3: introduce miss Jason Rowe. Mister how are you TARTI.
Speaker 2: Great man, Thank you so much for the invite. Hello
Speaker 2: to all the listeners. Privilege to be on your shows.
Speaker 3: All right, thank you for actually honoring the invite Jason,
Speaker 3: and wow, how punctual were you?
Speaker 4: I've been waiting here for fifteen Let you down, but yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: That's going on.
Speaker 3: Awesome stuff now that so Jason, Welcome to Bows and
Speaker 3: is the only relevant podcast when it comes to social
Speaker 3: golf and today, I'm actually highly delighted to have someone
Speaker 3: who understands the ins and outs the trends around golf
Speaker 3: for powerl golf equipment, golfing gadgets, someone who's got an
Speaker 3: idea of how the whole industry has been revolutionizing. So
Speaker 3: I'm honored to heavy Year and I believe that we're
Speaker 3: going to have a very interesting conversation because like any
Speaker 3: other golfer out there. I'm also trying to figure out
Speaker 3: what is relevant now, how will it work in my favor.
Speaker 3: But before all of that, I would actually like you
Speaker 3: to reintroduce yourself. I tried to do it, but I
Speaker 3: don't think my introduction had a lot of weight on it.
Speaker 2: To a lot of one to blow my own on.
Speaker 4: But I mean, you know, I'm one of the founder
Speaker 4: founders of the Golfers Club. You know, I've been selling
Speaker 4: golf equipment since I was I don't know, probably fifteen
Speaker 4: years old.
Speaker 2: I left school.
Speaker 4: I think I finished my sen at seven, which would
Speaker 4: in today's terms, would be the equivalent of a grade
Speaker 4: A grade nine.
Speaker 2: I think my.
Speaker 4: Kids are they going to university and the other ones
Speaker 4: in grade ten? So yeah, sen at seven was you know,
Speaker 4: the gen X the nineteen seventy when I was born.
Speaker 4: So I was in school, you know, so, and yeah,
Speaker 4: you know I left school in the first two weeks
Speaker 4: of senate eight.
Speaker 2: I was.
Speaker 4: I was a good golfer as a youngster, and I
Speaker 4: played in a provincial golf for Western trans Ball, and
Speaker 4: then we moved to natal and I played for NATL
Speaker 4: for a good few years and I met you know,
Speaker 4: I obviously met some of the very good golfers that
Speaker 4: have achieved some success on on on a multitude of tours.
Speaker 4: I played golf with Darren Fihart, who did very well
Speaker 4: these kept eas European Tour card for I think twenty
Speaker 4: five years. He was, you know, just a great example
Speaker 4: of somebody who who worked very hard at his game,
Speaker 4: and and and and you know you're in you're kept
Speaker 4: his he's playing card, and he's one of our better players.
Speaker 4: I was lucky enough to to play with guys like
Speaker 4: Tim Clark who we were in the same side, and
Speaker 4: and Rory Sabatin Simmy Clark was. He won the Players Championship,
Speaker 4: he won the African Opened, uh the you know, he
Speaker 4: won the this Canadian Open, Australian Opened. He was an
Speaker 4: exceptional player until injury obviously affected him. He doesn't play anymore.
Speaker 4: But I mean he's one of the all time money
Speaker 4: winners on the US Tour. And Rory Sabatini won probably
Speaker 4: seven or eight times on on the US Tour. So
Speaker 4: you know, so Africa traditionally a younger players. I mean,
Speaker 4: our golfer our professionals have always punched way above their
Speaker 4: weight category in terms of accomplishment.
Speaker 2: I mean you look at.
Speaker 4: Guys like Charles Watts or Louis Stays and Dean Burmmuster,
Speaker 4: Ernie Alson Ratieff person were a lot of you.
Speaker 2: Know when I was around.
Speaker 4: I mean, Ernie just won again for the eightieth time
Speaker 4: eight years tour, went on the on the Senior Tour,
Speaker 4: and Ernie's just you know, next to Gary Player was
Speaker 4: our greatest ever and Bobby Locke, who won the Open
Speaker 4: four times. We've just had a you know, we just
Speaker 4: we just had some really great players. And Africa, you know,
Speaker 4: I think it's I think it might be. You know,
Speaker 4: we're just a great sporting nation first of all, and
Speaker 4: second of all, we have great weather and and you
Speaker 4: know we've got you know, we've got four hundred golf courses,
Speaker 4: and golf is relatively cheap compared to the rest of
Speaker 4: the world. And some some listeners out there might disagree
Speaker 4: with me, but you know, we really have great opportunity.
Speaker 4: You know, I've been I've traveled extensively, very luckily. I've
Speaker 4: traveled to all parts of the world to play golf,
Speaker 4: and I can tell you golf is very affordable compared
Speaker 4: to the rest.
Speaker 3: Of the world. Yeah, yeah, that's very interesting, and I mean,
Speaker 3: uh uh. You know, you know, as you've been speaking,
Speaker 3: I'm thinking to myself, well, you've seen it all, and
Speaker 3: not just from the parrel side, but from an experienced
Speaker 3: point of view to say, you've been in the golf
Speaker 3: course for so long and you've come across our icons
Speaker 3: when you come to South African golf whilst you were playing.
Speaker 3: So the key question now would be okay, you you
Speaker 3: play provincial and you find yourself today as an MD
Speaker 3: for Golfers Club.
Speaker 2: So we're we're a golf for each other.
Speaker 4: And you know, the way it worked was I thought
Speaker 4: I was in a pro golfers. So every young every
Speaker 4: young footballer, every young cricketer, I think they're going to
Speaker 4: play for the fun of for fun out or they're
Speaker 4: going to play for the proteins. You know that that's
Speaker 4: just the nature of youngsters and their dreams. And you know,
Speaker 4: when I started realizing I was a good player, but
Speaker 4: you know, I was getting beat. I'd win a tournament
Speaker 4: and then and there would be guys that are winning
Speaker 4: seven eighteen tournaments, and there would be guys when you
Speaker 4: go play at a national level, there were guys that
Speaker 4: you'd play well and you'd still get beat and you
Speaker 4: start realizing that, you know, this is a very tough
Speaker 4: game to succeed in, you know, and you know something
Speaker 4: for the parents out there, there's you know, the parents
Speaker 4: out there, I mean, we always want the best for
Speaker 4: our children, and they really think their kids are going
Speaker 4: to be superstars. And it's very good to give them
Speaker 4: every opportunity, but you have to realize that only the
Speaker 4: top one hundred or one hundred and fifty golfers in
Speaker 4: this world actually make a huge success.
Speaker 2: Out of golf. It's a very it's a very tough living.
Speaker 4: And so I decided, if I wasn't going to be
Speaker 4: a professional golfer, what is the next best thing? I
Speaker 4: could stay close to golf. And you know, there's there's
Speaker 4: many opportunities in golf. You can become a golf club manager,
Speaker 4: you can be greenkeeper, you can you can join institution
Speaker 4: like Golf ORSA to do an unbelievable job running amateur
Speaker 4: golf in this country. And I was always, you know,
Speaker 4: very much an ADHD child at school, and I was
Speaker 4: busy and and I couldn't concentrate very well, and and
Speaker 4: and in those days, you know, ADHD wasn't really diagnosed, so.
Speaker 2: You know, my mother was and irony out.
Speaker 4: Of it was my mother was a school teacher and
Speaker 4: you know she you know, and and anyway, so I
Speaker 4: was restless and and I left school, you know, fairly young,
Speaker 4: and I jumped on a bus from the from from
Speaker 4: the towel and I came here as a seventeen I
Speaker 4: was just turning eighteen, and I started my career selling
Speaker 4: cause I wasn't very good at that. But then I
Speaker 4: went to go and I went to go, and I
Speaker 4: went to go and visit a guy at in town.
Speaker 4: They started My mentor at the time was a guy
Speaker 4: called rees Use and Reese undercome company called the Pro Shop,
Speaker 4: who are still the biggest, you know, one of the
Speaker 4: biggest retailers in South Africa.
Speaker 2: They are now our competition, you know.
Speaker 4: So after spending nine years with Recite, I decided We're
Speaker 4: going to open, you know, with some partners of mine.
Speaker 4: I've got some very good part I've got a good partner,
Speaker 4: you know, in the business.
Speaker 2: And we started off very small.
Speaker 4: But you know, if there's a will, there's a way,
Speaker 4: and you know, we started with one store and we
Speaker 4: went to two stores and we opened a third store
Speaker 4: and now we have we have six stores and a
Speaker 4: big warehouse, a central warehouse, and we have a franchise store.
Speaker 2: So we're up to.
Speaker 4: Seven stores and you know, with the second biggest retailer
Speaker 4: in South Africa, and and you know, we employed one
Speaker 4: hundred and thirty people and and you know we've it's
Speaker 4: just a dream and we work on the basis that
Speaker 4: you know, customer is king, and you know, it's just
Speaker 4: it's quite a good Cinderella story.
Speaker 2: So you know, you know, for those people.
Speaker 4: Out there that I'm not I'm not advocating that that
Speaker 4: youngsters drop out of school, but you know, if you
Speaker 4: if you have the belief, you know you can you
Speaker 4: can definitely make a success out of things.
Speaker 3: Definitely. And I mean your story is very very it's
Speaker 3: a bold move that you made. Like you said, you
Speaker 3: left president when you were seventeen, came to Joburk and
Speaker 3: then that's when you met Riez who actually encouraged you
Speaker 3: or mentored you to actually one day have your own
Speaker 3: So I just want to find out from your site, Jason.
Speaker 3: So obviously there is a story behind every single thing. Now,
Speaker 3: how old were you if you can recall how old
Speaker 3: were you when you first held your first golf club?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I was quite I was quite lucky. You know.
Speaker 2: I have a younger brother. He's also a good.
Speaker 4: Golfer, and in fact he runs our Cape Town operation now.
Speaker 4: But my dad was a very sports orientate. He was
Speaker 4: a good sportsman as a youngster, and he introduced us
Speaker 4: to soccer and cricket and.
Speaker 2: Tennis and swimming.
Speaker 4: And he was a golfer. He wasn't the greatest. I
Speaker 4: think it was a decent golf a single figure handicap.
Speaker 4: I think it was a seven or eight handicap. And
Speaker 4: and he, you know, he put a golf club in
Speaker 4: our hands. We weren't, you know, and and and you know,
Speaker 4: I only sound like I was one of those privileged
Speaker 4: kids that you know that it was a country club child,
Speaker 4: because I definitely wasn't. My father was a racial trainer,
Speaker 4: and my mother was a school teacher, and my dad
Speaker 4: had my dad's passed now and he and and he
Speaker 4: wouldn't disagree with me, but he was was a big gambler.
Speaker 4: So we never really had money as children, but but
Speaker 4: my dad was He was always there at the cricket matches,
Speaker 4: always the soccer matches, and he was he was like
Speaker 4: our coach, you know.
Speaker 2: What I'm saying, and and and and he made.
Speaker 4: Us excited about every sport we played. And he would
Speaker 4: play golf with the guys and we we we'd sort
Speaker 4: of have one golf club and we knock around with them.
Speaker 2: And he taught us the rules.
Speaker 4: And and you got to keep up with the guys
Speaker 4: in front of you and make sure that you fix
Speaker 4: your pitchmarks, and and once you've hit too many shots,
Speaker 4: you've got to pick your ball up because you got
Speaker 4: to keep up with the guys in front of you.
Speaker 2: So he was very instrumental. It was very instrumental in.
Speaker 4: In ensuring that you know that we understood that golf
Speaker 4: is a gentleman's game, and and and and it's a
Speaker 4: it's a game of honors. It's really the only game
Speaker 4: where you govern yourself. You know, your your own referee.
Speaker 4: You know if the ball moves in the rough, or
Speaker 4: you happened to, you know, infringe on the rules in
Speaker 4: any way, and nobody else ses. Only you can go
Speaker 4: and tell your playing partners that you've done something wrong,
Speaker 4: you know. And that's why I believe it's the greatest
Speaker 4: game you know, but but I was always very interested
Speaker 4: in the equipment side of of of of golf. I loved,
Speaker 4: you know, I love the latest technology in in in
Speaker 4: the drivers and shafts, and you know, the first cavity
Speaker 4: back irons that came out were made by Ping and
Speaker 4: and you know, the first and the best wedges when
Speaker 4: I was a kid that came up with square grooves
Speaker 4: were you know, and and and Cleveland Wedges made unbelievable
Speaker 4: beautiful looking wedges.
Speaker 2: And I always was like sort of enamored with uh.
Speaker 4: And I love the alleure the of the technical side
Speaker 4: of golf equipment. And you know, if you you know,
Speaker 4: if a shaft was regular to soft for you, you'd
Speaker 4: hook the ball, and if the shaft was too stiff
Speaker 4: for you, slice the ball. And you know, that's that
Speaker 4: that we've obviously I've taken that passion across you know,
Speaker 4: and trying to inculcate that with my staff.
Speaker 2: You know, So when when when the.
Speaker 4: Average golfer walks into our store, I always tell them
Speaker 4: we have to make an experience for them.
Speaker 2: We have to tell them we are the doctors.
Speaker 4: And you're the patient, and we're going to make sure
Speaker 4: that that you know, you walk out of here that
Speaker 4: your golf game isn't a better place. You're much healthier,
Speaker 4: you've got a good mindset, and you're going to enjoy
Speaker 4: the game more. Because if you enjoy golf and golf,
Speaker 4: I've got to tell you know, the listeners out.
Speaker 2: There, that golf is such a it's such a difficult.
Speaker 4: Game, but it's got a terrible and cruel way when
Speaker 4: you have your worst round of your life, if you
Speaker 4: had one golf good golf shot, or one you hold
Speaker 4: one long putt, or you you know, you hit one
Speaker 4: good drive, or or you make one last birdy, it
Speaker 4: just seems to bring you back to the game, which
Speaker 4: is it's just it's just an amazing game.
Speaker 3: It's quite abusive, if you have to ask me, because
Speaker 3: I mean many times we have a lot of terrible rounds.
Speaker 3: But like you said, that one shot makes you believe
Speaker 3: it tomorrow is going to be a different day. It
Speaker 3: gives you hope.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I've seen I've seen some of my
Speaker 4: best players and my best customers say to me. You know, Jay,
Speaker 4: I'm giving up. I can't play this game anymore. I'm
Speaker 4: not playing anymore. I said him, Are you crazy? What
Speaker 4: are you going to do on a Saturday? What are
Speaker 4: you going to do on a Sunday?
Speaker 2: You know, you know what I'm saying. It's it's you know,
Speaker 2: there's something about golf. You know. They say that you'll
Speaker 2: learn more about a human being, Yeah.
Speaker 4: In four hours or five hours around the golfer than
Speaker 4: you will over twenty years over the boardroom table, you know.
Speaker 4: And there are so many deals being made and and
Speaker 4: you know, my biggest my biggest plus or the biggest
Speaker 4: encouragement has been seeing so many players of color come
Speaker 4: and play golf. I mean, you know, I just see
Speaker 4: the guys coming and they're so excited and they they
Speaker 4: you know, they just want to they just want to
Speaker 4: play golf. So you know, we are grateful for every
Speaker 4: new golfer that walks through our doors. I can tell
Speaker 4: you so. And you know, my staff are very diverse,
Speaker 4: and a lot of them come from different backgrounds, and
Speaker 4: it's exciting for me to uplift them and and and
Speaker 4: teach them the game of golf, even tho they were
Speaker 4: born into it. You know, because whether you start golf,
Speaker 4: it whether you start golf at sixty, who you start
Speaker 4: golf at six, it's a game for life.
Speaker 2: You never rarely leave it.
Speaker 4: You might go into a bit of a hiatus and
Speaker 4: you might step away from it. But there are times when,
Speaker 4: you know, there are times when you're go on holiday,
Speaker 4: you want to play golf every day. And there's times
Speaker 4: when you're busy at work and you're under pressure and.
Speaker 2: You can't play.
Speaker 4: And there's times when some young couples there, you know,
Speaker 4: young couples are having a baby, and you know, the
Speaker 4: modern couple today that the husband is quite involved and
Speaker 4: he needs to be there and whatever they can. So
Speaker 4: he would love to play, but he's got to look
Speaker 4: after the baby, so you know, and and and you
Speaker 4: go through patches, but I mean, ultimately, everybody comes back
Speaker 4: to the game.
Speaker 3: People get hooked to the game. I don't know. For
Speaker 3: some reason, there's there's a magnet around golf. And I'm
Speaker 3: speaking from experience. I spent quite a while without playing golf,
Speaker 3: but as soon as the buck came back, sure, I
Speaker 3: wanted to be on the golf course every single day.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's and you know, and and you know,
Speaker 4: I see it. I see it especially with you know,
Speaker 4: and a lot of guys or ladies when they were
Speaker 4: sporting at school, they played a bit of hockey, or
Speaker 4: you know, a guy was a half decent cricketer, or
Speaker 4: he could catch a ball or kick a ball, or
Speaker 4: whatever the case the case may be. When they start golf,
Speaker 4: they think it's going to be a bit like hitting.
Speaker 2: A hockey ball, the cricket ball, or or like kicking
Speaker 2: a soccer ball. But it's so much different. You know.
Speaker 4: It's just you had one good shot, five bad shots,
Speaker 4: and you know, one duff and then a real absolute
Speaker 4: beauty and you think yourself, jeez, I've got it. And
Speaker 4: then and the next minute you get it on the
Speaker 4: head or you have you missed the ball completely, you know.
Speaker 2: So, but my biggest excitement.
Speaker 4: Is seeing when golfers break one hundred for the first
Speaker 4: round for the first time, or they break ninety ano
Speaker 4: they want to break eighty five. When they break eighty five,
Speaker 4: they want to break eighty, you know. And then they
Speaker 4: come to me and they say to me, how I'm
Speaker 4: now shooting consistently eighty two, eighty three?
Speaker 2: How do I shoot seventy nine? Say? How do I
Speaker 2: break eighty?
Speaker 4: And I'll tell them listen, I said, I we sell
Speaker 4: We've got millions and millions of rands where the stocks
Speaker 4: are stock in our stores. And if you want to
Speaker 4: take it to the next level, you have to go
Speaker 4: and practice your short game. You have to go and
Speaker 4: you've got to practice one hundred meter shots, the eighty
Speaker 4: five meter shots, the sixty meter shots.
Speaker 2: You got to go and practice your chipping around on
Speaker 2: the greens. You've got to vary your short gam you
Speaker 2: got to.
Speaker 4: Bump and run the hop and stop the spin, the
Speaker 4: spinny one, the high flops.
Speaker 2: You've got to go into the bunker.
Speaker 4: You've got to play the long bunker shot, the short
Speaker 4: bunker shot, and you've got to go and practice your
Speaker 4: three and four foot puts, because those are the putts
Speaker 4: that make all the difference when players go through their round.
Speaker 4: When players go through their round, they say, jeezus, you
Speaker 4: know I actually hit the ball, okate that.
Speaker 2: I don't know how I shot what I shot?
Speaker 4: And how many pus did you meet? Missed from under
Speaker 4: four foot? Oh I missed three of those? Okay, So
Speaker 4: now we've got two three puts. Take two off there,
Speaker 4: you know, and take thee take the knocking, knocking the
Speaker 4: three four foot is.
Speaker 2: That you missed. Now we five shots better. So if
Speaker 2: you shot eighty seven and down to eighty two.
Speaker 4: And how many times had you done for chip that
Speaker 4: you didn't get onto the green?
Speaker 2: And I did that once?
Speaker 4: Okay, take one more of How many times did you
Speaker 4: choose the wrong club?
Speaker 2: No? Four times? You see? And then when they go
Speaker 2: through there around the Hello, jes amateur golfer is inemy.
Speaker 3: Sorry, yeah, your line was breast for a second year.
Speaker 3: I can hear you know.
Speaker 2: Right back.
Speaker 4: Sorry, And I was saying the difference between a between
Speaker 4: a professional golf and an amateur golfer is a professional
Speaker 4: golfer knows exactly how far he hits every.
Speaker 2: Club point one and and an amateur golfer.
Speaker 4: If he's got one hundred and fifty meters to the flag,
Speaker 4: and he hits his eight time, let's say seven one
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty meters, he won't take a sixth time
Speaker 4: because he believes it's his seven one hundred and fifty meters.
Speaker 4: But he only hits his seven one hundred and fifty.
Speaker 4: He only hits his seven one hundred and fifty meters.
Speaker 4: When he hits it, well, he doesn't take him to
Speaker 4: the fence. He might get it slightly thin, No, he
Speaker 4: might have it slightly fat. You know, and and and
Speaker 4: and and and when he does hit is slightly fat
Speaker 4: or slightly thin, he 's one hundred and forty meters
Speaker 4: now tend to short of the green or short of
Speaker 4: the pin, and then that's when the trouble starts. So,
Speaker 4: you know, professional golfers have just got a much much
Speaker 4: better understanding of where to miss the green, where to
Speaker 4: miss the fair way if they're going to miss, and
Speaker 4: exactly how far they hit their clubs. And obviously their
Speaker 4: short game is is a couple of notches.
Speaker 2: Up on an average golfer. They just don't make mistakes.
Speaker 4: So if you're looking to make love with scores, you've
Speaker 4: got to start thinking about those things, you know. And
Speaker 4: and also you've got to get fitted for the right
Speaker 4: golf equipment. I mean, so often guys watch YouTube and
Speaker 4: they and they watch advertisements and they see guys on
Speaker 4: the tour using this club or their club, and then
Speaker 4: they want it, but they don't even check if they can.
Speaker 2: Hit the club, you know, or if the golf ball
Speaker 2: is right for them.
Speaker 4: And you know, our businesses, our businesses are built nowadays
Speaker 4: on fitting guys on the right equipment, making sure the
Speaker 4: guys have brought the.
Speaker 2: Right loft, the right shaft, the right grip thickness, the
Speaker 2: right light angle on their irons.
Speaker 4: And I might be talking a bit of you know,
Speaker 4: a bit of swayili to the listeners out there.
Speaker 2: They might not understand what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: But you know, the thing is, if you're not you know,
Speaker 4: if you're gonna wear you know, when you if you
Speaker 4: know you're a medium shirt and I'll put you into
Speaker 4: an extra large shirt, it doesn't it doesn't feel great
Speaker 4: on your body.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: And if you if you're size seven shoe and I
Speaker 4: give you a size ten, you're gonna walk funny, there's
Speaker 4: no question. Yeah, and and and you know, customers just
Speaker 4: sometimes want to buy the clubs for the look, but
Speaker 4: they're completely not functional. And a lot of times, you know,
Speaker 4: customers will walk into our stores and say I bought
Speaker 4: this and I bought that, and then we have to
Speaker 4: say to listen, So I think you've made a terrible mistake.
Speaker 2: I know you've spent a lot of money on this stuff,
Speaker 2: but it's it's it's not suitable.
Speaker 4: These things are just not and they're not suited to
Speaker 4: your game. They're not suit your gam you know. And yeah,
Speaker 4: so you know, luckily, luckily, when when customers walk into
Speaker 4: our store, they're very much like if I don't know
Speaker 4: if you've got children, but if your children walk into
Speaker 4: a into a candy store, it's quite difficult to control them.
Speaker 4: They want this, and they want that, and they want that,
Speaker 4: and that is that is That's what makes our business,
Speaker 4: you know, quite exciting, because customers really like nice things,
Speaker 4: and we just have to point them in the right direction.
Speaker 4: Sometimes they're quite headstrong on what they want, but you know,
Speaker 4: must must off are trained to make sure that you know,
Speaker 4: we point you in the right direction.
Speaker 3: In your opinion, Jason, right now, what would you say
Speaker 3: is the best invention in golf?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, you know that you know, over the years,
Speaker 4: they've improved, they've improved the golf ball technology so much
Speaker 4: that nowadays, if you're to say to me, you know
Speaker 4: that that we sell golf balls from as little as
Speaker 4: twenty rand and the most expensive golf balls on ninety rand.
Speaker 2: And you say, you know, when people.
Speaker 4: Start, you know, often during Christmas time and just we've
Speaker 4: just we've just gone past the festive period our you know,
Speaker 4: it might be your granny, or it might be your aunt,
Speaker 4: or it might be your sister doesn't play golf, and
Speaker 4: they want to buy Tony something for you know, the
Speaker 4: for the secret center or for the you know, stocking
Speaker 4: filler or something, whatever the case may be. And they
Speaker 4: come in and they and they want to buy some
Speaker 4: golf balls. And I mean, you tell these people that
Speaker 4: a golf ball cost ninety rand. You know, you almost
Speaker 4: have to, you know, get the smelling salts out to
Speaker 4: wake them up after they fainted, because they cannot believe that.
Speaker 2: The three golf balls can cost two hundred and seventy ran.
Speaker 4: But the truth is there's an enormous amount of technology
Speaker 4: that goes into golf peers. And I started, you know,
Speaker 4: I started playing golf when I was five years old.
Speaker 4: And you know, sometimes golf peers they were just, for
Speaker 4: want of a better word, they were wobbly. They just
Speaker 4: didn't they weren't the centers weren't completely round, the quality
Speaker 4: of the cover wasn't great. They when you had been badly,
Speaker 4: they used to get a big cut in them or
Speaker 4: a big smiley and then we call them smiling, you know,
Speaker 4: so so and the golf ball travels a long way.
Speaker 4: And I think the greatest thing over the years is
Speaker 4: that golf balls have. If you buy a twenty rand
Speaker 4: golf ball, you buy a ninety ran golf ball. There
Speaker 4: isn't a bad golf ball today. You cannot buy a
Speaker 4: really bad golf ball. So that's you know, if you
Speaker 4: buy it, you buy three golf balls for thirty bucks each,
Speaker 4: just ninety rand. You mustn't know this comb be as
Speaker 4: good as you know, But for the average golf it's
Speaker 4: a very good golf ball. It'll suffice, it'll do the job.
Speaker 4: And you know, until you get into the water, out
Speaker 4: of bounds, or over somebody's wall, or whatever the case is,
Speaker 4: it's going to lost. So that is one of the
Speaker 4: great inventions. And then there are there have been so many,
Speaker 4: you know, I mean, I saw a golf when I
Speaker 4: was a youngster. When I saw the golf we used
Speaker 4: to use bladed irons which were not cavity back, and
Speaker 4: steel shafts, and and the woods were steel shafted with
Speaker 4: presummon or lemon eight heads. They were made from wood.
Speaker 4: You know, I'm only fist, I'm not one hundred years old.
Speaker 4: I'm fifty, But you know, it seems like so long ago,
Speaker 4: and I've seen the golf business transitions so many times.
Speaker 2: They've gone from They've gone from wooden headed woods to.
Speaker 4: Metal woods with steel shafts, to metal woods with graphite shafts,
Speaker 4: to titanium headed drivers with graphite shafts, to carbon headed
Speaker 4: woods with graphite shafts, to a mixture of.
Speaker 2: Carbon and titanium. So there's just mean.
Speaker 4: I mean, when I talked to some of my youngest staff,
Speaker 4: they think they think I'm from.
Speaker 2: The Bible, you know, they think I'm that old.
Speaker 4: I said, does you know I'm telling you now, I've
Speaker 4: seen it all so and I've been very privileged to
Speaker 4: see it all because I'm saying I'm fifty and Tiger
Speaker 4: Woods will be fifty in on the thirty yeth of
Speaker 4: January twenty twenty five. At the end of the shore,
Speaker 4: he'll be fifty. And I've seen Tiger his whole career.
Speaker 4: I mean, Tiger will go down probably. I mean, besides
Speaker 4: Jack Nicholas as the greatest, and I saw I saw
Speaker 4: in his in his prime. I saw twenty years of
Speaker 4: the most ridiculous.
Speaker 2: Dominance in that you'll ever see in your life, you know,
Speaker 2: And and please hell Jason, but I really think, hello, Chunny, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3: Can hear you now, I'm sorry you were breaking again there.
Speaker 2: Sorry for some reason it breaks up now and then. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I'm just saying it's very you know, very privileged
Speaker 2: to have seen.
Speaker 4: Every shot of Tigers, every major, every tournament win, and
Speaker 4: and you know, I mean I sometimes get a bit
Speaker 4: of a lump in my throat when I think how
Speaker 4: his career is coming to an end because he you know,
Speaker 4: through injury and and cor accidents, and it's a bit
Speaker 4: sad for me, but you know, he's and and I
Speaker 4: can honestly say he's been a couple of and I've
Speaker 4: I've in the golf indus, We've been through ups, we've
Speaker 4: been through downs, and I've seen the best of it,
Speaker 4: and I've seen the worst of it, and there's been
Speaker 4: a you know, if it wasn't for Tiger Woods, I
Speaker 4: don't really think golf would have been quite as buoyant
Speaker 4: as it is today. And I don't think people give
Speaker 4: him the credit that he deserves. I mean, they do,
Speaker 4: he's the greatest, and they do. But but I mean,
Speaker 4: I'm very grateful that when I started my business is
Speaker 4: now our business is now twenty four years old, and
Speaker 4: Tiger Woods basically.
Speaker 2: One of for the years before we started our business,
Speaker 2: if you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: So it's just been I've just been very lucky that
Speaker 4: people have been watching golf, loving golf, wanting to be
Speaker 4: like Tiger, and our business was also in a growth
Speaker 4: period at this very same time.
Speaker 2: And then the second thing is after COVID.
Speaker 4: You know, we all nearly went out of business during COVID,
Speaker 4: But after COVID business has received, sorry, golf has received
Speaker 4: such a shot in the armor, such.
Speaker 2: An injection of enthusiasm.
Speaker 4: You know, I think I think human beings just in general, they.
Speaker 2: They all got their they work, they work.
Speaker 4: Up and you know, they they they just thought to themselves,
Speaker 4: you know, the fragility of life.
Speaker 2: You know, we could have all died, and it.
Speaker 4: Was like doomsday and whatever the case may be. And
Speaker 4: and and when.
Speaker 2: They got out, they said, I want to see the
Speaker 2: fresh air. I'm not going to cancel that golf time.
Speaker 4: I'm going to play, I'm going to go ride my bicycle,
Speaker 4: I'm going to take my family on holiday, I'm going
Speaker 4: to I'm going to enjoy my life. And I've never
Speaker 4: seen the golf business more buoyant than in the last
Speaker 4: four years from twenty twenty to twenty four, please got
Speaker 4: twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Five is another good year. But it's just it's it's
Speaker 2: I'm just we're very bleaced.
Speaker 4: To be in the golf industry over the last you know,
Speaker 4: five years.
Speaker 3: All right, Jason, can we just quickly go for a
Speaker 3: two minute water break and then when we come back,
Speaker 3: let's delve into the economics of golf as well as
Speaker 3: the evolution of golf in South Africa since you started playing.
Speaker 3: And yeah, let's let's catch up in two minutes.
Speaker 4: I see you now, Okay, all right, Shah.
Speaker 1: In a world where fairways meet the airwaves, where birdies
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Speaker 2: The Magician.
Speaker 3: All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to yet another lovely,
Speaker 3: lovely episode of Bos and Teas. As you know, ladies
Speaker 3: and gentlemen, I am joined by the MD of Golfers
Speaker 3: Club Mester Jason Rowe. So without any further Jill, ladies
Speaker 3: and gentlemen, let me bring back Jason on the line. Jason,
Speaker 3: are you with me?
Speaker 2: I'm with you, Charn all right, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: Jason. Before I was a shortbreak, I mentioned that I
Speaker 3: would like for us to actually dive into the economics
Speaker 3: of golf. I mean, there's been so much happening in
Speaker 3: the country for ages, and like you said, Corona was
Speaker 3: one of those times where business went south. And then
Speaker 3: after Corona there's been quite a huge injection, especially of
Speaker 3: social golfers into the system. So from your end as
Speaker 3: an interview, y'all, who's in the golfing business and has
Speaker 3: been there for two decades going for three, how has
Speaker 3: it been if you look at let's say, golf in
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty up till yeah, let's let's go back to
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty too, till today, how has it been in
Speaker 3: terms of way it started, where it's heading and if
Speaker 3: you look at the business side of things, is it
Speaker 3: looking promising? Has there been moments where there's no tragic
Speaker 3: tree and everything has flattened down? All those kind of scenarios.
Speaker 4: Well, like I said, you know earlier, I've seen I've
Speaker 4: seen all the ups and downs during the you know,
Speaker 4: during the golf industry. You know, during my time in
Speaker 4: the golf industry, and you know, for a long time,
Speaker 4: golf was very much in the seventies, eight sixties, seventeen eighty,
Speaker 4: it was very much an predominantly a white elite to sport.
Speaker 4: You know, we never even saw players of color. And
Speaker 4: I can honestly say to you now that I've never
Speaker 4: ever been so excited about the golf industry. We are.
Speaker 4: We have never been busier. I've never rounds up at
Speaker 4: golf clubs. Memberships are up. I mean, I'm a member
Speaker 4: Bryanson Country Club and I can tell you they've closed
Speaker 4: the membership because there's just too many members people cannot
Speaker 4: you know, you just obviously can't take on. You can't
Speaker 4: make everybody a member if they're not going to get
Speaker 4: a tea time. So, you know, to be fair to everybody,
Speaker 4: they're just saying, guys, doesn't for the time being, membership
Speaker 4: is closed. And slowly with surely as opening has become
Speaker 4: available at the players in and it's happened in a
Speaker 4: number of golfriends, you know. So that's a great indicator
Speaker 4: that that that golf is in a very good place.
Speaker 4: And I was sitting with a friend of mine and
Speaker 4: you know, funny enough, he started he brought I mean,
Speaker 4: if you guys are familiar, I'm sure the golfers out
Speaker 4: there familiar with a brand called Stricksen and Stricts and
Speaker 4: stricts and golf balls and when when we start a
Speaker 4: golfers club. A friend of mine by the name of
Speaker 4: Mike Powell brought Stricksen to Africa and and you know,
Speaker 4: for the you know, guys couldn't even pronounce the name
Speaker 4: Stricksen correctly and they thought it was, you know, a
Speaker 4: Chinese import at the time. And in fact it's one
Speaker 4: of the premium brands from Japan.
Speaker 2: And Mike has.
Speaker 4: You know, did a great job with Strixen in South
Speaker 4: Africa and then he got the top job in the UK,
Speaker 4: and I's got the top job in California. And I
Speaker 4: had breakfage with him yesterday morning. He was here for
Speaker 4: a short visit and he said to me that that
Speaker 4: that rounds in the US are.
Speaker 2: Memberships up.
Speaker 4: Golfer has never been never been busier, you know, they
Speaker 4: they've they've almost Strixen as a brand has has sort
Speaker 4: of doubled their their turnover in the US over the
Speaker 4: last couple of couple of years, you know, and strix
Speaker 4: And just understand that the big power players in golf
Speaker 4: or Taylor Made and Callaway and Titleist.
Speaker 2: Those are the big big brands.
Speaker 4: So for a brand, a Japanese brand in the US
Speaker 4: to double its turnover.
Speaker 2: Mike's obviously doing a very good job.
Speaker 4: But you know, the product is obviously exceptional, and that
Speaker 4: means that there are more there are more consumers. The
Speaker 4: more consumers there are, the more they want to try
Speaker 4: different things.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so we're very.
Speaker 4: Comfortable with things are at and you know, we're thinking
Speaker 4: about opening a couple more stores in in more some
Speaker 4: strategic areas where it makes sense. And for the most part,
Speaker 4: I can only see the golf growing from strength to
Speaker 4: strength over the next while.
Speaker 2: And that's that's.
Speaker 4: Even with some adverts economic conditions, you know, with the.
Speaker 2: Interest rates going up, and so there.
Speaker 4: Are people out there that are you know, it's tough
Speaker 4: to you know, to get by every month.
Speaker 2: So you know, it's golfers.
Speaker 4: It must be doing well relative to you know, how
Speaker 4: tough it is out there economically.
Speaker 3: And I like the fact that I mean, you mentioned
Speaker 3: that Branston has not closed membership, so have other golf
Speaker 3: courses at the moment. But that doesn't doesn't it actually
Speaker 3: disrupt the entire market to say, okay, the value chain.
Speaker 3: If you look at the number of golf clubs that
Speaker 3: have full membership, and you look at the fact that, Okay,
Speaker 3: more people are trying to break into the space, yet
Speaker 3: there's not enough resources. From a golf course point of view,
Speaker 3: doesn't it affect the market to say, or doesn't it
Speaker 3: challenge the market to say, guys, let's go and build
Speaker 3: more golf courses. And obviously, from a retail point of
Speaker 3: your on your site, uh, I'm sure you're you're practically
Speaker 3: looking at Okay, if more and more golf courses aren't
Speaker 3: taking any more membership, then it means that my my
Speaker 3: market would remain as it is. There will be an Yeah.
Speaker 4: No, I mean, on the contrary, you know, it's not
Speaker 4: every golf course it's closed theymbership and a lot of
Speaker 4: a lot of clubs are welcoming members every single day
Speaker 4: and they make it more and more attractive. Brandson just
Speaker 4: happens to be in an a catted area where it's an
Speaker 4: old club with an existing membership, and it's goal has
Speaker 4: become more popular and they've got to a point where
Speaker 4: they've saturated, and.
Speaker 2: You know, they still they're not completely fulled.
Speaker 4: You know, you can still joins a weekday member and
Speaker 4: they have various other options. But there are other options
Speaker 4: like you know, our competition, you know, rival company in
Speaker 4: the pro shop.
Speaker 2: They own the World of Golf, which is a really good,
Speaker 2: you know, practice facility. They offer.
Speaker 4: Through play more Golf, which is one of the other businesses.
Speaker 4: They offer a membership where you can join and you
Speaker 4: get and they tell you where you can play.
Speaker 2: And golf courses don't on't busy.
Speaker 4: Golf courses aren't busy twenty four to seven, seven days
Speaker 4: a week.
Speaker 2: They have downtime too.
Speaker 4: And what play more Golf has done, They've they've gone
Speaker 4: and checked, you know, with a golf course, when is
Speaker 4: your downtime Sunday afternoons, Tuesday afternoons, Wednesday mornings, you know,
Speaker 4: whatever it might be. And and players can get games
Speaker 4: there a really good, good deal. And then places like
Speaker 4: Cathedral Peak, a Cajia golf club. There's a number of
Speaker 4: golf clubs that hold they clubs as such and they
Speaker 4: they're in good standing with Golf RSA and they are
Speaker 4: able to offer memberships at a very affordable rate. So
Speaker 4: I think a club like Cathedral Peak, which is not
Speaker 4: the kind of club that you would play golf at
Speaker 4: every Saturday if you live in Karteng or.
Speaker 2: You know, in djoebug.
Speaker 4: But you can join the club and we get an
Speaker 4: official handicap and an official you're an official member of
Speaker 4: a golf club for as little as you know, eleven
Speaker 4: or twelve hundred rand, you.
Speaker 2: Know, so a year, not a month.
Speaker 4: A year.
Speaker 2: So yes, and I mean.
Speaker 4: A Cajia golf club is very which is a club
Speaker 4: in Pretoria, which even if you live in Mondior, you
Speaker 4: live in you know, olive Dale, you live in uh,
Speaker 4: you know Lone Hill, You can join a Clasia golf
Speaker 4: club and it makes you an affiliated member. And the
Speaker 4: difference between a non affiliated member an affiliate member. When
Speaker 4: you go and play as a visit at a golf club,
Speaker 4: the difference in what you're going to pay is quite demonstrable.
Speaker 4: You're going to be paying you know, maybe father and
Speaker 4: a round as opposed to eight fifty around. Now four
Speaker 4: and fifty or five and around is manageable. You know,
Speaker 4: nine and a round for a game of golf plus
Speaker 4: your halfway house plus maybe a caddy, plus a cot.
Speaker 4: It becomes quite pricey to play a game of golf
Speaker 4: this very and yeah, and you know the outerlying golf
Speaker 4: clubs like I don't know, you know, if you live
Speaker 4: in the middle of Joeburgh. I mean I live in
Speaker 4: you know, yeah, in four ways. So I'm thinking, you know,
Speaker 4: Raims of Country Club, which is Ruderport Country Club, but
Speaker 4: no Bernoni Country Club, Springs Pollock Park. They all offer
Speaker 4: memberships and they also have a lot of clubs that
Speaker 4: what they call a visitors day or an open day
Speaker 4: in the week. So when you pitch up there, they
Speaker 4: treat you like a member. It's very affordable. They most
Speaker 4: clubs are looking for business. They always want to make
Speaker 4: sure that their membership is healthy. And you like if
Speaker 4: you like the feel of the club, you like the
Speaker 4: warmth and the camaraderie, and you don't live you don't
Speaker 4: live an exceptional distance away from the club.
Speaker 2: It's manageable.
Speaker 4: You can join that club for or I think it's
Speaker 4: quite reasonable relative to you know, gym fees or you know,
Speaker 4: sports club fees.
Speaker 3: It's no different now, Jesson, I just want to understand.
Speaker 3: I mean, obviously there's been like you said, there's been
Speaker 3: an influx. If there's no better way of mentioning, there's
Speaker 3: been an influx of people of color into the space,
Speaker 3: and I think mainly it's because of the economic changes
Speaker 3: where there's becoming. The affluent market is actually increasing right now.
Speaker 3: Of course, if we were to look at the retail
Speaker 3: business of golf in and tie it down to golf courses,
Speaker 3: of which a majority of our golf courses here in
Speaker 3: South Africa obviously will rely mostly on social golfers. Looking
Speaker 3: at the pool of people that it has from a
Speaker 3: retail point of view, is there a direct link or
Speaker 3: or do you think that there's a direct link or
Speaker 3: do you think that the professional side of golf still
Speaker 3: sustains business within the golfing space.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, you know, it's a very simple equation.
Speaker 4: I'm saying, there's more golfers and your golf business, the
Speaker 4: consumption of golf balls, golf equipment, the need for new sets,
Speaker 4: golf shoes, socks, apparel is going to go up. So
Speaker 4: you know, from our point of view, we are absolutely
Speaker 4: thrilled with the amount of guys that are that are
Speaker 4: taking up the game. And from a corporate respect that
Speaker 4: I've never worked for a corporate company, but it's it's
Speaker 4: a great place to do deals and company golf days.
Speaker 4: We we cater to company golf days all the time.
Speaker 2: We're always doing.
Speaker 4: Their you know, the you know, when you pitch up
Speaker 4: at a company golf and I'm sure Tony, you've played
Speaker 4: in you know, a few company golf days or sponsored
Speaker 4: days that we call them. You know, you pitch up
Speaker 4: and there's always some very nice ladies to welcome you
Speaker 4: in and welcome to our day. And they give you,
Speaker 4: you know, what's your name, and you say, Tony, how's
Speaker 4: it or whatever.
Speaker 2: They give you a shirt and they give you your welcome.
Speaker 4: Back, and off you go and you put your shirt
Speaker 4: on your matching cap with obviously the branding of which
Speaker 4: whichever corporate is hosting the day, and you get to
Speaker 4: meet three new guys on the tea and by the
Speaker 4: end of four four and a half hours on the
Speaker 4: golf course with these guys, they're your new best friends.
Speaker 4: And then you have a shower and you have a
Speaker 4: few drinks, and then you know, you get into prize
Speaker 4: giving and you sit around the prize giving table, and
Speaker 4: you know, it's just a really a great way of
Speaker 4: bringing like minded people that are in the corporate space,
Speaker 4: that want to do business together, that want to do
Speaker 4: deals together, and and I mean, you know, I think
Speaker 4: it's one of the greatest forms of networking and I've
Speaker 4: built my business. I can tell you right now. I mean,
Speaker 4: we would never be where we are today it wasn't
Speaker 4: for our staff and you know, the guys that I
Speaker 4: know and the people wanting to support us. And you know,
Speaker 4: from from all the rounds of golf, golf have played
Speaker 4: with some really nice people, influential people, guys that are
Speaker 4: deal makers and captains of industry and and you know,
Speaker 4: from that perspective, you know, we've been quite lucky. But
Speaker 4: I can tell you that for the most part, golfers
Speaker 4: are very nice people. They're just they're just nice guys,
Speaker 4: you know, and then they want to have a good
Speaker 4: time on the golf course. It's the four or five
Speaker 4: hour break where they can just switch off. Whether you're
Speaker 4: a you know, if you're a sales manager or a
Speaker 4: CEO or you know.
Speaker 2: Whatever you might be. You might be the company financial director.
Speaker 4: You don't have to think about numbers, you don't have
Speaker 4: to think about spreadsheet, you have to think about profits
Speaker 4: and losses.
Speaker 2: What you've got to think about is your next shot.
Speaker 4: And you know, with with With With With are found
Speaker 4: that generally at corporate golf days, the guys have a
Speaker 4: great time and a lot of friends are made, and
Speaker 4: you know, it's it's just a great place where people
Speaker 4: of all ethnic backgrounds and all you know, different backgrounds
Speaker 4: from from from you know, when they were children, whether
Speaker 4: they were underprivileged, you know, privileged, whatever.
Speaker 2: The case would be. It really has no relevance there.
Speaker 4: It's just a matter of you talk golf, you talk rugby,
Speaker 4: you talk soccer, you talk cricket. You know, how are
Speaker 4: we doing at the World Cup, whatever the case may be. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and and and by the end of the round, you
Speaker 4: just you know, big friends. And I like that, you know,
Speaker 4: that's just what the golf is. A is a great
Speaker 4: game from that perspective.
Speaker 3: One hundred percent. I think I think it's the only
Speaker 3: spot where you can actually mix business with pleasure. I've
Speaker 3: seen other other sports codes where obviously eaves the soccer
Speaker 3: matu you just meet up before you start the game
Speaker 3: and then you just shake hands afterwards. But when it
Speaker 3: comes to camaraderie, I think golf is the only place
Speaker 3: where you can actually have fun while talking business or networking.
Speaker 3: Like you said, just to make sure that you continue
Speaker 3: building relationships with people in relevive in different industries from
Speaker 3: different backgrounds as well.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, and I mean I've also noticed, and I mean,
Speaker 4: you know, I might be overstepping the market a little bit,
Speaker 4: but I'm just saying I've just noticed when you know,
Speaker 4: youngsters that join a bit corporate start playing golf, or
Speaker 4: there are decent golfers and they've been playing golf from
Speaker 4: young and they happen to play with the boss or
Speaker 4: you know, somebody of influence in the company, and they're
Speaker 4: good players. They seem to sort of, you know, sort
Speaker 4: of rise in the company and they just they just
Speaker 4: you know, the boss wants to play golf with them
Speaker 4: all the time, at the next golf time, whatever the case,
Speaker 4: and it's just very good for their development within the company.
Speaker 3: I mean, what you're saying, I hope it air goes
Speaker 3: with everyone that's listening now to say, listen, guys, golf
Speaker 3: is the only place to actually make sure that you
Speaker 3: have fun while advancing in your career, if I can
Speaker 3: put it that way.
Speaker 4: Look, I mean, there's a good chance there's a possibility
Speaker 4: that the boss, you know, loves the English Premiership and
Speaker 4: he you know, he loves maybe he loves Liverpool or
Speaker 4: Man United or Arsenal or you know whatever. And I
Speaker 4: don't want to you'll notice I'm mentioning many names that
Speaker 4: I don't want the listeners. You know, you know, you know, or.
Speaker 2: Chiefs or pirates. I'm not sure.
Speaker 4: But the thing is, you know, and and and and
Speaker 4: and and if you can talk soccer, you can talk ruby.
Speaker 4: That's what sport just in general, I mean, you know,
Speaker 4: not not not you know, getting away from golf, but
Speaker 4: just sports in general is just such a great conversation piece.
Speaker 2: And it just it breaks down barriers, you know.
Speaker 4: I've just I've just noticed that in my life always
Speaker 4: being a good golfer. You know, people seem to when
Speaker 4: you play with somebody who might be the CEO of
Speaker 4: this company or that company, might be a twenty handicapped golfer,
Speaker 4: he immediately gives your respect.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.
Speaker 4: If you can plays with you said, jeez, he's just
Speaker 4: he's already given respect because.
Speaker 2: You're paying good golf.
Speaker 4: And he's like, he's in awe that you can play
Speaker 4: good golf because it is a tough game, and and
Speaker 4: and and and that is quite nice too, and and
Speaker 4: and when you offer him some advice, and maybe he's
Speaker 4: you know, maybe he's not standing correctly. Maybe he's he's
Speaker 4: he's you know, when he's putting, he's moving his head,
Speaker 4: or you know, he's doing something wrong with he's shipping
Speaker 4: or whatever. When you give him some advice, he's not
Speaker 4: going to say, what do you know? Yes, thank you
Speaker 4: very much.
Speaker 3: They actually take the few words take advice.
Speaker 2: Of course, of course.
Speaker 4: But you know, getting back to you know, our business,
Speaker 4: which is you know, primarily and fundamentally hardware.
Speaker 2: When we talk hard we're.
Speaker 4: Talking drivers, fairways, hybrids, wedges, you know, and and and apparel.
Speaker 4: You know, all the all the clothing under the sun,
Speaker 4: clof shoes, gloves, all the latest tats, you know, yeah,
Speaker 4: all the gadgets, technology, GPSS, range finders or whatever.
Speaker 2: If if if my staff.
Speaker 4: Are well versed on on all the latest stuff, when
Speaker 4: somebody walks in, it's not a difficult cell. Because human
Speaker 4: beings inherently like nice things. They want to look better.
Speaker 4: They want to they want to pitch up making sure
Speaker 4: that they they they look the pot And you know,
Speaker 4: I can honestly say that.
Speaker 2: I said to my staff, educate yourself. We educate them
Speaker 2: as best we can.
Speaker 4: But watch all the later, watch all the latest videos,
Speaker 4: watch all the latest reviews, watch all the latest shows
Speaker 4: that talk about the latest equipment because when and you know,
Speaker 4: the internet is a very powerful tool, and YouTube are
Speaker 4: very powerful tool.
Speaker 2: A lot of these customers have watched these videos.
Speaker 4: Or they've done that, they've done their own homework, so
Speaker 4: when they walk in the store, they sort of know
Speaker 4: what they want. And I said, you don't want to
Speaker 4: be caught with your phone stuff. So it's very important
Speaker 4: that you know, our soft stay on top of.
Speaker 2: The technical side of what is new and exciting whatever.
Speaker 4: And we're going to a very exciting time now because
Speaker 4: every January, every January going into early February, the brands
Speaker 4: launch the latest equipment and and and we've just received
Speaker 4: the brand new Cobra Adapt, which is the new range
Speaker 4: of Cobra Driver, which has thirty two different settings in
Speaker 4: the drivehead. We just received the new Tailor Made q
Speaker 4: I thirty five, which is put into play by guys
Speaker 4: like Tommy Fleetwood and Glory McElroy and you know all
Speaker 4: the guys, a lot of the tailor made players, Scottie Scheffler,
Speaker 4: they're all just moved into the new driver. So that
Speaker 4: that's it's a really nice it's a really nice piece
Speaker 4: of equipment. And on the twelfth I think of the twelfth,
Speaker 4: the fifteenth of February.
Speaker 2: The new Callaway Elite arrives.
Speaker 4: We've just received the new titles pro v One and
Speaker 4: prov one ex golf balls for twenty twenty five. That
Speaker 4: are they are absolutely magnificent. Cleveland Wedges have just arrived,
Speaker 4: the new Zspin Wedges. They are they're just you know,
Speaker 4: they're crazy. You know, they feel soft and you know,
Speaker 4: just even always made such unbelievable looking wedges and and
Speaker 4: and tricks, and have just released the new Irons and
Speaker 4: Woods range.
Speaker 2: So you know, you know, we're in a good space
Speaker 2: to hit the hit the ground running in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3: Jason, we are now approaching the end of our episode,
Speaker 3: but I just want to find out currently in your
Speaker 3: golf back in your golf backyard, what's the one club
Speaker 3: that you can't deal, you can't do without.
Speaker 4: At the moment, I carry a you know, I can
Speaker 4: tell you that I've always.
Speaker 2: Been and thankful.
Speaker 4: I've always been a very good putter, so I haven't
Speaker 4: had you know, the rest of my golf game at
Speaker 4: times has weighed, especially my chipping over the years. I
Speaker 4: don't know if it's from stress or too much wine
Speaker 4: or you know my wife shouts at me or you know,
Speaker 4: the paying the school fees.
Speaker 2: I'm not quite sure what it is.
Speaker 4: But you know, my putter is a Scottie Cameron, you know,
Speaker 4: titles obviously on the Scotti Cameron brand. And I've got
Speaker 4: the tightest Scottie Cameron Collector's Champions Choice, which comes with
Speaker 4: a trillium insert. And it is you know, it's a
Speaker 4: collector you know, we so Scotty Cameron as a as
Speaker 4: a you know, within the titlest brand, under the Titlest
Speaker 4: Umbrella release once or twice a year, a limited edition
Speaker 4: range of pudders.
Speaker 2: And I got this Champion's Choice. It's called the Champions Choice.
Speaker 2: I got it about.
Speaker 4: Three years ago and it hasn't left my bag. I
Speaker 4: love it, so, you know, even when I put badly.
Speaker 4: You know, some guys want to get rid of their pudders,
Speaker 4: but I just know it's not the it's not the
Speaker 4: it's not it's not the arrow.
Speaker 2: It's the Indian. That's the shooting arrow. Ye. So yeah,
Speaker 2: but but yeah, and I mean, you know.
Speaker 4: I mean, because the truth is, you know, you know,
Speaker 4: when you work in a golf in a golf store,
Speaker 4: I'm a bit like an alcoholic in a bottle store
Speaker 4: because you know, I can't help myself. I mean, as
Speaker 4: soon as I look at a driver or a set
Speaker 4: of irons where I said, Jesus, look good, and I
Speaker 4: take my existing irons out and I put the new
Speaker 4: irons in, and I look at this.
Speaker 2: Drive, and I think, you know, and.
Speaker 4: And and I mean it's terrible, you know. I mean,
Speaker 4: can you imagine being a chocoholic in a in a
Speaker 4: sweet shop.
Speaker 2: It's not nice, definitely.
Speaker 4: So yeah, but I mean I can tell I've got
Speaker 4: some customers that aren't even in the golf business, and
Speaker 4: I like that.
Speaker 2: So I'm very thankful for them because they like to
Speaker 2: buy things.
Speaker 4: So you know, it wasn't for it wasn't for bad
Speaker 4: golfers and good customers, we wouldn't have a business.
Speaker 2: So we're very thankful or grateful to our customers.
Speaker 3: And then before I let you go, Jason, would you
Speaker 3: perhaps share a few words of wisdom, especially with new
Speaker 3: entrants in UH into golf, particularly beginners. I don't even
Speaker 3: want to call them amateurs, I'd say beginners coming from
Speaker 3: a feitting's environment and equipment environment. What would be your
Speaker 3: number one tip for people who just started playing golf.
Speaker 4: My number one tip for guys that are getting started
Speaker 4: is to make sure that you don't listen to your
Speaker 4: friends who you're playing golf with.
Speaker 2: In terms of instruction.
Speaker 4: If your friends want you to play golf with if
Speaker 4: I say to you, if I'm friends with Tony and
Speaker 4: I say, Tony, I want you to come and play
Speaker 4: golf with me. Okay, I'm not a good example, but
Speaker 4: I'm going to say to you. If I'm a ten handicap,
Speaker 4: I'm going to say to you, Tony, I'm not going
Speaker 4: to teach you how to play golf. I want you
Speaker 4: to come play golf me, but go and see a
Speaker 4: PGA certified professional for some lessons. Go and get three
Speaker 4: lessons just to get you started, because if I start
Speaker 4: teaching you, I'm going to teach you wrong from day one,
Speaker 4: You're going to hate the game. That's from an instruction
Speaker 4: point of view, and then from an equipment point of view. Please,
Speaker 4: and I'm not knocking the international websites and the box retailers.
Speaker 4: Go and see guys that are good at what they do.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: We and I mean whether it's the pro shop who
Speaker 4: are competitors or ourselves, or you're on course professional, we
Speaker 4: know what we're talking about when it comes to getting
Speaker 4: you started. And if you you know, if you've got
Speaker 4: five thousand around to start, we'll find you a set
Speaker 4: of golf clubs. If you've got ten thousand round to start,
Speaker 4: we'll find you a set of golf clubs.
Speaker 2: So we've seen it all.
Speaker 4: I just don't like it when guys go and they
Speaker 4: bought a set from their friend on Facebook marketplace, and
Speaker 4: they think they got a good deal, and then they
Speaker 4: pitch up and the clubs are completely wrong for them,
Speaker 4: you know, and and or just at least come and
Speaker 4: get some advice from us before they you know, before
Speaker 4: you buy anything. That's always tell my stuff never scare
Speaker 4: its customer way by taking them to the twenty thousand
Speaker 4: rand set irons showing where we start.
Speaker 2: We start with, you know, our biggest sellar is a
Speaker 2: package set.
Speaker 4: A package set is a one stop combination set that's
Speaker 4: got a bag, a butter, said irons, a driver, a fairway,
Speaker 4: a hybrid or the matching covers. You can get away
Speaker 4: with five six or seven thousand round. And even if
Speaker 4: you hate the game, the most you've wasted is five
Speaker 4: five six or seven thousand round when guards get involved
Speaker 4: in a drop fifty sixty grand on a set of
Speaker 4: clubs and they bought the wrong clubs from a friend
Speaker 4: who suggested this going Oh Jesus to be horrendous.
Speaker 3: You know, yeah, that's very true. And once again I
Speaker 3: just want to say thank you, mester Row. It has
Speaker 3: been a good chatting with you, and thank you to
Speaker 3: everyone around you who's giving us the opportunity to steal
Speaker 3: an hour from your schedule.
Speaker 2: I believe, no problem, no problem.
Speaker 3: I believe you'll be sharpening your chipping skills or your
Speaker 3: short game skills over the next couple of days as well,
Speaker 3: since you've also picked up that that's where you're you're
Speaker 3: currently struggling.
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly. So.
Speaker 4: So I'm playing on Friday morning and I've got a
Speaker 4: I've got a four's knockout match at Branston, And I mean,
Speaker 4: I'll never really get nervous about golf, but I can
Speaker 4: tell I don't let my partner down. So tomorrow morning
Speaker 4: I'll be at the range working on my chipping. And
Speaker 4: it's been a privilege being on your show and great chatting.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much, And I just want the listeners
Speaker 4: out there to remember golf really, if you haven't played
Speaker 4: it before, get into it. And I promise you it'll
Speaker 4: be a game for a lifetime. You can play it
Speaker 4: until you're ninety years old.
Speaker 3: Thank you once again, mister Rowe, and now you must
Speaker 3: have yourself a lovely evening. Further say, and.
Speaker 2: To you, thank you Tony for the best.
Speaker 3: All right, ladies and gentlemen, that is our guest for today,
Speaker 3: mester Jason Rowe, who's the MD of Golf a slub
Speaker 3: and as you heard the man, golf is the only
Speaker 3: place where you can literally mix business with pleasure. And
Speaker 3: I mean he's in the industry, he understands, he sees
Speaker 3: it all. And there's a couple of things that he
Speaker 3: shared which are quite enlightening. To say, listen, from what
Speaker 3: he is seen, most junior us in entities tend to
Speaker 3: actually progress quicker when they start playing golf because they
Speaker 3: are now playing with the big boys in different industries
Speaker 3: and that's where decisions are made. So, ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 3: now we have gone off our seven pm slot and
Speaker 3: we are currently on FORMU. This is past seven. But
Speaker 3: I have to say it's always good having this show
Speaker 3: on Wednesdays. And I would like to speak to much
Speaker 3: more and more and more people from different aspects of life,
Speaker 3: because there's only one common thing that binds us together,
Speaker 3: and that is the addiction that we all have for golf.
Speaker 3: And for those who haven't started playing golf, please don't
Speaker 3: be scared when I mentioned the word addiction. It is
Speaker 3: not from a bad content context, but it is from
Speaker 3: a good place where we know that this is the
Speaker 3: This is one spot that will build you as an
Speaker 3: individual mentally, physically, emotionally and uh well, as you said,
Speaker 3: as as you've heard, even economy economically can help you advance. So,
Speaker 3: ladies and gentlemen, like I said, it is only January,
Speaker 3: I'm not going to come with the business of saying
Speaker 3: the weekend has officially started. I want everyone to go
Speaker 3: to the office tomorrow. Go to the office tomorrow. People
Speaker 3: are playing golf on Friday as well, and I want
Speaker 3: them to go and play because for me, I'm startying
Speaker 3: my weekend. Don't follow my trend only after February then
Speaker 3: can we officiate the weekend from Wednesday. So with them
Speaker 3: being said, ladies and gentlemen, I just want to say
Speaker 3: thank you, thank you, thank you, and please continue sharing
Speaker 3: our link with your loved ones, even your enemies and freenemies.
Speaker 3: Make sure that you share with them so that we
Speaker 3: spread the love of gold. This is the one and
Speaker 3: only Tony, Tony the Magician signing out
Speaker 2: The Magician