Support your Club Professional.

Support your Club Professional.  He's always there for you!

Hi, I’m Mel Sole, Director of Instruction at the Mel Sole Golf School, headquartered at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in Pawleys Island, SC.  We conduct 1, 2, and 3-day golf schools, hourly golf lessons, and senior golf schools—any golf instruction program your heart desires. Give us a call at 800-624-4653 or 843-237-4993.  We will be happy to book a commuter school or a package that contains accommodations, golf, and golf school.

Golf Blog by the Mel Sole Golf School.

The club professional's role is to ensure that all the member's needs are taken care of.  From stocking plenty of golf equipment and accessories to giving rules advice, giving lessons, and being there to listen to the "What might have been" stories in the bar after around.  This role is vital if we want to grow the game.  Yes, sometimes the pro shop prices are slightly more than at the local discount golf store.  But do they really care about your game?  I don't think so. 

The Pro Shop that Andrew Wood of Legendary Marketing describes in this article could very well be the Pro Shop I had when I was a Club Pro back in South Africa.  The club had about 350 members, and I was always very grateful for their support over the years.  So please, support your club professionally and help save a valuable asset at your club.

 

The Importance of The PGA Pro and His Golf Shop

You have to visit a giant sporting goods store to buy bowling balls, baseball bats and football helmets. A few sports such as cycling and tennis have their own dedicated retail outlets but golf is the only sport where just about every club will have some kind of pro shop.

      As a youth at Lilleshall, I marveled at the small shed of a pro shop run by PGA professional, Gwyllam Hardiman and his two assistants, Shaun Ball and Kevin Short.  It stocked everything you could possibly want.  A fine selection of clubs, balls, bags, shoes, shirts and accessories were squeezed into a tiny space. The back of the shed was reserved for club repairs, re-gripping, re-shafting and refurbishing. Take in your favorite persimmon driver and whatever was wrong with it would soon be fixed quickly and professionally.

Hooked For Life

I was standing in the pro shop where, as a young teen, I often hung around between rounds.  A middle-aged man came in and started to look at the golf clubs. Gwyllam enthusiastically greeted the man and asked if he could help. The man had just taken up the game a couple of weeks earlier and wanted to buy a set of brand new Ping golf clubs. At that time, Ping clubs were in great demand in England and were comparatively expensive.

In response to Gwyllam’s question as to why he wanted Pings, the customer said he had been told they were the best. Gwyl agreed that they were very good clubs.  But suggested that, since the customer had just taken up the game, it would make little difference what clubs he used initially. Instead of buying a new set, Gwyl suggested he start with a used set, take some lessons and play a few times to make sure he was going to enjoy the game. Then, when he had improved to the point that he could benefit from top-of-the-range clubs, he should come back and see him. In this way he would not waste money on clubs he might never use.

Talking a Customer Out of a New Set of Clubs!

I sat there hardly able to believe my ears.  Gwyl successfully talked a customer out of spending several hundred pounds. The customer eventually left with a set of used Wilson clubs.  For which he paid a fraction of what a new set cost. At best, Gwyl made £25 pounds on the deal.  I couldn’t wait for an opportunity to ask him why he had done such a thing.

Gwyl smiled and said, “That man will spend more money in this shop in the next twelve months than any other three members combined.” He was almost right, the guy spent more money than ten other members!

Check out the rest of this story here!

Source: Andrew Wood  LinkedIn  Mel Sole Golf School

Pictures: Andrew Wood   ShellVacationsHospitality   Kim Salmons

Thanks for reading - Support your Club Professional.  I hope you do!

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