1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,800 Welcome back to Linked by Golf, the podcast exploring the 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:07,320 journeys of people linked by the game. 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,160 I'm your host, Ross McGuire, and this week I'm thrilled to bring 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,120 you an exclusive interview with Joe Miller, Product Manager at 5 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:16,160 Dunlop Golf Europe, which was recorded on site at the European 6 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:18,400 HQ and Custom Fit facility in Asheville. 7 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,680 In this episode, we discussed the level of detail and quality 8 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,640 stricts and put into the build of their clubs and also talk 9 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,000 about some misconceptions that golfers might have about the 10 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:33,120 Custom Fit journey. Let's get over to Joe today. 11 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:34,960 I'm here with Joe Miller. Joe, great to see you. 12 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:36,760 Good to meet you, good to see you. 13 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:38,680 Absolutely. And you've just got me a really 14 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,440 good tour to the facility here in in Asheville. 15 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,440 So just talk briefly about the reasons for moving to us for 16 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:47,240 Sally from where you were before an altar. 17 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,160 Yeah. We've been here a few years now 18 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:51,960 and I still sort of call it the new facility because to me it's 19 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:53,840 new. We were, we were told, for quite 20 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,680 a few years, yeah, but it was necessity that the brand is 21 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,280 growing, it's getting bigger, the demand for the clubs is 22 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,760 increasing. So there was no choice really. 23 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,560 We liked it where we were, but it just wasn't big enough. 24 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,400 We needed a much bigger workshop, we needed more cells 25 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:11,280 and we've got more staff administratively. 26 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,760 So we had no choice really. Not too far from where we were 27 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,320 and obviously quite close to the sort of warehouses in 28 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:19,360 Southampton, things like that as well. 29 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,600 So makes a lot of sense. And also we had to consider the 30 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,480 staff. We really wanted to bring all 31 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,840 the staff across from Alton. So we couldn't go too far 32 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:30,720 because without the staff there's no company. 33 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:37,400 So we had to be sure. And we, we offered quite a, an 34 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,440 incentive to come. You know, we really wanted them 35 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:41,040 to come. So there was, there was 36 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,840 consideration to travelling time and that's the Japanese company 37 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,000 for you all over. You know, the staff are 38 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:49,560 everything. Without the staff and the 39 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:52,560 products, there's no company. Those two things married 40 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,840 together and we need good staff. So yeah, virtually all staff 41 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:58,040 came across, which was brilliant. 42 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,720 That's fantastic. And then yourself talk about 43 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,120 your role here at Shrekson. I'd love to hear more about 44 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,800 that, Joe. Product manager, so quite 45 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,880 wide-ranging. I do a lot of sort of media 46 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:13,320 stuff with people like yourself, interviews and, but also from a 47 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:18,080 technical point of view, spec sheets, assisting with the 48 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,920 marketing department on inquiries through social media. 49 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,960 And so most things were all things tech related really. 50 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,920 If it gets to a point, you know, that, that a department is 51 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:32,480 struggling with it because it might be archive or you know, 52 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,560 some older products, they'll, they'll come to me for a little 53 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,040 bit of help hopefully. And if I'm struggling, I have to 54 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:41,120 go to Japan or America. So yeah, there's always a way of 55 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,120 finding out what not be able to find out straight away, but 56 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,600 we'll get the answer eventually. And we were talking earlier just 57 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,480 in the warehouse here in the builder facility. 58 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,160 But when you say techs, tech specs, you're talking literally 59 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,600 about all the specs that are on the Cleveland strikes and 60 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,280 website, and you're in charge of making sure those are correct 61 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:00,600 and keeping them up to date as well. 62 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,680 Yeah, the marketing department put all those assets together 63 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,240 mostly in America. There's a great team and Japan 64 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:10,520 will compile all our cutting sheets and spec sheets. 65 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,800 But effectively a lot of the proofing is done by myself. 66 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,040 Yes, when we put out a document or a press release, we 67 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,120 obviously, you know, everybody's assuming there could be a typo 68 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,120 or an error somewhere or something gets misprinted. 69 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,520 And that's not something we want to go out to the general public. 70 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,000 We want to release accurate information as quickly as 71 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,240 possible. But more importantly, you know, 72 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,600 when we have a new product range, people, you know, there's 73 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:37,400 a lot more visibility than there used to be. 74 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,760 Years ago you couldn't see, you know, you couldn't go online and 75 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:42,360 look at the set of specs for club. 76 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,240 Now you can. People can almost become experts 77 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,240 about golf clubs without ever, you know, being involved with 78 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,120 the golf company or building a Golf Club. 79 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,280 So we really want to be sure that we give relevant 80 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:56,480 information and it's correct and accurate. 81 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,320 Absolutely. And then with jump straight into 82 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:01,440 your role here at Trixon and talking about the office. 83 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:02,680 But what? Be yourself, Joe, How did you 84 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:04,040 get into the game for the All Star? 85 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:05,480 Oh. I was just unlucky. 86 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,520 I just played golf as a kid and sort of went up playing to, you 87 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,720 know, county golf, never good enough to sort of play, you 88 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,880 know, as a professional. So the next best thing was 89 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,959 playing golf. And I did some caddying on tour, 90 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,640 which was which was great fun. And I worked for fiction sort of 91 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:25,280 coming up 20 years now on and off. 92 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:27,000 And they've been really good to me. 93 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,640 You know, always very sort of malleable, willing to sort of 94 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,520 help out when you know, you've got trials and tribulations at 95 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:36,920 home. So they've been a fabulous 96 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:39,880 company. So I hope that I've been a good 97 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:42,680 employee. I think I'll I'll be here till 98 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:44,400 till the day I retire, I imagine. 99 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,400 Absolutely. I mean, it's some facility. 100 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,240 It's a great company, it's a brilliant brand and we're just 101 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:54,400 going through the walkthrough of the facility there and it's 102 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,440 surely everything from start to finish, right. 103 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,160 So I'd love you to start talking about everything that's done 104 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,040 here and all the process that goes into it as well and, and 105 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,200 what things and quality levels are put into the manufacturing 106 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:06,520 the products. Sure. 107 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:12,560 From a product point of view, we don't hold any sort of golf 108 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,040 balls or build clubs or bags that we would need a fast 109 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:17,640 warehouse. So we have a third party 110 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,760 warehouse which holds the house those products. 111 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,000 But from the point of view of custom clubs, everything is in 112 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,720 this building. So that's grip shafts, heads, 113 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,520 fowls, all the necessary ancillary products that you need 114 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,400 to build a Golf Club. So the goods come in and then 115 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,040 obviously they're pipped as you saw on a trolley, they go down 116 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,680 into necessary aisles and then they go through the workshop. 117 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:45,160 So from a product point of view, it's all custom here and then 118 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,480 administratively it's everything comes from here. 119 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,800 We have our credit control, our marketing teams, demand 120 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,360 planning, Yeah. And our our senior officers are 121 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:58,960 here as well. So from an admin point of view, 122 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,960 this is the hub and then it's where the magic happens with the 123 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,440 custom clubs as well. Yeah, absolutely. 124 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,440 I mean we have that walkthrough and you know, if you just talk 125 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,040 through the different phases of war goes into building a club 126 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,440 for someone right from the order till it comes here and then what 127 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,040 does team start to go through? That would be great. 128 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:18,680 Yeah. So it's interesting we have AB2B 129 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:22,880 platform now where retailers can place the orders or they can 130 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,400 they can e-mail in. We insist on a sort of physical 131 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,960 copy as whether it be digital or, you know, on an e-mail. 132 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,760 The point is that to eliminate mistakes, it's better that way. 133 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,200 You know, the years gone by of someone discussing us back over 134 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,600 the phone. It's just it's not, not the way. 135 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,960 So once we've got the order in, it'll be processed and then 136 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,680 it'll go through the administrative departments and 137 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,680 it'll get to our custom fit department where we have an 138 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:54,200 administrator who will look at the order and effectively 139 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,800 highlight different parts which will be relevant to the build. 140 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,640 So those relevant points may be the length of the club, the lie, 141 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:03,960 a grip. This will change the cutting, 142 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,800 the swing weight, multiple, multiple things which can change 143 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,040 it. So we highlight those, those 144 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,280 points on the sheet so that when it goes into the cutting room, 145 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,040 we are fully aware that, you know, the, the guy or the girl 146 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:23,560 in the cutting room is aware of those necessary changes in set 147 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,480 points on the cutting machine because it affects the length of 148 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,760 the shafts. But anyway, once the admin's 149 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,480 done, it goes on to a trolley and as you saw, it goes up 150 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,680 various aisles. Aisle 1 is thousands of heads, 151 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,720 as you've seen. So each aisle has a, an aisle 152 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,400 location and a pick part number. So they can find the part on the 153 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,200 part number and they can find it on the product, literally the 154 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,840 description on the head like AZX I7. 155 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,560 There is some inscription inside the Hozzle as well as a sort of 156 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,360 backup to say whether it's a standard lie or an upright line. 157 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,000 So from a training point of view, there's there's practices 158 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,040 put in place to ensure that we pick it correctly to start, 159 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:03,680 because there's a lot of products to pick. 160 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,840 And then we go into the next tile where we pick the shafts 161 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,480 and there's a procedure there to make sure that we get all the 162 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:11,920 shafts and then they're on the trolley. 163 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:18,040 They want to align with the with effectively the half inch steps 164 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:20,960 unless there's a an odd iron out of place like a three and A5 165 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,160 iron and the step pattern all lines up. 166 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:27,080 So people who are picking are trained to to observe in case 167 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:30,000 there's anomaly in the box. Then we get down and we pick the 168 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,600 grips round to the back of the workshop and then into the 169 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:35,720 cutting room and then we sprinkle the goldust on. 170 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,880 And then just talk about some of the options that people can go 171 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,840 for, Joe, in terms of first product and then the custom 172 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:44,360 options. I mean, we couldn't do them all. 173 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:46,120 We'd be here here for a lifetime. 174 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,680 But I'd love you to talk about some of those options you know, 175 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:50,920 from your regular golfer right up to Turpro. 176 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:53,960 Yeah. I think with the addition of the 177 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:59,040 new IR and IRHL, we now have sort of completed especially in 178 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:03,440 the irons and with tricks and irons, a complete lineup of 179 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,840 irons suitable for all types of golfers from aspirational right 180 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:09,440 through to elite and professionals. 181 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,120 And then obviously we have our other two product lineups with 182 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,480 Zexio and Cleveland. So we can I believe complement 183 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:21,440 every type of golfer, dexterity and gender obviously as well. 184 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,120 And when you think of products like Zexio, how specific they 185 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,160 are and targeted to a certain type of golfer, lightweight 186 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,560 premium products, as you know, moderate swing speed and lady 187 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:35,760 golfers are considered very much in that range. 188 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:40,800 And then obviously the Cleveland range of wedges and putters, you 189 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,120 know, a fantastic array of wedges and it aligns to the 190 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:46,160 stricts and irons. You know, we have a weds lined 191 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,320 up which we can we can accommodate all type of golfers 192 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:50,640 like we do with stricts and irons. 193 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,160 And then the wood range is improving all the time. 194 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:55,560 You know, we see our tour players having success on tour, 195 00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:59,320 which then obviously helps generate sales from a from a 196 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,360 retail point of view, you know, the sort of superstars, you 197 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:04,360 know, we do. We do get affected by those on 198 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,360 what products they use. So a fantastic line. 199 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,760 And then when it comes to custom, well, Sky's the limit 200 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,120 really. You know, from length lie, you 201 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,920 know, all those options, grips, grip sizes. 202 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,600 I sort of took you through some of the very sort of simple 203 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,600 things we do. But when we do do simple things 204 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,520 and effectively is just a head shaft and a grip, it's 205 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:26,960 manipulation on those on those things. 206 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,480 So small nuances and changes which will affect, you know, how 207 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,320 a golfer, how it feels, how it feels in his hands, how it feels 208 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,880 in the swing and the different types of metals obviously in the 209 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:40,640 head can can have a a factor on that as well. 210 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:42,600 Yeah. And one of the things that I 211 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,040 found really, I mean, there's a lot of things I found 212 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:49,080 fascinating out there, but maybe just cycling back, talking 213 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,960 about, you know, any golfer, not a Tour pro, not an elite 214 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:55,720 amateur, but any golfer who's playing the game, What is 215 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,560 important to have in custom foot versus taking something off the 216 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:00,320 rack? You know what are the advantages 217 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:02,840 for people if they go down the custom foot path? 218 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,080 There's many, there's many things to consider and people 219 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:14,840 don't Body type, swing speed, Physiology, age, you know, all 220 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,360 these things, injuries, you know, so many things to 221 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:21,400 consider. You know, I think too much and 222 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:25,120 too many times people think it's just for an elite player and 223 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,040 it's not at all. You know, why would you not 224 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,000 given the opportunity? It doesn't cost any more to have 225 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:35,120 a custom set set the tricks and irons or things and wedges. 226 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:36,400 And it does buy enough the shelf. 227 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,840 So to me, at certain points and times, and I would think wedges 228 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:44,680 is always a typical example that a lot of people will go with say 229 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,880 a lightweight iron set, you know, shafts, but 1890 gram 230 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:53,120 steel or sub 80 graphite. And then they'll go and buy a 231 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,240 set of wedges off the shelf with 130 gram shafts. 232 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:58,560 Nothing like. It yeah, yeah, it's, you know, 233 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,640 to me that is incredible. You know, why would you do such 234 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:03,440 a thing? You know, you've, you've got 235 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:08,440 your pitching wedge is an 80g or 70g graphite and you bought a 236 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:13,920 steel wedge, which is 130 grams. You know, if you went into a pro 237 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:18,520 shop and you said, I've broken my 9 and it's got a Nippon 238 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,360 Zealous lightweight steel shafting and the pro said, well, 239 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:23,920 let me pop you in an S300, you'd be outraged. 240 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,560 And yet people purchase wedges completely off kilters so 241 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:30,600 different to their irons. Those are the sort of things 242 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:33,240 where I'm like, I really don't understand that you've got an 243 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,200 opportunity to align those wedges as part of a scoring set 244 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,000 and you just you buy something off the shelf, maybe it's price 245 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:42,840 driven or you know, there's a sale. 246 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,440 I get that. But if you're really trying to 247 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,320 buy yourself the the best equipment, you should really 248 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,680 consider what you're doing. And I think people consider it 249 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:54,680 very much with drivers more so with irons now, definitely not 250 00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:56,560 with wedges. That's the one part. 251 00:12:56,560 --> 00:13:01,120 And that that quiver of clubs is expanding because loss are 252 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,360 getting stronger. So people's wedges sets are 253 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,960 becoming bigger. So you should consider if you're 254 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,160 carrying four wedges, you're carrying four clubs that you'd 255 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,840 probably have the ability to use very well, less so than your 256 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,320 driver. So the the four clubs you can 257 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,960 use very well, you most golfers in giving less consideration 258 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:20,160 than the one they're not so good with. 259 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,440 They'll spend hours on a fit with the driver. 260 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:25,280 The longest club with the least loft, the hardest to use. 261 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,800 And the four clubs or three clubs they can use the best is 262 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,360 oh, they're in a, they're in a, they're in a bucket there. 263 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,920 They're in a bundle of FIFA300 or whatever it may be. 264 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:36,760 And it's what we're seeing with Potters as well. 265 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,960 I mean, Potters, you're back in the days kind of like go find 266 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,080 one, the pro shop if I get one of your pals. 267 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:46,000 But it's so important to get a right for yourself versus just 268 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,040 jumping. And and of course you can find 269 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,760 germs all the time, but wedges are so important in the game, as 270 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:54,720 you say. Yeah, I think for me, the 2 271 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:59,520 sports that that I'm interested in and sort of know a little bit 272 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,640 about cycling and and golf, a lot of the fun is the research, 273 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,360 isn't it? You know, golfers, it's not just 274 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,560 about, you know, the purchasing of the product. 275 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:13,000 It's the winter nights looking into it, you know, what am I 276 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:14,840 going to get? What's the best one who's got, 277 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:16,320 you know, who's brought this out? 278 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:21,600 And it is quite incredible how equipment is perceived and 279 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,840 purchased. If you were to go into a pro 280 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:29,400 shop or superstore, you know, clubs are generally stored with 281 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,840 the grips, you know, into a like a holding system. 282 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,920 So you look at the head. So the club is upside down. 283 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,040 I mean, imagine if you went into a car showroom and the car was 284 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,240 upside down or you went into a Rolex shop and it was inside 285 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,720 out. So we there is consideration 286 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:49,400 that golfers are affected by the cosmetic and the aesthetic 287 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,040 massively. So for me, there's two, there's 288 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,880 two acid tests. The first acid test is how does 289 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:57,160 the back of the club look, which is bizarre, isn't it? 290 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:58,480 You don't. Even look, you don't even have 291 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,160 the ball with that. No, the second acid test is they 292 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:05,960 put it down now, then it may go into trial because it has to go 293 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:10,320 past these two processes of cosmetic and aesthetic into sort 294 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,760 of playing profile, then maybe into a fitting room. 295 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,680 I don't know many of the products that you would consider 296 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,840 that, you know, like I say, if you watch was inside out, you'd 297 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:21,800 think that the guy in the shop was crazy, wouldn't you? 298 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,280 But in golf, that's how it's stored, that's how it's 299 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:26,480 perceived. And maybe because it's stored in 300 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,360 a bag that way and there's a lot of camera doing bantering golf 301 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,520 that people move towards a certain type of equipment 302 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,600 because there's an influence from the, the playing partners 303 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:40,760 and also from generational. An iron has to look like an 304 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,120 iron. Well, you know, it's a lot 305 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:47,320 easier to build a Golf Club and position CG and Moi if you've 306 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,840 got a bigger mass. But people won't, you know, tend 307 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:54,000 to not want to see backside distraction on an iron. 308 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:56,440 And I'm like, what do you do with your driver? 309 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:58,040 Well, that's different. That's the driver. 310 00:15:58,400 --> 00:15:59,840 So you can't see the back of an iron. 311 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,880 Oh no, it's an iron. I can't see the back of an iron 312 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:04,840 and you're like, OK, well, it would get in the air a lot 313 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,160 easier if you're happy to see the back of the eye. 314 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:09,640 But those are the sort of challenges that you have as a 315 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:15,080 manufacturer and with the new R and the RHL range, the challenge 316 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,120 is to make a Golf Club look really good and work. 317 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,960 You can make it work, but it generally doesn't look as good. 318 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,960 It's a lot bigger, it looks more cumbersome, and people don't 319 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,520 like it. I thought with COVID that we'd 320 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:31,760 have more golfers who sort of accept a club for working, but I 321 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,080 was as I from him, I was mistaken. 322 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,360 And people want to see a certain profile, a certain top line and 323 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,040 a certain luster to the club. The finish as well is is huge. 324 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:45,880 You know, certain match finishes, yes, but in irons they 325 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,280 like that sort of sparkle that match sat in or black or, you 326 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,720 know, the you know, often the finishes has a, you know, a big 327 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:57,120 impact and it's it's just it's just a way golf is. 328 00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,520 I've realized that now. So you've got to try and make it 329 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,960 work, which luckily they do. They're fantastic performing 330 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:04,760 clubs, but you've got to make them look good. 331 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,440 And I mean, I think the strict and high range in particular and 332 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:08,880 the Cleveland wages look amazing. 333 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:11,960 You know, give me a reason not. To try them? 334 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,400 Absolutely. Gave me a 52 try. 335 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,240 And the thing I was just going to circle back on then in terms 336 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:22,119 of custom fat, what's the typical lead time of your PGA 337 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,400 professional or a range or whatever puts in an order to 338 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:27,119 shacks? And how long does that take to 339 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,360 come through? Because as maybe part of the 340 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,640 part where footwork and a shop they pick up what club go ahead 341 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:36,120 to range go, that's as great and I don't really consider it down. 342 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,000 You're downstream impact to doing that is what's the kind of 343 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:40,240 turn around time you've got going. 344 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,760 Absolutely. I mean, we've get considerable, 345 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:47,800 a lot of consideration has been given to lead time. 346 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,720 That's very important. People go on holiday, everybody 347 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,320 who buys a club is going to change their handicap radically, 348 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:55,680 by the way. You know, it's going to make 349 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,320 that huge difference and I understand it. 350 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:00,000 I'm the same. You know, it's like a new toy, 351 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,200 isn't it? You know, you know, you want to 352 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,720 get out there, you want to improve your game and we put a 353 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:09,160 lot of time, effort and resources including financial to 354 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,160 improve our lead time. You can see the size of the size 355 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,680 of the workshop now. So we look to be 5 days or less 356 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:18,320 to to get them to the customers. On occasion. 357 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:22,920 We are obviously dependent on other vendors as well, sometimes 358 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,240 shaft and grip. So occasionally it's out of our 359 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,920 hands and the lead time, you know could be extended due to 360 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:34,480 the fact that we're waiting on products and lead time with 361 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:36,840 vendors in casting and forging houses. 362 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,840 You don't just give them a ring and say we need some new heads. 363 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:44,360 So if we have successful products and we make a forecast 364 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,400 and we've seen this quite a lot and it's good to be this 365 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,120 successful that we've outstripped what we thought we 366 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:51,920 would sell. We've sold a lot more 367 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,920 particularly with Strix and irons, Cleveland wedges and 368 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:57,960 sometimes as well with some of the Zexio products. 369 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,160 We just sell a lot more than we think we're going to sell. 370 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,600 And you know, the one thing we don't want to do is be a company 371 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,080 who has huge amounts of stock left at the end of cycle and it 372 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,480 has to, we have to burden the industry with selling it off 373 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,080 cheap. It doesn't benefit the retailer, 374 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,680 it doesn't benefit us. Occasionally, you know, the 375 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,560 consumer can get a real bargain. But generally speaking, we try 376 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:23,440 and be ordered in, in that we have the right amount of stock 377 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,080 for what we're trying to sell. So there is difficult times and 378 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,440 challenges and you know, you do have headwinds like any 379 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,520 industry. But generally speaking, if we 380 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:34,840 have the stock, we're trying to get it there in 5 days. 381 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,120 That's that's really good. I mean, I think about what 382 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:39,840 you're investing in a set of clubs, you're probably going to 383 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:43,480 play them for three or five years, maybe longer, you know, 384 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,720 to take an extra week. Yeah, get it right and have them 385 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:48,760 correct for you. It's it's really worth the 386 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:52,560 investment of time. Yes, and with the you know, now 387 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,840 we see the springing up of all the swing rooms in the indoor 388 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:00,080 studios and the launches from most of the manufacturers come a 389 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:04,000 little bit earlier people now the more serious golfer and 390 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,440 those who consider their equipment, they are getting 391 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,480 themselves sorted in January, February, March. 392 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,440 So if there's a glitch, you know, when there's a four week 393 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,440 lead time for some reason or another, they're still there 394 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,160 ready for sort of March, April ready to go. 395 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,240 Especially people who buy generally forged products that 396 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,880 they're that considered golfer who want the specs right and 397 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:25,120 they want to take them to the course. 398 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,520 And if there's some minor adjustments to be made, they 399 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:28,880 want to. They want to put them in place 400 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:30,720 before they get into play. Absolutely. 401 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:32,600 And I'd love to talk about some of the features of their 402 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,200 products, Joe, for folks who maybe don't know about Shreks. 403 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,600 And I think that part that always struck me was that the 404 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,720 ions have got great lengths coming from them, but also they 405 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:44,400 they can go very high. So what are some of the features 406 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,240 and the products that allow that from you're just technology 407 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,000 that's on there? If if if we're considering sort 408 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,120 of strict and ions, ZX7 is sort of very traditional one piece, 409 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,040 effectively forged so hammered out of ability of steel. 410 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,520 So for the player looking for that that player, you know, that 411 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:08,440 smaller profile, a specific sort of tow profile, a top line and 412 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,120 one incredibly consistent spin numbers and distance numbers, 413 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:16,120 you know, no face plate. That's annoying really for them. 414 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,880 All the irons feature the tour Vt sole, which is very popular 415 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:23,200 on tour with the sole notches. And then we move into the sort 416 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:25,800 of the I wouldn't say game improvement. 417 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:27,760 I don't like that term. I always think let's be 418 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,000 aspirational, you know, let's we're going to get better. 419 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:38,000 So ZX5 and 4 specifically five fits a huge amount of golfers. 420 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,800 There's a lot of type of golfers you can use 5 S reasonably well 421 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,800 forgiving still really from an aesthetic and cosmetic point of 422 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:48,600 view, they look fantastic, but they are faceplate iron. 423 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:51,480 You wouldn't sort of think so when you look so tend to have a 424 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,280 little better ball speeds than 7 and little stronger. 425 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,520 And we see the CG in just slightly different positions a 426 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,720 little further back, a little wider sole and we get into the 427 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,400 hollow irons with the four, you know, very sort of strong, 428 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,000 stronger lofts, more distance orientated, a little bit more 429 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,840 forgiveness and that the new Rs and and HLS. 430 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,480 If you've been enjoying the show, please do remember to 431 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,000 follow on your favorite podcast platform and share it with a 432 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,200 friend. Now let's get back to the pod. 433 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,560 The ALS are very interesting, reasonably similar specs to 4, 434 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:33,680 but they are, again, they're not a hollow iron, so they follow a 435 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,480 slightly different profile. But to me, the HLS are the are 436 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:40,640 the launch that I'm most excited about. 437 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,560 You know, we sort of call them HL when really they are what was 438 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,760 a traditional loft. We've seen diminishing lofts in 439 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,920 the golf industry. We usually slow to follow. 440 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,120 We're not a company who tennis to D loft our clubs. 441 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,480 Others tend to do it before us. And then sometimes you're forced 442 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:03,880 to follow in the fact that you have that golden 79 number on a 443 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:09,240 monitor when really it's an old 5 1/2 I so sometimes 79. 444 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,080 You know, you can sort of get those numbers and you think, 445 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,240 wow, these are incredibly long, but there's there's other 446 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,160 factors in play. You know that the loft is 447 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,120 stronger. The links may be a little longer 448 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,800 and you don't have to try and consider can I play in the long 449 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,160 lines? You know, it is A5 and A4 450 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,280 viable? Probably not. 451 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,400 So you know, when you buy a set of irons, especially if you buy 452 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,160 sort of those stronger sets of lofts, you've got to be a little 453 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,320 bit careful. And with that comes generally 454 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:39,600 added distance if they get a centered strike, but generally 455 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,160 less spin and the descent angles become a little bit too acute 456 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,000 for me. People can't hold greens. 457 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,040 If they carry a bunker, they can't keep it on the green. 458 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,640 So with the HLI and you know, we see loss. 459 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,120 Now what you know I would have seen as a boy or before me, Ben 460 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:58,240 Hogan would have played. People can get them in the air 461 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:04,040 because the low spin, low spin balls, low spin drivers, lowest 462 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,920 spinning irons. I think if you go to the doctor 463 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,600 and he gives you some tablets, he'll often tell you to take 2, 464 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,160 won't he, every four hours. But golfers take the whole 465 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,560 bottle. Certainly right away, certainly 466 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,240 we. Stuck yeah, we the ball just we 467 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,120 can't keep it in the air we can't hold degree you know so 468 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:25,080 those sort of that return to although it's deemed and termed 469 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,200 as HL really to me that's where a lot of golfers should be. 470 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:32,200 And I would say for, I mean, I've played golf for probably 40 471 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:37,240 years now and I would say it's, and probably because I've been 472 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:41,080 brought up in Scotland and played most of my golf there, to 473 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,720 me it's always easy to bring the ball down, but that's to try and 474 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,600 get in there. So why do you want to take so 475 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,720 much loft off that you're you're just striking it so low? 476 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,640 Yeah, it's really tough to get in there at times for people. 477 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,520 Yes it is. And you know the loft on the 478 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:56,920 head is huge. You know, there's a lot talked 479 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,960 about high launching shafts and yes they will help. 480 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:02,360 But the loft on the head is is king for me. 481 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,640 The loft and where the mass is, you know, you've got a certain 482 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,040 mass on a say a wet header for 290 grams. 483 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,520 What you do with it, you know, and where you put it. 484 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,560 And then obviously the head weights come down and you know, 485 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,000 a little bit as the length changes. 486 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,680 So what you do with that mass, where you put it has a huge 487 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:26,200 consideration where the CG is the, the less weight, the more 488 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,240 effect you have on moving a little bit of CG. 489 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,400 But when you, you know, it can be a little bit difficult at 490 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,440 times, you can't move it as much as you'd like. 491 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,560 So Loft Loft is your friend, definitely. 492 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,960 Absolutely. And then the thing that I didn't 493 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,040 even talk about there, Joe Shrikson are pretty famous for 494 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,600 having combo sets that people will take different types of 495 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:47,680 irons and bring them together. I'd love you talk about those 496 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,280 mixes that people can can work with and all the different, no, 497 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:52,760 maybe got all the different variations. 498 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,360 You could do anything you wanted, but working as typical 499 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,360 variations that people have for regular golfers. 500 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:00,640 And what do you see on tour as well with top players? 501 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,720 Combo sets is it's a delight to see. 502 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,920 The one thing I recognise with golfers is they like products 503 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,880 that match. Matching socks, matching hats, 504 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,960 matching everything you know, we like they like them to match. 505 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:19,880 But golf, you play with one club at a time and really I think you 506 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,520 know the tricks. In Cleveland and Zexia we like 507 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:26,640 to build clubs fit for purpose. I talked to you previously about 508 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,720 our low lofted fairways have carbon crowns because that's a 509 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:32,840 club that is really difficult to use. 510 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,520 You've got to try and get the ball off the turf with not much 511 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,800 loft. So we try and grab every gram, 512 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,960 unlike the driver which has a titanium crown which assists our 513 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,960 rebound frame technology. So we don't have a carbon crown 514 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,560 because titanium is quite light and the ball's on a teepa. 515 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:53,560 So when people start building combo sets and we encourage it 516 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:57,680 with 75 and 4, not so much with R and HL because they don't 517 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:00,520 marry up the same, but why wouldn't you? 518 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,120 Why wouldn't you build a combo set? 519 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,640 You know, if there's certainly clubs that you want consistent 520 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,240 spinning, you can have a more centred hit with the shorter 521 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,000 irons. You want those concise 522 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:13,640 distances, that compact Ted, maybe a sole profile to get to 523 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,240 the turf. Why wouldn't you? 524 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,320 And then why wouldn't you use For me, there's no such thing as 525 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,080 an iron set anymore. It's almost like you should 526 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,080 consider each club, whether it be the wedges into the short 527 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:26,320 times, into the longer lines. Yes. 528 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,600 And on tour, you know, like Shane has a couple of ZX fives 529 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,200 in his longer lines and that boy can hit you, can't he? 530 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:33,880 You know, it's pretty. Good. 531 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:34,840 Yeah, he is. Yeah. 532 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,480 So it makes a lot of sense, especially on distance driven 533 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:42,200 clubs, to use more forgiving face plate tight clubs because 534 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,720 and I'm with the faceplate, you know, it's getting closer and 535 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,320 closer to being a mini metal would with the back cut off. 536 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:51,360 But you're just trying to still keep that profile of an eye. 537 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:53,720 And you know, I just never used to flex when I was a boy. 538 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:57,280 You know, it was just one lump of iron and it was either it was 539 00:27:57,320 --> 00:27:59,280 either hammered and forged or it was cast. 540 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,600 And now you know, there is there is that opportunity to get 541 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:05,880 increased ball speeds and a lot more forgiveness. 542 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:09,440 Something like our mainframe technology where the faceplate 543 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,800 has a series of channels millions behind. 544 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:13,920 We can save a few grams here and there. 545 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,040 We can boost the ball speeds, especially on the on the miss 546 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:19,920 hits which we're all capable of, especially as the length 547 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,240 increases. It'd be silly of me not to ask. 548 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,760 What do you play with yourself? I play with an old set of Zexio 549 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,200 46 Ions. They're still they're absolutely 550 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,600 fantastic. And it's it's you know, when you 551 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,560 get comfortable with the set. I'm very fortunate, obviously I 552 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,960 can sort of play with anything. I thought you could spend 14 553 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:43,480 lifetimes. They're very similar to a set of 554 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:47,760 sort of stricts and ZX5. So for me that I am fit, so many 555 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:51,840 golfers from low handicap to, you know, hire handicap, they 556 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:54,560 can use that club and and they can grow with it as well. 557 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,000 Because if you have a goal for, you know, who's new to the game 558 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,920 and he's improving fast, he probably there's at that point 559 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:03,720 in time, he might want to consider 1 iron. 560 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:07,000 But if you wanted an iron to be able to grow with and grow into, 561 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,640 ZX5 is perfect. Absolutely perfect. 562 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,440 Absolutely. And then just on the wedge, he's 563 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,680 just talking about them. What's the kind of technologies 564 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,680 you've got in the new products these days and and what kind of 565 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:21,440 things can people look out for? The the metal that we make it 566 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:25,240 out of CBZ and RTZ is very specific. 567 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:27,880 It's been tailored for the golf industry. 568 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,320 It's not just a stainless steel, which you'd see in different 569 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,160 applications. So that's probably the first 570 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:35,480 thing. And then we have a line up of 571 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:40,520 wedges from, you know, RTZCBZ into smarts or where we can 572 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:42,280 accommodate a lot of type of golfers. 573 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,200 So we go, we go from, I don't like to say blade because 574 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:47,760 they're not blades anymore then they're on muscle back, you 575 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:52,160 know, wedge the RTZ and you probably look at that golfer 576 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:56,200 who's using ZX7 and 5:00. But you do have to consider the 577 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:00,720 lofts and the face technology. Too many times people look at AP 578 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,160 and then think the gaps 50 or 52. 579 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:07,000 But with diminishing lofts, if you have a pitching wedge, which 580 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,560 has got a faceplate and a loft of 44, you cannot go to a gap 581 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,160 wedge of 48. Even that, that 4° gap won't 582 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,840 work unless you, you know, you, you consider the ball speeds off 583 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:21,040 the 2. So going through that sort of 584 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,160 gap in session with a good pro or club fitter, you, you can 585 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,320 marry them in. And then we have the sort of 586 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,080 cavity wedges and they're very considered. 587 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:33,760 So why more people who play cavity irons don't play cavity 588 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:37,840 wedges is beyond me. You know, they actually align 589 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:40,480 much better and we consider the components. 590 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:42,920 So we've done a little bit of the thinking for you. 591 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:46,800 If you buy a CBZ where just the shaft is lighter and the swing 592 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,320 weights is lighter on the club, more relevant to the type of 593 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,640 irons you've bought. So it's like I said earlier, 594 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,160 there's a complete mismatch often where people have a set of 595 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,720 cavity irons and then a set of sort of muscle back wedges and 596 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,280 the two that the point where they fuse is so far apart, they 597 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,880 don't fuse for me. There's a there's a void and 598 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,480 then we have obviously our sort of full face options in wedges 599 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:11,800 where the score lines go all the way across. 600 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,880 Shane uses one of those. It's funny because golfers I've 601 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,520 noticed with shapes of clubs and types of designs from square 602 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:24,000 drivers and triangle drivers to full face clubs, there's then 603 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,520 they find them that they can't look at them visually. 604 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,960 And I said to Shane, you know, how do you see the full face on 605 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,040 your 58? Are you OK with that? 606 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:33,960 Because I hear amateurs, they don't like it. 607 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,360 And he says to me, well Joe, I can't play without it now. 608 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,680 To me that's the norm. And from a science point of 609 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,920 view, I look at it and I think who goes to get new tyres and 610 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:45,840 things? I'll just have 3/4 of the tread 611 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:47,880 today please. You just don't do that, do you? 612 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:51,600 It makes so much sense to have score lines all the way across a 613 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:55,080 club, especially on a wedge when you open the face and the ball 614 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,200 runs from heel to toe and you strike it in the toe power 615 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:01,040 region and the debris isn't eliminated because there's no 616 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,960 score line, there's no groove. That doesn't make any sense to 617 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:05,920 me. So as if you thinking golf don't 618 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,400 make any sense. Not using wedges with full faces 619 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:11,880 doesn't make any sense from a scientific point of view. 620 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,520 I get it from the cosmetic, but if you want to disperse debris 621 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,000 and you want to get the most friction, why wouldn't you use a 622 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:19,560 full face wedge? Absolutely. 623 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:21,280 There you go. You know, we all have different 624 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:25,960 sort of opinions and you know, and again, that cosmetic is an 625 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,560 aesthetic is a big consideration for most golfers. 626 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,800 And then just circling back on the custom FAB process and how 627 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,560 the belt goes as well. I mean, just talk a little bit 628 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,520 in detail about some of the pieces that people could 629 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:39,960 potentially get wrong, whether that's the wrong grip on a club. 630 00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:42,240 You are taking me through some of the challenges that you see 631 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,320 that people may get something custom felt and put a new grip 632 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,360 on. Just talk about how that changes 633 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:48,640 the profile of the club. Yes. 634 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,720 So effectively when we get an order for a set of irons, if 635 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:58,080 there's a light change or a certain type of grip, then we 636 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,040 will consider how we cut it. So when the shaft is cut in the 637 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:05,560 cutting room, it's consideration for the cap size on the grip and 638 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,040 the lie of the club because they can change the length of the 639 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,720 shaft just a little bit and you put the two together can have a 640 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,680 little bit more effect. So when we build that club, we 641 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,400 cut the shaft appropriately and then it goes through the process 642 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,600 and we put the grip on that the customer has asked for. 643 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,320 Now if you start changing the lie of a club there is a 644 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,920 marginal change to the length. Probably wouldn't affect most 645 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:30,200 people, especially with an iron, but grip changes have 646 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:34,240 significant changes and how it feels and the component weight. 647 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:40,280 So often a customer will you'll go for lessons or maybe they 648 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,840 develop arthritis and they want to have a bigger grip on. 649 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:46,640 Yes and there may be some sort of contoured or textured finish 650 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,640 to the grip. But generally speaking there is 651 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:54,200 some low density grips such as a jumbo Max or something like that 652 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,040 or a dry tap light. But generally the density of a 653 00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:59,960 grip doesn't change. So if the diameter increases, 654 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,640 the weight goes up considerably. So if you think of most standard 655 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,000 grips would be something between 48 and 52 grams. 656 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:10,800 So the balance point of the club is built with that in 657 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,400 consideration. So we, we try and balance the 658 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:17,560 club and come up with a swing weight using those, you know, 659 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:19,159 the head weight and the grip weight. 660 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,280 So if you went away and you'd had, I don't know, let's say 661 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:28,159 you'd had an MCC 48g grip on and then you went away and you put 662 00:34:28,159 --> 00:34:32,159 on a set of jumbos or an athletic grip up in the 70 663 00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:34,960 fives. You know, you'll see in there 30 664 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:39,719 gram weight change in component weight and for every 5 grams of 665 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,679 grip weight you sort of see a one point swing weight change. 666 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:46,560 So if you had a set of ions with a set of stiff shafts which 667 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:51,040 you'd requested at D3, you'll see a six point change because 668 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,000 you've put that grip on. So suddenly the component weight 669 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:57,840 has gone up significantly, but the feel and the swing weight 670 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,600 feels like you've got a lighter club because the balance point 671 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:04,360 has changed significantly. So people will make changes to 672 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,600 clubs and not really understand what's happening and they'll go 673 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:09,600 back and well, it feels really light. 674 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:13,280 It's actually heavier if you, if you hold it in the middle for 675 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:15,480 you know, if you hold it in the middle of the balance point, the 676 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,520 whole club has gone heavier, but you're feeling it's lighter 677 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,160 because the balance point has changed significantly. 678 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,880 And we've seen some technologies in the past where that's been 679 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:26,600 done on purpose counterweighting. 680 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:30,040 We counterweight some of our sexual clubs because when you're 681 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:34,000 trying to yield a lot a wield a young, a long club, it can feel 682 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,120 heavy. So by putting some weight behind 683 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,440 your hands, the grave. Jack Nicklaus used to use lead 684 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:42,040 tape and I think Sergio Garcia and Matt Fitzpatrick have both 685 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:46,040 looked at counterweighting. It's easy to direct the head, so 686 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:50,160 you can sometimes increase the mass in the head and 687 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:51,840 counterweight and get a balance point. 688 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:56,680 But when you do mass changes to try and increase force, 689 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,960 generally swing speed drops. So when you sort of do all this 690 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:04,000 messing and I've tried, it doesn't tend to work out the 691 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,360 head weights that we have and virtually all the manufacturers 692 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,760 have sort of tried and tested over a long time. 693 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,800 I've seen a lot of changes in golf, but head weights haven't 694 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:15,680 changed a lot. If you look at a driver head 695 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:19,240 weight from 40 years ago, it'll still be around 200 grams. 696 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:24,560 If you put more head weight in and trying, you know, try and 697 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:28,680 skew the F equals MA, you'll find that generally your swing 698 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,400 speed will drop and speed generally beats mass. 699 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,760 So when you mess with it, you know, you might change the swing 700 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,520 weight, you might change the orientation of the face, but 701 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:39,680 you've got to be careful because sometimes your swing speed will 702 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,400 drop as well. So you can golfers could 703 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,160 actually impact their swing speed with driver for example 704 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:47,720 any club by moving the swing weight around. 705 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,840 Or just, yeah, the swing weight will generally be that you've 706 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:52,880 changed the mass in the head or the grip. 707 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:57,320 But generally head mass, if you increase head mass, you get more 708 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:00,760 force, but because the force is moving slower, you get less ball 709 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:02,600 speed. So there's always a trade off. 710 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,840 If you look at some of ours axial products that the mass of 711 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:09,280 the head is proportionally heavier than the other parts 712 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,160 compared to other golf clubs because we're trying to get fast 713 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:15,720 by using very lightweight products and a slightly longer 714 00:37:15,720 --> 00:37:18,720 club, but an increased mass proportionally. 715 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:21,320 Do you get me? So even though the headweight on 716 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:24,440 his exo tends to be less than a fixing driver, it can create 717 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:26,440 more force because it's moving faster. 718 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,200 So that's how we consider, you know, that's moderate swing 719 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,360 speed trying to build the speed lightweight products maybe a 720 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,640 touch longer and proportionally a heavy mass. 721 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,440 And when I say that people think what the head's heavy, no, it's 722 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:42,600 not heavier than, you know, other brands or our restriction 723 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:44,800 drivers, but we try and get it moving faster. 724 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:49,240 So we make these considerations for the golfer, these things 725 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:52,040 I've done previous. So we we think about where 726 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:54,360 they're going to hit it or what they're trying to do and we 727 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:58,120 build the club accordingly. So Zexio clubs, we know that 728 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:00,440 people generally struggle to get the ball in the air. 729 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,240 They struggle for speed and they generally hit it to the right. 730 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:07,000 O we want to keep the loft U get the CG down, close the face 731 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:10,040 angle, high torquing, lightweight shafts, all of these 732 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:11,800 things. O some of that customs are 733 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:15,280 already done and then it would be the finite nuances when you 734 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,840 go and see a good club fit. Fantastic. 735 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:19,720 And you touched on arthritis there. 736 00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:22,320 So I get pain in my hands. I switched to graphite shafts a 737 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,600 number of years ago to try and support with that. 738 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,840 I thought if you talk about how much graphites come on, Joe, in 739 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,080 terms of of course driver shafts, but also iron shafts and 740 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:35,720 who people can actually get help for physical issues potentially 741 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:38,480 related to the speed of the swing and all those things and 742 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:39,920 what you can do from that point of view. 743 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:44,400 Yeah, from a vibration damping point of view, some golf clubs 744 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:48,120 have something in the head. If you look at our CBZ wedges, 745 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:52,480 we have a TPU badge in the back which looks like part of the 746 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:55,200 club. Thermal plastic polyurethane, 747 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:59,640 which is an impact modifier. Your mobile phone case or the 748 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:02,520 dashboard on your car. So we have to be careful. 749 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:04,880 We can't make it too soft. If you can push your nail into 750 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:08,600 it, it would be, it wouldn't pass the rules of Golf, but you 751 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,200 can sort of impact. You can change the impact and 752 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:13,960 the vibration with the head, but only to a certain extent. 753 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:18,200 For me, the softness of the metal a little bit, but that 754 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,120 doesn't have a big impact. The big impact is the shaft and 755 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:24,760 the grip. Softer sort of lower density 756 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:29,840 grips definitely absorb vibration graph graphite shafts 757 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,480 most definitely, you know, assist with injuries. 758 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:34,800 You don't get that vibration, especially tennis elbow, 759 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:37,880 golfer's elbow, like you say, arthritis. 760 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:42,800 And then there is some iron shafts where you can have Avas 761 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:46,440 or vibration absorbs some systems in, you know, some sort 762 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,680 of filtering system in the in the shaft, like a little bit of 763 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:51,880 foam or something like that to help. 764 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:54,720 But generally, I think if you're struggling, most people would 765 00:39:54,720 --> 00:39:59,000 move to a graphite shaft. And there's there's still a lot 766 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,360 to come. I think with with carbon and 767 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:04,960 graphite, it goes back a long way. 768 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:08,120 I think we were talking about, you know, Edison, Thomas Edison 769 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:11,880 first come across and used it in candles and lights and things 770 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,280 like that. And then it sort of fell away. 771 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:18,240 And then there was a boom in the early 60s where it came back and 772 00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:19,680 then it sort of lost its way again. 773 00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:23,840 Rolls Royce really made some big advances with jet engines. 774 00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:26,960 And then that sort of fell away. But in the last 50 years, you 775 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:28,960 know, it started to really sort of come back. 776 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:32,560 And I think there's still a long way to go with how carbon is 777 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:36,760 manufactured, the different toe, you know, the amount of strands 778 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:40,080 in there, how we direct it. And because it's a composite, 779 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:43,920 it's a resin and a carbon put together, how much you know of 780 00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:46,960 the proxy is used, you know, all these sort of things. 781 00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:50,200 So I still think there's quite a lot of exciting stuff to happen 782 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,680 more specifically with carbon shafts, graphite shafts and 783 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:56,840 maybe composite in heads. I think the jewel is still out 784 00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,840 on that one, really. Yeah, where we're going with 785 00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:02,440 that. And at the moment, I don't think 786 00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:05,680 we've any plans to be using any composite in the head in the 787 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,200 faceplate anyway. And just rounding off from the 788 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,480 custom fat process, what about the quality control? 789 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,720 So obviously the manufactured components that come out of very 790 00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:17,560 high quality, but what kind of processes do you have in place 791 00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:20,480 that make sure that sucks and clubs come out here at the real 792 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:24,160 top end of quality as well? It's a good, it's an interesting 793 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:28,960 question as it goes through the various stations and processes, 794 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:34,160 the the guys who build the clubs sort of do intermediate checks 795 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:38,800 anyway. So if you cut a club a shaft and 796 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,120 you put the tapes on and it goes to be swing weighted when you 797 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:45,800 put the head on and you have the grip on the swing weight scale. 798 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:52,800 If it's standard length and suddenly you put the head on and 799 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:53,800 you're going to measure it as well. 800 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,160 By the way, while you're there and the swing weight goes out a 801 00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:59,200 mile, then you always know straight away that there's an 802 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:01,960 anomaly because you know where the swing weight should be. 803 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,720 So you obviously measure the club in that station as well as 804 00:42:05,720 --> 00:42:08,600 swing weighted. So if there's a length issue, 805 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:10,160 it'll show up there straight away. 806 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:14,160 And then and then from that process onwards until it gets to 807 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:17,560 QC, which is the sort of, you know, this is where this is 808 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:19,880 where it ends. You know, at the QC station, 809 00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:23,520 it'll go all the way from there, but hopefully if the legs right, 810 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:26,760 you know, it'll be built properly as it goes through the 811 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:28,840 process. And once the grip goes on, it 812 00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:31,600 goes to QC. And then there they are measured 813 00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:36,080 for length for line loft and grip straight right length, not, 814 00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:40,480 not stretched, not scrambled. The fowl is finished precisely. 815 00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:43,280 So there, there's a lot of processes there because we have 816 00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:46,760 a tolerance to build to and they have a tolerance that the heads 817 00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,880 are, and when we have our, some component accounts, they're 818 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:52,760 always very pleased with the, with our components that they 819 00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:55,880 don't have to do too much too. If it says you've standard, it's 820 00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:58,440 standard lie, it's going to be very close to that lie. 821 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:01,160 You know, if it's a pitching range, it's 63 five, it's, it's 822 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:04,280 going to be very, very close. And a lot of them will check and 823 00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:07,360 make minor adjustments because when you go through a casting 824 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:10,640 and a forging process, you know, when molten metal goes from 825 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:14,640 1600° to naughty, you know, over quite a short period of time, 826 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:18,040 there is contraction processes and the ambient temperatures, 827 00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:20,920 things do happen. So if anyone says that every 828 00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:23,120 single one is going to be absolutely perfect. 829 00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:26,440 No, there may be just minor discrepancies, but generally 830 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:28,080 speaking, they're really, really good. 831 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:31,680 And, and I think I showed you in the in the head boxes we 832 00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:35,360 actually write on if the gram right -1 or -2. 833 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:38,720 Yeah, I can't believe how the detail is is so tight. 834 00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:41,480 But it's a Japanese company, very humble. 835 00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:45,320 But you know, precision is, is a big part of it. 836 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,240 You think of all the Japanese companies that you can think of, 837 00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:53,120 Sony, you know, Suzuki, Honda, whatever, you know, technology 838 00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:56,920 is key and precision is key. And then we, we are, we are 839 00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,320 charged. We are, it's our duty to get 840 00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:02,760 that iron, get that wedge, get that driver and make it 841 00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:05,520 precisely. They give us the products, the 842 00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:07,120 components. It's up to us to put it 843 00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:09,200 together. Absolutely. 844 00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:11,760 Well, Joe, thanks so much for taking me around to Vitality, 845 00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:14,360 answering all these questions and I'm sure the listeners are 846 00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:15,440 going to love it. Thanks so much. 847 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:16,480 I really appreciate it. No. 848 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:17,600 Problem at all. It was a pleasure. 849 00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:23,440 I'd like to thank Joe Miller and Shreks in Europe for an 850 00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:26,280 incredible insider experience at their Custom Fit facility in 851 00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:28,840 Asheville. It's only served to reinforce my 852 00:44:28,840 --> 00:44:30,880 love of the brand and the quality of the products they 853 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:33,320 create. If you enjoyed this episode, 854 00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:35,840 please follow the link by Golf on your favorite podcast 855 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:38,080 platform. Leave a review and share with 856 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:40,320 someone who loves golf and people's journeys. 857 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:45,200 You can also find the show on Instagram at Linked by G2024 for 858 00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:47,160 future episodes, clips and insights. 859 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:49,720 I'm Ross McGuire, thanks for listening. 860 00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:52,720 Loman Golf Tours have helped thousands of guests build 861 00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:55,680 bespoke golf trips to create a magical experience. 862 00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:58,320 Travel in style with an executive chauffeur. 863 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:00,360 Travel. Whether it's golf on a major 864 00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:03,920 championship venue or one of our hidden gems, 5 star 865 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:06,440 accommodation or a boutique bed and breakfast. 866 00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:08,960 Or is it whiskey tasting on a private boat? 867 00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:11,920 Loman Golf Tours are here to help build the tour of a 868 00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:14,080 lifetime. Whether you're celebrating a 869 00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:17,760 special occasion or ticking it off your bucket list, embark on 870 00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:19,400 a trip that you'll remember forever. 871 00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:23,240 Visit www.lomangolftours.com.