New golf retail outlets promote swing analysis, staff expertise

There was a time when new golf club purchases were congenial matters handled between yourself and the club pro. The pro knew your handicap, your swing (or swing faults) and what equipment was likely to suit both your game and your pocketbook.

But hickory shafts probably only came in one flex back then.

Today it’s a high-tech puzzle of shaft flex and kick point, launch angles, spin rates and exotic/composite metals. If you happen to read enough golf magazines to pretend to understand all this, then you are probably even more confused than the rest of us.

“The more sophisticated the graphite becomes, the more the club is designed to be used by a specific player,´ said Robert Bubon, general manager of Pro Golf of Longmont. That increasing complexity, Bubon said, has helped fuel golf club sales by increasing the number of clubs that retailers must carry, and generally confusing those of us trying to find the right stick for our own swing.

In other words, it has become a lot more difficult to find a club — especially in drivers and fairway woods — that will work for your swing.

Retail specialists in golf, in turn, now set themselves apart from general sporting goods outlets by offering much the same services that the club pro used to provide: They analyze your swing.

Of course, much of that swing analysis is now done by computer, but many Boulder Valley stores also distinguish themselves by the quality of their staff, many of whom are PGA accredited pros or apprentices. That was the idea at Pro Golf of Longmont, where owner Dave Hoskins’ first hire was Bubon, who came with 16 years of professional club design and also a couple of PGA tour events under his belt.

“We have professional golf fitters here, and demo clubs with different shaft flexes, as well as different lies and loft,” Bubon said. “We make sure that you get the right club for your game and your ability. That’s our niche.

“And we want everyone who works here to be just as knowledgeable as we are.”

Marty Hutt’s Golf Headquarters of Boulder also has the equipment to measure swing speed and the lie angle of irons. Tilted lie angles tend to produce hooks, if the toe of the club is lower than the heel, or slices, so many county retailers have equipment such as lie boards to determine how to make your club match your setup.

Trial and error

But increasingly, the material of the club heads and shafts also makes impacts on trajectory and spin rates, which also affects how your swing translates into a golf shot. And there’s one Boulder shop that combines technology, staff expertise and a rather old-fashioned approach to club selection — go out and hit them at a real driving range.

Boulder Golf Company took over the 55th Street location of a used golf club retailer last summer and dramatically increased inventory of both used and new equipment. Probably the most enticing part of their operation is you actually can check out the used equipment and see how it translates into real golf shots.

“You can buy the greatest golf club in the world, and if it doesn’t fit your swing and your game then it isn’t going to do you any good,´ said President Mike Osse, who has 16 years of experience as a golf pro and five years and a PGA teaching pro. One great thing about all this confusing technology is there are now a lot of very good used golf clubs out there and on any given day, Boulder Golf Company will have quite a few in stock.

The two principals of the store are also the only employees, so it’s pretty much a given that whoever serves you will have a great deal of expertise.

Vice President Chad Didonato has 10 years of golf retail experience and is also a PGA teaching apprentice.

“Most of our business comes because or prices are competitive or lower than any other outlet in the county,” Osse said. “But about 20 percent of our business is also in full-service repair, and we’re really the only retail outlet that’s doing that.”

Like many of the other professional equipment retail outlets, Boulder Golf Co. has computer video and launch analysis for instruction and club fitting. Still, there’s something to be said about actually seeing how different clubs translate into shot making.

Another golf equipment outlet with a new edge is Golf For Her, which is near FlatIron Crossing mall in Broomfield. The new store obviously caters to the woman golfer — they do sell some tennis equipment, as well — and features computer analysis and workshop from area women pros.

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