Eye on Small Business: Fixing golf clubs 'fore' money

Tom "T.C." Medford IV found -his business niche in his spare time.

While vacationing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., 15 years ago, Medford was playing golf and broke one of his clubs. He took it to a golf shop there, but when the shop returned it to him, it wasn't fixed properly.

After returning to Pennsylvania, Medford called club manufacturers so he could look at some repair manuals.

"I broke clubs and practiced repairs," Medford said. "Then I would fix them for family and friends. Some things I wasn't sure how to fix, so I went to a school in 1989." He was certified as a professional club maker through the Professional Clubmakers Society and attends yearly seminars on club repairs, fittings and new types of golf clubs to keep certified.

Thirteen years ago, he started Your Golf Connection in a shop outside his home in Leola, Lancaster County. Its logo is a triangle shape formed by a broken golf club.

Six months ago, he relocated to a 700-square-foot space in Palmyra, Lebanon County.

He chose the spot because it was available, it was near some golf courses, which he thought would bring him closer to his clientele, and it was closer to his girlfriend, Sharon.

His hobby has become a part-time business. He said revenue is "five figures" but declined to be more specific.

The shop is open from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday to accommodate his second job as a meat cutter at the Giant Food Store in Elizabethtown. He will wait a year to see if his workload allows him to operate the shop full time.

The Hershey-Palmyra area has at least five golf courses, most with their own pro shops, and two other golf shops, all within five miles of Medford's store.

"...very few do what I do," he said. He repairs and makes golf clubs, including his specialty, long-shafted drivers. The material used to make the shaft affects the price. Medford said individual steel-shafted clubs cost from $25 to $35. A typical set of steel-shafted 9-irons that he makes costs about $329, and graphite- shafted clubs can cost $479.

Manufacturers make the clubs to certain specifications, but Medford customizes and fits clubs according to a golfer's mechanics and goals.

Your Golf Connection also sells golf supplies, such as balls and bags. Customers' clubs line the walls of a workroom, along with machines to make sure the clubs have the proper angles. He also provides golf lessons.

Although location is all-important, having similar kinds of stores close together is not necessarily a bad thing for retail, said James Mentzer, a Pennsylvania Association of Realtors spokesman.

"Granted, a number of stores are already there, but where else would you gain the attention of the very clientele you're trying to serve?" he asked, adding that a number of shops could give golfers a chance to comparison-shop.

Most customers come by word-of-mouth, and many are new customers. Medford's customers come from as far away as Downingtown. "I get a lot from Harrisburg, Hershey, Camp Hill, Lebanon - a lot of different areas I wasn't expecting. I thought maybe Annville, Hershey."