WEBVTT - Episode 33: John K. Solheim 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:02.360 The guys from paying They've kind of showed me how 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:05.080 much the equipment matters. I just love that I can 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:06.560 hit any shot I kind of want. 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:08.479 We're gonna be able to tell some fun stories about 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:10.600 what goes on here to help golfers play better golf. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.880 Welcome back to the Pink Proving Grounds Podcast. I am 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.200 Shane Bacon. That is Marty Jerts and Marty. We got 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:17.920 a great guest and we also have kind of a 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:19.799 live experience here at the PGA Show. 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:21.040 Yeah, this is fun. 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:24.440 You get all the sounds, the feels, the bright lights 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:25.279 of the PGA Show. 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:26.560 We're here with John K. Solhin. 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:27.920 Good to be here. 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:30.840 Yeah, I've been a bit avid listener and I'm happy 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:31.960 to actually be on the show now. 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:33.880 Yeah, you're on the other end of that, Johns. 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:35.400 A lot of pressure. John. 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:37.880 I asked you this question to kick it off. Are 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.320 you have you frequented podcast guest a lot or is 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:41.240 this one of your first ones? 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:42.520 This is my first podcast? 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:44.320 You feeling nervous? Are you excited about it? 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:46.840 Hello? I guess a little un usually not nervous about 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:50.239 a camera, but it's a pretty good podcast, So. 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:51.680 I got a lot to live up to. 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:52.320 It elevated. 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:54.080 Yeah, there's been some good talent on here. 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:56.000 Well, we wanted to give it a kind of your 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:58.040 journey to where you're at right now. I mean there 0:00:58.080 --> 0:00:59.920 was a lot of pressure, I'm sure in that world 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.520 as well. At what age did you start to get 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:04.080 the sense that maybe you'd want to get in the 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:05.080 family business. 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:07.120 Yeah, you talk talk about pressure. 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:09.240 I would say there was pressure when I was young 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:12.880 that everyone assumed I was a good golfer. So and 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:15.000 I would say I did not handle that pressure very 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:16.040 well on the golf course. 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:18.399 Were you a good player when you're. 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.600 Young, like better than average, but nothing spectacular? So like 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:27.760 pretty good junior, but like nothing spectacular? And then I 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:32.160 would say yeah, as I started interning at Paying kind 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:33.920 of fell in love with the business, was like, this 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.320 is what I want to do. And then it was 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:38.880 the weird experience to me was right out of college 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.679 when I started working there, you know, having the Solheim 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:43.880 last name, I'm working with people who had been there 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:47.360 for twenty years, and they're instantly coming to me asking 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:48.040 me what they're. 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:48.400 Supposed to do. 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:52.840 You've got all this experience. I'm the new guy here, 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.120 so there. I guess I never saw it as pressure 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.640 at that point, but it was I guess enlightening to 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:01.640 me just how it actually worked like. 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:05.520 That, Jock K, what have talk us through your journey, 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:09.280 like like maybe some of the projects or departments you 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.240 worked on is both an intern And then when he 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:13.120 started going on full time. 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:14.120 How long is the podcast? 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:16.959 Oh yeah, we got we got, we got plenty of time, 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:18.399 but at high level. 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.960 Break run down, so like really cool. When I was 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:23.440 in high school and college, I'd come in to work 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.800 the summers, got to work like side by side with Carston, 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.959 my grandpa. Yeah, like multiple summers. He always had like 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:33.919 an assistant. He was a lot to work for. So 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.320 his assistants would get a summer assignment, they'd get a breather. 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.079 I'd come in and by the end of the summer 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:42.040 I was wiped out. He was hard to keep up with. 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.760 He always had something to go on the go, got 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.360 to travel with them, but really learned a ton just 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:50.520 from him and his attention to detail and just like 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.120 what was important what wasn't important in business and in 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:54.280 golf club development. 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:56.079 So that kind of. 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:58.760 Fueled the fire of Hey, I love golf club design. 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.040 I want to be in the golf business. So I 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:05.280 went to school, got a mechanical engineering degree and then 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.080 got hired onto Ping right out of school. Was like 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:10.880 a putter designer at first, So learned how to do 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.440 CAD and was designing putters. You go, if you know, 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:16.840 Ping like ISO Pure putters was my first project. So 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:19.200 it was our first insert putter. So it was pretty 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:21.320 exciting to be involved with that. And then to me 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:25.800 just kind of magical designing a product and you know 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:26.919 the time it takes. 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:28.840 It takes, you know, a year or whatever. 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:31.800 And then actually we came to the show and launched 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:34.720 it right and just I just remember being so giddy. 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:37.000 I'm not quite as giddy at the show anymore, but 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:40.120 I've just back then on how exciting it was to 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:42.200 launch this new series of insert putters. 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:45.040 So I had a kind of a. 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:49.280 Career in engineering, continue to design putters, and it wasn't 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.080 that long. I got an NBA during like my first 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:54.640 five years of work. While I was working, and then 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:58.440 I became the VP of engineering. Ran engineering for ten years, 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:01.360 and then I got a signed to run our Japan 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:05.680 office Pingolf Japan. Went there for about four years, ran 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.120 that came back and then I would call that was 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:12.080 like the transition time. Doug Hawkin was the president before me. 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:16.240 He was kind of whatever at his sunset of his 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:20.680 career and he retired. I took over in twenty seventeen, 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.440 became the CEO. I think in twenty two. Maybe it 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:27.760 was the beginning of twenty three. To be honest, I 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:29.840 don't know what the difference at PING is between president 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:33.080 and CEO, but now I have both titles and that's 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:34.760 what I'm enjoying doing right now. 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.320 I wanted to ask about the experience of Japan. First 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:39.320 of all, where'd you live? Where were you based out of? 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:43.279 So I was a Tokyo as Abujuban was where my 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:47.320 apartment was. Our offices were kind of on the northwest 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:48.239 side of Tokyo. 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.360 So I had like a. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:52.680 Fifty minute train commute forty five minute to two hour 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:55.640 car drive depending on traffic to work. 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.440 So yeah, I was right in the heart of Tokyo. 0:04:58.480 --> 0:04:59.560 It was an awesome experience. 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.000 Did you speak Japanese? 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:06.560 I got Rosetta Stone before I. Yeah. That was back 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.080 like when you bought disc right, So. 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:14.560 Yeah. And then I did have a tutor, like I would. 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.000 I stuck with it, so once a week I'd have 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.440 the tutor come over, I would say, what I learned 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:22.560 is I thought like after a year into it, it would 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.360 start to get easy and snowball. I got a year 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:27.240 into it, and I would say, did pretty well for 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:29.680 that year, and then just got to a point where 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:32.279 I was like, it's just getting harder and harder. So 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.960 I remember the conversation with my Japanese tutor. I'm like, 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.080 no new stuff. I just you've taught me a lot. 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:39.440 I just want to get good at what I know. 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:42.760 And I've kind of realized I've hit my peak and 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:44.320 I just want to get better at that. So I 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.640 stuck with it the whole time I was there, but 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:48.279 kind of after a while, I was like, I'm not 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:50.280 going to be able to write it. I'm I can 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:52.440 read the alphabets they have. 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:53.800 But I can't read the kanji. 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.640 I knew maybe a hundred symbols at the time when 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:58.520 I was there, But so I can get by if 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:00.520 you don't speak Japanese. I can make it sound like 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:03.120 I do speak Japanese, and I can tell the taxi 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.520 cab and order food and all that. But we get 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:09.279 in a business setting or whatever, and I'm catching twenty 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:09.800 percent of it. 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:10.560 Or something like that. 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:13.400 John K tell us a little bit about like what 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:15.679 you learned in your time in Japan the business side, 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:17.680 and then just helping grow our brand because when you 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:20.120 went over there, you know, our market share is nothing 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.040 close to what it is today, and what were some 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.479 of the big changes you make and things you learned 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:26.479 on the business side there. 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:28.160 So I learned a ton. 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.560 I would say, like, our market share was under one 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:34.160 percent when I got there. We had we had gone 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:38.560 through we had distributors there. We had multiple distributors. I 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:40.640 would say that none of them were doing great. They 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:43.039 in the heyday of the eighties, we did very well 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:46.680 in Japan, and then just by not investing in that marketplace, 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:48.960 we had lost a lot of market share. So it 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:51.520 was about five years before I went there. We started 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:55.080 our own company there and just hadn't really taken off. 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:59.000 I would say the observations I had is we were 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:01.760 doing a lot of the same is what our Japanese 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:05.240 competitors were doing. And I remember talking to the team, 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:08.040 I'm like, but we're not a Japanese company, like the 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.520 consumer can see, we're faking it. This is not who 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.520 we really are. And I'm like, we've got the best 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:16.280 players in the world playing our clubs. We have a 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.920 great market share in the US and Europe. We just 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:21.800 need to leverage that, and we need to tell we're 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.560 a US company. Our ads need to be in Japanese. 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:26.280 They need to be able to understand it and everything. 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:28.640 So I would say we just changed our focus. So 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.080 like the first point where we had success, I think 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:35.240 it was back it was a G ten driver, you 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.680 could correct me if I'm wrong. Where we went to 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.200 the heavier head. We went to the counterbalance shaft and 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:43.360 the heavier head. Now what the Japanese consumer wanted to hear, 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:47.160 They were all about total weight light. Yeah, and I said, 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:48.880 you know what, We're gonna double down on it. We're 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.640 gonna market heavyhead. So we went on movie head, which 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:56.040 means heavyhead, big huge kanji. And that's right when we 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:57.840 started to get traction. We was like, this is what 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:01.080 we are. We do it for performance reasons, and we 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.720 started to gain traction and we've been gaining market share 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:04.559 there ever since. 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:07.480 Yeah, that's a cool story. So staying more authentic to 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:08.040 our brand. 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:08.320 Yeah. 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:10.920 On the physics side, so what you're seeing in. 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:13.200 The US here at the PGA show is what you 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:14.920 see in Japan, it's the same thing. 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.000 Maybe a little different, but the core is the same. 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:19.080 Yeah. Yeah. 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:21.560 Another follow up question for you, John k is how 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:25.240 do you kind of along that vein how do you 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:30.160 kind of stay authentic to like our culture and our 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:34.079 heritage while not letting that hold us back from innovating 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:35.080 or thinking differently. 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:37.080 You know. Yeah, so that's I mean to do that 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:37.959 in your leadership role. 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.800 Definitely do a great job with that tough balance. 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.760 Like I saw, like when I first became president, and 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:45.960 I think I was here and everyone, you know, what's 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:47.640 on your agenda, what you're gonna do, And I'm like, well, 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.280 the biggest thing is to not screw up. And you know, 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.440 we've got a great company here. We've had, you know, 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:57.200 at the time, fifty five years, sixty years of success, Like, 0:08:57.400 --> 0:08:59.120 let's not mess that up. So we got a lot 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.760 of good things going with that. Said, we'd had had 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.440 some bad years. We had a tough years where I 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.560 think we just got a little slow on whether it's 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:11.040 adjusting to the industry like where you know, where we're 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:14.480 doing retail at all sorts of things. We were late 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:18.800 with metalwoods and titanium and stuff like that. So I 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:21.640 would say it's been a balance of like hanging on 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.439 to our heritage, and our heritage has always been about 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:28.200 performance and better performing product and then leveraging that to 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:31.439 make us better and to make us change and embracing change. 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.800 So I would say we had kind of gotten very 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:40.800 just content with where we were and not not falling 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.480 for that contentment and always challenging to do more so 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:45.880 without breaking the whole machine in the process. 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:46.760 Yeah, exactly. 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:49.520 You come into this position, you worked, as you said, 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:52.120 you interned for your granddad. Do you look at yourself 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:55.080 in terms of a leader more like your dad or 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:56.560 more like your granddad. 0:09:56.080 --> 0:10:01.480 And why a little bit of both, neither of them 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:07.680 or whatever. So like, so I would say it's like 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.200 just as a company, ages or whatever, like the next 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:14.240 generation of management is always a little different. So Carston 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:19.280 definitely was that entrepreneur, you know, risk taker, did everything. 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:23.120 Like I remember coming to the engineering department and being like, Okay, 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:26.080 I'm going to design putters and they're like, well, Carston's 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:28.040 on vacation, so we're not really doing anything. 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:29.920 He was never on vacation. 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.679 He was traveling in Europe or whatever, and they're like, yeah, 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.800 we're waiting for him to get back, and I'm like, really, like, 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.800 there's nothing to worry. It's like, well, I might be 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.920 exaggerating a little bit, but it was very much like, hey, 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:43.800 we need to wait for him to give us next 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.440 direction on what to do. And then I think my 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.000 dad came in loosened that up. What my dad I 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:52.120 think is really good at is like the super fine 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:55.040 points of the design. Like I was still because I 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:57.160 was always like, We've got this great design, and he 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:58.920 would always find ten things wrong with it. 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:00.800 Yeah, I'd be. 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.680 All upset, and then we do what he said and 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:05.760 then it's better, And I'm like, so it took me 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:08.559 like ten years to realize that's actually a pretty good 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:12.120 management skill, the strength of saying no and making people 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:15.480 go back to the board. So I would say, I'm 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.680 I'm more of an enabler, like a team builder, set 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:22.480 the vision and get you know, the guys like Marty 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:25.840 get the team on the bus, really pushing them and 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:27.440 leveraging all their talents. 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:31.400 And I feel like I'm a pretty smart guy. 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:34.560 Myself, but I realize if I get more smart people 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:36.760 with me, we can do more than what I saw 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.800 when it was just Carston because I guess I'm not Carston, 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:42.640 so like I need that big, strong team and we're 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:44.280 trying to do more. We got way more irons than 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:48.560 we used to have. We got more woods technology. We 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.240 were taken so much technology and information. With all the 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:53.800 player testing we do, we've got a lot of data 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:56.320 to process on a daily basis. 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:57.960 That Marty builds all the apps. 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:03.800 Yeah, we all software douts. There's software at the software yeah, 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:04.240 John K. 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.840 One thing I've really liked about your leadership style has 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.480 been super inspirational to the employees is how hams On 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:12.440 you've been. You know, you were a designer, then you 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:14.200 were a VP of Engineering, and then you were I 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:17.160 remember you took a did a project engineer. You jumped 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.720 in there and were doing the tactical work running A 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:23.120 and T during COVID. We're all helping build clubs here 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:25.240 down there doing loft and live. I wasn't doing that. 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:26.240 I gotta admit that. 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:28.880 You you so you get your hands dirty. 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:31.360 Do you think that's come natural to you or are 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.640 you making like a conscious effort, like, you know, let 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:36.640 me go, he get my hands dirty. 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:39.319 So I get there are times where I'm like, yeah, 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.000 I got to get my hands dirty. I would say 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:44.080 it is kind of just a natural thing. Like when 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.320 COVID hit and we had we had, you know, more 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.680 golf clubs on order than we could build that one. 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.720 I was like, I remember talking to our CFO and 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.960 I'm like, well, I'm just gonna go down and start 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.280 helping build them. I think everybody can do that, And 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.320 he looked at me like I was crazy, and I'm like, well, 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:02.679 like a lot of these people they started in production. 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:04.920 They can just we can go back and work in production. 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:08.360 And I'm liking, to be honest, those engineers, I think 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:10.360 they'd get a lot out of building a club and stuff. 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:13.000 So I really push for that. And I was like, well, 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:14.640 I'm not going to ask people to do it if 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:16.880 I'm not willing to do it myself. And I would 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:18.640 say the people go to they they love doing it. 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.360 You interact with the people. I think there's something about 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.680 touching that product and like going, this putter is gonna 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:26.880 have a putt to win a club championship someday when 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.160 you just think about the customer arts going to and 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:32.560 how you're gonna make their day. So yeah, I definitely 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:35.840 like to be involved in getting my hands dirty, so 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:38.280 to speak. And to me, it's very rewarding what we 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:40.839 do calling golf clubs and stuff, so I never feel 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.160 like it's like just getting dirty for the sake of 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.640 getting dirty. Every role we have at the company is 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.920 providing value, so it's exciting to me to go provide 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:50.560 value in whatever role it is. 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:52.840 John K we talked about the PG Show a little bit. 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:54.320 You talked about kind of the first time you saw 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:56.920 your putter at the show. What is it like coming 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:58.800 here every year, the development of it, and not just 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.200 the development of the show, but the involvement in ping 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:03.280 at the PG Show over the years. 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:05.880 Yeah, So to me, it is like right when we 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.400 like to launch products, so it's great timing for that. 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.040 I'd like to think all the PGA pros, our reps 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:14.000 have already hit them with our new product and taking 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:16.000 their orders or whatever, so we're not writing a tonnel 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:19.000 orders here. But it is great to see the whole industry. 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:21.400 You know, golf'spin on quite a run as of late, 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.760 so it's nice to be, you know, within a healthy industry. 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:26.000 Everybody's doing well. 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:28.320 We see a lot of great faces, a lot of friends, 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:30.920 a lot of people I wouldn't normally see run into 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:33.120 at the show, so it's great for a lot of things. 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:37.000 Is it a young person's show these days, or do 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:38.600 you feel like you still have the energy to kind 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:40.680 of run through it at the same clip maybe you 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:41.440 had a decade ago. 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.360 It's definitely tiring. I would say, for whatever reason, my 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.160 back has gotten better with age. Okay, my back used 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:53.560 to kill me. Interesting, interesting and whatever. We're kind of 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:54.960 getting towards the end of the day here and I'm 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:59.040 still feeling pretty good. So I don't know's I would 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.080 think anyone could do it, but it is taxing to 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:03.200 my We had a little meeting ahead of time, and 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:06.320 I thanked everybody for their efforts because everybody's going to 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.240 be tired when they're getting on that plane to go home. 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:10.400 And so it's a lot of work to be here, 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:10.840 you know what. 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.000 I compare this a lot, and it's probably a bad comparison, 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:17.120 but the PGA show is almost Mini Vegas. Everybody shows 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.880 up and they're excited, and you know, everybody's they got 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:21.840 their new outfits and they're so excited to get here. 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:24.680 And then you go to the airport on Friday afternoon. Yeah, 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:26.920 they're kind of droopy and everything is a little bit 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:27.440 more tired. 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:28.080 Yeah. 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.320 Yeah, yeah, you get a lot of peother here. It's go, 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:30.680 go go. 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.920 I like to kind of turn it down earlier or whatever, 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.000 because coming West coast to East coast the time change. 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:39.440 I got to make sure I get my sleep or 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:41.000 otherwise I'm want to be a train wreck and I'm 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:42.080 want to be in front of a camera. 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:44.480 So just keep part of it. John K. 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:47.760 How's the PJ show changed since you first started coming there. 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:50.400 That's a good question. 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:57.440 I would actually say it's more more focused on what 0:15:57.480 --> 0:15:59.440 the PGA Show is for. So I would say when 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:03.240 I first started coming, there were way more gigantic screens, 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:07.920 loud stuff, multi story, just a lot of fluff and 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:12.480 hocus pocus type stuff, just like who could do bigger 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:16.960 and better boosts or whatever. I feel like the big 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.600 golf equipment brands have all kind of scaled back from that, 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:23.160 and it's a good mix of you got those brands 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:26.280 as well as you've got all the call apparel, all 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.920 the other stuff. So as you're a PGA pro, you 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.160 can really come here and get you know, what can 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:33.320 you stock in your pro shop that's unique to you 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:35.760 that your members are going to like. So to me, 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:39.040 I think it's gotten a little more balanced on what 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.200 we're here for the PGA member and what they're going 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:44.840 to have in their pro shop, and how do we 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:45.960 make the show speak to that. 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:47.840 Do you still walk the floor. 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:51.360 If I get time to That's the one thing I 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:52.520 kind of want to do a lot of times. I 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:54.600 don't even have time to do it, but and I 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:56.640 want to go for the little knickknacks. But I see 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:59.160 I see all the other stuff all the time. I 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.680 want to see what that's the Uh, what's a unique 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:03.600 thing that I could say, Oh, I saw that at 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:03.920 the show. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:05.720 It's funny, Marty. I like the I like going and 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:08.600 checking out the headcover. Companies can always have so many 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.320 cool headcovers over that way, you know. 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:15.080 Inventor's Corner and some someone poured their last two years 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.920 of their life and make it some little training aid 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:20.720 and some of them are good. I've picked up some 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:22.879