Putting greens at big box golf retailers.

[Smooth spin scott]

Conspiracy in the works?

Has anyone noticed the fact that when trying putters in the large retail golf stores, every putt seems to drop...or is it just me. I was in a store the other day and I was sinking everything...not that I'm not a good putter but give me a break (no pun intended). I was draining everything from different angles etc, and I noticed that the ball almost always breaked into the hole, rom the left or right side. Anyway, something fishy going on here and I am going to get to the bottom of this one! haha :bigwhack:

[Golfchicago]

Go to the Golf Galaxy in Orland Park Il and report back to me. You would be singing a whole different tune. Their green has lots of hidden breaks. You won't be making a ton of long putts there. Even gentle Ben in his hay day would have troubles there. You would think that they would set it up as easy as possible.

[Smooth spin scott]

That's good to know...I would rather have a green which has breaks and few small hills etc. Would be better to really get a good feel for the putter on putts you might actually face on a course.

[Just Blaze]

The one at the Golf Galaxy here is ridiculous. I think it's because of the fluorescent lighting, but you can't see any breaks. It's really a hit it and hope situation.

[Rich71691]

Go to the Golf Galaxy in Orland Park Il and report back to me. You would be singing a whole different tune. Their green has lots of hidden breaks. You won't be making a ton of long putts there. Even gentle Ben in his hay day would have troubles there. You would think that they would set it up as easy as possible.

Yeah Frank, that is a bad one :bigwhack: At the Golfsmith I have been to, they were going in from everywhere, but the Golf Galaxy green is bad!!

Rich

[proknows]

The conspiracy is "purchasing from the box stores". Find a professional at a reputable golf shop and try your equipment out under real conditions. Even if you find yourself paying a couple of extra dollars, realize that you are supporting the facility, and more importantly, contributing to the game of golf. Some people make excuses for not supporting their local professionals, but see if the box stores step in and build their customers a golf course, when the one closes across town from lack of support. I offer superior knowledge, better prices, great selection, numerous trade options, etc... You will never encounter a lack of customer service when dealing with a quality facility. Sorry about the speech, but box stores do very little, but suck the life out of the game.

[Rabidpenguin45]

Go to the Golf Galaxy in Orland Park Il and report back to me. You would be singing a whole different tune. Their green has lots of hidden breaks. You won't be making a ton of long putts there. Even gentle Ben in his hay day would have troubles there. You would think that they would set it up as easy as possible.

 

YES YES YES, i agree. When i went to visit my grandpa in Il(he passed away now) I would always go to that one, and of course try out putters. I always thought i was just horrible at putting... but now that you mention it, i think that is one of the harder putting greens out there.

[phatchrisrules]

What is the with the constant dig on big box stores? I work in one and really take offence to some of the things people say about us. Saying that we "overcharge", "terrible service", "18 year olds who know nothing of the game", "jack our sims up to give better distances" blah blah blah. Frankly, it really irks me. When customers come into our store, we always help them to the best of our ability, now granted, if it is super busy, maybe we miss one or two but we always try to help the customer out. I have dealt with proabbly thousands of customers, and when they come back into the store I ask them how their clubs are working are working out, and 99.9% of the time, they flash me a huge smile and say they are playing some of the best golf of their lives! This, I think, is the best feeling in the world. So far, in my 2 and a half years of working at Golftown (the Canadian Golf Galaxy), I have had exactly 2 people be unsatisfied with their equipment. One was a gentleman who bought an Ft-3 and claimed to have the biggest slice on the planet, so he hit the Ft-3 and was slightly hooking it. Since he had a bad slice, I thought it was just a bad swing day for him and outside, it would correct his slice and he would be piping it down the middle, needless to say about 3 months later, he comes in saying its the worst club ever. The next gentleman, bought a 905R w/ a reg. NV from me last Saturday and returned it on Sunday hitting his friends exact club, saying it went everywhere (mostly his swing, I am going to bet).

 

I am always honest with customers and so are the staff that work at my store, if someone is hitting a cheap pro select driver that is $20 better than say the r7 460 at $348, I am going to tell them, get the $20 pro select, because for whatever reason, you seem to be more comfortable with that club. Another example would be if someone comes in with a broken driver shaft and the club is 15 years old, I tell them most likely (if they do not really like the club) that they can get a pretty decent fairway wood for as much, maybe slightly more than what the shaft is going to cost, if they see no fwy woods they like and elect to put the shaft in, we don't push the fwy wood, we put the shaft in. Now there is one complaint that we always seem to get, is that our phone system sucks, which I agree, but people should start sending e-mails lol.

 

Whenever I go into little shops, I seem to get the WORST service I have ever had. For example, before our store opened up, we had to go to either our golf club, where a) The staff knows absolutely zero about what the product that they are selling or they just don't care. How is it going to benefit me buying from club, when all they have is limited flight golf balls that maximum go 120 yards with a driver. Since they have very few demo clubs to start with, how am I going to compare it with say my Sumo if I wanted to try it against a Superquad for example, it is a Titleist Proshop, I can almost guarantee that they are not going to order me a SQ if I asked them to, so where am I going to go...the big box stores. You little pro shops are the one's that ruin golf with your stuck-up atmosphere and limited product, your robably just pi$$ed off that you lost a sale to the Golf Galaxy/Edwin Watts down the road...go get a job there if you are angry about not selling clubs...grow up.

[tobybear]

What is the with the constant dig on big box stores? I work in one and really take offence to some of the things people say about us. Saying that we "overcharge", "terrible service", "18 year olds who know nothing of the game", "jack our sims up to give better distances" blah blah blah. Frankly, it really irks me. When customers come into our store, we always help them to the best of our ability, now granted, if it is super busy, maybe we miss one or two but we always try to help the customer out. I have dealt with proabbly thousands of customers, and when they come back into the store I ask them how their clubs are working are working out, and 99.9% of the time, they flash me a huge smile and say they are playing some of the best golf of their lives! This, I think, is the best feeling in the world. So far, in my 2 and a half years of working at Golftown (the Canadian Golf Galaxy), I have had exactly 2 people be unsatisfied with their equipment. One was a gentleman who bought an Ft-3 and claimed to have the biggest slice on the planet, so he hit the Ft-3 and was slightly hooking it. Since he had a bad slice, I thought it was just a bad swing day for him and outside, it would correct his slice and he would be piping it down the middle, needless to say about 3 months later, he comes in saying its the worst club ever. The next gentleman, bought a 905R w/ a reg. NV from me last Saturday and returned it on Sunday hitting his friends exact club, saying it went everywhere (mostly his swing, I am going to bet). 

I am always honest with customers and so are the staff that work at my store, if someone is hitting a cheap pro select driver that is $20 better than say the r7 460 at $348, I am going to tell them, get the $20 pro select, because for whatever reason, you seem to be more comfortable with that club. Another example would be if someone comes in with a broken driver shaft and the club is 15 years old, I tell them most likely (if they do not really like the club) that they can get a pretty decent fairway wood for as much, maybe slightly more than what the shaft is going to cost, if they see no fwy woods they like and elect to put the shaft in, we don't push the fwy wood, we put the shaft in. Now there is one complaint that we always seem to get, is that our phone system sucks, which I agree, but people should start sending e-mails lol.

Whenever I go into little shops, I seem to get the WORST service I have ever had. For example, before our store opened up, we had to go to either our golf club, where a) The staff knows absolutely zero about what the product that they are selling or they just don't care. How is it going to benefit me buying from club, when all they have is limited flight golf balls that maximum go 120 yards with a driver. Since they have very few demo clubs to start with, how am I going to compare it with say my Sumo if I wanted to try it against a Superquad for example, it is a Titleist Proshop, I can almost guarantee that they are not going to order me a SQ if I asked them to, so where am I going to go...the big box stores. You little pro shops are the one's that ruin golf with your stuck-up atmosphere and limited product, your robably just pi$$ed off that you lost a sale to the Golf Galaxy/Edwin Watts down the road...go get a job there if you are angry about not selling clubs...grow up.

 

i have to say im on the same page as chris with this one. we actually work together and just like he said we sell people what they want and make sure they leave the store happy. many times i actually downsell to people to allow them to get the most with their budget.

 

i tell every customer that asks me about anything that we dont make commission in the store and that i dont care how much they spend as long as they leave the store with something they like and that is working for them.

 

you tellem' chris

[proknows]

First of all, realize that not every golf shop is the "little guy" you speak of. Our shop has been a top 100 club fitter year after year and frequents the countries top 100 golf shops. We carry demo sets, not just a few demo clubs. Box stores are limited on what they can do for their customer and due to corporate restrictions, simply can not provide the level of service at our shop. Also, check to see if the Box Store you work with does anything other than take dollars from players. Our shop employ's seven full time PGA Golf Professionals, donates hundreds of hours of instruction to junior golf, ladies golf, and growing the game. As for the simulator, it is just like a blow up woman and will never replace the real thing no matter how much you talk about it. Personally, our business has grown since the box store moved to town, so no need to go there and get a job, as I know what some of their staff makes. No thanks, give me the real thing.

[502 to Right]

Has anyone noticed the fact that when trying putters in the large retail golf stores, every putt seems to drop...or is it just me. I was in a store the other day and I was sinking everything...not that I'm not a good putter but give me a break (no pun intended). I was draining everything from different angles etc, and I noticed that the ball almost always breaked into the hole, rom the left or right side. Anyway, something fishy going on here and I am going to get to the bottom of this one! haha

 

In a small attempt to get this back on topic: golf store holes tend have very rounded edges that allows anything close to roll in. I've never had many lip outs in a golf store.

 

My complaint is that my local Golf Galaxy has a lightning fast green that is not very realistic at all. The slightest stroke will send the ball 10 feet easily.

[golfernut78]

what i've noticed - locally - is that golfsmith and edwin watts just have holes cut in the concrete slab and at theses places, anything close to the hole falls in. i happen to see a golfsmith that was being remodeled and they were sanding the slab down on the putting green and it seemed like they did a little extra around the cups. at golf galaxy the putting greens seem to built on a platform and typically don't get a favorable roll, but as was said before - they are lightning fast.