Presentation to PGA Industry – by Steve Divnick

It has been my privilege to participate in golf industry leadership meetings over the years. I get to meet with a lot of interesting people along the way.

I recently spoke at the annual PGA Show in Orlando about how my telescopic clubs can lead to more rounds played. The golf industry is experiencing a persistent decline with many course closures and the overall industry losses. They are desperately trying to appeal to younger golfers to replace the aging Baby Boomers. Our clubs can help get more people out on the course in a number of ways. I focused on four areas: golfers who travel, seniors, the convenience of playing a quick 9 holes and its appeal to younger people, and conducting 1-club tournaments using the Divnick Whole-In-One Adjustable club.

1. Golfers who travel by air are leaving their full sets at home because of how expensive it is to pay the bag fees or to ship their clubs ahead. Our telescopic clubs travel free…inside the first checked bag.
2. Many seniors want to walk the course to get exercise, but carrying or dragging a full bag of clubs is too difficult. Some of our senior customers have provided testimonies about how our clubs have brought them back to the game and even extended their life!
3. One of the things the golf industry recognizes is that many people don’t have time to play 18 holes. They are encouraging courses to offer 9-hole rounds. I was also able to highlight how fun and convenient it is to play 9 holes with a single adjustable loft club…and the benefits of keeping it in your car for that quick round.
4. One-Club tournaments will attract all golfers, and especially younger golfers who will appreciate the convenience of a single club with a transmission in the head. I encouraged them to organize the events without an emphasis on the USGA Rules that are important for tour players, but not as important when the goal is to have fun in a more social event. Rather, I encouraged them to adopt player-friendly rules such as playing the ball “up” (lift, clean, and place) in the fairway AND rough, only penalizing a stroke for lost balls but not having to go back to the tee, a maximum score of 2 over par for the 1-club tournament, and using the forward tees since the Adjustable 4-iron length club can’t hit as far as a driver.

I also had time to “walk the floor” of the convention.

I carried one of my Telescopic Adjustable Clubs in one hand (collapsed) and the “BIG STIK World’s Longest Driver” in the other (fully extended). At 5 feet long and a head that is nearly double the size of a conventional driver, it attracted a lot of attention.

People constantly stopped me and wanted to see what it felt like. Some of them cleared the isle and took full swings. Of course, that attention is exactly why I carried it. It took all day to walk the convention floor with over 1,000 exhibitors thousands more attendees from around the world.

One of the people who stopped me and took a few swings was Chi Chi Rodríguez, member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Chi Chi is known as one of the all-time entertaining characters of golf. As he took the driver, he said, “This giant club makes me feel like a small boy, not the big man that I really am!” He’s 5’7”.