July 17, 2025 • 51 mins
Ever wondered how the golf course became the ultimate business boardroom? Ruben Perez, founder of RP Flooring, joins Darren and Noah to reveal how his leap from corporate life to entrepreneurship was fueled by relationships built on the golf course.
"Your network is your net worth," Ruben shares, explaining how an astonishing 70-80% of his business comes directly from golf connections. From someone who never imagined himself playing golf, he's transformed into a business owner who recognizes the game as a crucial component of his success strategy. The conversation explores how Golf Garage has democratized access to the networking opportunities traditionally locked behind country club gates and prohibitive membership fees.
Noah provides fascinating insights into his vision for Golf Garage as more than just a place to practice – it's where business happens. The facility offers country club-level service with a welcoming community atmosphere, breaking down the intimidation barriers that keep many potential golfers away. We hear about their successful one-year anniversary celebration that drew 200 attendees, showcasing the strength of the community they've built.
The hosts and Ruben delve into equipment tips, the value of proper instruction, and the psychological aspects of golf that parallel entrepreneurship – risk-taking, investment philosophy, and performance under pressure. Noah reveals plans for reciprocal relationships with golf courses nationwide, creating a network where members can practice, play, and connect regardless of location.
Whether you're a seasoned golfer looking to leverage the game for business growth or an entrepreneur curious about how golf might expand your network, this episode delivers actionable insights on building relationships that translate directly to business success. Come join our community where "service is free" and connections are invaluable.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome to the my golf source podcast.
Welcome to my golf source.
I am Darren and I'm Noah.
Welcome to another episode ofTalk About Golf.
Yeah, what else can we talkabout?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well, golf and whiskey go hand in hand.
There's 18 shots in a bottlefor 18 holes, right, yeah,
whatever he just said?
Well, that's what they claim.
I don't know.
It depends if Darren's drinkingit or not.
What's new in your world, manDude?
Lots is going on in here, Iguess.
Uh, we just had our one yearanniversary, which you attended
was off the chain yeah, 200people showed up.
(00:53):
We expected 120.
Um, it was an amazing night.
We had so many good communitypartners that took place, um,
and national partners.
So golf brand stepped up,donated balls, donated gifts.
We had some local partners RPFlooring, who's actually going
to be here with us today on thecast, Ruben Perez and his wife,
(01:16):
RP Design.
We also had, you know, someother instructors.
We donated a ton like tour puttexperiences, lessons, club
fittings man, I think.
Out of that, I think we're ontrack to getting four or five
new members just from that night.
So pretty, yeah, I mean it wasdefinitely a relief.
(01:39):
When we got done with the night, a lot of stress building up,
but I stepped away and man, thegolf garage staff kicked major
but like they ran it, they tookit.
There were no issues.
I felt like it was the firsttime I didn't need to be on
point and I was actually able torelax and go and just mingle
with people and enjoy thebirthday party.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
That is the one thing that I've talked to you about.
I've, I've even you've evenbrought it up and talked to your
staff about it how it's so coolto have a place in town that
offers true, genuine, greatcustomer service, because you
just don't see it anymore.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, I mean, when we talk originally and we have a
core staff with Matt Ryan,jessica, myself, obviously, my
wife Kimberly with the Pilatesside of it.
But from the standpoint of golfgarage, you know, those, those
three and myself, and we, youknow, I always stress that
service is free, right, and thehard part is when you get
someone new and you have totrain something that we've
(02:39):
already built, thiscollaboration, this unity, this
family environment, over thelast five years.
So we know each other prettywell.
We've gone through a lot of upsand downs in business together
and they're the real deal.
They care about people and Ithink that's number one.
I mean, why would you be in thisindustry if you didn't like
people to begin with, right,right.
So the idea of service is freeis just a side note to
(03:02):
everything else we we believe inhere and, you know, I think the
cool thing is they're allfinding their own, they're all
teaching a lot more golf and youcan see that because of that
it's fun, because people arestarting to ask for them
specifically now for golflessons, because they're, you
know, they're proving thatthey're making people better.
(03:22):
And ultimately there's twosides of it.
Yes, you can build arelationship and we strive
ourselves on relationship andgrowth of that Cause.
That's huge.
That's like why we're here, butat the end of the day you still
have to make someone better ingolf to continue that
relationship.
If they're paying you to makethem, better at golf.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
They have to see improvement month over month,
year over year.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, and I'd say that what we, what we
differentiate ourselves on, isthat we set an expectation with
them.
We, we find out what they want.
When then we help them setattainable goals, and then our
goal or our job as a coach afterthat is to keep them
accountable, right.
So if they say they want to getto X and then we're not seeing
them do the right things to getthere, then we have to call them
(04:05):
out and tell them hey, you'renot doing what you said you
wanted to do, so maybe yourgoals need to change.
And if they say no, then we canmodify and say okay, fine, then
I'm going to be the tough coachand this is what you need to do
.
Otherwise, you know, basicallyI'm giving you the same lesson I
gave you last week or the weekbefore.
So what's the point?
Why are you even coming?
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So we played 18 holes together last week.
Yes, we did.
I shot a 90.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, going on 75.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Do my goals need to change.
Can I still break 80?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
No, I mean it's pretty easy.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
No, that's the answer .
It's pretty easy.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Your goal shouldn't change, and this was cool.
I mean, this was was the wholething was like attributed to my
90.
But we talked about that.
I remember briefly, just youknow, talking to you about you
(04:56):
know what your intent was onthose shots, and it didn't seem
like there was intent.
And so for me you have theathletic ability to shoot in the
seventies and you just didn'tunderstand how to play the golf
course or you lost track ofwhere you were at that point in
time, and so because of that,that's a differentiator between
a very good golfer.
A lot of times they can stillcontinue to persevere through
(05:18):
and play under those.
Maybe I'm I don't have my beststuff today, but I still know
how to get the ball in the hole.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, all my major errors were on the tee box.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, I wouldn't disagree.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
All my penalties came out of the tee box.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Well, and ultimately, if you're-.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
And again, it's hard to focus on your exact intent
from the tee box other thanlet's knock the ball down.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
You know, down the course as far as we can get it,
not if you play the holebackwards, as we can get it, not
if you play the hole backwards,of course, not right.
So if you look at where thewhole location is, it's on the
right hand side and it's a dogleg right.
You're literally saying I don'twant to go to the right hand
side, I got to play out to theleft, so from there you then
need to tee the ball up on theright hand side, potentially
with your shot shape, so it willfade over there and blah, blah,
(05:59):
blah.
Right, the rest is history.
But without knowing that orcreating awareness to that's
what you need to do.
You're always going to make thesame mistake.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
My iron play was decent yeah, it was great, but
yeah, the t-box shots were had afew great drives and a lot not
so great you were.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
You were 50 good on iron shots from like the
standpoint of like, any scratchgolfer would have been happy
with the shot you hit 50 of thetime and that's saying a lot for
a guy.
That's a you know.
You were an 18 or 19 handicapon our scorecard that day.
So our course handicap.
So end of the day, had you keptthe ball in play a few more
times, maybe made a few puttsthat we thought could have went
(06:40):
in, you helped the team a ton.
It was just the idea of whereyou were in.
Those big misses need to bemanaged Right.
That's it.
Simple, fun day though.
Let's do it.
Let's do it, man, all right.
So we're going to do it Right.
So let's, let's finish this,okay.
So now we have to have a planand, like I would say that my
goal with this podcast is to nowget you to break that 80 score.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Let's say by October 1st.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
October 1st.
You're doing it and I'm goingto write up a game plan for you
and I think we post the gameplan and then Darren has to
report back on our social mediaso man.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I think we need to introduce our guest, we, we, my
family and I.
We leave to Santa Barbara,California, next weekend.
Nothing's coming weekend butthe following one.
So I'll get plenty of golf playthat week when I when I'm down
there and then I leave my familydown there and come back, and
during those two, three weeksthat I'm home alone without my
family, it's grind time.
(07:42):
Lots is happening during thosetwo or three weeks, it's all
going to be here at the golfgarage.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
That's right, baby, and we're going to get you on
the course.
It'd be like daily occurrences,using our reciprocals.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Absolutely Game on.
Let's go up to running.
Why?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Okay.
Uh tomorrow I go to running.
Why?
We, we no we have a spot open.
He's such a jerk, so it's beenout.
It was marketed, if you checkedour email.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
But we have a spot open.
You want to play?
I can't.
I'm full tomorrow, did younotice?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
that, ruben, you want to play?
What time All right, 10.10 to10.30 tee times.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
We'll be back by 4.30 , 4.45.
Oh my gosh, I can't.
Can you do all your?
I could probably do that.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think you guys need to have a putt off after this,
and whoever wins a putt off getsto go.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
I'll put money on my putt off.
I'm sorry, I can leave Medfordat 9.30.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Listen to this, I can leave Medford at 9.30.
So we got one spot.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
I won't buy appointments to make it.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
We're playing spot Dude boys.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Welcome to the show man.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir, Privileged.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I appreciate it guys, yeah, excited to have you on
the show.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Ruben's a member at the Golf Garage.
He's a league member Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
He's a fantastic flooring professional.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Thank you sir.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
And you recently.
We were just talking what it'sbeen.
Seven months, yes uh and itfelt like two or three months.
We were at the bar, you tookthe leap from the corporate
world to being an entrepreneurwait, how long has it?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
been uh, since the end of january is when it
started, so we're close to the.
Yeah, we're talking like howlong has it been?
I'm like two or three, likewait a second no, we're in the
latter half of j now.
Yeah, it doesn't feel like it'sbeen that long.
No Times fall by when you uh,when you're having fun, but
honestly, it's a privilege tokind of trust in yourself,
better yourself,entrepreneurship, life being
(09:35):
surrounded by, surrounded by theright people.
Where did you find that man tostart?
Where do I start?
Honestly, I would say, firstoff, being collaborated in
events, right.
So what kind of led to thispodcast and being a part of this
is the industry of golf.
I mean, I grew up I don't wantto say like for a humble means,
(09:58):
but let's just you know from adifferent lifestyle that I'd
never thought I'd be on the golfcourse.
You're thinking, oh, countryclub.
You know that's a wholedifferent situation.
But realizing how manycollaborations and friendships
you can make on the course, howoften you can sit with a
business owner or businesspartner or come to find out one
of your best friends for twohours, four hours, nine holes,
(10:18):
18 holes, golf initially soundedfun but come to find out,
became a part of life.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
And.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I say that just in business relationships, but I
mean Noah, how did we meet on?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
a golf course.
Yeah, we did.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Met on a golf course, met with friends who do the
same thing and come to find outhow important it can be in the
industry of business, but also away of life.
I mean the golf garage hereallows you to collaborate, to
network, to practice, to getfrom a 90 down to the 70s.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I'm going to put you on the spot here real quick.
What percentage of yourbusiness do you think comes from
relationships you have built inthe golf industry?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I wouldn't be where I'm at without it.
Honestly, 50% at least, no evenmore than that, probably 70, 80
.
Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
That's huge, you know , but the one thing that you do
really well is you brandyourself really really well and
you aren't afraid to spend moneyto make money.
And I would be really curiousobviously we know your wife's
business is part of the brandingside of it, but, like, even
without that, like what are,what are some things that you
would recommend to our listenersof like how to brand yourself
(11:29):
properly?
Because, again, spending moneyat an early stage of a business
is scary.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
You have a nice truck .
Yeah, when you pull into theparking lot, you know Ruben's
here.
Oh, because he pulled up behindme and blocked me in, he's got
the most badass looking truck inthe parking lot.
He's got the most killerlooking truck in the parking lot
.
He's got the most killerlooking truck in the parking lot
.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
His tailgate's about to get winged on dude by my
truck as I back out every day.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
It's a business expense.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
There was somebody in a beater Dodge Ram that was
parked next to me with a not sonice parking job.
Hopefully he doesn't listen tothis podcast.
I have no idea who it is.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
I know Damien drives a Tundra so it can't be him.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Needless to say, I'm parked up close and personal
because I parked in the centerof my parking spot.
You have a small truck too.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah, it's tiny, right, it's like 30 feet long,
it's like a boat and a trucktogether.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
It's a heavy duty truck, diesel truck with a long
bed and the big cab.
Uh, excuse me if you haven'tmet this guy.
He is heavy duty diesel.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yes, he's the man himself the pusher, yeah, yeah.
So going back to that question,like where do you think you
know you would put some of youreggs, as far as branding and
whatnot, because obviously,going to golf courses, like you
said, it's expensive to rent ahole oh, it's expensive to play
golf in general.
Sure.
So what do you?
What do you see that and like?
What do you think are some ofthe things that that branding's
(12:52):
helped you and how it's helpedyou build relationships?
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Yeah, man, even if I could go back and talk to myself
five years ago, 10 years ago,whatever it may be, I would try
to convince myself to do this,if not sooner.
But I don't take back what I'vebeen through because it made me
who I am.
So with the marketing side ofit, it's like you have to.
Everyone knows that sayingscared money don't make money,
but you have to have money tospend it right.
(13:16):
So I look at it, I went to a 10Xconference last year with a
couple of friends and investedinto that, right.
So you spend the money, thetime, the energy.
But when I walked away fromthat I was like you know what?
The best that you can have foryourself is an idea in who you
are and your reputation.
So, thankfully, I try to liveby decent principles, decent
morals and doing so, builtrelationships.
(13:37):
What led to the next thing washow do I cultivate them, keep
them and make them know thatthey're important to me?
So, going back to your point isyou invest.
It's scary out front, right.
I mean, you see Shark Tank andit's like how much do you spend
on marketing, how much are youpaying and what is your overhead
?
And my mindset was like do notskip a beat going from corporate
(13:57):
to an entrepreneur, because youwant everybody to realize that
you are just as well asqualified.
Your knowledge, your skills,your expertise, your timeliness,
all that is going to go to yournew business.
So when I get offered, hey, youwant to sponsor a hole for
$1,000.
Hey, you want to be a part ofthis for another $500.
Hey, we have an anniversaryopening.
You want to donate somematerial.
I'm all in, not only justbecause I want to get the brand,
(14:25):
the name out there, but inreturn.
Who's the owner of the golfgarage?
My good friend Noah Horseman.
So if I'm investing into him inreturn, it's coming back as a
community and a network.
So if we're, if we're sponsoringwith the glasses, if we're
giving away raffles, the wholeidea is like you help, I help,
you, help me in this network andfamily is going to pay off the
next five, 10 to 15 years.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I mean, I knew you when you were, you know, repping
for a corporate job, the lastcompany, the last company.
Right, I knew you when you wereout pounding the pavement,
repping for them.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
We were at an event.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
YPN.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And I had a great deal of respect for you then.
But where my respect and,frankly, admiration increased
was when, just out of the blue,it's not like you tried to
transition, it's like youthought about it for a minute
and then you jumped in both feet.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yeah, yeah, I'm like dude you have this guy's a force
.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Well, yeah, he's, he's making he's making splashes
, right, it's not absolutelydon't do anything halfway.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
You do it all the way or not, not at all.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yeah, well, I think part of that is you have to have
that sense of confidence, butalso the risk reward, you know
it.
What?
What if I did do it and itdidn't fall through as I saw fit
?
Well, you turn a differentavenue, you make another
investment, you make some moves,but you have to start off by
trusting yourself and thosearound you.
So the relationship I think westarted at that event, we played
(15:43):
a, a cornhole game, we tookfirst place, like you built we
won, yeah, yeah.
But then it goes to guess whathe's actually a good friend of
my friend Noah knows a goodfriend of my friend Eli, and so
on and so forth.
That when you build yournetwork, a good friend tells me
that your network is your networth.
You have to invest in yourpeople and vice versa.
You carry the community bydoing it together.
(16:09):
So we were talking about thisbefore we started recording the
podcast and noah came in here,and sorry if I'm bringing this
up, if you don't want it to bepublic, but that's what we do.
Let's go wait.
Was it the way I handled themic?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
is that what we're going to talk about?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
very gently, but you said you know you could hold
your own in the business realm,but when you go out with your
business partners onto the golfcourse, it's like you're like I
don't deserve a seat at thistable because they're shooting
in the 70s and 80s and I'mbarely breaking 100, you know.
And it's like you can hold yourown in one realm but not in
this realm.
(16:40):
How did you overcome that?
You know, because that's got tobe kind of crushing your ego
when you're trying to, you know,be elbow to elbow with these
guys in business relationshipsbut you can't you, can't you
know?
yeah, play up to par, no punintended yeah, yeah, no.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Well, let me bring in the golf garage in that same
conversation.
Because when you're shakinghands with people who give an
introduction at an event, oryou're going to the country club
, or you go into, you know,whatever meetings you may have,
what's the point of one meetingunless you have another right?
So meeting can be a handshake,the next one can be a
conversation, next one can be agolf course.
Well, the reason I bring thegolf garage into this is, like I
(17:20):
noticed that when I was on thegolf course, I because we're
friends like oh, hit another one, oh, don't worry about it, yeah
, yeah.
And I felt like the wait asecond.
I'm sitting at a business tablewith you, but I'm getting the
handicap in regards to my game.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
So that's when you bring out the drive.
I don't want handouts Like wegot to earn pity.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no, we got to earn
ice stripes, and what I mean bythat is anybody can do it if you
put the time.
So that's where I think you cutout.
You're cut from a differentcloth.
When you wake up early, right,you sleep late.
No one.
I would be texting at four inthe morning, sometimes talking
business, or like, hey, you'redoing this, you're doing that.
The idea is like are you willingto go the extra mile to perform
(17:58):
?
Are you just settling for themediocre, right?
So when I looked at golf, I'mlike you know what?
What's it going to take thetime?
The sick thing about the golfgarage is you can put out 18
holes an hour and a half.
Money, right.
You get as many driver swings,iron swings, whatever it may be.
They will culture your game towhere you need to perform in, in
your, your weak spots, right.
(18:18):
Another thing you can be on thegolf courses outside, but sure,
that's two hours for nine holes, four hours for 18 holes.
So the sweet thing about thegolf garage and investing into
that is one your game is goingto get better.
So you feel more confident.
But when you're more confident,you have a two hour meeting
with a business owner, businesspartner and you can play golf.
Wait a second.
Now we have a couple of beersand we're on the same table as
(18:40):
every other person.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
So it gives you opportunity, but in order to get
that opportunity you have toearn it.
You got to put in the time.
Amen, that's what I would say.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I have nothing to say after that.
That's like the mic drop moment.
I literally was just like man.
I was like shivering while Iwas saying that.
While I was saying that, I waslike hey, I'm going to hire you
as my marketing guy now too.
What's going on here, man, I'mgoing to speak after that.
He's not really a salesman.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
He's a CEO now.
No, that's awesome and I think,like Golf Garage in general
we've talked about this evenprior to us having this podcast
was just like bringing thecommunity together to build
stronger relationships with oneanother, to help each other
persevere and grow and andultimately, to be able to sit
(19:22):
next to your friend who's in theBay, next to you playing
Cypress point and you're playingsome like game with your kids
and you can still look over andbe like sweet man.
We're still doing this togetherand we just signed a deal
together.
We just helped each other outthe next day and you can still
talk biz if you want, but it'sjust like there's a cool, unique
(19:45):
feeling of that.
It's different than going to abowling alley where you're just
so hyper-focused on knocking thepins down, like you're still
waiting for someone else.
You're still relaxing, you'retreating it like the game.
You can learn everything youneed to learn in here that you
need to know on the golf course.
We can teach you etiquette inhere.
You know, and I think like likeyou felt where you're on the
golf course, they're saying, hey, hit again.
You don't feel that way in thegolf garage.
(20:05):
You laugh when you hit a shotthat's funny into the wall.
You know you don't lose anygolf balls there's no
expectation and I think thathelps you build that
relationship more too, and thefact is is like it just gets you
to want to play the game moreand go on the golf course more
when you have the time, likeright now.
We're in the middle of ourmarketing strategy for golf
(20:27):
garage over the next year,because we've had a year under a
belt, we've learned a lot.
We're starting to understand,like, what our culture is, what
the community wants around us,and I'm looking at, like how do
I build 50 more of these and allthese other demographics that
are going to be more successfulright, because there's more
people, so you can afford tomake a mistake.
Oh yeah you can't make a mistake.
(20:49):
In this small Valley there'snot enough people.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I would just tell them that forgiveness.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
There's no forgiveness.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
One of the girls up front.
We were just talking businessand they know one of my sisters
that came through and they'relike oh, yeah, so, and so I saw
them on Facebook.
Blah, blah, blah.
I was like you know what'sfunny is this valley is so small
that everybody knows everybody.
But the advantage is that isyour name, your reputation, your
work ethic.
It can spread like wildfire.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
It's a blessing and a curse.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yeah, well, you can blow up with success, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
And then be crushed equally as fast, yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
But again, if you have if you have the right
foundation, the right peopleright and you're performing at a
scale that is, you know,respectable right it's hard to
shut that down, but you know Iand but then let's, let's loop
this back.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
take that same equation you can blow up with
success, and then you can crashand burn equally as fast.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
That's golf, oh so if we go, into the golf side of
this too, Ruben, for you, likeyou've had some instruction from
our coaches.
Yeah From Ryan our director ofinstruction and, like I remember
, after your first session withhim, you were ecstatic at just
being able to hit a golf ball ina different direction and you
(22:03):
were hitting it so much fartherand more solid on the face, you
know, and it just shows you likethere are so many instructors
out there and I love that peoplewant to grow the game of golf.
But I will tell you right nowthat I would bet that we are in
the top 1%, if not the best inthe country, at teaching golf
here at the golf garage, becausewe can tell you why you're
(22:27):
doing what you're doing and ourgoal is that we build a
relationship with you to get thehead trash out of your system
so that way you trust what we'reteaching you and you get better
way faster.
Because golf, as much as Darrenloves to say, golf's hard, it's
not, it's not easy but it's alot easier.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
You're right, it's a.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
It's a lot right, it's a lot easier though, when
you understand why something'shappening, because you'll buy in
and then you'll work harder andthe cool thing about having
four kind of you know top notchcoaches is you guys can all be
on the same level in yourcoaching ability but with so
(23:08):
many different personality types, you're going to find the right
coach for you within the wallsof this building, because you,
ryan Matt, jessica Logan.
You know so different inpersonality types and approaches
to the game that you're goingto find the right match for you.
It's kind of like dating.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yo, you hit the nail on the head.
So this was really crazy.
But a year ago I wanted to givemost of the new student
assessments because I knew howto match up personality traits.
What I'm so proud of my coachesfor now is that they know how
to teach any personality traitat some level.
But you have to enjoy whoyou're working with, and so what
(23:53):
I'm starting to see them do isthey're not afraid to pass that
student to someone else in fearof losing revenue or whatever.
Yes, so that's what's also a biggame changer for us is the
maturity of the coaching staffto say it's okay for Jessica to
teach this, or Matt or Ryaninstead of myself, because
(24:13):
they're going to be a better fit, they're going to build a
relationship that person's goingto get better 10 times faster
because of it.
Where I'm not really enjoyingmy time here working with the
student Cause we just don'tmatch.
That way we could have a glassof wine together and love each
other's company, but teachinggolf to that person could be
really tough, and so there'srelationships I've had where I
have fired my student because ofthat.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Just think back to when you were in grade school of
the teachers you loved and theteachers you hated.
We all had them, mrs.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Polowski was the best man.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
That was my first grade teacher.
Dude, that is such an 80steacher name.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
I have some teachers I crossed paths with 92.
Oh yeah, that's a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
In second grade I had Miss Bacon all the second
graders thought it was.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I don't remember.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
That was a long time ago that was a long time ago and
all the little second gradersjust thought it was so funny to
call her Miss Bacon and Eggsevery morning if I could one up
you on that.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
I compliment to what I see here at the garage and
even spending time with you.
Gentlemen, I mean the privilegeof being on the podcast here.
I respect everything that we'redoing, but what I like about
here is I joke with my wife.
I'm like it's a second home.
I mean I'll, I'll swing by and,uh, notice that I see trucks or
cars in the driveway.
(25:37):
I'm like, oh, I'm going to pullup because so-and-so's here,
just because my boys are aroundthe Valley.
But on top of that, not onlyjust your coaches, but your
staff, uh, your bartenders,everybody is super hospital and
they're all kind of like family.
I walk up and I have most ofthe numbers of everybody that
works here.
But the idea is that, like, nomatter who you talk, talk to,
(25:58):
they'll take good care of you.
Yes, and no matter, uh, whatcoach you have, they'll make
sure they build a relationshipwith you rather than just look
at you as like a number ofcoaching.
You know you go to golf courses, like, oh, I want to learn how
to play golf.
They see a check, a price.
This is what's going to cost toget so many lessons.
But here you build arelationship ryan with matt,
with jess.
To be fair, you got someup-and-comers too.
(26:19):
That might be another coach oranother contribution to the
family.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Adam Rutledge just walked through.
Hey, did you have your lemondrop?
I don't want to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
You got to pay it forward, baby.
I gave it to my six-year-oldDarren Hi.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
PewDiePie.
She enjoyed the lemon drop.
I'm I'm sure she did.
Oh, look at her new golf clubs.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
There we go, they're just your size us kids.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Just amazing what custom fit clubs will do for you
.
Love it ladies soft.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Adam rutland, gentlemen adam rutland, and we
don't edit hey, you know what'syeah you know what's yeah, you
know what's unique about whatyou just said?
Speaker 2 (27:04):
it's the same thing, like that's what's fun about the
podcast.
We just let and we had anothermember walk through the door
we're super successful person,right but, but you're, it's a
family, bro, we did, but yeah,so that's it right.
So the family culture dynamicis what we're all about.
There's.
The only rule I created when Istarted this business was to be
(27:24):
nice Yep.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
So, if and there's no , do it.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
There you go, and what we always talk about is
like there's 48 pages of how tobe nice on our terms and
conditions, but what I loveabout this is it's it's the
relationships with all of theother people that we're dealing
with.
And thanks, adam, I appreciatethat you know.
So that's how you're also goingto build that network slash net
(27:51):
worth that you're talking aboutis.
It was fun, right?
We talked about the one yearanniversary.
How is this?
How is this success?
And I said how we had 200people and we were expecting one
20.
It's only a success if thosepeople show up, right?
What I thought was even coolerthan the one year anniversary
was I promoted that we hadrogues game, medford rogues
(28:11):
small team, um, all college kids, minor league baseball.
We have it here.
Their seating is 3000 maxoccupancy and they usually get
somewhere between 900 and 1100people in a game.
So we had the balcony seatingsponsored by golf garage, which
was awesome.
I didn't promote that to ourmembers until the day before the
game and he's like hey, you canhave like around a hundred
(28:34):
people.
We got 80 people on the balconyand a hundred degree weather
with one one.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
I was seeing that.
I was like hey, babe, yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
With one day notice, though, yeah, that's a huge
thing.
That actually meant more to methan the one year knowing that
those people cared that much andshow up.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
That was incredible.
Yeah, so Golf, clap, golf clap,let's go.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
People come here because it's convenient for
their schedule to practice theirgame and they pay the money and
invest the money because thisis benefiting me.
I get something out of this, Iget 24 seven access, whatever
that is for you.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
You can swipe in and come in anytime.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
There's.
There's a lot in it for me, butwhen they're doing something,
for us to drop what we're doingin the middle of our day, to
come and show support for thatand have those kind of numbers
is a big deal.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
I'm going to swing this as an owner for a second of
any business.
I don't care if it's GolfGarage or not.
I'm in a bit of a conundrum, ifyou will right.
So, like the brand of GolfGarage is growing and I'm
starting to bring in betterbrands of apparel and things
(29:41):
that our members are definitelygoing to want, because they
can't get them in Medford.
Yeah, so I'm bringing in JohnnyO's and the Lululemons and the
things that people want to have.
That differentiate us, and Ithink that's a benefit.
And at what point?
Because, ruben, you kind of putthe country club on a pedestal
and you're like oh, we're at thecountry club because we're the
that's the only country club intown, right, and it's just that
mentality of a country club.
(30:01):
Well, country clubs also atsome level make you feel like
you are not relevant to be ableto come in.
There's that feeling and that'swhat I'm trying to change here.
Everyone is welcome at the golfgarage.
And again, a country clubeveryone's welcome at that
country club.
You still have to get vetted,right, we still do a background
check, like, but at the end ofthe day, when you're here, you
(30:23):
are family and I think that'simportant.
But, like, how do you changethe mindset of that?
I shouldn't be marketing valueadded anymore at golf garage.
I should be saying we are theplace that you do business.
This is the culture and that'swhat I'm trying to actually
prove from year one to year two,you do all your business at
Golf Garage.
You go play golf with yourfriends and enjoy that time.
(30:45):
You do your business here, soyou can enjoy your time on the
course.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
There's not one entrepreneur in the Rogue Valley
that should not be a memberhere.
Yeah, no 100%.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Well, and to that perspective, you're asking me
earlier why invest into the game?
How do you get from this tableto that table?
Well, initially, in thebusiness industry, they would
have meetings at the countryclub, or they have these you
know dinners and so forth, andthey're great, right, they have
the forum.
I'm a huge supporter of thechamber, good friends with eli
and it's great.
But it's a different flavor and, honestly, like I'll put on my
(31:16):
sport coat and my my three-piecesuit if I need to go and show
up, which is nice, but you dohave to feel like you got to
kind of be something to show up.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
You walk around with that big of a statement without
wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Yeah, your presence is known when you walk into a
room.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Yeah, I know, that guy Wait wait.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
I know him Look at that hat Look at.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Yeah, I know that guy .
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Wait wait, I know him .
Look at that hat.
Look at that, you know,two-inch wide gold chain around
his neck.
That's three, dude.
That's three.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
I wear it on purpose, like not as a flex but as
almost like a pat on the back tomyself.
Even when I built the logo.
My wife helped me build thelogo and I wanted the old
English R so it represented myroots.
I wanted the old English R soit represented my roots.
I wanted the gold P so it stoodout a little bit.
But going back to what you said,noah, is like it is a little
intimidating thinking, oh well,I can't afford a country club
membership.
Like I got to be in a differentcaliber.
(32:07):
It's like you know what?
I can sit at the same table asevery one of these dudes if you
put in the work.
The sick thing about the golfgarage is like I come down here
almost to breathe.
I come here to be with my boys,I can have a beer, I can play
18 holes and, trust me, whenyou're here golfing you can
spend a lot more time playingyour shots than just walking the
course.
(32:27):
So I might be playing.
You know what they're showingon TV at the Masters and coming
to find out.
I got to work on my irons morethan the drive on that course,
or my short game on that course.
So course or my short game onthat course.
So yes, one is you'reperfecting your game, but two is
just, it's such a a welcomingenvironment that I don't think
twice by pulling up here I don'thave to dress.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
I beat scotty scheffler on this hole, on the
hole.
There you go, yeah, yeah thesix putt from.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Uh, you know the guys on number one, augusta.
You know what's cool, too islike you've spent some early
mornings here with your friendvictor and.
I thought that's so cool thatyou guys get a come in before
work where he's out therebusting his butt.
You're busting your butt, butyou guys are working out then
you hit some balls.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
It's like and, to be fair, two new entrepreneurs like
mine started in January.
He started a couple monthsafter that and when you're
running your own business,sometimes you don't have time in
the middle of the day to clockout.
So if we can pop in here andplay 18 holes in an hour from 6
to 7 30 and get on the grindshoot, where can you do that
elsewhere?
Speaker 2 (33:24):
well, you know what's also cool is you brought in.
You know one of your co-workers.
She's now a member as well, andI mean I think the kids involved
I mean that's just so cool tobe able to see that families and
then hopefully the futurefamilies and future families
become members too, and it'sjust kind of like it's the
starting point.
You're a founding member andthank you for being that, and
obviously I'm just so excitedabout where Ruben's career is
(33:48):
going and the fact that you tookthis, this leap of faith, and
again we've had conversationabout it but, like dude, you are
like nowhere near where you'regoing to be.
I'm just like, so I can't evenimagine where it's going to blow
up.
It's exciting to where you'regoing to be, and I know that
you're at a point where you'relike dude, I need to get more
contractors, I need more subs, Ineed, like these people.
It's like dude.
(34:08):
You need to like, get thosepeople to come up and just work
for our like RP floor andthey're not about that dude,
scaling it within the like.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
we just hired a couple of new guys as installers
, you know.
I hired the new assistant.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
And you're not hiring 1099 employees anymore, you're
hiring W2 employees.
You're not hiring contractorsanymore.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Well, the idea is like I built a relationship with
a lot of people in the Valley,so as work comes in, I have to
have a trustworthy crew.
Right, people know who I am,they know who they're working
with, but on top of that, I'mtrying to build within.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Quality still has to get done and has to get done the
right way.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Yeah, 100%.
Take care of your people.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Before we let you go, let's talk about golf.
What are you struggling with,man?
Oof it's that stupid slice.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Well, to be fair, fair, let's go back to ryan a
little bit.
I walked into the coachingsession with him and I pulled
out a seven iron, you know 130,easy all the time, right a
little left to right, fade.
And he's like, before the endof the day, you're gonna hit it
180.
I'm like, yeah, all right, yeah, yeah, whatever he's flexing on
me, I'm not kidding.
Like he taught me this littletechnique, turn my hips like
literally facing an awkwardposition, rotated my hand and I
(35:21):
punched it 180, two, three times.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
And it feels easier, doesn't it?
Well, it felt less of mystrength and more of the club.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
He's like let the club do the work.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
You're over here trying to flex on how strong you
are.
What are these clubs meant for?
So going to that, I mean Istill got to work on that drive
a little bit.
But going to that, I mean, Istill got to work on that drive
a little bit.
But it's come leaps and boundssince I've been coming here more
often.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
What's your favorite club in the back?
My?
Speaker 3 (35:43):
short game my 60 flop shot or a little, a little chip
and putt.
Yeah, short games where I'm at,I like.
What club do you hate?
Uh, my foreign hybrid.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
We're selling him a hybrid after this.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
I have a new refound love and I've got a little fling
with my four iron.
I love that club now reallyuntil next week.
Until next week I did take itout of my bag yeah, because I
carry 16 gloves in my bag, so Itook my four iron.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
I took my four iron and my I got 16 pairs of golf
shoes, but not clothes.
But no, I like my four iron myfive foot out.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
I got 60 pairs of golf shoes, but not clothes.
But no, I like my forearm nowactually.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Let me ask this, talking to the man himself
what's your favorite club andyour weakest one?
Speaker 2 (36:28):
I love them all.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
He's lying.
No, I'm not.
I love them all.
You've got to have a club.
If somebody comes up to you andsays I don't care the distance,
I don't care the distance, Idon't care anything, I just want
you to hit me an impressivegolf shot with perfect shape.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Yeah.
I would literally tell him totell me what to hit, and I would
do it.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
So look there's a big difference, so I just.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
I just had a playing lesson this morning for iron
it's comfortable.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
As you hit your nine iron, the pause Awkward, so I'll
tell you this which towel doyou love the most in your bag?
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Yeah, right, I used to not like the four iron at all
and I was fortunate enough tobe asked to be on the National
Fitting Council for TaylorMadeGolf and I always wanted to
educate myself more, right?
So there's 50 of us that godown to Carl's bad.
They fly us down every otheryear and we're in a room
(37:29):
together and just literallytelling Taylor made all the
things we know, um, about whatour members and our guests and
our fittings are needing, andit's like they already have all
the information they need toknow of where people are hitting
it on the club face because ofthe type of technology.
I have a golf garage.
It tells them, right, Some ofthe best.
(37:49):
It is, yeah, but they still wantto know what the coaches are
seeing and what we're teachingand how how to make it better
for them to be able to sellbetter products and make them
inferior, if you will.
So during this process, notonly are we meeting with all the
execs, we're meeting with theengineers, we're getting a tour
(38:10):
of the facility.
We know what's coming outbefore it's coming out.
We get to see it all.
I get stuff to test.
I have a prototype driver rightnow.
This is the coolest thing I'veever been part of in the golf
industry.
Speaker 3 (38:20):
I got a chance to hit the 35 before.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Yeah, you did, you, did, you got to hit it and it
said five on it only.
So, what's unique?
What's unique about this, um,you know, is like I actually
always step up and I'm the guythat wants to be the Guinea pig
because there's, there's, youknow, 20 of us in a class and
not everybody can hit.
So I always step up and I'm theguy that wants to be the guinea
(38:44):
pig because there's, you know,20 of us in a class and not
everybody can hit.
So I always jump up right away.
And one of the things I toldthem was I'm not happy with the
height.
I'm hitting my four iron.
I don't like what it visuallylooks like, right?
So they picked out the club thatI have back home and we hit it.
And at the time they hadobviously the iron.
Then they had a more gameimprovement iron.
Then they had a mini type of ahybrid driving iron and the UDI,
(39:07):
right.
So they have all thesedifferent names for what those
are.
And then they had the hybridblah, blah, blah.
And I'm thinking to myself I'mnot hitting a four hybrid ever
Like I don't want that, I don'tneed that.
So I get.
Well, right, I know, but I'mjust cocky at the time, I'm like
I don't want it, I just want tohit my four iron, I want to be
able to figure out how to hit itbetter.
So during this process Ieducated myself to understand
(39:29):
how the technology really workedin ball flight, and it's sad to
think that I've been teachinggolf since 2006 professionally
and it took me until 2020 toreally understand what a golf
club is meant to do to a golfball.
And I mean, I know a lot but atthe same time learning more and
(39:50):
more.
So short end of the story wasthey put me through a full
fitting with four iron and I'mswinging good, which was nice.
So I hit four iron, hit it, ithit it.
It's like 192, carry goes to210, roll out.
It's these weird low tumblers,right?
I'm not happy with that.
You can't play golf with thatunless you're abandoned.
Even I carry my four iron.
Yeah, 210, right my five ironcarries almost as far as the
(40:12):
four iron which people say thatto me and always laugh, but it's
true, so.
So then I get the driving iron.
Okay, it's carrying further,but it's just got too much spin.
It feels terrible, blah, blah,blah, go to the next thing.
So finally they gave me thehybrid and I hit it a few times.
I'm like, yeah, I just don'tlike the way it feels.
So I don't.
I have extra stiff in my irons,but they're not.
They're kind of in betweenstiff and extra.
(40:33):
If it's a project X, stiff 5.5is kind of a soft stiff.
So I'm like, right in thatintermediate.
So they're like, okay, that'sfine, let me put this shaft in
there.
They put an 85 gram extra stiffshaft in and I'm like this
feels like my irons now.
So because they were able tocreate a feeling that felt like
(40:53):
my five iron, I was able to ripon that thing and I could hit it
, because what I was afraid ofwas just leaking it, you know
long right, or snapping it.
Just leaking it, you know longright, or snapping it left
because I didn't know where theclub was.
So the fact that that fitterwas able to get me something
that felt very similar to whatit is.
It opened up my eyesdramatically and I could hit it
high, low, cut, draw whatever Iwanted, and immediately I'm like
(41:16):
I don't care, this is a hybrid.
I'm hitting exactly where Iwant it to go.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
What percentage of golfers should have a four iron
in?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
their bag.
Recreational golfers yeah,recreational golfers.
This is what I would say tothat recreational golfer.
What I get more than anythingis when I ask so why do you have
a four iron in your bag?
Oh, it's to keep it low under atree.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
I say right, I'll say no.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
I'll teach you how to hit a seven iron lower than
your four iron.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Well, you told me I'll teach you how to hit a nine
iron lower than your four iron,Because I can right.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
Yeah, and that's the thing is like, because I got a
four iron and a four hybridNumber one.
It's like hilarious whensomebody says that I'm punching
out under a tree, which meansyou're not going for the green,
or in your mind you think youare, and then you try to hit
this crazy shot.
That's never going to getairborne anyway so like a stroke
with your yeah it's, it's bad,yeah, so I would just say that
(42:08):
you know, you just hit yourputter under that and here's the
other thing.
Let's go back to like investingin golf and investing in general
, because it's not just golfgarage.
I'm a proponent of golf, I'm aproponent of golfers I want.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
That's why I have reciprocal golf courses is so we
can get on the course and playgolf still right earlier.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Yeah, we have so we have six going on 20.
I will have 20 reciprocals bythe end of next year.
Mind that I have two more thatare just about to be done.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
That's eight, right, so we're gonna get to 20, and
then every explain the detailsof that like so the reciprocal,
the reciprocal right we'retalking about running wide.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Yeah, dude, stone age .
Speaker 3 (42:42):
Like give a little detail, Because what I like that
you're alluding to this point,because, trust me, on a nice
fall day or not too hot a day,I'd rather be out there golfing
any day of the week.
I mean, golf Garage is greatfor the morning, for the
practice sessions.
Thank you, heather.
Thank you, heather.
Heather, at the golf garage,she'll take good care of you.
Don't ever hesitate to ask.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
She just got promoted to manager too.
That's kind of cool.
Golf, clap golf, clap, golf,clap golf clap.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
That promotion sure made her step it up, though no,
I'm kidding, she was great allthe time.
Speaker 3 (43:14):
No, what I was going back to with the Super Bowls is
it's good to get out and play,because I was playing with a
friend the other day and we wentjust shot nine and he's killer
at the garage right, get on thecourse a little rough little,
you know, under a tree, and Imean I beat him by a few strokes
, let's just say that.
But the idea is like this don'tthink that this is exactly like
(43:35):
playing outside, but this isgreat reps.
You think about Steph Curry.
How many shots did he takebefore a game?
Right, hundreds.
How many shots take at thethree point line?
Thousands.
So homeboy doesn't play, shoota good, good basketball, just
cause, out of coincidence, heputs in the reps.
Put in the reps here, then nextto it, as Noah was saying.
Now, all of a sudden we get adiscount at a bunch of local
courses around.
(43:55):
Why stone ridge, all theseplaces?
That it's like.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
Put your reps to the test and get out and play well,
now your swing has beendeveloped and been made more
consistent, then you can takethat to the course and then
figure out how you need to adaptthat yeah and still be able to
do that more consistently yeahyeah, please elaborate I would?
Speaker 2 (44:15):
I would definitely.
I appreciate that, first andforemost because you hit the
nail on the head.
We're not growing indoorgolfers, we're growing golfers
or people to get on the golfcourse, which is why we're
putting together golf trips,which is why we're trying to get
people out there, because it'sthe golf industry, and if the
golf industry is successful, weall are.
And then we go back torelationship building.
I want a relationship withevery golf course locally.
(44:37):
I want relationships nationallyas we grow.
So my big secret sauce therewould be that we're going to
have 20 relationships here andthen the next one we open.
There's 20 relationships andwhen there's 50 and all of a
thousand, all of a suddenthere's, you know, maybe a
thousand golf courses thatyou're reciprocal of, just like
a 24 hour fitness.
If you're a member here, you'rea member at every other golf
(44:58):
garage.
Go in key fob, in easy game,right?
So you go anywhere to travel,do business.
Come to my golf garage with meand let's go hang out and let's
do business at golf garage.
Oh, and you want to go playgolf?
Sweet, there's a reciprocal upthe road.
Let's go do that too.
So there are some big things tocome.
I don't mind if anybody knowsthat, because you still have to
know how to run it.
So ultimately, when it comesdown to what we're doing, is you
(45:21):
know the six courses we have?
They're community partnersnumber one.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
They get you a discount on the course and even
one or two of the courses areprivate clubs that the public
can't get out on, so it's mutual.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Yes, 100%.
So we're a private club fromthe standpoint of recurring
revenue.
Right, we want our members here.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
We want our members here.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
We want our members to be happy.
They get a bunch more benefitsthan the public does.
The public can't use the bigputting green unless we allow it
at the time.
I mean they can't use that.
They have to be with a memberto use it.
And I mean, look, you're payingfor a lot more than just sim
bay time here, and so what?
Speaker 1 (45:54):
happens.
And if if somebody comes in andthey spend one or two hours a
week paying the hourly rate fora bay, that's a membership, you
should be a member.
You should be a member becauseyou're losing money.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
Well, if you play golf with our community partners
and you play three to fourtimes a month, depending on
which course it is and what thediscount is you've paid for your
golf garage membership and themoney you would have spent if
you paid the rack rate.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
So we have a country club level service, mind you.
Speaker 3 (46:21):
Oh yeah, that's what people need to hear.
Man, it's like sometimes youlook at it With the bar, with
the quality of the staff thepeople who know you by your name
when you walk through the door.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
They know exactly what you want to drink when you
walk in and to be fair, like togive props to Noah.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
He's always the one in the front right Shaking hands
, welcoming, thanking you onyour way out.
Like this is a genuine dude.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
And your team reflects that.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
He's an owner operator, not just an operator.
Yeah, and that's what I mean alittle bit of entrepreneurship
with that too is like you're notjust paying for a job, like and
I'm not going to try to getmyself attention, but everybody
needs a little bit of floors.
But you get me, you contact me,you get my phone, you give me
the same thing with no.
It's like you can go to any,any membership club, and it's
almost like you can be a nobody,but no, we'll shake your hand
as you walk in and thank you foryour visit and we connect you
with other people, right.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
So my I've worked at private clubs for a very long
time, super high-end privates.
So we talk about our countryclub.
That's great.
The initiations that I was atwere quadruple or more and the
monthly fees were double totriple of what this club is
Right and it's not.
I've played golf at, you know$250,000 initiation clubs in the
(47:28):
service and you learn from thatof what you like and what you
don't like, and at the end ofthe day, they're all shaking
hands with each other anyway andthose ones do a really good job
of collaborating.
And the clubs that don't make itare the ones that don't
actually help you get better.
They're about themselves.
How many members can I get in?
It's not about the members.
The members are going to come.
(47:49):
What happens is I need to sayman huh, this guy needs a
flooring guy.
Okay, cool, who do I know?
Oh, ruben.
Ruben's the guy right.
Immediately.
I might have two or three, butultimately, based on your
personality trait, you're goingto need Ruben because of he's
going to hook you up with.
What your need is DarrenDarren's the best real estate
(48:09):
photographer in the Valley.
I hands down.
There's a.
There's a few people that tryto do it, but ultimately, if you
want the best, what are youwilling to pay for?
If you can make another $30,000on your house, versus $10,000
more, who are you going to pick?
Speaker 3 (48:23):
For a $300 investment For another?
No right exactly so.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
it's the same thing with golf garage.
Are you willing to spend $300to $400 a month in order to make
another $10,000 that year?
Right, I mean, that's the wholething.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
It's not hard to look at it from that way business
side for golf fanatics, for avidrecreational golfers.
Are you willing to spend threeto four hundred dollars a month
to take 10 strokes off your game?
Speaker 2 (48:48):
oh man.
So I ask that question all thetime to to ceos and to to my
friends.
I'm like when they say, hey,how much do you cost?
I'm like I'm 225 an hour, but Idon't ever charge that and they
spit the whiskey right right,so mouth Right and again in
Arizona, game on two 25 an houreasy.
But but instead it's likehere's what I'm going to do for
you.
And then I said instead whatare you willing to pay to get to
(49:11):
your goal?
Speaker 3 (49:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (49:12):
Put it back on them.
Speaker 3 (49:14):
You're the people.
Speaker 2 (49:15):
I've only had two people that actually took me up
on the old deal to where it'slike hey, yeah, I'll give you
five grand If you get me to mygoal by then.
I'm like, okay, what if I getyou better than that?
Get the bonus dude.
Speaker 3 (49:26):
I got the bonus both times.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
It was the best thing ever, oh yeah, exactly, we got
to do what I say All right,sounds good.
Ruben Perez, everybody how dowe, how do we get ahold of you,
Ruben, if we're in need of somemuch-needed flooring and
anything else?
Speaker 3 (49:45):
Well, you come down to the golf garage.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
Well, your name is on every glass, every pint glass.
It's your home away from home.
Speaker 3 (49:52):
It's my home away from home, but no, no real talk.
Yeah, 458-220-9202.
That's the number.
Call me Retail multifamilyproperty management.
I'm your guy.
Hey say that number one moretime 458-220-9202.
Speaker 2 (50:09):
RP Flooring baby.
Speaker 3 (50:10):
RP Flooring yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:11):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (50:12):
RPFlooringLLCcom.
Speaker 2 (50:13):
Can we do a shout out to your wife real quick too,
before we get out RP?
Speaker 3 (50:17):
Design Respect get out rp design, rp design.
I'm telling you, bro, this.
This woman has stepped up forsure.
We're collaborating with no oneall the boys around here doing
gear.
She makes all my swag and,honestly, it's a.
It's nice to see we did rpdesign to carry the same name,
but she's the one running thebusiness man, ep design rp.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
You know what?
Speaker 2 (50:42):
shout out happy wife, happy life by the way, your
wife is super professional.
A lot of the stickers, um andvinyl that we have at golf
garage are done by emily and ourbirdie sign.
I mean dude, the stuff that shedid.
She came out on her own andmeasured it you guys are hanging
it together and I mean it'sperfectly level.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
You know what your wife's initials are the same as
my wife's initials.
Speaker 3 (51:05):
There you go.
They're both named Emily.
Good name, baby.
Well thanks, gentlemen, Iappreciate you guys.
Cheers again.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
Cheers.
Let's really do this thing.
All right.
Any advice for recreationalgolfers who are scared to get
coaching?
Speaker 3 (51:20):
Get your ass down here.
Come to the golf garage.
Baby, Perfect your game.
Speaker 1 (51:26):
See you next week.
Welcome to the my golf source podcast.
Welcome to my golf source.
I am Darren and I'm Noah.
Welcome to another episode ofTalk About Golf.
Yeah, what else can we talkabout?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well, golf and whiskey go hand in hand.
There's 18 shots in a bottlefor 18 holes, right, yeah,
whatever he just said?
Well, that's what they claim.
I don't know.
It depends if Darren's drinkingit or not.
What's new in your world, manDude?
Lots is going on in here, Iguess.
Uh, we just had our one yearanniversary, which you attended
was off the chain yeah, 200people showed up.
(00:53):
We expected 120.
Um, it was an amazing night.
We had so many good communitypartners that took place, um,
and national partners.
So golf brand stepped up,donated balls, donated gifts.
We had some local partners RPFlooring, who's actually going
to be here with us today on thecast, Ruben Perez and his wife,
(01:16):
RP Design.
We also had, you know, someother instructors.
We donated a ton like tour puttexperiences, lessons, club
fittings man, I think.
Out of that, I think we're ontrack to getting four or five
new members just from that night.
So pretty, yeah, I mean it wasdefinitely a relief.
(01:39):
When we got done with the night, a lot of stress building up,
but I stepped away and man, thegolf garage staff kicked major
but like they ran it, they tookit.
There were no issues.
I felt like it was the firsttime I didn't need to be on
point and I was actually able torelax and go and just mingle
with people and enjoy thebirthday party.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
That is the one thing that I've talked to you about.
I've, I've even you've evenbrought it up and talked to your
staff about it how it's so coolto have a place in town that
offers true, genuine, greatcustomer service, because you
just don't see it anymore.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, I mean, when we talk originally and we have a
core staff with Matt Ryan,jessica, myself, obviously, my
wife Kimberly with the Pilatesside of it.
But from the standpoint of golfgarage, you know, those, those
three and myself, and we, youknow, I always stress that
service is free, right, and thehard part is when you get
someone new and you have totrain something that we've
(02:39):
already built, thiscollaboration, this unity, this
family environment, over thelast five years.
So we know each other prettywell.
We've gone through a lot of upsand downs in business together
and they're the real deal.
They care about people and Ithink that's number one.
I mean, why would you be in thisindustry if you didn't like
people to begin with, right,right.
So the idea of service is freeis just a side note to
(03:02):
everything else we we believe inhere and, you know, I think the
cool thing is they're allfinding their own, they're all
teaching a lot more golf and youcan see that because of that
it's fun, because people arestarting to ask for them
specifically now for golflessons, because they're, you
know, they're proving thatthey're making people better.
(03:22):
And ultimately there's twosides of it.
Yes, you can build arelationship and we strive
ourselves on relationship andgrowth of that Cause.
That's huge.
That's like why we're here, butat the end of the day you still
have to make someone better ingolf to continue that
relationship.
If they're paying you to makethem, better at golf.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
They have to see improvement month over month,
year over year.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, and I'd say that what we, what we
differentiate ourselves on, isthat we set an expectation with
them.
We, we find out what they want.
When then we help them setattainable goals, and then our
goal or our job as a coach afterthat is to keep them
accountable, right.
So if they say they want to getto X and then we're not seeing
them do the right things to getthere, then we have to call them
(04:05):
out and tell them hey, you'renot doing what you said you
wanted to do, so maybe yourgoals need to change.
And if they say no, then we canmodify and say okay, fine, then
I'm going to be the tough coachand this is what you need to do
.
Otherwise, you know, basicallyI'm giving you the same lesson I
gave you last week or the weekbefore.
So what's the point?
Why are you even coming?
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So we played 18 holes together last week.
Yes, we did.
I shot a 90.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, going on 75.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Do my goals need to change.
Can I still break 80?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
No, I mean it's pretty easy.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
No, that's the answer .
It's pretty easy.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Your goal shouldn't change, and this was cool.
I mean, this was was the wholething was like attributed to my
90.
But we talked about that.
I remember briefly, just youknow, talking to you about you
(04:56):
know what your intent was onthose shots, and it didn't seem
like there was intent.
And so for me you have theathletic ability to shoot in the
seventies and you just didn'tunderstand how to play the golf
course or you lost track ofwhere you were at that point in
time, and so because of that,that's a differentiator between
a very good golfer.
A lot of times they can stillcontinue to persevere through
(05:18):
and play under those.
Maybe I'm I don't have my beststuff today, but I still know
how to get the ball in the hole.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, all my major errors were on the tee box.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, I wouldn't disagree.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
All my penalties came out of the tee box.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Well, and ultimately, if you're-.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
And again, it's hard to focus on your exact intent
from the tee box other thanlet's knock the ball down.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
You know, down the course as far as we can get it,
not if you play the holebackwards, as we can get it, not
if you play the hole backwards,of course, not right.
So if you look at where thewhole location is, it's on the
right hand side and it's a dogleg right.
You're literally saying I don'twant to go to the right hand
side, I got to play out to theleft, so from there you then
need to tee the ball up on theright hand side, potentially
with your shot shape, so it willfade over there and blah, blah,
(05:59):
blah.
Right, the rest is history.
But without knowing that orcreating awareness to that's
what you need to do.
You're always going to make thesame mistake.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
My iron play was decent yeah, it was great, but
yeah, the t-box shots were had afew great drives and a lot not
so great you were.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
You were 50 good on iron shots from like the
standpoint of like, any scratchgolfer would have been happy
with the shot you hit 50 of thetime and that's saying a lot for
a guy.
That's a you know.
You were an 18 or 19 handicapon our scorecard that day.
So our course handicap.
So end of the day, had you keptthe ball in play a few more
times, maybe made a few puttsthat we thought could have went
(06:40):
in, you helped the team a ton.
It was just the idea of whereyou were in.
Those big misses need to bemanaged Right.
That's it.
Simple, fun day though.
Let's do it.
Let's do it, man, all right.
So we're going to do it Right.
So let's, let's finish this,okay.
So now we have to have a planand, like I would say that my
goal with this podcast is to nowget you to break that 80 score.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Let's say by October 1st.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
October 1st.
You're doing it and I'm goingto write up a game plan for you
and I think we post the gameplan and then Darren has to
report back on our social mediaso man.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I think we need to introduce our guest, we, we, my
family and I.
We leave to Santa Barbara,California, next weekend.
Nothing's coming weekend butthe following one.
So I'll get plenty of golf playthat week when I when I'm down
there and then I leave my familydown there and come back, and
during those two, three weeksthat I'm home alone without my
family, it's grind time.
(07:42):
Lots is happening during thosetwo or three weeks, it's all
going to be here at the golfgarage.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
That's right, baby, and we're going to get you on
the course.
It'd be like daily occurrences,using our reciprocals.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Absolutely Game on.
Let's go up to running.
Why?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Okay.
Uh tomorrow I go to running.
Why?
We, we no we have a spot open.
He's such a jerk, so it's beenout.
It was marketed, if you checkedour email.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
But we have a spot open.
You want to play?
I can't.
I'm full tomorrow, did younotice?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
that, ruben, you want to play?
What time All right, 10.10 to10.30 tee times.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
We'll be back by 4.30 , 4.45.
Oh my gosh, I can't.
Can you do all your?
I could probably do that.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think you guys need to have a putt off after this,
and whoever wins a putt off getsto go.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
I'll put money on my putt off.
I'm sorry, I can leave Medfordat 9.30.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Listen to this, I can leave Medford at 9.30.
So we got one spot.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
I won't buy appointments to make it.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
We're playing spot Dude boys.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Welcome to the show man.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir, Privileged.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I appreciate it guys, yeah, excited to have you on
the show.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Ruben's a member at the Golf Garage.
He's a league member Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
He's a fantastic flooring professional.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Thank you sir.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
And you recently.
We were just talking what it'sbeen.
Seven months, yes uh and itfelt like two or three months.
We were at the bar, you tookthe leap from the corporate
world to being an entrepreneurwait, how long has it?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
been uh, since the end of january is when it
started, so we're close to the.
Yeah, we're talking like howlong has it been?
I'm like two or three, likewait a second no, we're in the
latter half of j now.
Yeah, it doesn't feel like it'sbeen that long.
No Times fall by when you uh,when you're having fun, but
honestly, it's a privilege tokind of trust in yourself,
better yourself,entrepreneurship, life being
(09:35):
surrounded by, surrounded by theright people.
Where did you find that man tostart?
Where do I start?
Honestly, I would say, firstoff, being collaborated in
events, right.
So what kind of led to thispodcast and being a part of this
is the industry of golf.
I mean, I grew up I don't wantto say like for a humble means,
(09:58):
but let's just you know from adifferent lifestyle that I'd
never thought I'd be on the golfcourse.
You're thinking, oh, countryclub.
You know that's a wholedifferent situation.
But realizing how manycollaborations and friendships
you can make on the course, howoften you can sit with a
business owner or businesspartner or come to find out one
of your best friends for twohours, four hours, nine holes,
(10:18):
18 holes, golf initially soundedfun but come to find out,
became a part of life.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
And.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I say that just in business relationships, but I
mean Noah, how did we meet on?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
a golf course.
Yeah, we did.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Met on a golf course, met with friends who do the
same thing and come to find outhow important it can be in the
industry of business, but also away of life.
I mean the golf garage hereallows you to collaborate, to
network, to practice, to getfrom a 90 down to the 70s.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I'm going to put you on the spot here real quick.
What percentage of yourbusiness do you think comes from
relationships you have built inthe golf industry?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I wouldn't be where I'm at without it.
Honestly, 50% at least, no evenmore than that, probably 70, 80
.
Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
That's huge, you know , but the one thing that you do
really well is you brandyourself really really well and
you aren't afraid to spend moneyto make money.
And I would be really curiousobviously we know your wife's
business is part of the brandingside of it, but, like, even
without that, like what are,what are some things that you
would recommend to our listenersof like how to brand yourself
(11:29):
properly?
Because, again, spending moneyat an early stage of a business
is scary.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
You have a nice truck .
Yeah, when you pull into theparking lot, you know Ruben's
here.
Oh, because he pulled up behindme and blocked me in, he's got
the most badass looking truck inthe parking lot.
He's got the most killerlooking truck in the parking lot
.
He's got the most killerlooking truck in the parking lot
.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
His tailgate's about to get winged on dude by my
truck as I back out every day.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
It's a business expense.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
There was somebody in a beater Dodge Ram that was
parked next to me with a not sonice parking job.
Hopefully he doesn't listen tothis podcast.
I have no idea who it is.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
I know Damien drives a Tundra so it can't be him.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Needless to say, I'm parked up close and personal
because I parked in the centerof my parking spot.
You have a small truck too.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah, it's tiny, right, it's like 30 feet long,
it's like a boat and a trucktogether.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
It's a heavy duty truck, diesel truck with a long
bed and the big cab.
Uh, excuse me if you haven'tmet this guy.
He is heavy duty diesel.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yes, he's the man himself the pusher, yeah, yeah.
So going back to that question,like where do you think you
know you would put some of youreggs, as far as branding and
whatnot, because obviously,going to golf courses, like you
said, it's expensive to rent ahole oh, it's expensive to play
golf in general.
Sure.
So what do you?
What do you see that and like?
What do you think are some ofthe things that that branding's
(12:52):
helped you and how it's helpedyou build relationships?
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Yeah, man, even if I could go back and talk to myself
five years ago, 10 years ago,whatever it may be, I would try
to convince myself to do this,if not sooner.
But I don't take back what I'vebeen through because it made me
who I am.
So with the marketing side ofit, it's like you have to.
Everyone knows that sayingscared money don't make money,
but you have to have money tospend it right.
(13:16):
So I look at it, I went to a 10Xconference last year with a
couple of friends and investedinto that, right.
So you spend the money, thetime, the energy.
But when I walked away fromthat I was like you know what?
The best that you can have foryourself is an idea in who you
are and your reputation.
So, thankfully, I try to liveby decent principles, decent
morals and doing so, builtrelationships.
(13:37):
What led to the next thing washow do I cultivate them, keep
them and make them know thatthey're important to me?
So, going back to your point isyou invest.
It's scary out front, right.
I mean, you see Shark Tank andit's like how much do you spend
on marketing, how much are youpaying and what is your overhead
?
And my mindset was like do notskip a beat going from corporate
(13:57):
to an entrepreneur, because youwant everybody to realize that
you are just as well asqualified.
Your knowledge, your skills,your expertise, your timeliness,
all that is going to go to yournew business.
So when I get offered, hey, youwant to sponsor a hole for
$1,000.
Hey, you want to be a part ofthis for another $500.
Hey, we have an anniversaryopening.
You want to donate somematerial.
I'm all in, not only justbecause I want to get the brand,
(14:25):
the name out there, but inreturn.
Who's the owner of the golfgarage?
My good friend Noah Horseman.
So if I'm investing into him inreturn, it's coming back as a
community and a network.
So if we're, if we're sponsoringwith the glasses, if we're
giving away raffles, the wholeidea is like you help, I help,
you, help me in this network andfamily is going to pay off the
next five, 10 to 15 years.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I mean, I knew you when you were, you know, repping
for a corporate job, the lastcompany, the last company.
Right, I knew you when you wereout pounding the pavement,
repping for them.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
We were at an event.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
YPN.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And I had a great deal of respect for you then.
But where my respect and,frankly, admiration increased
was when, just out of the blue,it's not like you tried to
transition, it's like youthought about it for a minute
and then you jumped in both feet.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yeah, yeah, I'm like dude you have this guy's a force
.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Well, yeah, he's, he's making he's making splashes
, right, it's not absolutelydon't do anything halfway.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
You do it all the way or not, not at all.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yeah, well, I think part of that is you have to have
that sense of confidence, butalso the risk reward, you know
it.
What?
What if I did do it and itdidn't fall through as I saw fit
?
Well, you turn a differentavenue, you make another
investment, you make some moves,but you have to start off by
trusting yourself and thosearound you.
So the relationship I think westarted at that event, we played
(15:43):
a, a cornhole game, we tookfirst place, like you built we
won, yeah, yeah.
But then it goes to guess whathe's actually a good friend of
my friend Noah knows a goodfriend of my friend Eli, and so
on and so forth.
That when you build yournetwork, a good friend tells me
that your network is your networth.
You have to invest in yourpeople and vice versa.
You carry the community bydoing it together.
(16:09):
So we were talking about thisbefore we started recording the
podcast and noah came in here,and sorry if I'm bringing this
up, if you don't want it to bepublic, but that's what we do.
Let's go wait.
Was it the way I handled themic?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
is that what we're going to talk about?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
very gently, but you said you know you could hold
your own in the business realm,but when you go out with your
business partners onto the golfcourse, it's like you're like I
don't deserve a seat at thistable because they're shooting
in the 70s and 80s and I'mbarely breaking 100, you know.
And it's like you can hold yourown in one realm but not in
this realm.
(16:40):
How did you overcome that?
You know, because that's got tobe kind of crushing your ego
when you're trying to, you know,be elbow to elbow with these
guys in business relationshipsbut you can't you, can't you
know?
yeah, play up to par, no punintended yeah, yeah, no.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Well, let me bring in the golf garage in that same
conversation.
Because when you're shakinghands with people who give an
introduction at an event, oryou're going to the country club
, or you go into, you know,whatever meetings you may have,
what's the point of one meetingunless you have another right?
So meeting can be a handshake,the next one can be a
conversation, next one can be agolf course.
Well, the reason I bring thegolf garage into this is, like I
(17:20):
noticed that when I was on thegolf course, I because we're
friends like oh, hit another one, oh, don't worry about it, yeah
, yeah.
And I felt like the wait asecond.
I'm sitting at a business tablewith you, but I'm getting the
handicap in regards to my game.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
So that's when you bring out the drive.
I don't want handouts Like wegot to earn pity.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no, we got to earn
ice stripes, and what I mean bythat is anybody can do it if you
put the time.
So that's where I think you cutout.
You're cut from a differentcloth.
When you wake up early, right,you sleep late.
No one.
I would be texting at four inthe morning, sometimes talking
business, or like, hey, you'redoing this, you're doing that.
The idea is like are you willingto go the extra mile to perform
(17:58):
?
Are you just settling for themediocre, right?
So when I looked at golf, I'mlike you know what?
What's it going to take thetime?
The sick thing about the golfgarage is you can put out 18
holes an hour and a half.
Money, right.
You get as many driver swings,iron swings, whatever it may be.
They will culture your game towhere you need to perform in, in
your, your weak spots, right.
(18:18):
Another thing you can be on thegolf courses outside, but sure,
that's two hours for nine holes, four hours for 18 holes.
So the sweet thing about thegolf garage and investing into
that is one your game is goingto get better.
So you feel more confident.
But when you're more confident,you have a two hour meeting
with a business owner, businesspartner and you can play golf.
Wait a second.
Now we have a couple of beersand we're on the same table as
(18:40):
every other person.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
So it gives you opportunity, but in order to get
that opportunity you have toearn it.
You got to put in the time.
Amen, that's what I would say.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I have nothing to say after that.
That's like the mic drop moment.
I literally was just like man.
I was like shivering while Iwas saying that.
While I was saying that, I waslike hey, I'm going to hire you
as my marketing guy now too.
What's going on here, man, I'mgoing to speak after that.
He's not really a salesman.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
He's a CEO now.
No, that's awesome and I think,like Golf Garage in general
we've talked about this evenprior to us having this podcast
was just like bringing thecommunity together to build
stronger relationships with oneanother, to help each other
persevere and grow and andultimately, to be able to sit
(19:22):
next to your friend who's in theBay, next to you playing
Cypress point and you're playingsome like game with your kids
and you can still look over andbe like sweet man.
We're still doing this togetherand we just signed a deal
together.
We just helped each other outthe next day and you can still
talk biz if you want, but it'sjust like there's a cool, unique
(19:45):
feeling of that.
It's different than going to abowling alley where you're just
so hyper-focused on knocking thepins down, like you're still
waiting for someone else.
You're still relaxing, you'retreating it like the game.
You can learn everything youneed to learn in here that you
need to know on the golf course.
We can teach you etiquette inhere.
You know, and I think like likeyou felt where you're on the
golf course, they're saying, hey, hit again.
You don't feel that way in thegolf garage.
(20:05):
You laugh when you hit a shotthat's funny into the wall.
You know you don't lose anygolf balls there's no
expectation and I think thathelps you build that
relationship more too, and thefact is is like it just gets you
to want to play the game moreand go on the golf course more
when you have the time, likeright now.
We're in the middle of ourmarketing strategy for golf
(20:27):
garage over the next year,because we've had a year under a
belt, we've learned a lot.
We're starting to understand,like, what our culture is, what
the community wants around us,and I'm looking at, like how do
I build 50 more of these and allthese other demographics that
are going to be more successfulright, because there's more
people, so you can afford tomake a mistake.
Oh yeah you can't make a mistake.
(20:49):
In this small Valley there'snot enough people.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I would just tell them that forgiveness.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
There's no forgiveness.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
One of the girls up front.
We were just talking businessand they know one of my sisters
that came through and they'relike oh, yeah, so, and so I saw
them on Facebook.
Blah, blah, blah.
I was like you know what'sfunny is this valley is so small
that everybody knows everybody.
But the advantage is that isyour name, your reputation, your
work ethic.
It can spread like wildfire.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
It's a blessing and a curse.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yeah, well, you can blow up with success, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
And then be crushed equally as fast, yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
But again, if you have if you have the right
foundation, the right peopleright and you're performing at a
scale that is, you know,respectable right it's hard to
shut that down, but you know Iand but then let's, let's loop
this back.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
take that same equation you can blow up with
success, and then you can crashand burn equally as fast.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
That's golf, oh so if we go, into the golf side of
this too, Ruben, for you, likeyou've had some instruction from
our coaches.
Yeah From Ryan our director ofinstruction and, like I remember
, after your first session withhim, you were ecstatic at just
being able to hit a golf ball ina different direction and you
(22:03):
were hitting it so much fartherand more solid on the face, you
know, and it just shows you likethere are so many instructors
out there and I love that peoplewant to grow the game of golf.
But I will tell you right nowthat I would bet that we are in
the top 1%, if not the best inthe country, at teaching golf
here at the golf garage, becausewe can tell you why you're
(22:27):
doing what you're doing and ourgoal is that we build a
relationship with you to get thehead trash out of your system
so that way you trust what we'reteaching you and you get better
way faster.
Because golf, as much as Darrenloves to say, golf's hard, it's
not, it's not easy but it's alot easier.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
You're right, it's a.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
It's a lot right, it's a lot easier though, when
you understand why something'shappening, because you'll buy in
and then you'll work harder andthe cool thing about having
four kind of you know top notchcoaches is you guys can all be
on the same level in yourcoaching ability but with so
(23:08):
many different personality types, you're going to find the right
coach for you within the wallsof this building, because you,
ryan Matt, jessica Logan.
You know so different inpersonality types and approaches
to the game that you're goingto find the right match for you.
It's kind of like dating.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yo, you hit the nail on the head.
So this was really crazy.
But a year ago I wanted to givemost of the new student
assessments because I knew howto match up personality traits.
What I'm so proud of my coachesfor now is that they know how
to teach any personality traitat some level.
But you have to enjoy whoyou're working with, and so what
(23:53):
I'm starting to see them do isthey're not afraid to pass that
student to someone else in fearof losing revenue or whatever.
Yes, so that's what's also a biggame changer for us is the
maturity of the coaching staffto say it's okay for Jessica to
teach this, or Matt or Ryaninstead of myself, because
(24:13):
they're going to be a better fit, they're going to build a
relationship that person's goingto get better 10 times faster
because of it.
Where I'm not really enjoyingmy time here working with the
student Cause we just don'tmatch.
That way we could have a glassof wine together and love each
other's company, but teachinggolf to that person could be
really tough, and so there'srelationships I've had where I
have fired my student because ofthat.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Just think back to when you were in grade school of
the teachers you loved and theteachers you hated.
We all had them, mrs.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Polowski was the best man.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
That was my first grade teacher.
Dude, that is such an 80steacher name.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
I have some teachers I crossed paths with 92.
Oh yeah, that's a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
In second grade I had Miss Bacon all the second
graders thought it was.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I don't remember.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
That was a long time ago that was a long time ago and
all the little second gradersjust thought it was so funny to
call her Miss Bacon and Eggsevery morning if I could one up
you on that.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
I compliment to what I see here at the garage and
even spending time with you.
Gentlemen, I mean the privilegeof being on the podcast here.
I respect everything that we'redoing, but what I like about
here is I joke with my wife.
I'm like it's a second home.
I mean I'll, I'll swing by and,uh, notice that I see trucks or
cars in the driveway.
(25:37):
I'm like, oh, I'm going to pullup because so-and-so's here,
just because my boys are aroundthe Valley.
But on top of that, not onlyjust your coaches, but your
staff, uh, your bartenders,everybody is super hospital and
they're all kind of like family.
I walk up and I have most ofthe numbers of everybody that
works here.
But the idea is that, like, nomatter who you talk, talk to,
(25:58):
they'll take good care of you.
Yes, and no matter, uh, whatcoach you have, they'll make
sure they build a relationshipwith you rather than just look
at you as like a number ofcoaching.
You know you go to golf courses, like, oh, I want to learn how
to play golf.
They see a check, a price.
This is what's going to cost toget so many lessons.
But here you build arelationship ryan with matt,
with jess.
To be fair, you got someup-and-comers too.
(26:19):
That might be another coach oranother contribution to the
family.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Adam Rutledge just walked through.
Hey, did you have your lemondrop?
I don't want to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
You got to pay it forward, baby.
I gave it to my six-year-oldDarren Hi.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
PewDiePie.
She enjoyed the lemon drop.
I'm I'm sure she did.
Oh, look at her new golf clubs.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
There we go, they're just your size us kids.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Just amazing what custom fit clubs will do for you
.
Love it ladies soft.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Adam rutland, gentlemen adam rutland, and we
don't edit hey, you know what'syeah you know what's yeah, you
know what's unique about whatyou just said?
Speaker 2 (27:04):
it's the same thing, like that's what's fun about the
podcast.
We just let and we had anothermember walk through the door
we're super successful person,right but, but you're, it's a
family, bro, we did, but yeah,so that's it right.
So the family culture dynamicis what we're all about.
There's.
The only rule I created when Istarted this business was to be
(27:24):
nice Yep.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
So, if and there's no , do it.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
There you go, and what we always talk about is
like there's 48 pages of how tobe nice on our terms and
conditions, but what I loveabout this is it's it's the
relationships with all of theother people that we're dealing
with.
And thanks, adam, I appreciatethat you know.
So that's how you're also goingto build that network slash net
(27:51):
worth that you're talking aboutis.
It was fun, right?
We talked about the one yearanniversary.
How is this?
How is this success?
And I said how we had 200people and we were expecting one
20.
It's only a success if thosepeople show up, right?
What I thought was even coolerthan the one year anniversary
was I promoted that we hadrogues game, medford rogues
(28:11):
small team, um, all college kids, minor league baseball.
We have it here.
Their seating is 3000 maxoccupancy and they usually get
somewhere between 900 and 1100people in a game.
So we had the balcony seatingsponsored by golf garage, which
was awesome.
I didn't promote that to ourmembers until the day before the
game and he's like hey, you canhave like around a hundred
(28:34):
people.
We got 80 people on the balconyand a hundred degree weather
with one one.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
I was seeing that.
I was like hey, babe, yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
With one day notice, though, yeah, that's a huge
thing.
That actually meant more to methan the one year knowing that
those people cared that much andshow up.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
That was incredible.
Yeah, so Golf, clap, golf clap,let's go.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
People come here because it's convenient for
their schedule to practice theirgame and they pay the money and
invest the money because thisis benefiting me.
I get something out of this, Iget 24 seven access, whatever
that is for you.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
You can swipe in and come in anytime.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
There's.
There's a lot in it for me, butwhen they're doing something,
for us to drop what we're doingin the middle of our day, to
come and show support for thatand have those kind of numbers
is a big deal.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
I'm going to swing this as an owner for a second of
any business.
I don't care if it's GolfGarage or not.
I'm in a bit of a conundrum, ifyou will right.
So, like the brand of GolfGarage is growing and I'm
starting to bring in betterbrands of apparel and things
(29:41):
that our members are definitelygoing to want, because they
can't get them in Medford.
Yeah, so I'm bringing in JohnnyO's and the Lululemons and the
things that people want to have.
That differentiate us, and Ithink that's a benefit.
And at what point?
Because, ruben, you kind of putthe country club on a pedestal
and you're like oh, we're at thecountry club because we're the
that's the only country club intown, right, and it's just that
mentality of a country club.
(30:01):
Well, country clubs also atsome level make you feel like
you are not relevant to be ableto come in.
There's that feeling and that'swhat I'm trying to change here.
Everyone is welcome at the golfgarage.
And again, a country clubeveryone's welcome at that
country club.
You still have to get vetted,right, we still do a background
check, like, but at the end ofthe day, when you're here, you
(30:23):
are family and I think that'simportant.
But, like, how do you changethe mindset of that?
I shouldn't be marketing valueadded anymore at golf garage.
I should be saying we are theplace that you do business.
This is the culture and that'swhat I'm trying to actually
prove from year one to year two,you do all your business at
Golf Garage.
You go play golf with yourfriends and enjoy that time.
(30:45):
You do your business here, soyou can enjoy your time on the
course.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
There's not one entrepreneur in the Rogue Valley
that should not be a memberhere.
Yeah, no 100%.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Well, and to that perspective, you're asking me
earlier why invest into the game?
How do you get from this tableto that table?
Well, initially, in thebusiness industry, they would
have meetings at the countryclub, or they have these you
know dinners and so forth, andthey're great, right, they have
the forum.
I'm a huge supporter of thechamber, good friends with eli
and it's great.
But it's a different flavor and, honestly, like I'll put on my
(31:16):
sport coat and my my three-piecesuit if I need to go and show
up, which is nice, but you dohave to feel like you got to
kind of be something to show up.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
You walk around with that big of a statement without
wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Yeah, your presence is known when you walk into a
room.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Yeah, I know, that guy Wait wait.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
I know him Look at that hat Look at.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Yeah, I know that guy .
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Wait wait, I know him .
Look at that hat.
Look at that, you know,two-inch wide gold chain around
his neck.
That's three, dude.
That's three.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
I wear it on purpose, like not as a flex but as
almost like a pat on the back tomyself.
Even when I built the logo.
My wife helped me build thelogo and I wanted the old
English R so it represented myroots.
I wanted the old English R soit represented my roots.
I wanted the gold P so it stoodout a little bit.
But going back to what you said,noah, is like it is a little
intimidating thinking, oh well,I can't afford a country club
membership.
Like I got to be in a differentcaliber.
(32:07):
It's like you know what?
I can sit at the same table asevery one of these dudes if you
put in the work.
The sick thing about the golfgarage is like I come down here
almost to breathe.
I come here to be with my boys,I can have a beer, I can play
18 holes and, trust me, whenyou're here golfing you can
spend a lot more time playingyour shots than just walking the
course.
(32:27):
So I might be playing.
You know what they're showingon TV at the Masters and coming
to find out.
I got to work on my irons morethan the drive on that course,
or my short game on that course.
So course or my short game onthat course.
So yes, one is you'reperfecting your game, but two is
just, it's such a a welcomingenvironment that I don't think
twice by pulling up here I don'thave to dress.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
I beat scotty scheffler on this hole, on the
hole.
There you go, yeah, yeah thesix putt from.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Uh, you know the guys on number one, augusta.
You know what's cool, too islike you've spent some early
mornings here with your friendvictor and.
I thought that's so cool thatyou guys get a come in before
work where he's out therebusting his butt.
You're busting your butt, butyou guys are working out then
you hit some balls.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
It's like and, to be fair, two new entrepreneurs like
mine started in January.
He started a couple monthsafter that and when you're
running your own business,sometimes you don't have time in
the middle of the day to clockout.
So if we can pop in here andplay 18 holes in an hour from 6
to 7 30 and get on the grindshoot, where can you do that
elsewhere?
Speaker 2 (33:24):
well, you know what's also cool is you brought in.
You know one of your co-workers.
She's now a member as well, andI mean I think the kids involved
I mean that's just so cool tobe able to see that families and
then hopefully the futurefamilies and future families
become members too, and it'sjust kind of like it's the
starting point.
You're a founding member andthank you for being that, and
obviously I'm just so excitedabout where Ruben's career is
(33:48):
going and the fact that you tookthis, this leap of faith, and
again we've had conversationabout it but, like dude, you are
like nowhere near where you'regoing to be.
I'm just like, so I can't evenimagine where it's going to blow
up.
It's exciting to where you'regoing to be, and I know that
you're at a point where you'relike dude, I need to get more
contractors, I need more subs, Ineed, like these people.
It's like dude.
(34:08):
You need to like, get thosepeople to come up and just work
for our like RP floor andthey're not about that dude,
scaling it within the like.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
we just hired a couple of new guys as installers
, you know.
I hired the new assistant.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
And you're not hiring 1099 employees anymore, you're
hiring W2 employees.
You're not hiring contractorsanymore.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Well, the idea is like I built a relationship with
a lot of people in the Valley,so as work comes in, I have to
have a trustworthy crew.
Right, people know who I am,they know who they're working
with, but on top of that, I'mtrying to build within.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Quality still has to get done and has to get done the
right way.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Yeah, 100%.
Take care of your people.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Before we let you go, let's talk about golf.
What are you struggling with,man?
Oof it's that stupid slice.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Well, to be fair, fair, let's go back to ryan a
little bit.
I walked into the coachingsession with him and I pulled
out a seven iron, you know 130,easy all the time, right a
little left to right, fade.
And he's like, before the endof the day, you're gonna hit it
180.
I'm like, yeah, all right, yeah, yeah, whatever he's flexing on
me, I'm not kidding.
Like he taught me this littletechnique, turn my hips like
literally facing an awkwardposition, rotated my hand and I
(35:21):
punched it 180, two, three times.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
And it feels easier, doesn't it?
Well, it felt less of mystrength and more of the club.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
He's like let the club do the work.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
You're over here trying to flex on how strong you
are.
What are these clubs meant for?
So going to that, I mean Istill got to work on that drive
a little bit.
But going to that, I mean, Istill got to work on that drive
a little bit.
But it's come leaps and boundssince I've been coming here more
often.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
What's your favorite club in the back?
My?
Speaker 3 (35:43):
short game my 60 flop shot or a little, a little chip
and putt.
Yeah, short games where I'm at,I like.
What club do you hate?
Uh, my foreign hybrid.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
We're selling him a hybrid after this.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
I have a new refound love and I've got a little fling
with my four iron.
I love that club now reallyuntil next week.
Until next week I did take itout of my bag yeah, because I
carry 16 gloves in my bag, so Itook my four iron.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
I took my four iron and my I got 16 pairs of golf
shoes, but not clothes.
But no, I like my four iron myfive foot out.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
I got 60 pairs of golf shoes, but not clothes.
But no, I like my forearm nowactually.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Let me ask this, talking to the man himself
what's your favorite club andyour weakest one?
Speaker 2 (36:28):
I love them all.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
He's lying.
No, I'm not.
I love them all.
You've got to have a club.
If somebody comes up to you andsays I don't care the distance,
I don't care the distance, Idon't care anything, I just want
you to hit me an impressivegolf shot with perfect shape.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Yeah.
I would literally tell him totell me what to hit, and I would
do it.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
So look there's a big difference, so I just.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
I just had a playing lesson this morning for iron
it's comfortable.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
As you hit your nine iron, the pause Awkward, so I'll
tell you this which towel doyou love the most in your bag?
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Yeah, right, I used to not like the four iron at all
and I was fortunate enough tobe asked to be on the National
Fitting Council for TaylorMadeGolf and I always wanted to
educate myself more, right?
So there's 50 of us that godown to Carl's bad.
They fly us down every otheryear and we're in a room
(37:29):
together and just literallytelling Taylor made all the
things we know, um, about whatour members and our guests and
our fittings are needing, andit's like they already have all
the information they need toknow of where people are hitting
it on the club face because ofthe type of technology.
I have a golf garage.
It tells them, right, Some ofthe best.
(37:49):
It is, yeah, but they still wantto know what the coaches are
seeing and what we're teachingand how how to make it better
for them to be able to sellbetter products and make them
inferior, if you will.
So during this process, notonly are we meeting with all the
execs, we're meeting with theengineers, we're getting a tour
(38:10):
of the facility.
We know what's coming outbefore it's coming out.
We get to see it all.
I get stuff to test.
I have a prototype driver rightnow.
This is the coolest thing I'veever been part of in the golf
industry.
Speaker 3 (38:20):
I got a chance to hit the 35 before.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Yeah, you did, you, did, you got to hit it and it
said five on it only.
So, what's unique?
What's unique about this, um,you know, is like I actually
always step up and I'm the guythat wants to be the Guinea pig
because there's, there's, youknow, 20 of us in a class and
not everybody can hit.
So I always step up and I'm theguy that wants to be the guinea
(38:44):
pig because there's, you know,20 of us in a class and not
everybody can hit.
So I always jump up right away.
And one of the things I toldthem was I'm not happy with the
height.
I'm hitting my four iron.
I don't like what it visuallylooks like, right?
So they picked out the club thatI have back home and we hit it.
And at the time they hadobviously the iron.
Then they had a more gameimprovement iron.
Then they had a mini type of ahybrid driving iron and the UDI,
(39:07):
right.
So they have all thesedifferent names for what those
are.
And then they had the hybridblah, blah, blah.
And I'm thinking to myself I'mnot hitting a four hybrid ever
Like I don't want that, I don'tneed that.
So I get.
Well, right, I know, but I'mjust cocky at the time, I'm like
I don't want it, I just want tohit my four iron, I want to be
able to figure out how to hit itbetter.
So during this process Ieducated myself to understand
(39:29):
how the technology really workedin ball flight, and it's sad to
think that I've been teachinggolf since 2006 professionally
and it took me until 2020 toreally understand what a golf
club is meant to do to a golfball.
And I mean, I know a lot but atthe same time learning more and
(39:50):
more.
So short end of the story wasthey put me through a full
fitting with four iron and I'mswinging good, which was nice.
So I hit four iron, hit it, ithit it.
It's like 192, carry goes to210, roll out.
It's these weird low tumblers,right?
I'm not happy with that.
You can't play golf with thatunless you're abandoned.
Even I carry my four iron.
Yeah, 210, right my five ironcarries almost as far as the
(40:12):
four iron which people say thatto me and always laugh, but it's
true, so.
So then I get the driving iron.
Okay, it's carrying further,but it's just got too much spin.
It feels terrible, blah, blah,blah, go to the next thing.
So finally they gave me thehybrid and I hit it a few times.
I'm like, yeah, I just don'tlike the way it feels.
So I don't.
I have extra stiff in my irons,but they're not.
They're kind of in betweenstiff and extra.
(40:33):
If it's a project X, stiff 5.5is kind of a soft stiff.
So I'm like, right in thatintermediate.
So they're like, okay, that'sfine, let me put this shaft in
there.
They put an 85 gram extra stiffshaft in and I'm like this
feels like my irons now.
So because they were able tocreate a feeling that felt like
(40:53):
my five iron, I was able to ripon that thing and I could hit it
, because what I was afraid ofwas just leaking it, you know
long right, or snapping it.
Just leaking it, you know longright, or snapping it left
because I didn't know where theclub was.
So the fact that that fitterwas able to get me something
that felt very similar to whatit is.
It opened up my eyesdramatically and I could hit it
high, low, cut, draw whatever Iwanted, and immediately I'm like
(41:16):
I don't care, this is a hybrid.
I'm hitting exactly where Iwant it to go.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
What percentage of golfers should have a four iron
in?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
their bag.
Recreational golfers yeah,recreational golfers.
This is what I would say tothat recreational golfer.
What I get more than anythingis when I ask so why do you have
a four iron in your bag?
Oh, it's to keep it low under atree.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
I say right, I'll say no.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
I'll teach you how to hit a seven iron lower than
your four iron.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Well, you told me I'll teach you how to hit a nine
iron lower than your four iron,Because I can right.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
Yeah, and that's the thing is like, because I got a
four iron and a four hybridNumber one.
It's like hilarious whensomebody says that I'm punching
out under a tree, which meansyou're not going for the green,
or in your mind you think youare, and then you try to hit
this crazy shot.
That's never going to getairborne anyway so like a stroke
with your yeah it's, it's bad,yeah, so I would just say that
(42:08):
you know, you just hit yourputter under that and here's the
other thing.
Let's go back to like investingin golf and investing in general
, because it's not just golfgarage.
I'm a proponent of golf, I'm aproponent of golfers I want.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
That's why I have reciprocal golf courses is so we
can get on the course and playgolf still right earlier.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Yeah, we have so we have six going on 20.
I will have 20 reciprocals bythe end of next year.
Mind that I have two more thatare just about to be done.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
That's eight, right, so we're gonna get to 20, and
then every explain the detailsof that like so the reciprocal,
the reciprocal right we'retalking about running wide.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Yeah, dude, stone age .
Speaker 3 (42:42):
Like give a little detail, Because what I like that
you're alluding to this point,because, trust me, on a nice
fall day or not too hot a day,I'd rather be out there golfing
any day of the week.
I mean, golf Garage is greatfor the morning, for the
practice sessions.
Thank you, heather.
Thank you, heather.
Heather, at the golf garage,she'll take good care of you.
Don't ever hesitate to ask.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
She just got promoted to manager too.
That's kind of cool.
Golf, clap golf, clap, golf,clap golf clap.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
That promotion sure made her step it up, though no,
I'm kidding, she was great allthe time.
Speaker 3 (43:14):
No, what I was going back to with the Super Bowls is
it's good to get out and play,because I was playing with a
friend the other day and we wentjust shot nine and he's killer
at the garage right, get on thecourse a little rough little,
you know, under a tree, and Imean I beat him by a few strokes
, let's just say that.
But the idea is like this don'tthink that this is exactly like
(43:35):
playing outside, but this isgreat reps.
You think about Steph Curry.
How many shots did he takebefore a game?
Right, hundreds.
How many shots take at thethree point line?
Thousands.
So homeboy doesn't play, shoota good, good basketball, just
cause, out of coincidence, heputs in the reps.
Put in the reps here, then nextto it, as Noah was saying.
Now, all of a sudden we get adiscount at a bunch of local
courses around.
(43:55):
Why stone ridge, all theseplaces?
That it's like.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
Put your reps to the test and get out and play well,
now your swing has beendeveloped and been made more
consistent, then you can takethat to the course and then
figure out how you need to adaptthat yeah and still be able to
do that more consistently yeahyeah, please elaborate I would?
Speaker 2 (44:15):
I would definitely.
I appreciate that, first andforemost because you hit the
nail on the head.
We're not growing indoorgolfers, we're growing golfers
or people to get on the golfcourse, which is why we're
putting together golf trips,which is why we're trying to get
people out there, because it'sthe golf industry, and if the
golf industry is successful, weall are.
And then we go back torelationship building.
I want a relationship withevery golf course locally.
(44:37):
I want relationships nationallyas we grow.
So my big secret sauce therewould be that we're going to
have 20 relationships here andthen the next one we open.
There's 20 relationships andwhen there's 50 and all of a
thousand, all of a suddenthere's, you know, maybe a
thousand golf courses thatyou're reciprocal of, just like
a 24 hour fitness.
If you're a member here, you'rea member at every other golf
(44:58):
garage.
Go in key fob, in easy game,right?
So you go anywhere to travel,do business.
Come to my golf garage with meand let's go hang out and let's
do business at golf garage.
Oh, and you want to go playgolf?
Sweet, there's a reciprocal upthe road.
Let's go do that too.
So there are some big things tocome.
I don't mind if anybody knowsthat, because you still have to
know how to run it.
So ultimately, when it comesdown to what we're doing, is you
(45:21):
know the six courses we have?
They're community partnersnumber one.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
They get you a discount on the course and even
one or two of the courses areprivate clubs that the public
can't get out on, so it's mutual.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Yes, 100%.
So we're a private club fromthe standpoint of recurring
revenue.
Right, we want our members here.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
We want our members here.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
We want our members to be happy.
They get a bunch more benefitsthan the public does.
The public can't use the bigputting green unless we allow it
at the time.
I mean they can't use that.
They have to be with a memberto use it.
And I mean, look, you're payingfor a lot more than just sim
bay time here, and so what?
Speaker 1 (45:54):
happens.
And if if somebody comes in andthey spend one or two hours a
week paying the hourly rate fora bay, that's a membership, you
should be a member.
You should be a member becauseyou're losing money.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
Well, if you play golf with our community partners
and you play three to fourtimes a month, depending on
which course it is and what thediscount is you've paid for your
golf garage membership and themoney you would have spent if
you paid the rack rate.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
So we have a country club level service, mind you.
Speaker 3 (46:21):
Oh yeah, that's what people need to hear.
Man, it's like sometimes youlook at it With the bar, with
the quality of the staff thepeople who know you by your name
when you walk through the door.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
They know exactly what you want to drink when you
walk in and to be fair, like togive props to Noah.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
He's always the one in the front right Shaking hands
, welcoming, thanking you onyour way out.
Like this is a genuine dude.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
And your team reflects that.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
He's an owner operator, not just an operator.
Yeah, and that's what I mean alittle bit of entrepreneurship
with that too is like you're notjust paying for a job, like and
I'm not going to try to getmyself attention, but everybody
needs a little bit of floors.
But you get me, you contact me,you get my phone, you give me
the same thing with no.
It's like you can go to any,any membership club, and it's
almost like you can be a nobody,but no, we'll shake your hand
as you walk in and thank you foryour visit and we connect you
with other people, right.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
So my I've worked at private clubs for a very long
time, super high-end privates.
So we talk about our countryclub.
That's great.
The initiations that I was atwere quadruple or more and the
monthly fees were double totriple of what this club is
Right and it's not.
I've played golf at, you know$250,000 initiation clubs in the
(47:28):
service and you learn from thatof what you like and what you
don't like, and at the end ofthe day, they're all shaking
hands with each other anyway andthose ones do a really good job
of collaborating.
And the clubs that don't make itare the ones that don't
actually help you get better.
They're about themselves.
How many members can I get in?
It's not about the members.
The members are going to come.
(47:49):
What happens is I need to sayman huh, this guy needs a
flooring guy.
Okay, cool, who do I know?
Oh, ruben.
Ruben's the guy right.
Immediately.
I might have two or three, butultimately, based on your
personality trait, you're goingto need Ruben because of he's
going to hook you up with.
What your need is DarrenDarren's the best real estate
(48:09):
photographer in the Valley.
I hands down.
There's a.
There's a few people that tryto do it, but ultimately, if you
want the best, what are youwilling to pay for?
If you can make another $30,000on your house, versus $10,000
more, who are you going to pick?
Speaker 3 (48:23):
For a $300 investment For another?
No right exactly so.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
it's the same thing with golf garage.
Are you willing to spend $300to $400 a month in order to make
another $10,000 that year?
Right, I mean, that's the wholething.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
It's not hard to look at it from that way business
side for golf fanatics, for avidrecreational golfers.
Are you willing to spend threeto four hundred dollars a month
to take 10 strokes off your game?
Speaker 2 (48:48):
oh man.
So I ask that question all thetime to to ceos and to to my
friends.
I'm like when they say, hey,how much do you cost?
I'm like I'm 225 an hour, but Idon't ever charge that and they
spit the whiskey right right,so mouth Right and again in
Arizona, game on two 25 an houreasy.
But but instead it's likehere's what I'm going to do for
you.
And then I said instead whatare you willing to pay to get to
(49:11):
your goal?
Speaker 3 (49:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (49:12):
Put it back on them.
Speaker 3 (49:14):
You're the people.
Speaker 2 (49:15):
I've only had two people that actually took me up
on the old deal to where it'slike hey, yeah, I'll give you
five grand If you get me to mygoal by then.
I'm like, okay, what if I getyou better than that?
Get the bonus dude.
Speaker 3 (49:26):
I got the bonus both times.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
It was the best thing ever, oh yeah, exactly, we got
to do what I say All right,sounds good.
Ruben Perez, everybody how dowe, how do we get ahold of you,
Ruben, if we're in need of somemuch-needed flooring and
anything else?
Speaker 3 (49:45):
Well, you come down to the golf garage.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
Well, your name is on every glass, every pint glass.
It's your home away from home.
Speaker 3 (49:52):
It's my home away from home, but no, no real talk.
Yeah, 458-220-9202.
That's the number.
Call me Retail multifamilyproperty management.
I'm your guy.
Hey say that number one moretime 458-220-9202.
Speaker 2 (50:09):
RP Flooring baby.
Speaker 3 (50:10):
RP Flooring yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:11):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (50:12):
RPFlooringLLCcom.
Speaker 2 (50:13):
Can we do a shout out to your wife real quick too,
before we get out RP?
Speaker 3 (50:17):
Design Respect get out rp design, rp design.
I'm telling you, bro, this.
This woman has stepped up forsure.
We're collaborating with no oneall the boys around here doing
gear.
She makes all my swag and,honestly, it's a.
It's nice to see we did rpdesign to carry the same name,
but she's the one running thebusiness man, ep design rp.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
You know what?
Speaker 2 (50:42):
shout out happy wife, happy life by the way, your
wife is super professional.
A lot of the stickers, um andvinyl that we have at golf
garage are done by emily and ourbirdie sign.
I mean dude, the stuff that shedid.
She came out on her own andmeasured it you guys are hanging
it together and I mean it'sperfectly level.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
You know what your wife's initials are the same as
my wife's initials.
Speaker 3 (51:05):
There you go.
They're both named Emily.
Good name, baby.
Well thanks, gentlemen, Iappreciate you guys.
Cheers again.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
Cheers.
Let's really do this thing.
All right.
Any advice for recreationalgolfers who are scared to get
coaching?
Speaker 3 (51:20):
Get your ass down here.
Come to the golf garage.
Baby, Perfect your game.
Speaker 1 (51:26):
See you next week.
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