Coming Soon
Coming Soon
July 2009 issue
March 2009
Tom Wells: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To!
Tom Wells grew up as a member of Sand Point Country Club Seattle, Washington in the early 1960s. He caddied, played junior golf, and started preparing golf clubs as a teenager. Repairing clubs for members enabled him to generate enough income to cover entry fees for the local tournaments, and he soon became one of the best amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest winning the British Columbia Amateur. Tom received a full ride golf scholarship to Seattle University and competed against the likes of Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, and Hale Irwin in college tournaments. I think those names are familiar!
After college Tom contemplated turning pro and competing on the PGA Tour, but back “in those days” the tournament purses were very small. “If you won a tournament back in the early 70’s it might get you $8,000,” says Wells. According to Tom, there were only about seven top players (Palmer, Nicklaus, Casper, etc.) who were making a decent living at the time.
Tom went looking for work and nobody would hire him so he decided to open a golf pro shop in 1974. He instantly created an inventory when he negotiated a deal for the salvage rights on the burned up club remains from the Fircrest Country Club fire in 1973. Most of the woods (persimmon), grips, and shafts were totally destroyed; however, the 350 sets of iron and putter heads were restorable. He took the heads and refinished them to nearly new condition, then shafted and re-gripped them. It took Tom 3 ½ days of hard work, but he was out only $125 for the dumping fees. He was in business for a very small capital expense, and happier than a “clam in butter” to be his own boss.
Along with selling the restored sets, Tom offered golfers club repair and wood refinishing. Back in the 60’s and 70’s all the wood clubs were persimmon, dogwood, or laminated maple. “It was truly an art that died 25 years ago when the metal woods became popular,” laments Tom. The reality dawned on Tom that spending countless hours refinishing wooden clubs would net him little or no money from each job. His goal was to do his best to make the club sparkle like new and enjoy watching the customer’s reaction when he turned his battered wood into a work of art. This proved sufficient reward for him. But with change often comes improvements in the game and the clubs golfers wield. Tom believes that the most important improvement with the new state of the art golf clubs is personalized fitting. He provides free custom fitting to all and his factory direct performance grade golf clubs are guaranteed to improve golfers of all levels. He uses top quality club building components and one club maker builds each set from start to finish. Most major manufacturers use a production line to assemble their clubs in order to speed up the process. Although Tom’s system takes more time, he is convinced it produces a more precise and accurate product, and his factory direct custom clubs can save the consumer up to 70 % over the major brands. Who doesn’t want to save money, right?
Golf club repair has changed over the years, yet Tom is still regarded as the man to see for value and quality. His work is guaranteed and he specializes in re-gripping, re-shafting, re-heading, loft and lie adjustment, and club length alteration. Many a Northwest golfer has benefited from his 45 years of experience and has him to thank for their improved game. For more information, please visit www.tomwellsgolf.com or call 888-467-8344.
