Encore - Simon Millington - Golf Brands Inc.
Simon Millington, CEO of Golf Brands Inc., discusses his extensive journey in the golf industry and the revitalization of iconic brands like McGregor, Ram, and Ben Hogan. With nearly 40 years of experience, Simon shares insights into how he transitioned from being a golf rep in the UK to owning and managing multiple golf brands in the U.S. He emphasizes the importance of quality and innovation in their products, highlighting that the clubs they produce today are significantly better due to advancements in technology. The conversation also touches on the challenges and strategies involved in re-establishing these classic brands in a competitive market, as well as the global interest they are receiving. Listeners will gain an appreciation for the craftsmanship behind golf equipment and the dedication to preserving the legacy of legendary names in the sport.
Links referenced in this episode:
- paintedhillsbeef.com
- westonkia.com
- birdieball.com
- ramgolf.com
- mcgregorgolf.com
- benhogengolf.com
- zebragolf.com
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Transcript
It's time for Grilling at the Green.
Host:Join Jeff Tracy as he explores a golfing lifestyle and tries to keep it in the short grass.
Host:For the hackers, do sweepers and turf spankers.
Host:Here's Jeff.
Host:Just open up the door and look at good times.
Simon Millington:Hey, everybody.
Jeff Tracy:Welcome to Grilling at the green.
Jeff Tracy:I'm J.F.
Jeff Tracy:jeff.
Jeff Tracy:I was going to say J.T.
Jeff Tracy:i'm Jeff, actually, or one can call me anything you want.
Jeff Tracy:How's your golf game this week?
Jeff Tracy:Well, we're going to find out how this gentleman's golf game is.
Jeff Tracy:We're happy to welcome to the show Simon Millington from Golf Brands Inc.
Jeff Tracy:Down in Henderson, Nevada.
Jeff Tracy:A world traveler, I might say.
Jeff Tracy:We've been talking about that off the air.
Jeff Tracy:But first we want to thank the folks at Painted Hills Natural Beef Beef the way nature intended.
Jeff Tracy:And from our friends over on the Oregon coast, the Oregon Crab Commission.
Jeff Tracy:From seed to plate, if you've never had Oregon Dungeness crab, you're missing out on a real treat.
Jeff Tracy:So if you can find some, have it today.
Jeff Tracy:Have you ever had Dungeness crab, Simon?
Simon Millington:I probably have.
Simon Millington:I mean, but I couldn't tell you exactly where or when.
Jeff Tracy:Yeah, it's good stuff.
Jeff Tracy:It's good stuff.
Jeff Tracy:Anyway, welcome to the show.
Jeff Tracy:It's an honor to have you.
Simon Millington:Thank you.
Jeff Tracy:How did you get, you know, how did you get involved and start golf brands and, and, you know, I looked at your profile and resume, of course, and, and that.
Jeff Tracy:And were you always interested in the golf world?
Simon Millington:Yeah, so I've really, I've been in the golf business my whole life.
Simon Millington:I sort of started very young with a thinking it was a good idea and I've sort of stuck with it, so nudging towards 40 years in the industry.
Simon Millington:So, yeah, that was, that was really just a part of everything from being a rep director of golf and owning a golf course to sort of, you know, laterally sort of.
Simon Millington:Well, actually, over the last 20 years, accumulating a lot of golf brands and then, you know, selling them sort of all around the world as we do.
Jeff Tracy:Sure did.
Jeff Tracy:I mean, was this something you as a kid, somebody gave you a set of sticks and you went out and started playing and went, wow, the light bulb came on.
Simon Millington:Well, yeah, I started playing probably around 10 or 11.
Simon Millington:So I was playing, I'm going to say football, but soccer in my garden with my best friend and his dad was taking him to play golf.
Simon Millington:That's how I started.
Simon Millington:He said, did you want to come and play with us?
Simon Millington:And that's how I started, but my brother at the time, so we had a, the family had a boat and my brother loved boats and he went into the boat industry and he was three years older than me and everybody goes, what a fantastic thing to do to be in the boat industry, something you're passionate about, you know.
Simon Millington:And he went, you know, that's what he did for a number of years.
Simon Millington:And so young brother, I thought, well, I love golf, so I'm going to go in the golf business and kind of started phoning around and trying to become a rep for companies and that was how it all started 40 odd years ago.
Jeff Tracy:So was that in this country or in your home country?
Simon Millington:That was in the uk, yeah.
Jeff Tracy:So yeah, yeah.
Jeff Tracy:Is it, is it different being a rep over there than it is here?
Jeff Tracy:I mean my, my family had a retail business for 20 odd years and so I got to know the reps not in the golf world but a different business.
Jeff Tracy:But point is a lot of those guys were independent.
Jeff Tracy:Even if they had worked for a main brand, they always had some sidelines too.
Jeff Tracy:Is it similar?
Simon Millington:Yeah, it is, yes.
Simon Millington:So I mean it was found me like literally I, I probably had, I don't know, three or I phoned around from a golf magazine phoning up saying, hey, can I be a rep in at the time, the south of England and getting these, these little agencies and stuff like that.
Simon Millington:I mean just on commission only I was, I was young at the time, I was like 18.
Simon Millington:Just started to drive and off I went going around repping to, to all these, these pro shops at the time and then sort of gradually got into various parts of it and you know, here we are in Henderson, Nevada.
Simon Millington:I didn't see that coming, but.
Jeff Tracy:I don't want to belabor this too much, but did they do the same things?
Jeff Tracy:I know with the reps in my family's business, they always had a big sample line and as their prominence grew as a rep and they got more lines, their sample lines got bigger and they started out in a car and pretty soon they were driving a van and then pretty soon they had a truck and trailer and all kinds of things.
Jeff Tracy:Was that kind of similar?
Simon Millington:Well, yeah, actually, yeah, completely similar.
Simon Millington:I mean I started off with almost a suitcase full of some samples of, I think I had golf balls, a putter line, a head cover line and then I started actually having stock.
Simon Millington:So I then I went to a trailer behind my car and then I did go to a, to a van to, and actually had inventory on it and driving around and selling it off the back, driving all.
Simon Millington:I went from sort of being in the south of England to going up and down the country and, you know, and.
Simon Millington:And that was it.
Simon Millington:Yeah.
Simon Millington:So, yeah, I actually the three things you mentioned, literally, that was the progression at the time.
Jeff Tracy:Well, there's one thing about doing it that way, I think, Simon, is that is you learn the trade and you learn the industry, but that's really organic and grassroots, you might say.
Jeff Tracy:But that's a one way to learn and I think it's the best way anyway.
Jeff Tracy:That's just me, but.
Simon Millington:No, I agree.
Simon Millington:Yeah.
Simon Millington:I mean, it's you, you, you know, particularly when you're on commission only or, you know, you're out there trying to do it and, you know, you start, you know, people always say, oh, you know, how did you get into this?
Simon Millington:You know, I started trying to make a living.
Simon Millington:That's, you know, people always talk about where your business ends up, but, you know, your primary focus when you start a business for most people, I think, is to, you know, feed the kids sort of thing.
Simon Millington:So.
Jeff Tracy:Right.
Jeff Tracy:Sometimes it's a long wait between those $80 commission checks, you know.
Simon Millington:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Simon Millington:A lot of food at the side of the side of the freeway was eaten and stuff.
Simon Millington:Yeah.
Jeff Tracy:So as, as you were going along, what, what prompted you to start looking into some of these classic brands like McGregor and Ram and now you've got Hogan.
Jeff Tracy:What.
Jeff Tracy:What made you think to go that direction?
Simon Millington:So one of the things I.
Simon Millington:So after I'd sort of done the wholesale bit, I started in golf course management, then into retail and I ended up owning about seven golf shops in the UK.
Simon Millington:I sold them and I.
Simon Millington:In that meantime, about 19.
Simon Millington: Well,: Simon Millington:I thought it was a good idea to go into the US wholesale, you know, young and stupid and just, you know, you've kind of fearless at that age.
Simon Millington:Right.
Simon Millington:And so we, I did that, sold the golf shops and then flying over to Palm Springs, I read about this thing called ebay.
Simon Millington:So we ended up having retail stores in Palm Springs and on the way there, so I'm reading, you know, it's the summer, it's 125 degrees, there's not a lot of foot traffic coming in for golfers.
Simon Millington:So we launched on ebay and, you know, had no idea, couldn't get the listing to work.
Simon Millington:Luckily, my brother had gone from boats to computers so he could help me get the picture up.
Simon Millington:Because instead of a little cross and all this sort of stuff, and we sold to the first sale we made.
Simon Millington:We said we put something on.
Simon Millington:It was a set of tailor made irons, the old burner irons, the copper colored ones.
Jeff Tracy:Right.
Simon Millington:And we put, and we put a listing on there.
Simon Millington:I managed to get this listing to go on and I'm wandering around in the store and I came back like 20 minutes later and it had sold $449.
Simon Millington:I can remember the price.
Simon Millington:It's like this Internet stuff might be interesting.
Simon Millington:And so we started doing that and we, you know, we were effectively like we, we'd be buying deals and trying to find deals to sell online through, you know, various sites, but primarily ebay at the time.
Simon Millington:And that was great.
Simon Millington:But the trouble was you're always reliant on a deal.
Simon Millington:You know, if you couldn't find deals, you couldn't.
Simon Millington:You didn't have a business.
Jeff Tracy:Right, right.
Simon Millington:So originally I started, I came up with a brand name, sort of in the shower Morning of Texan Classic.
Simon Millington: ell that we had control of in: Simon Millington:Now I'm going to take you through a whole host of sort of brands that we own that are industry brands that people may or may not remember.
Simon Millington:But we bought Confidence Golf, they'd gone out of business in Palm Springs and we bought all the inventory and we bought the brands, Confidence Golf.
Simon Millington:And then from then we got, we have Palm Springs, we have Prosimmon, which is a really.
Simon Millington:It was very well known in Europe and Australia.
Simon Millington:And so we gradually started buying these brands.
Simon Millington:Young Gun, which was the biggest junior brand in Europe.
Simon Millington:We bought Forgot of St.
Simon Millington:Andrews, which is the oldest golf brand in the world, particularly known to collectors and stuff like that.
Simon Millington:So we gradually started our own sort of rank brands.
Simon Millington:And then about, I'm going to say six or seven years ago we got the opportunity, I kind of hunted it down to buy Ram and Zebra.
Simon Millington:So that was kind of the first of our sort of what I would class as our bigger brands, our premium brands.
Simon Millington:And then we.
Simon Millington:And actually Teardrop at the same time there.
Simon Millington:So we did that and that was we, we bought those from Dick Sporting Goods.
Simon Millington:They also owned McGregor and they weren't really doing too much with that.
Simon Millington:So we ended up buying McGregor from them as well.
Simon Millington:And then the end of last year we took on a license.
Simon Millington:So with Ben Hogan, so with Perry Ellis, from Perry Ellis, who own.
Simon Millington:Who are the brand owners of Ben Hogan.
Simon Millington:So that's kind of completed our portfolio and we kind of like the way, you know, we've got a lot of new products coming out and you know, but like in terms of sort of a club ranges, like we've got Ram, McGregor, Ben Hogan.
Simon Millington:So we've kind of got good, better, best.
Jeff Tracy:Yeah.
Simon Millington:So across our lines and you know, we kind of take those lines and we, you know, we try and have everything from if you're a starting golfer to a senior golfer at the end of your career, we like to have everything in between.
Simon Millington:So juniors, excellent.
Jeff Tracy:We're going to take a break.
Jeff Tracy:We're going to be back with Simon Millington, the CEO of Golf Brands Inc.
Jeff Tracy:Down in Henderson, Nevada.
Jeff Tracy:He didn't choose to go to a cooler spot from Palm Springs to Henderson, but we'll talk about that later.
Jeff Tracy:You're listening to grilling at the green.
JT:Hey, everybody, J.T.
Jeff Tracy:Here.
JT:You know, every week on Grilling at the Green we bring you a travel tip and that is brought to you by the Westin dealerships.
JT:I've known those guys since I was a kid and they have one way of doing business.
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JT:It's family oriented and there's no better people to deal with.
JT:Check out Weston Kia on Southeast Stark in Gresham, Oregon.
Simon Millington:This is Gary Christian and you are listening to Jeff Tracy and Grilling at the green.
Jeff Tracy:Welcome back to GRILLING at the green.
Jeff Tracy:I'm Jeff Tracy and we're talking about science and Millington today from Golf brands.
Jeff Tracy:They have McGregor and they have Ram and they have zebra putters.
Jeff Tracy:And just last fall they acquired the licensing for Hogan and we're going to talk more about that.
Jeff Tracy:But first I'm going to put Simon, ask him to put his thinking cap on.
Jeff Tracy:This is a part of the segment, Simon, where and I know you can do this.
Jeff Tracy:We asked for golf travel tips and I know you just got home from an extensive trip over in Asia.
Jeff Tracy:So if you were going to tell our listeners something to really be aware of when they're traveling on a golf adventure, what would it be?
Simon Millington:I mean, one thing's for sure that comes to mind, which is if you've got a driver that you can take the head off, take it off, stop the airlines taking it off mid flight.
Simon Millington:I've seen many a driver turn up with the shaft broken.
Simon Millington:So, yeah, take the head off the driver would be a good travel tip for sure.
Jeff Tracy:Absolutely.
Jeff Tracy:And we want to thank the folks, my good friends over at Weston Kia in Gresham, Oregon.
Jeff Tracy:They, they back this show and they're a great dealer in Fact, they're the number one dealer in Oregon and southwest Washington for Kia cars.
Jeff Tracy:Anyway, as we said, we're talking with Simon Millington from Golf Brands Inc.
Jeff Tracy:When you.
Jeff Tracy:I have a set of Hogan's, by the way, that I got about, I don't know, three, four years ago and I just thought I'd throw that in for you.
Jeff Tracy:Have you seen an uptick in your business since you, and it's fairly recent, but since you acquired the licensing for the Hogan brand?
Simon Millington:Yeah, I mean, it's been tremendously well received.
Simon Millington:You know, the product, I mean, the product is beautiful.
Simon Millington:It's.
Simon Millington:I mean, you can't make, you know, the, the forge lines, you can't make better.
Simon Millington:There isn't better golf equipment out there.
Jeff Tracy:Right.
Simon Millington:You literally can't spend more money.
Simon Millington:You can't do it better.
Simon Millington:With custom building everything in the U.S.
Simon Millington:in Henderson, it's all done in house here we've got a team of, you know, really high quality assemblers that are doing all the assembly.
Simon Millington:And you know, it's, it's really allowed us to build on just with Ben Hogan, but also across our other brands to offer more and more options for custom fit, you know.
Simon Millington:So, yeah, it's been, it's been really good.
Simon Millington:It's, it's one of the things I like with Ben Hogan.
Simon Millington:It kind of drives us to be better.
Simon Millington:It makes everything we're doing across all our brands better.
Simon Millington:And, you know, it's kind of funny being an English guy and saying it, but, you know, I'm really proud to be doing it in the U.S.
Simon Millington:i absolutely love, I've been out with the assembly plant this morning.
Simon Millington:I love it.
Simon Millington:I love wandering around.
Simon Millington:I love looking what they're doing.
Simon Millington:I love looking at the orders.
Simon Millington:So, yeah, it's been a really positive thing for the business for sure.
Jeff Tracy:That's good.
Jeff Tracy:And when you say the word Hogan, he's been gone for quite a while and all that, but it still is synonymous with work ethic, quality, laser focus, if you will, all of those things.
Jeff Tracy:I don't think it's one of those things that's ever going to go away myself.
Simon Millington:No, no, I absolutely agree.
Simon Millington:It's our job to make it relevant across and to tell the story to younger golfers, you know, who may not have heard of either Mr.
Simon Millington:Hogan or the brand.
Simon Millington:But you know, we, we still have a sort of a devout following for sure with the, you know, I mean, like, it makes me smile when I go look at the orders and I see the blade, the icon blade that we do, which is, I mean, it's a beautiful blade, but it's a blade, right.
Simon Millington:And we're making them with a senior graphite shaft in it.
Simon Millington:These guys are still sticking with it.
Simon Millington:It's like they want to play golf with a bladed club and you know, no matter what their age.
Simon Millington:But you know, if you, if you like a sort of M for you know, as regarded, you know, as fabulous as their golf clubs are from Japan, you know, we feel that we're America's version of that.
Simon Millington:And the clubs, I believe our clubs are absolutely as good, if not better in some cases than theirs.
Simon Millington:And you know, we're very proud of that.
Simon Millington:And so for us it's to keep building on that Ben Hogan legacy, you know, and you know, from the turf up and all of his way of doing things, you know, okay, we're going to have to modernize some things that, you know, we need to do but really make it relevant.
Simon Millington:And the most important thing I say is to try and tell the story that, you know, we want people to, you know, there's the sort of.
Simon Millington:The Hoganites as I call them, are absolute devout followers, but we want people who haven't had a set of Ben Hogan's before to realize this is an American built club.
Simon Millington:It's as good as you can get.
Simon Millington:It's as good as anything.
Simon Millington:And you know, really sort of focus on that because that's the next generation we need.
Simon Millington:You know, it's like we can't just have a sort of an older generation who are devout to.
Simon Millington:Right to Ben Hogan.
Simon Millington:We got to get the new following.
Simon Millington:So that's kind of our job to get that across.
Jeff Tracy:I would almost think that would apply to McGregor too, because McGregor was big when I was a kid.
Jeff Tracy:Yeah.
Simon Millington:I mean the thing is for me, which is really kind of, I mean, pleasing is like, you know, I've been in the golf business 40 years now.
Simon Millington:McGregor, Ram, Zebra were the brands, you know, I mean.
Jeff Tracy:Right.
Simon Millington:You know, I've, I've talked about this before, but we.
Simon Millington:No other golf company in the world has more major wins than our brands.
Simon Millington:Now Wilson are number one.
Simon Millington:But McGregor, Ram, Ben Hogan, no big with.
Simon Millington:With.
Simon Millington:And that's, you know, I mean, that's a pretty incredible thing.
Simon Millington:Right, right.
Simon Millington:You know, I guess starting on the road in the back with a suitcase to owning these brands.
Simon Millington:At the time, you know, I can remember a friend of mine who was rep from McGregor at the time with the, the big Mac putter thing that Jack won the Open with.
Simon Millington:And you know, I remember him, they couldn't sell him fast enough.
Simon Millington:I said, oh, it must be fantastic to be selling McGregor.
Simon Millington:And then, you know, at no point in my life did I ever think I'd be owning it at that point.
Simon Millington:So, you know, we're very, you know, I'm particularly very proud that we own these brands and, you know, we're bringing them back to life but with really good quality.
Simon Millington:We've got the best designer, you know, across our putter line and across our club lines.
Simon Millington:We're using the best designers that probably in the history of golf.
Simon Millington:A number of them, you know, from putters through Austin Rollinson who was head of Odysseys now at Scotty Cameron, Larry Tang who came up with the two ball putter.
Simon Millington:They've been working on our putter lines and irons.
Simon Millington:And then we have Gavin Wallen who came from Adam, he was with Adams in their heyday and then worked for other brands as well.
Simon Millington:But he's, he's now our full time designer.
Simon Millington:And, you know, we're, the products we're turning out are as good as anybody, but we, you know, we, we don't have the rush turnaround of other companies, but we, you know, so every, we're really driven to reigniting these brands.
Simon Millington:So people get them and go, wow, you know, this is, you know, they're making McGregor about making go great golf clubs or Ram or whatever it is.
Jeff Tracy:Right, right.
Simon Millington:They're really sort of buying into kind of what we're doing and what we're trying to do.
Jeff Tracy:No, I think that's.
Jeff Tracy:That.
Jeff Tracy:I think that's great.
Jeff Tracy:I think it's very admirable, too.
Jeff Tracy:We are going to take a break.
Jeff Tracy:We're going to come back with Simon Millington.
Jeff Tracy:Excuse me.
Jeff Tracy:From Golf Brands Inc.
Jeff Tracy:Down in Henderson, Nevada.
Jeff Tracy:I've got more questions.
Jeff Tracy:That's not unusual either.
Jeff Tracy:Anyway, Simon and I'll be back in just a minute.
Jeff Tracy:Stay with us.
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Jeff Tracy:You won't regret it.
Jeff Tracy:Welcome back to grilling at the Green.
Jeff Tracy:I'm Jeff Tracy, or JT as people call me.
Jeff Tracy:Real quick.
Jeff Tracy:We want to thank the folks at Painted Hills Natural beef.
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Jeff Tracy:So we're talking with Simon Millington from Golf Brands.
Jeff Tracy:I was just thinking when we went to break, maybe you should call your guy if he's still around your friend that used to sell McGregor and bring him under the fold too, you know?
Simon Millington:Yeah, yeah.
Simon Millington:I think he's a.
Simon Millington:Well, funny enough, his son worked for us for a number of years, so.
Jeff Tracy:Oh, really?
Jeff Tracy:Yeah.
Simon Millington:It's been a bit of a family affair over the years and, you know, I'm lucky.
Simon Millington:I work.
Simon Millington:Both my sons are in the business and, you know, we work together every day.
Simon Millington:So that's a, you know, as a father from.
Simon Millington:From.
Simon Millington:It's a, you know, a great thing to have.
Jeff Tracy:So you're always a guy that is on the go, it seems like from our brief discussions prior to you coming on the show.
Jeff Tracy:What are you looking at?
Jeff Tracy:And when you're looking at a brand, is it just the historical significance, if you look to revitalize, regenerate and give a resurgent to a brand name or how do you look at that and make a decision?
Simon Millington:Look, I'm definitely emotionally attached to these brands.
Simon Millington:Like I say, you know, from when I was sort of starting in the industry, they were the brand names.
Simon Millington:And, you know, part of it is you look at it and go, look, these.
Simon Millington:We, we could sort of do another brand and we could spend a ton of money on marketing to get people to know about it and stuff like that.
Simon Millington:But, you know, we start with great brand equity on these brands.
Simon Millington:Okay.
Simon Millington:They may have, you know, over the years they've ended up in different places and stuff like that.
Simon Millington:But, you know, to come back and go, you know, we're doing these fantastic golf clubs with Ram, with McGregor, with Ben Hogan.
Simon Millington:And, you know, obviously the way you Know I always say to people is like, no matter what anybody thinks, the golf clubs we make today are better.
Simon Millington:The best McGregors that have ever been made and the best rams have ever been made, the best Ben Hogan because of the technology.
Simon Millington:And I'm not saying, I'm not saying that they did stuff that was bad before, but the quality of golf clubs in the last 20 years has improved, you know, 20 fold.
Simon Millington:You know, so, so we, we really look and go right, we can take this brand on, we can really ignite it.
Simon Millington:You know, like Ben Hogan was, was fantastic.
Simon Millington:You know, for us to get, because to have that real high end forging is, you know, it fits in brilliant with what we're doing.
Simon Millington:And we've got some beautiful forged lines coming out this year in both Ram and McGregor as well.
Simon Millington:But it just, you know, like I say is our job now is to reignite the brands in terms of quality.
Simon Millington:So if you get it, it's like, you know, I hope anybody who buys a product from us goes, wow, this is unbelievably good.
Simon Millington:You know, and for the price we pay, we do a lot of it is direct to consumer so the prices tend to be lower than you would expect to see anywhere else.
Simon Millington:And you know, we're building them in the U.S.
Simon Millington:you know, so if you order a set of clubs, it's not getting built in China and shipped by FedEx over like you know, other companies do, you know, we're here, we take, you know, with American jobs and paying taxes here and doing the stuff, you know.
Simon Millington:And like I say, I might be English but we're, I'm really, really proud that we do this here in the United States and you know, we're shipping all around the world and you know, like I say when I wander out and look at the orders and they're lined up and there's some from Australia and there's some from the UK and Germany and Sweden and it's like, it's really exciting to see that and to be shipping out everywhere.
Jeff Tracy:Was there when you acquired Hogan and the deal finally went through?
Jeff Tracy:Was there inventory left over in for worth that you could bring to Nevada?
Simon Millington:Yeah, so some of the, so the products that we're selling at the moment was existing inventory both in Nevada, sorry, both in Fort Worth and then also in the, in the Far East.
Simon Millington:So we've, we've taken all that on.
Simon Millington:We have got, we've got currently one new model out which is the PTX tour and we, we're working on, there'll be a New driver that's probably about three to four months away and similarly, a new set of irons.
Simon Millington:And then come next year, there'll be another couple of sets of irons.
Simon Millington:There's a new golf bag range.
Simon Millington:There's a new.
Simon Millington:And there's some additional wedges coming out.
Simon Millington:There'll be a new putter.
Simon Millington:So golf.
Simon Millington:A lot of golf bags.
Simon Millington:So, yeah, we've got a lot of new products coming, but we've also got the older product that was existing there last.
Simon Millington:Last year.
Jeff Tracy:Is there a.
Jeff Tracy:A better time of year to launch something?
Jeff Tracy:And, you know, we, we see this Simon with, you know, Titleist and Callaway and Taylor made and all those guys, and they.
Jeff Tracy:The PGA show comes around and they kind of tease you in the fall about it.
Jeff Tracy:The PGA show comes around and all of a sudden you're inundated with all these club lines.
Jeff Tracy:Sometimes personally, and you can call me stodgy for that, I wouldn't be offended.
Jeff Tracy:But sometimes I think, man, it's just so overwhelming for the consumer with a, with a club line.
Jeff Tracy:Let's stay with Hogan's for a second.
Jeff Tracy:Is there a more optimal time to say, you know, we know you've been smothered by all this other stuff, but here's a brand new Hogan driver and kind of let them maybe breathe in between, if you follow me.
Simon Millington:Yeah, I mean, listen, we're definitely different in terms of what the industry does.
Simon Millington:So the industry is obviously always going to sort of this, you know, the next spring selling.
Simon Millington:Right.
Simon Millington:So.
Simon Millington:And also with the big brands, you know, you see it constantly.
Simon Millington:I mean, amongst them, you know, TaylorMade, people like that, you know, they're rolling out new clubs, new drivers, definitely every season, could be every six months.
Simon Millington:It's a constant cycle of like, we need to keep the machine.
Simon Millington:You know, they have a big machine to keep, and they're fantastic at it.
Jeff Tracy:Right.
Simon Millington:Whereas as a sort of a smaller family business, you know, we.
Simon Millington:We spend a lot of time.
Simon Millington:We have to get the club right.
Simon Millington:You know, tooling is extremely expensive.
Simon Millington:You know, to taller set of irons is sort of $40,000.
Simon Millington:Right.
Simon Millington:So, you know, to tool a driver to do all that stuff and, you know, we.
Simon Millington:We have to get that right when we're doing it as a smaller company because, you know, we can't keep making mistakes.
Simon Millington:And, you know, like other ones, you can kind of make a mistake, they'll clear them out, they'll go on to the next one.
Simon Millington:It's six months, like, whatever it is.
Simon Millington:Right.
Simon Millington:We don't do that so our big focus is like we're going to change the models when there is better equipment to be, you know, we can make something better.
Jeff Tracy:Yes.
Simon Millington:So it could be a two year cycle, it could be a three year cycle.
Simon Millington:And so in answer to your question, when do we launch our golf clubs?
Simon Millington:We launch them when we're ready.
Simon Millington:We're direct to consumer.
Simon Millington:We're not governed by, you know, what one of the big retailers needs.
Simon Millington:We're totally focused on let's get the product perfect.
Simon Millington:If it, if it comes out in November, if it comes out in July, if it comes out in May, it doesn't matter to us.
Simon Millington:We do it when it's ready and it's right.
Simon Millington:And obviously not being in the, you know, like you say that that time and around the PGA show, we'd also get lost if we brought stuff out there.
Simon Millington:We will bring stuff out in January if it's ready in January, but we're not fixated on that as a date.
Simon Millington:So, you know, we'll get more attention on a new Ben Hogan driver in July or August because people aren't bringing golf clubs out then.
Simon Millington:But we do it.
Simon Millington:It's ready.
Simon Millington:That's when it's ready.
Simon Millington:And it just, it's literally as much as when do we launch it?
Simon Millington:When it's ready and we've got it.
Simon Millington:That's it.
Simon Millington: , they had the top blades for: Simon Millington:We don't actually have them in yet for another month, which is frustrating, so forget this.
Simon Millington:But it was like we put them in for the test.
Simon Millington:It's, you know, when you, when you're beating Ping and Scotty Cameron and Betonard and stuff, you know, it's really proud again, that was.
Simon Millington:Larry Tang designed all those.
Simon Millington:But it's, you know, that's it.
Simon Millington:We, it just happens.
Simon Millington:We put them into the test and they're not going to be into the middle of April.
Simon Millington:That's it is what it is.
Simon Millington:It took that long to get them right.
Simon Millington:You know, there was a lot of work went into them and so.
Jeff Tracy:No, that's all right.
Jeff Tracy:It's only a couple.
Jeff Tracy:That's the way anyway, so.
Jeff Tracy:Yeah, yeah.
Jeff Tracy:Have you had to do.
Jeff Tracy:There's a famous story about Mr.
Jeff Tracy:Hogan.
Jeff Tracy:I actually saw him once.
Jeff Tracy:I didn't talk to him but I was at his club and saw him sitting in the corner eating lunch.
Jeff Tracy:He was, he was a lot older in those days and I was 4 years old.
Jeff Tracy:So anyway, the Point is, is there's a famous story about him looking at the iron sets.
Jeff Tracy:They just come off the assembly line.
Jeff Tracy:He looked at him, he didn't like them, and he threw them all away.
Jeff Tracy:You haven't had.
Jeff Tracy:You haven't had to ever do that, have you?
Simon Millington:No, no, we haven't, luckily.
Simon Millington:Yeah.
Simon Millington:Yeah, we, you know, it's like.
Simon Millington:Like I say, we.
Simon Millington:We go through quite a process.
Simon Millington:I mean, sort of really more than you could imagine, to get stuff right.
Simon Millington:So, you know, we.
Simon Millington:I mean, literally, we'll test stuff.
Simon Millington:I'll go and test it.
Simon Millington:I'll give it to people to try and test of all handicaps.
Simon Millington:I'll, you know, be it from a golf ball to a golf bag and stuff.
Simon Millington:You know, we kind of do it like a golfer would.
Simon Millington:It's like, oh, I could do with a pocket there.
Simon Millington:That would be handy on a golf bag, you know.
Simon Millington:And so, like, we.
Simon Millington:We kind of do it, you know, we're not just sitting in a.
Simon Millington:In a sort of a design studio coming up with design.
Simon Millington:We're actually going out and testing them.
Simon Millington:We're giving to golfers to hit them.
Simon Millington:And, yeah, we haven't.
Simon Millington:We haven't had too many horror stories, I'm pleased to say.
Jeff Tracy:Well, that's.
Simon Millington:I'm not saying there's never been any, but just certainly even to, you know, we're looking to launch a new golf ball and one I found that I really liked, but I took it out to test it on Saturday and literally, it wasn't my finest round of golf.
Simon Millington:But you'd hit it and the COVID would cut so easily.
Simon Millington:It was like, you know, the good old days of a balata golf ball.
Jeff Tracy:Yeah.
Simon Millington:So that's it, you know, like, we can sit in the studio, we can test all the, you know, all the compression and all these things and, you know, be pleased with the golf ball.
Simon Millington:And, you know, I've got covered in my desk here is golf balls cut in two to check, you know, the way the cores are and stuff like that.
Simon Millington:But you go and hit it and it cuts.
Simon Millington:So it's like, you know, it's back to the drawing board on that.
Simon Millington:So we.
Simon Millington:We kind of do those sort of from everywhere, from having the greatest designers design them and come up with all the tech to actually go in and hitting them and getting good players, bad players, everybody in between to have a hit, you know.
Jeff Tracy:So I would think that, you know, putting a smiley face on the COVID of a ball these days is not a high priority for people.
Simon Millington:Yeah, yeah, no, no.
Simon Millington:Exactly.
Simon Millington:So it's, you know, we try, like I say, we just take our time and we try and get it right.
Simon Millington:And we're not in a, you know, there's no pressure.
Simon Millington:It's a family business.
Simon Millington:We're not under any pressure from shareholders or investors or anything else that we got to get this out and we've got to do this.
Simon Millington:We've got to get a golf ball launch.
Simon Millington:It's like we're not going to launch the golf ball now for a bit longer because it wasn't.
Simon Millington:Right.
Jeff Tracy:Right.
Simon Millington:So, you know, until we get it right, we're not launching it.
Simon Millington:And, and, you know, that's the site.
Simon Millington:We don't want to bring in thousands of dozens of golf balls and then get them all back.
Simon Millington:People be unhappy with them, you know.
Jeff Tracy:So, yeah, absolutely.
Jeff Tracy:We're going to take a break.
Jeff Tracy:We're going to come back, wrap up the show with Simon Millington.
Jeff Tracy:He is the CEO of Golf Brand Think down in Henderson, Nev.
Jeff Tracy:And Simon and I will be back in just a couple minutes.
JT:Hey, everybody, JT here.
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JT:Birdieball.com.
Jeff Tracy:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Jeff Tracy:Today we are talking with Simon Millington from Golf Brands Inc.
Jeff Tracy:Very interesting story.
Jeff Tracy:You've had a really interesting life too, Simon.
Jeff Tracy:I mean, the, you know, growing up in the UK now owning a big golf company.
Jeff Tracy:No, it's not as big as Titleist, but for one family, it's a big golf company.
Jeff Tracy:Regardless of the number of brands in your line, you've got that you have to travel what other things, what other products, so you don't have to give away the company secrets.
Jeff Tracy:But what other products are you looking at to add to your lines?
Simon Millington:Like, we're definitely completing lines, if you like, at the moment.
Simon Millington:So, you know, for instance, with Ben Hogan, we're doing, we'll have golf balls, we'll have gloves, we'll have a full range of golf bags that was lacking before.
Simon Millington:We'll have, you know, sort of the travel, you know, the nice sort of the Boston bags and shoe bags and products like that, headwear.
Simon Millington:So we're trying to complete all of our brands because again, you know, we get sometimes you get, you know, it could be, I don't know, you know, it's like you get fixated on.
Simon Millington:We're Doing this new iron.
Simon Millington:And then we've kind of, you know, as I say, it's a family business.
Simon Millington:We're already working together.
Simon Millington:We've not got teams of specialists in, you know, making shoe bags.
Simon Millington:So it's like, okay, we need to get that done.
Simon Millington:And then we know, you know, we've got to travel and, you know, we're launching McGregor clothing next year.
Simon Millington:So that's, you know, becomes another whole project and a kind of a different skill set.
Simon Millington:So we need to get some different people in to kind of look after that, because we're not, you know, I'm a kind of hard, good guy.
Simon Millington:You know, I'm a golf club and golf bags.
Simon Millington:I'm in that hard, dirty bit of the industry.
Simon Millington:So the clothing is a tougher one for us.
Simon Millington:But, you know, you know, we will be launching that next year.
Simon Millington:So.
Simon Millington:Yeah, so it's completing lines.
Simon Millington:It's.
Simon Millington:It's improving lines.
Simon Millington:It's, you know, just sort of constant evolution.
Jeff Tracy:If you look, just FYI, Simon, I've got a Ben Hogan shirt on under this sweater, so.
Simon Millington:Very good.
Jeff Tracy:Yeah, I.
Jeff Tracy:I've been wearing them for a long time.
Jeff Tracy:They actually fit.
Jeff Tracy:I'm.
Jeff Tracy:I'm not a little tiny guy, and they fit me very well.
Jeff Tracy:So I've been wearing them for a long time.
Jeff Tracy:Just like I said, just FYI there.
Jeff Tracy:Where do you see golf brands five years from now?
Jeff Tracy:Where would you like to see it?
Simon Millington:I'd like.
Simon Millington:Well, kind of.
Simon Millington:I feel like we're in a very good place now.
Simon Millington:You know, we are.
Simon Millington:I'm really happy with the brands we have.
Simon Millington:I'm not looking for anything, particularly at the moment.
Simon Millington:I mean, you never know, something comes along.
Simon Millington:But sure.
Simon Millington:Mind you, I always say that, and then I always end up buying something else.
Simon Millington:But, you know, so definitely just, you know, growth.
Simon Millington:You know, obviously, we want to grow the business still.
Simon Millington:We're, you know, we're still very ambitious with the business and continue to grow, to build on our, you know, to really grow the reputation.
Simon Millington:I mean, I think the big, biggest thing in five years is that, you know, I want more people to.
Simon Millington:To talk about Ram, McGregor and Ben Hogan.
Simon Millington:Not as.
Simon Millington:Oh, yeah, I know them from back in the day.
Simon Millington:It's like, I want to play them because they're fantastic golf clubs.
Simon Millington:So that's.
Simon Millington:That's the thing that we have to work on.
Simon Millington:And, you know, like I say, we do it, be it with the media, be it whatever.
Simon Millington:You know, we're putting clubs in that we're proud to sell, that we are, you Know, we send them to reviews, you know, to.
Simon Millington:To get reviews that we do, you know, like to come second in my goal spot.
Simon Millington:You know, you start off, you to do a, you know, a putter test with the best will in the world.
Simon Millington:If I give you a Scotty Cameron and I give you a Zebra and I give you an Odyssey, you're already favoring the Scotty Cameron because you think it's the best putter there.
Simon Millington:So for us to get second and beat these brands is such an achievement because, you know, you've all you've got past Mindset as well at that point, you know, are expecting, not expecting that to be the best putter, you know, and it was, I think, the best putter from inside 10ft, which is, you know, the one probably that matters more than anything.
Simon Millington:So it's that constant, you know, brand elevation, if you like, that we're trying to do, but that comes from getting the product right to start with, you know, so.
Simon Millington:And then, you know, we're selling it all around the world now.
Simon Millington:We've got distributors in sort of every sort of corner of the world in a number of the brands.
Simon Millington:And that's pretty exciting when you're selling stuff to the Philippines and Indonesia and Australia, New Zealand and all these places.
Simon Millington:And it's like, you know, that's pretty pleasing when they're approaching you and want to be a distributor in.
Simon Millington:I say, you know, you wouldn't think the Philippines would be knocking your door down, but they are.
Simon Millington:And so that's really pleasing as well, you know, our continued sort of development of that.
Jeff Tracy:Yeah, well, the Philippines is more known for machine guns than it is Golf, so.
Simon Millington:Yeah, so, yeah, so it's, it's brilliant when you sell stuff there.
Simon Millington:I love, you know, say we just had orders this week, China and Taiwan and.
Simon Millington:And, you know, Germany and.
Simon Millington:And, you know, it's really pleasing when you see that.
Jeff Tracy:So for sure, absolutely.
Jeff Tracy:Is the European market for American goods rising?
Simon Millington:Yeah, I think so.
Simon Millington:I think it's, you know, I feel that it has that cued us, you know, made in, you know, say we're building everything here is like in America.
Simon Millington:It means.
Simon Millington:It still means something around the world, for sure, you know, and like I say, you know, I would say the same sort of being proudly English, if you like that, you know, Made in England still carries a certain kudos around the world.
Simon Millington:And so, yeah, I think there's definitely, you know, certainly in golf, you know, if you look at golf companies now, if you take out the Japanese, there's not really, it's Jack, Japan and America.
Simon Millington:That's really where the, the industry is owned.
Simon Millington:Right?
Simon Millington:So, yeah, I think there's definitely a.
Simon Millington:Still a love of American brands.
Simon Millington:I don't, I don't find any animosity anywhere, you know, any resistance to that.
Jeff Tracy:So, sure, we're gonna, we're gonna wrap up the show here, but Simon is gonna, he doesn't know it, but he's gonna stick around for a few minutes for the after hours, which is always the fun part.
Jeff Tracy:Simon, real quick, where can people find golf brands?
Jeff Tracy:Where can they find your websites to make orders or look at your products?
Simon Millington:I mean, I think if you, you can go.
Simon Millington:Each of their sites has their own domain.
Simon Millington:So if you went on ramgolf.com mcgregorgolf.com benhogengolf.com zebra golf.com you'll, you'll find all the brands there.
Simon Millington:So.
Simon Millington:But if you search us, we're here, there and everywhere, so you'll, you'll find us easy.
Jeff Tracy:I got it.
Jeff Tracy:I got it.
Jeff Tracy:All right, well, like I said, this is going to wrap it up for the regular show.
Jeff Tracy:We're going to jump into after hours here, but I want to thank Simon Millington from Golf Brands for joining us.
Jeff Tracy:Everybody out there, go out, play some golf, have some fun.
Jeff Tracy:Be kind and enjoy your week.
Jeff Tracy:Take care, everybody.
Host:Grilling at the Green is produced by JTSD Productions, LLC in association with Salem Media Group.
Host:All rights reserve.
