Nestled among the sandhills and towering pines of the Cradle Of American Golf, the world’s foremost leader in golf club grip design won’t stop innovating.
With its headquarters strategically situated inside the entrance of the newly-renovated Pinehurst No. 8 property, Golf Pride’s Global Innovation Center (GIC) is a facsimile of the resort on which it sits: rich in history, but always with an eye to the future.
The GIC lives up to its name as soon as a golfer pulls into its parking lot. Looking more like a modern golf course clubhouse than an office building, clients, customers and golf lovers alike are welcomed into grip nirvana as soon as they enter the lobby.
To the left, Golf Pride Tour Technician Andy Bare is hard at work doing what he does best – regripping clubs – in the state-of-the-art Retail Lab, a name that impeccably describes an Apple Store-esque approach to selling golf grips in a Tour Truck atmosphere.
Complete with a wooden bar, guests can get up close and personal while watching their clubs get the Tour treatment from Bare.
Heading out of the Retail Lab and through the headquarters escorted by Audrey Rodriguez, Golf Pride’s Global Brand Marketing Leader, and Jamie Ledford, the President of Golf Pride, your inner golf nerd is fully gruntled as golf grip information spills from both like a fountain.
Making your way through the open-concept office, there are unmistakable holes in the ground, which comprises a 9-hole putting course throughout the office that breaks up some of the day-to-day monotony, although there’s no sign of beaten-down cubicle inhabitants anywhere.
Employees are gathered in small groups of three or four throughout the office, indistinguishably talking about grip innovation or their latest round of golf – an enviable work environment.
Ledford and Rodriguez make our next stop in the data collection portion of the building, which is a fancy way of saying a very cool golf room, complete with a simulator and putting green. It’s here that Ledford shares the story behind the company’s current marketing campaign – New Grips. More Distance.
While OEMs are promising 10 more yards with these irons and 20 more yards with this driver, Golf Pride has put its marketing budget behind the idea that new grips can add two yards of carry distance. Sound insignificant? Think about that the next time you come up a few feet short of a front pin and end up plugged in the lip of a bunker.
Encouraged by their reps on Tour to dig in on the two-yard distance improvement, Golf Pride has put a major emphasis on research and data collection with golfers of all skill levels to confidently promote the “more distance and yardage claim based on a study of worn vs. new Golf Pride grips with adept golfers.”
Through the office portion, Ledford led us to where the magic happens – the Global Prototyping Lab. Behind one door is one of the most sophisticated rooms of innovation in the country. A few desks at the front are easily overlooked as large machines steal your gaze. It’s incredible to think how machines this size create products built for your hands.
Ledford gives a cursory tour and explains that every grip Golf Pride produces more or less starts here. From prototype to finished product, once an idea comes to mind, the in-house engineers work to create molds, and a grip can be spit out within hours. From there, if deemed to be a winner, the process is automated and expanded in overseas factories.
The ability to see the headquarters with the best tour guides you could hope for perfectly encapsulates the pride, enthusiasm and quality for which Golf Pride has become synonymous.
Golf grips aren’t going away, and with Golf Pride leading the charge, they’re only going to get better and better in the years to come.
To learn more about Golf Pride or their full line of premium grips and accessories, go to www.golfpride.com.
