Pt2 with Founder of Adams Golf - Barney Adams

For members only. Golf Smarter number three hundred and fifty two, published on October ninth, twenty twelve.

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Back when Calloway was Callaway and Eely was run on the company, they were so successful. It was basically tailor made that initiated the strategy of changing product designs, and they tried to do it so fast that Calloway couldn't catch up. And they did it as a marketing strategy because they couldn't figure out how to be Calloway any other way. And it has now become the norm in

Part two with the founder of Adams Golf, Barney Adams.

This is Golf Smarter, sharing tips and insights from golfers and golf professionals to help lower your score. It's worked for your host, Fred Green.

Welcome back to Golf Smarter for members only.

Barney, thank you very much. Thank you for extending me.

Oh thank you for agreeing to be extended, knowing that you have time. You don't have a tea time today that I have to worry about.

What what a brilliant entry that was.

Again, you're you're learning quickly about the world of podcasting. We make our own rules as we go along.

Here, gotcha why I've been doing that for a year, So that's okay.

Well, that's why I'm so fascinated by you, because I'm one of those guys too. It kind of like makes it up as I go along, and you know the way I always did things in my business. I've been self employed for over twenty five years now, and it's to me, it's I'm going to go out there and start making it happen and adjust as I move along. And people are, well, you need a business plan. You got to write up a business plan. I'm like, nay, no, you know what. Those are all just made up numbers.

On kindall. Yeah, As a matter of fact, there is a book called The Wow Factor Wow, written by your truly okay, And I will say that I wrote every word of it, so it wasn't as dictated to or as interpreted by or so on. And it's about Adam's golf. But more than that, it's really aimed at entrepreneurs. And I bring that up only in light of what you were just saying.

I'm listening very closely talk to me about the Wow Factor, and I'm sorry we weren't promoting audible day. Do you have the audiobook version of.

That, are you kid? I don't know. No, I don't know. I don't even know if there I don't think there is one. I mean, well, we should do that. We missed the best We just barely missed the bestseller list. But be that as it me. I just bring that up because I get asked a lot about how did you get started? And it's really kind of a long, involved story. And for those people that are really interested in if they want to read the book, fine, if they don't find not a big deal, tell us.

About the book.

Well, the book is is? It stems from how did you get started? Mm hmm. And then when I told them the story, the response would be, gosh, that's a heck of a story.

You got to do a book, And that was where you came up with the title.

Wow did not come from there. Wow actually came really from wow? Is my basic concept for running a business? How was that one?

I'm now I'm taking notes. Okay, Well stands for there's.

What I believe? And I bet you you practiced this and you don't even know it.

Probably do.

What. I introduced my first successful golf club. It was a club called the Tight Lies a fairway would. And when I I was I was working at a driving range, custom fitting people, and I had this idea for a golf club. And when I got my first samples and people hit it, I could hear them say to themselves, Wow, this is really good. And then in my mind that became the wow factor. Because I believe that every I believe two main things. Number one, I believe that no

You think that would put Apple over the top was when they went retail and really became a service business.

I don't know. I'm not I'm not. I'm not smart enough to really understand that and depth, I mean, I think and frankly speaking, I don't know if it was a conscious decision on their part or if it just sort of happened, you know, because they felt they they could retail their products better than other people could. I don't know the answer.

You know, read the Steve Jobs books.

Yeah, you know, it's it's just that that wow is not a casual thing with me, while was a culture.

And you believe, everybody's in a service business.

Absolutely, I don't care if you're selling hammers hmm.

And it's all about delivering to your customer. Absolutely, the customer is the product.

Not necessarily. As a matter of fact, I don't even believe in customer surveys. And everybody in the world does that, including Coca Cola. Remember New Coke. Yeah, co Cola did two years of customer surveys then come out with it came out with a product it almost broke the company.

Yeah, well, what was Henry Ford's line about, you know, like focus groups? I think customer surveys focus groups, right, Henry Ford said, yeah, if you ask people what are they gonna want a fast.

Exactly right, it'll drive you to mediocrity, right right. I'm this is arrogant, but I said, look, I know golf equipment. I mean, I've got years on range, you know, you name it, the background. I know what makes for a good golf club, and it's my job to deliver that message. Now, having said that, you can get good consumer reaction as to presentation, colors, et cetera. Because quite frankly, for me personally, once I know the club works, well, I don't care

In regards to clubmakers and the products that they put out these days, they have to it seems as if to stay in business they have to come up a new product product every six months and convince the consumer that this product is actually better than the last product we did. And yet there are so many restrictions put on them on what they can do. To golf clubs.

Well, I don't know. I don't know if I have enough time to go over all the places where you're wrong. So I'll try and oh, please shoot me now I know I am right. At the same time, to start off with, it isn't six months. I think it's fifteen minutes now. But that was the ele Calloway effect. What happened was back when Calloway was Callaway and there are nowhere near that now. But back when Calloway was Callaway

Hybrids.

Absolutely, So it's been a great product, especially for the average golfer. And understand one thing about golf club design. It has one objective, an f airborne and forward. If you can't get a ball up in the air and if it's not moving towards the target, then you haven't done anything for anybody. So you start with a n F and you go there hybrids are a great example of a n F. Yeah, and now we have adjustable drivers. I think maybe for the very serious they're probably something.

Back to then we come back to the ego on that is like, oh, I've got a driver that I can adjust like the head. Have you ever adjusted it?

Sure? Yes, Actually I have idsted the other day after I got it out of the water because I was mad at it. But I'll tell you Another one is the slots in the fairwy woods. If you've seen those, that makes the fairy woods better, period better. Really, fairywoods with slots.

Are better on the back part of the top and the bottom.

Yeah, and the and the reason why is because they create an environment and I won't go into all the technical stuff, but they create an environment where the MOI of the fairway wood is now about as great as the driver. Then that means more distance and that's a significant improvement.

Are you still involved in club design and club making?

No, I am not involved at all. Taylor made very politely, and I don't mean this in a facetious way said look, we're a big, strong company. We get a lot of assets, and we just don't need you anymore.

They had purchased your company.

Yes, they purchased Adam's Golf in June.

June of this year. Yes, Oh congratulations. So now you are very nicely retired. Huh.

Well, I'm I'm going fishing wherever I can because my golf game stinks.

Now you've gotten into fishing.

Oh, I've been in fishing for years.

And have you ever invented a product for fishing for fishermen and out?

The funny thing is, in my head. I always invent stuff in my head. It just never goes any further. But I actually invented a carry bag that would carry fishing rods and gear at the same time. And I might still do something with it, because it's it's not a terrible idea.

Yeah, I can't imagine you're going to be sitting still very much. You probably don't know it.

It's I am. And again, this is a question I've been asked a lot. You know, you look back upon the success that Adam's head and you know, doesn't that make it feel good? Et cetera, et cetera. And sure, you know you don't want to be uh whatever, it is just unappreciative. But by nature, I tend to look forward. By nature, I'm still the guy that wakes up in the middle of the night with ideas.

I it sounds like that you're you're your own personal mantras an f.

Yeah, pretty, that's a good line. That's I think I'll steal that.

Yes, it's my pleasure. Airborne and forward huh.

Yeah, yeah, Well I don't know about airport. If I get airport, I got a land. And if my land is going to be a real problem.

Well that's the a part thinking of albatra hitting hitting the water, right, it would be.

Worse than that. It would be worse than that, Yeah, it would be. It would be a catastrophe.

But you've been in not just golf. You've been a lot of you, let's say, taste in a lot of different industries, haven't you.

Yes, Yes, I started out out a cop. Well, let's see, I can go back to when I used to clean out stalls on the farm.

Where'd you grow up?

Upstate New York and the dairy country? And uh, my job was a two words both began with s And the first word for word.

Was shovel And do you have business cards printed up?

I was, I was going to do that, yes, And it was on a farm that was about five miles from our house, and I used to hitchhike back and forth, but I never got the same ride twice when I was coming home.

Oh that's the kid who's shovels.

Yes. And when I got home, my mother made me stand in the driveway. She hosed me off before she let me in the house.

Upstate New York in the winter. Huh.

Yeah, Well this was in the spring because the cows they bordered up all spring all winter, excuse me, and the stalls would fill up and then somebody had to go in and clean them out. And what you do is you pitched the product out the window onto a wagon and then we got in the wagon. This was horse drawn in those days, and we'd drive the wagon out in the field and then spread it out in the field for fertilizer, and then repeat the process all day long.

I can see where you became an entrepreneur.

Yes, it was. Well, it got me out of farming. That's archer. Yeah, that and bailing. Hey, it made me decide that farming was not in my future.

Okay, so then what was the next Where'd you go from there?

Well? I went to Clarkson University up in far Upstate, New York. They thought I want to be a student. I thought I was up there to play sports. But you know, I managed to get through and with sport, I played basketball, soccer, and golf.

Interesting, and.

I want to work for Corning Glass, very good company. I was a terrible employee. My idea was that whatever my job was, that my real job was to tell the people according how to run the company. And somehow that didn't go over very.

Well, you're just shoveling more. Huh.

Yeah, I just couldn't help. But I just saw all the advantages they were missing, and I thought I pointed out to them and so on. So I left there after nine years.

Isn't it amazing how smart we are when we come out of college, how much we know about everything in the world.

Well, I'm lucky because I've always been brilliant. It just other people haven't recognized that. But I ended up on the West Coast. I worked in the Silicon Valley in the semiconductor industry, and I can tell you all you need to know about that in one little vignette. Well, I started with Dave Pell's running his company in nineteen eighty. This was my big chance to be in the golf industry, was that?

And that was an ex for you.

It is like, oh that I was. I was, Yeah, absolutely right. I could use all my skills I accumulated over the years, et cetera. And it took me about two and a half years and I had them in bankruptcy. And you you could argue that, you know, it wasn't all my fault, et cetera. But one of the mantras is that when you're the top guy, you get all the praise and you get all the garbage, and that's just life in the big city. So it was my fault.

Helped beginning of the personal computer era.

Yeah, he helped started it. Yeah, helped them set up the booth at the show. Yeah. I was gonna work the booth with them, because you know, that's the right thing to do, and so on. And I can remember thinking, as you know, it's gosh, I've been here all day. It's time for lunch. And I looked at my watch and it was quarter nine in the morning.

Oh my god.

And I went to the Bitch Capital group that I worked for and I said, I'm out of here. I mean, I don't need any more, you know, I mean, what the heck.

Yeah, I was at a golf show all day long and didn't even realize it was.

Killed myself, killed by I could hardly walk when I got home. Yeah, absolutely, at nine, at eight forty five, I'm ready to leave. So I left the Silicon Valley started up on my own. Should have gone broke, Well, I was broke. I mean, what the heck I would to me, I should have. But I basically ran a Ponzi scheme where I ended up with forty two credit cards and borrowed money from one and paid off a little on the next one. And that's how I financed

It really it kind of exploded.

Huh oh yeah. We it became the largest selling Fairway would in the industry. We did a TV infomercial. It became the largest TV golf infommercial in history. We want sales. Our sales went from minuscule, you know, a couple hundred thousand bucks to eighty million in three years.

Wow.

Yeah, Wall Street came in ninety eight, we went public. Oops, the industry kind of slowed down. We fought our way.

Through, you know, in retrospect, was the going public? Was that a valuable thing?

It was valuable because it gave us money to stay alive.

I see.

And then uh, there was a kind of a dust up on the board and they wanted to sell the company. So Tailorman came along and bought it, and I go fishing. Nice end of story.

Wow does what would Dave Pel's What were you doing with him? And why do you need we made?

Yeah, we had. He had a product called Fellow Lights back in those days, which which didn't work, but they got a lot of detention at the Dame and then we I actually studied buddy of putters for two years of my life. And funny people, you know, want to explain putters to be like I've never seen one, And I actually spent probably more time on putters with Pelzy and I did anything else. So we just, you know, we were trying to come up with innovative ideas.

Wait, what's your opinion of the state of the equipment industry right now? The golf equipment industry.

Well, it's changed drastically and it's I think it's going to continue to change in the same we see. When I was active, we had like four thousand pro shop accounts and are roughly an equal number of retailers that we call doors. Today, you have still got four thousand pro shops accounts roughly and five retail accounts.

Interesting.

Yeah, and that consolidation means that it's become a numbers game. You'll walk into a retailer. He looks at the market share data. He says, well, your number three points four will give you ex percent of the budget. Thank you, and goodbye.

No conversation, no negotiation.

H's you know.

No relationships, forget that stuff.

There's there's always relationships. I mean, you're dealing with human beings, but you know, but the metrics is that they pretty much have to deal that way to cover themselves. It's pretty hard for a guy in a buying job to say, gee, I Fred, I think you got some great products, and even though nobody knows who you are, I'm going to give you some of the Taylor Made's four space that ain't going to happen.

Where does the next tide lines come from does it happen? I mean, yeah, we had hybrids.

They'll always be innovation. But because I'm gonna give I'm going to give you an answer. Call me in a year, maybe less. I had one of those middle of the night ers. So we shall see what we shall see him in the middle of the night in the shower a big your pardon?

Do you have those in the middle of the night or in the shower?

I in the middle of the night, I wake up, up, wake up, and I write it down. I get up the next morning and it says.

But then you're like, oh, that's really a good idea, or I'm going back to sleep.

Yeah, basically, yeah, So what the hell's the matter with you?

You've had a couple of those in your life, right at all?

Yeah? Lots of them.

Yeah, and you've made some of them work.

Yeah, some of them have worked out okay, and some of them been a joke. But that's you know, that's life.

But yeah, and haven't you learned a tremendous amount from those jokes?

Well, you learn more from you will learn I said this in the book. You'll learn way more from failure than you do from success.

I call that experience.

As a matter of fact, in the book, what I really try to do is point out all the dumb things I did, because that's how people learn.

Right.

You don't really learn much from from doing something right, because oh, well, I better keep doing this. What am I doing? I'm not sure, but I'm going to keep going.

Well, if you do stuff right, you think you're really smart.

Yeah, and everyone tells you are. That's what makes it worse.

Yeah, you find out that you're not so smart, and by that time it's too late.

Right right, Well, again, you said you learn a lot from doing something wrong. Again, I call that experience.

Could be I mean, if it's all the experience, if you recognize some people don't recognize.

It, right, that's so so true. But you think that that their innovation continues. And we're talking to the golf industry, and we can talk to any industry.

And will always continue. It's the bane of the golf industry. I realize it's pretty much a fashion business today, but it's a fashion business still with innovation involved.

And what about the status of golf courses with private courses seem to be struggling, public courses are struggling to stay open. Where where do you think that is headed?

Play the right t's you'll go a long way to fixing the problem.

Real simple?

Do you told you I'm a simple person? Yeah?

Did you come up with a nameta forward to? Or did PGA do focus.

With that name? And quite frankly, I didn't like it because I thought it was kind of delivered the wrong message. But I certainly appreciated their their support and getting on the bandwagon and so on.

So you know, I have to agree with you. I don't like it either, because again it's like it's almost.

I wanted I want to tour equivalent. They thought the word equivalent was too much of a mouthful.

Oh yeah, And you keep saying people are smart and they're saying no, no, no, we don't want to make them hard words.

That was I What can I tell you? It's their sandbox, so.

Go get your own cat and put it in their sandbags.

Exactly.

Yeah, I'm going to go back to tea at forward for a while. It's an interesting concept. It's hard to understand and it shouldn't be and the name doesn't do it justice and it kind of sends you in the wrong direction.

So we agree I think. So all right, good, will you come up with any uh brilliant ideas let me know? Well, yeah, because I'm I'm trying as hard as I can.

All right, so then I'm going to throw this out. We have a global audience of golfers who've been listening now for an hour.

Two They can't be awake now, they're probably asleep.

Well no, they put it on pause and they came Okay, they take a nap and yeah, they come back. And actually some people even listen multiple times. And I think you're so entertaining. They're going to be they need to get a life. But go on, well, hey, listen, they play golf.

Well that's true.

There they've already got big trouble.

Since the yard, I understand.

But if they have answers, they're probably right.

They're probably late for their psychiatrists.

It's probably well, they're caring. They're probably sitting in their psychiatrists listening to this, or on a bus, or they're at the driving range, so they're walking there.

I only know those people on one of them, so stand we're.

Both one of them. We are them.

Maybe they they enter the r S.

We if we have people uh from anywhere on the face of the earth that have better names for this. Should we send him to you?

No, send him to the PGA. They don't.

You're done, You're talked out, and send them to me.

You're send them to the you're you're, you're singing to the choir. It's waste of time.

That's true. That's true. And you wanted to use PGA equivalent, and they're like man, tour facility, tour approach, tour like tour approach.

There we go. That's my latest one.

That's a good one, tour approach because approaches has so many meanings to it on that.

I understand, and and that tour approach is actually my last one I could. I I'd like to take credit that, but a friend of mine came up with approach rather than equivalent was an easier word.

And PGA is involved. So it's not like you're infringing on the word tour. It's not like sorry that that word is copyrighted. We can't touch that word.

You know, I'm hip. We'll see what happens.

Tour. I like tour approach because yeah, approach your approach shot and and playing it like the I like.

That one very good, very good, and twenty five million of your listeners right to the PGA and tell them to change it to tour approach.

And how about this, It'll be small, a small P capital p r O small ach. So it's a pro.

You're way beyond me, way beyond me. I listen, I told you before.

I'm I want you to get your fishing rod out and reel me back in. Now I am getting a little too far. My wife does this a lot when I start with my idea, she throws out her imaginary fishing rod and reels me back in, going whoa Fred, Come on back, Come on.

Here, Fred, Here Fred. That's exactly right.

Is that why people always said I name my dog Fred. Yes, it's a bad, bad first name. Wow, Hey, Barney, I really enjoyed getting to meet you. This has been very entertaining for me. Thank you very much, my pleasure, and I wish you all the luck of the world. And please, when you get that that, when that next middle of the night idea starts to happen, can you share it with us?

I certainly will.

I appreciate that too.

I'll put you guys right in the middle of my list.

Sure, and actually top of the list. Is that guy swinging the club right behind you, right right? You didn't tell anybody who was Wait, you said your all time favorite golfer, it's Arnold. I know that. I'm looking at the picture. But this is all I've been.

Well, I've I've been very fortunate. I've played with him a couple of times. He's my hero, and I told him. I told him he was my hero.

Oh, I'm sure he loved hearing that.

He's a good guy.

He's the first guy ever. You're the first one ever to tell him that. I'm sure.

Yeah, right, first million.

Yeah, right, But I mean, so was he your hero before you played.

And after you played? Yes? Yeah, back back to the sixties, yeah.

Quality human being.

Remember I went to college in the fifties. Yes, so just just got out of the gut approach to era.

So did you. You know they say, if you remember the sixties, you weren't there.

Well, this, but by the sixth by the time the sixties came along, I had a job, I was married, I had a kid, and I worked every day. The sixties were not part of my life as you're referring to them.

No, No, you're that's more of the mad Men's sixties. You were you were, Yeah, you were working. You missed that part, Yeah, no hippie for you.

Yep, I I missed all I missed all of that stuff.

But you are right there at the beginning of Silicon Valley be case starting to explode. Miss that too, Yeah, but it wasn't that.

The Silicon Valley is full of wonderful, brilliant physicists and mes and ees and so on, and I'm none of the above, So I didn't belong there.

You feel like you're lucky to where you've been and what you've gotten.

Of course that you don't think I got here on talented you. Of course I'm lucky.

Wow, lucky guy. It's a wonderful life.

Huh, yes it is. Say Fred McMurray could do that.

Yeah, right, see back to Fred. I named my dog Fred was after Fred McMurray. That's right, all right, party, best wishes, good health to you and more great ideas.

Thanks very much, man.

I just received an update that Barney's being inducted into the Clarkson University Athletic Hall of Fame. He was there from the late fifties to early sixties, playing, As he told his golf, basketball and soccer. But of course he really made his mark in the sports world after he graduated, and well we heard why. And so he's a benefactor of Clarkson University as well, and so it's very kind of him to do that, and so he's being honored as such.