Beck is the doctor' of golf
Golf Course
FARMINGTON ' Bob Beck didn't swing a golf club for the first time until he was 40 years old. And while he admits to not getting out on the course as much as he'd like, Beck spends plenty of time these days building, repairing and fitting golf clubs.
The Farmington resident recently completed the Advanced Clubmaking, Fitting and Repair seminar hosted by the Golfsmith Clubmakers Training Program in Austin, Texas. The week-long session was the second of its kind for Beck, who attended a Basic Club Repair program in 2002, also in Austin. He hopes to complete the final session ' the Master's program ' next summer.
Beck says he simply fell in love with the task of building and repairing golf clubs and initially picked up the hobby by re-gripping his own clubs. His first training seminar, the Basic Club Repair program, gave Beck the opportunity to get to know the ins and outs of the industry, and like he says, "to learn everything I was doing wrong."
"The satisfaction I get is knowing that I'm doing my very best to help the golfer do their best," Beck said. "That's the main thing, is helping the golfer."
Beck has parlayed that satisfaction into his own small business. He has owned Bob's Custom Clubs and Repair ' where he says he can do anything to a golf club that needs to be done ' for roughly five years. It's a full-service shop and Beck busies himself by making clubs from scratch, doing repairs and custom-fitting clubs for a growing number of customers.
To that end, the Advanced program in June was well worth Beck's time. He and his colleagues spent hours working with the various tools and equipment used to test and analyze clubs, as well as the machinery required to run a commercial clubmaking and repair facility.
"The big thing is really how to adjust the club to the golfer," Beck said. "I knew the basics, but this was really detailed. It really helps the golfer because with custom-fit clubs, the clubs fit you rather than you trying to fit them."
Beck also explained that clubs bought off the shelf are standard length, and not all golfers are comfortable swinging a standard length set of clubs. Thus, by attending training seminars, he can stay up to date with the sport's oft-changing technology and work to continually improve his approach to custom-fitting.
"I had no idea, none whatsoever," Beck said when asked if he ever imagined becoming so invested in what was once just a hobby. "I just fell in love with it. I love working with my hands first of all and I think I just picked it up really quick. I really enjoy it."
Garry Smothers is certainly one person who's glad Beck enjoys his craft. Smothers is an avid golfer and has seen Beck's work improve his own golf game so much he likens Beck to a doctor.
"Golf is hard enough as it is and it makes sense to me to go to someone that can make it easier and custom-fit my clubs for me," Smothers said. "Bob is a guy you'd recommend to friends and I have. He's a guy you'd recommend to your boss, and I've done that too.
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