La Jolla Club
What do you do when your child decides he or she wants to learn the ancient and honorable game of golf? You should scrape together a set of rusty 1971 garage sale specials, or cut down a few forgotten irons gathering dust in the closet, right? Wrong, definitely wrong, says junior club manufacturer La Jolla Club, which hopes to change this traditional method of introducing kids to golf. This is the '90s, after all. Tony Allison has been writing about the business of sports for four years. Golf remains both a passion and an eternal mystery.
a profitable one as kids follow the Tiger
Founded in 1991 by original Taylor Made employee Paul Herber, Vista-based La Jolla Club initially made swing training equipment. Then the company discovered some of its products and ideas worked better for kids. In analyzing the junior marketplace, Herber found that kids either get clubs that are way too big, or cut down versions that are way too stiff. "Kids can’t hit the cut-down club very high or very far" explains Will Cropper, vice president of sales and marketing. "Besides being frustrating to the kids, they develop bad habits to compensate for ill-fitting equipment."
Herber, now president of La Jolla Club, came up with a fitting system for children. Already offered are three club lengths to cover kids from 6 to 12, while a set for 3- to 6-year-olds, with Snoopy logos, has just been released. The shortest shaft, for the smallest kids, is the most flexible; the longest shaft, the least flexible.
By 1995, Herber had developed a product that worked and found a niche that was virtually ignored, but was out of cash and unable to launch the product. Steve Cade, a local Carlsbad businessman, stepped in and recapitalized the company. Now CEO of La Jolla Club, Cade also runs a food import-export company. His expertise in acquiring materials from both overseas and domestic sources was a great help.
"People in the industry said no company in its right mind would just serve the junior market, so I guess we were in our left mind," says Cropper with a grin. "But we created a niche. We inventory 2,000 sets at all times, and ship within one day of the order, which is unheard of in the golf business."
La Jolla Club had more problems gaining distribution than actually selling product. The initial set sold for $199, including golf bag, a price retailers thought too high. The breakthrough came from the golf pros, who would take juniors out to the range where the results were immediate. "Kids who hit it 15 yards were now able to hit it 45 yards with our clubs," notes Cropper. Partial first-year sales totaled $175,000.
Showing promise, the business grew to $700,000 in sales in 1996. Then in April 1997, along comes Tiger Woods, dominating the Masters and creating worldwide headlines.
"All of a sudden, golf is cool," says Cropper. "Now every kid and their brother wants a golf club. We had a nice little business, and then a tsunami hit! Fortunately, we had inventory, and we kept ordering more materials. This place was a zoo; it was a phenomenal year." Sales zoomed above the $3 million mark for 1997.
In 1998, the big boys figured out there was profit in kids clubs. La Jolla Club now manufactures junior clubs for Taylor Made, figuring it’s better to work with a Goliath than against one. But after an initial flood of excitement and pronouncements, many companies either are already out of the business, or decided against launching a junior product.
Having weathered that competition, La Jolla Club's distribution is growing, and 1998 sales are projected to hit $7.5 million. Cropper estimates 1999 sales at $15 million, which will include the introduction of women's clubs. The company sells club sets in price ranges from $60 to $299.
A significant factor for La Jolla Club's continued growth was the introduction of the First Real Club in 1998. This is an individually packaged iron, wood or putter, age appropriate, priced at $20. It gives parents a chance to see if a child is really interested in the game, and includes a coupon for a discount on a full set. These clubs are sold where the kids are, such as large sporting goods stores in malls and sports retailers. La Jolla Club also introduced a full set of clubs for teenagers, with club specs for 11- to 16-year-old golfers.
The golf industry as a whole is in for a period of rough sledding. Sales are down, Asia isn’t buying, and profit margins are shrinking. But if you peek into the once-ignored world of junior golf, you'll find La Jolla Club riding its own personal tsunami, equipping the young Tigers of the 21st century.
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