It seems like South Shore Golf has been part of the Long Island golf community forever. When did you open up, and what prompted you to open a shop?
Actually, we’re closing in on 20 years, so we’re getting pretty close. I think we’re about halfway through 18 years now.
It all started back during my days at Timber Point with Andy Carracino, when we were selling clubs. At the end of the season, we started experimenting with eBay. We would do fittings there, but not to the level I really wanted to.
We talked it over and started looking at the opportunity. At the time, Larry’s Golf was selling, and I believe we got started here in 2008. We may have completed the purchase early that year or even in 2007, buying the inventory and then building the store from there.
Everything really grew out of those Timber Point days — wanting to become more involved in the golf community, expand into club fitting, and see where the industry was headed. We saw there was a big market for it, and that’s what led us to start the business.
Was it always in this location?
It actually was two stores at the time, but back then simulators and everything else weren’t as prominent. Custom ordering also wasn’t as common, so you needed to carry a lot more inventory.
Once we saw the opportunity to reduce our overhead while still producing a quality product for our customers, we decided to scale back and get rid of half the store. We’ve always been in this location; we just operated with the additional space for about four or five years before closing that section.
Ultimately, we realized we didn’t need the extra space.
Everything became much easier because you could put something in a customer’s hands that they were actually going to buy. Years ago, it was more like an epoxied head — you needed the right shaft, the right grip, and everything had to come together manually.
Now, you can design almost everything. You can adjust lies, lofts, and so many different specifications. The only thing they really haven’t fully developed yet is grip size customization, but I’m sure that will come down the road.
The whole process became much easier without requiring a ton of space. We have a pretty good setup here — it’s not enormous — but it covers most aspects of the game. It’s the world of golf, so you’re never going to reach every single person, but we’re able to serve just about everybody.
Then online ordering became much easier as well. Being able to get clubs into a customer’s hands within two weeks really changed the process and made everything a lot more efficient.
Along with all of the equipment available, the shop offers lessons and club fitting. It seems golfers are getting more accustomed to being inside for fittings and lessons. What’s your take on that?
We do a lot of repairs. We have a couple of guys who are really, really talented repair technicians. Ed Armstrong is by far one of the best I’ve seen out there — he’s extremely diligent, whether he’s building clubs or repairing them.
From that standpoint, we’ve built a strong repair business. Whether it’s reshafting a set of irons or re-epoxying a head, we’re able to turn things around quickly — sometimes even within a day. Regripping has also become a huge part of what we do here.
Instruction is a big focus for me as well. Most of my time now is dedicated to lessons, while I have excellent fitters who handle the majority of the club fittings. I’ve stepped back a little from fitting so I can focus on instruction and running the business.
I’m also involved with the junior league down at Timber Point, so my time has shifted in that direction. Over the years, we’ve built a really strong community around the shop. The repair side, regripping, sales, and everything that comes with it have all grown tremendously.
What technology do you have here in the fitting and lesson bays?
What we use here is a new Falcon by Foresight. From an instruction standpoint, I don’t want people to become too focused on the numbers it produces, but they’re incredibly helpful tools.
The goal is for them to take that understanding from here and apply it out on the course. The numbers are valuable because they help explain what’s happening, but I don’t want people to become consumed by the data itself.
Now with AI very much here now, how do you see that affecting golf?
Probably both good and bad. I think AI is going to be useful for determining certain aspects, but right now I still feel like it’s a little too general because it’s not actually watching a person swing.
I’m sure it will get to the point where it can analyze someone’s swing, but as an instructor, we can determine so much more by visually seeing what a person is doing. That helps us figure out what type of shaft, flex, weight, and clubhead they need — things AI can’t fully determine yet.
There are still a lot of missing components. AI isn’t seeing how much the ball is spinning, how it’s launching, or all the other factors that go into fitting and instruction. I’m sure it’s going to become more involved down the road, though.
I’ve seen a couple of AI applications that are already in production and can identify certain things, but the next challenge is how it communicates that information. When someone is trying to change their swing, an instructor can have a conversation with them, ask what they’re feeling, and understand what they’re trying to accomplish.
I think AI will be useful in the long run. I don’t think it’s going to dominate the industry or take over the way some people fear, but it will continue to develop. Right now, though, I think it’s still a little too general to replace the human element.
Beyond the shop, what else are you involved with as it relates to golf?
I’m involved with the PGA Junior League, which is really my passion when it comes to working with younger golfers. I run a spring session where I work with about 56 kids, and then we have a fall session that gets a little smaller as the days get shorter and the weather gets colder. That session usually has around 40 kids.
Throughout the year, we’re generally working with close to 100 kids. I’m also involved in helping with summer leagues, working with players who are trying to develop their games for high school tryouts and beyond. I work closely with Ed Sally at Timber Point on those programs.
Being able to help young golfers learn, improve, and grow in the game has become a big part of what I do.
Last year saw the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, and this year the U.S. Open was at Shinnecock. How does that affect what happens here at the shop?
There is definitely growth, and anything new and exciting like that helps. It was exciting for the area.
One of the things we do here to help capture that excitement around major events is offer limited-edition raffles. We’ve done things like a TaylorMade golf bag with limited-edition golf balls. People really enjoy being part of those because it’s happening right in their backyard.
Seeing the Shinnecock logo and having that local connection makes it different. In the past, when the U.S. Open was held somewhere else, there was still interest, but it’s not the same as having it right here in our own community.
The week of the tournament can probably hurt a little because everyone is out watching and experiencing the event, which is completely understandable — we’ll be there too. But overall, it brings a lot of excitement and attention to golf in this area. We try to make a point of being involved with the U.S. Open and other major championships in that way.
Business-wise, it definitely created a little bit of an uptick because of the excitement around it. But personally, being there and seeing how they put together such an incredible event was amazing.
I know there were some complaints about the golf course, but I always say everyone is playing the same course. At the end of the day, the best player usually finds a way to win, and that’s what happened.
It worked out really well for me because I went on Sunday, and it was the first time my son had ever been to an event like that. We had an extra ticket, so he brought a buddy with him, and neither of them had ever experienced anything like it.
It’s something we won’t forget, even though we didn’t come away with the win. It was still a great day, and it ended up being a close one.
As far as what we do here, we carry most of the major brands. We’re considered a premium fitter with Titleist, and we have Noah, who is part of the National Fitters Council on the TaylorMade side, as well as with Callaway.
We also carry a lot of product from Cleveland, Ping, and Cobra. For the most part, we’ve ranked in the top 100 in Callaway sales for the past 10 years. With Mizuno, we’ve been in the top 100 in the country over the last few years, and we recently achieved that same recognition with TaylorMade.
For a small shop — just 2,500 square feet — and being around for 18 years, we feel really good about what we’ve built. We feel like we’ve become a big part of the golf community here in Suffolk County.
We take a lot of pride in what we do, and we’re always looking for ways to improve and continue getting better.