Thinking back to the 1980’s and earlier, I played golf occasionally, and for the most part did not give much thought to marks on the green. Sure, whenever I would see a ball-mark left un-repaired, I would get mad, but when it came to spike marks, there was little to do about them on a busy weekend but put & pray.
Well someone was thinking about spike marks left on greens and within several years, an invention was born. Faris McMullin and Ernie Deacon of Boise ID were brought together by fate.
Faris was in Boise making fishing equipment, and was adept at improvising, while Deacon was experimenting with ways to provide traction for golfers during winter metal cleat bans at the club he managed, when he asked if McMullin could help.
The “help” came in the form of the first non-metal golf spike that became adapted by golf courses all over the world, as well as by golf shoe manufacturers like FootJoy.
How this actually all came to be is probably worthy of a book by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point, Blink, How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference), because there were many people involved getting this new form of traction to “gain traction” in the market place.
I had the privilege to meet the past president of SoftSpikes (Rob O’Loughlin), via phone, who told me they knew when they acquired the worldwide rights to market the SoftSpikes product they had a winner. However, getting people to change their minds about metal spikes was another thing. People were set in their ways.
As the story goes, the first “domino” to fall was Wynstone Golf Club in No. Barrington, Ill when in 1994 they banned metal cleats altogether.
It was a process of chipping away at the traditions that eventually brought forth the soft spike revolution that helped golf course superintendents breathe a little easier. In fact, they breathe about 10% easier today some say, in the reduction of maintenance costs associated with upkeep on greens where steel spikes were previously allowed.
Overall, there were several companies, whose efforts added up to the complete reversal of the steel spike tradition, ranging from a local fly-fishing expert, to a cigar-tip and golf tee manufacturer. It took many talented people to get what should have been the world’s biggest no-brainer accepted.
Of course, this is all history now, with most all courses only allowing non-metal spikes on their courses, but some pros still wear metal to this day. Having attended a PGA event in 1995 when there was much discussion and many complaints about the greens having too many spike marks, I can only imagine how frustrating it was to try to earn a victory in what could be termed a non-professional landscape.
Golf is perhaps just like mainstream business in that until people see the benefits in a product/invention, they are slow to adapt.
We ourselves are inventors, marketers of golf products, and golfers who dream of ways to help golfers enjoy the game.
Not all companies can experience the same success as SoftSpikes (having sold well over one billion), but we persevere nonetheless.
Well someone was thinking about spike marks left on greens and within several years, an invention was born. Faris McMullin and Ernie Deacon of Boise ID were brought together by fate.
Faris was in Boise making fishing equipment, and was adept at improvising, while Deacon was experimenting with ways to provide traction for golfers during winter metal cleat bans at the club he managed, when he asked if McMullin could help.
The “help” came in the form of the first non-metal golf spike that became adapted by golf courses all over the world, as well as by golf shoe manufacturers like FootJoy.
How this actually all came to be is probably worthy of a book by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point, Blink, How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference), because there were many people involved getting this new form of traction to “gain traction” in the market place.
I had the privilege to meet the past president of SoftSpikes (Rob O’Loughlin), via phone, who told me they knew when they acquired the worldwide rights to market the SoftSpikes product they had a winner. However, getting people to change their minds about metal spikes was another thing. People were set in their ways.
As the story goes, the first “domino” to fall was Wynstone Golf Club in No. Barrington, Ill when in 1994 they banned metal cleats altogether.
It was a process of chipping away at the traditions that eventually brought forth the soft spike revolution that helped golf course superintendents breathe a little easier. In fact, they breathe about 10% easier today some say, in the reduction of maintenance costs associated with upkeep on greens where steel spikes were previously allowed.
Overall, there were several companies, whose efforts added up to the complete reversal of the steel spike tradition, ranging from a local fly-fishing expert, to a cigar-tip and golf tee manufacturer. It took many talented people to get what should have been the world’s biggest no-brainer accepted.
Of course, this is all history now, with most all courses only allowing non-metal spikes on their courses, but some pros still wear metal to this day. Having attended a PGA event in 1995 when there was much discussion and many complaints about the greens having too many spike marks, I can only imagine how frustrating it was to try to earn a victory in what could be termed a non-professional landscape.
Golf is perhaps just like mainstream business in that until people see the benefits in a product/invention, they are slow to adapt.
We ourselves are inventors, marketers of golf products, and golfers who dream of ways to help golfers enjoy the game.
Not all companies can experience the same success as SoftSpikes (having sold well over one billion), but we persevere nonetheless.
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