LEISURE TIME Magazine PG29

Blue Collar Golf in Largo is exact-ly as their slogan says... “Where theCommon Man Isn’t So Common!”Owner Ernest Porter gained a pas-sion for golf when his father in lawintroduced him to the game in hisearly 20’s. He knew he needed toget a set of clubs, and went to awell-known golf store looking for aused left handed set. After 15 min-utes and no salesman waiting onhim he noticed a well dressedgolfer come into the store and thesales clerks tripped over them-selves to wait on this man whoappeared to be an avid golfer withmore money.That was when Ernest left and said

to himself – the common man, theblue collar guy makes the world goaround and should be treated bet-ter. Being a factory worker and froma factory background, he was alltoo familiar with the reality thatthose who appear to have moneyget waited on and treated different-ly than those who are blue collarworkers. Blue Collar Golf, where the com-

mon man isn’t so common is a re-tail golf store, where you will findtop notch customer service every visit and everyone is treated equal-ly.

Ernest is a certified custom golfclub maker and fitter. He has a 20foot indoor hitting cage and uses aZelocity Pure Launch Monitor tocomplete a swing analysis andbuild custom clubs made for you.He carries name brands such asegra, Dynacraft, Bang, Krank andAcer, just to name a few. A customclub set includes 3-SW at an afford-able price, usually under $300. Yes,that is custom built for you. Hisstore has a full array of accessoriesand if he doesn’t have what youwant he will find it for you at anaffordable price. You will findErnest doesn’t nickel and dime youfor extras – he spines all shafts anddoes a lot of extras that are includ-ed in the price of his clubs. Hedoesn’t believe golf has to be anexpensive sport only an enjoyableone.

Ernest is an active participant incharity events, PBA tournaments,and belongs to the Pinellas CountySheriff’s Advisory Board. Show himyour military, firefighter or lawenforcement ID and he will provideyou a discount as a thank you foryour service. He’s also lefthandedfriendly.

Why buy custom clubs,instead ofclubs from a retail store ?

shouldn’t either. At Blue Collar Golf we use a Zelocity pure launch monitor System with a 20’ Indoor HittingCage to Analyze your Swing.

Why wouldn’t I want to buy namebrand clubs, like Calloway, ping, or

Manufacturers of the brand nameclubs will spend millions promoting their clubs. The money for promo-tional activities is included in thecost of manufacturing the clubs.Golf Digest estimates that a $500driver actually costs about $77 toproduce ($55 for the club head, $15for a graphite shaft, $3 for the grip,and $4 for assembly). The remain-ing $423 covers overhead and otherexpenses as well as promotionalactivities. The more a companyspends on promotion, the higherthe cost of producing the clubs.The manufacturer passes the addi-tional costs on to consumers in theform of higher prices. Clones arecopies of brand golf clubs. A goodclone provides the same perform-ance, quality, and technologicalfeatures as brand name clubs butmore cost-effectively. Golfers savebetween 50 percent and 75 percentof the name brand's retail price. Thesaving equates to about severalhundred dollars for a set of clubs.Lower prices let you buy new clubsmore often, while enabling you tostay abreast of the newest designsand latest features.

Clones are every bit as good as

name brand clubs. Clones are man-ufactured from the same compo-nents as the originals. Clone manu-facturers buy their club heads,shafts, and grips from the samesmall community of suppliers asname brand companies. Clonemanufacturers offer a wide range ofshaft and grip options just like theoriginal manufacturers. And clonemanufacturers offer the same makeof grips and shafts as name brandcompanies. The difference in playa-bility between a brand name cluband a good clone is generallyinsignificant. Clone manufacturer'sprices are lower because they don'tmarket their clubs as aggressivelyas name brand companies, elimi-nating most promotional expensesand having Ernest from Blue CollarGolf build them ensures they aretailored to your needs and specifi-cations.

Do you only carry clones?No we have name brands such as

KrankGolf, Bang, Powerplay, Acer,& More.

Also over 40% of my business isleft handed, mostly due to the fact Icater to the southpaw...beinga leftyI understand that many places don’tcarry left handed clubs clubs and Ipush manufactures every chance Iget to make more clubs left-handed.Blue Collar Golf is located at 11616Seminole Blvd in Largo.

Stop in and just say hello.

Custom fitted and built golf clubscan improve your golf game by uti-lizing golf clubs that are fit and builtto "your" unique swing. “Buying a set of golf clubs without a customfitis like buying a pair of shoes without checking the size!" Custom fit-ted golf clubs are “tailored to yourswing like a custom fitted suit! Yourswing didn’t come off the one sizefit's all assembly line,so your clubs

BLUE COLLAR GOLFWHERE THE COMMOM MAN ISN’T SO COMMON