Yesterday we took a trip over to Chandler to tour the Star Grip factory. For me it is important to know as much as I can about a product I might be selling or endorsing. I need to have confidence in the product itself and to know what lurks behind the scenes.

The further away you are from the source I feel like you care less. That’s MY opinion. It’s what allows me to eat a hotdog. I know nothing about what goes into making one, never seen the process and I certainly didn’t have to kill anything for it…just eat it. I’m innocent in my ignorance.

When it comes to business, integrity is everything. As our own business continues to grow, we want to rep for a local company we can proudly support but we weren’t sure that was even possible. The golf industry is dominated by names every household knows whether they play golf or not. Nike. Titleist, Puma to name a few.

Retail works like this. Labels get put on all kinds of products that are produced out of the same factories, especially when you are talking equipment that mass produces. Companies hire factories to make their products, slap a label on it, ship it out. Then there is the fight for shelf space in a major retail store. When you are talking about literally two or three shelves or racks dedicated to a sport like golf, NO smaller company will ever be seen. Period. They can’t afford to fight Nike off a shelf. Nowadays they just hope to be found on the internet.

Some of those “smaller” companies out there are making really good products. Some under their own names and some for a name you may have already heard of. You pay for the name. The less hands a product touches to get to you, the cheaper it can be. We wanted to find good quality without the big name. We wanted local, made in the USA.

Chandler is in AZ. Star is making grips so good they have a 3 -year warranty. The owner showed us around the factory, introduced some of the workers and spent a generous amount of time explaining the process, even giving us samples. Sharing personal stories as we walked along, I knew we had found the right company for us.

Do your homework. Seek fairness and honesty. Go local.