Tom:
As an aside I might mention that I developed and built the Mall with JCPenny some years ago so I spent a lot of time in Durango so I know how you must enjoy it and why you picked it(expensive City to live in). Also did the Mall in Glenwood Springs so I have spent a fair amount of time in that part of the country.
HStill
----- Original Message -----From: tom wishonSent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 12:09 PMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Subject: RE: ShopTalk: Tom Wishon's New CompanyBERNIE:
Thanks for the input on the shaft info - for sure we have some neat and
pretty original surprises in store on the shaft side of things that are
coming!!
I could talk with you for hours on the beauty and energy of the
mountains so it's nice to hear about your history out in the neck of the
woods - and there are some woods around here for sure!! I tell you,
everyone really needs to experience that train ride on the Durango &
Silverton Narrow Gauge RR, whether summer or winter. The views are
absolutely spectacular. And one thing is for sure, when we get situated
to where we can offer some type of schools or information sessions, I
think that with all of the incredible things for visitors to do and see
up here, we might have a bunch of students not show up for all the
sessions!!!
Just go here www.durangotrain.com/postcards/ and check some of it out.
And their site even promotes the train in the Great Smokies too!
Tom W
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
On Behalf Of Bernie Baymiller
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 7:46 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Tom Wishon's New Company
Tom,
Sounds great, but I hope my old farts can afford all that good stuff.
:-)
And, I hope you'll have a 50-something gram long driver shaft for
seniors.
Seniors are a growing market. The 59 gram, 48" SK Fiber PE-A is a pretty
well-made shaft and can be trimmed a couple of inches to get it around
55
grams. I can get 47" club length out of that one and a D5-D7
swingweight,
which works fine for most of the R-shaft old guys. Might also take a
look at
Dan Nuebecker's Neufinder 2. It's just a DIY tool right now, but
manufacture
that with some commercial materials and you'd have one of the fastest
and
best shaft matching tools in the industry.
I love that area of the country too...Colorado, Wyoming and
Utah...second to
the Great Smoky Mountains area where I live, of course. Our mountains
are
almost as big...rising a little over a mile from the base...but from a
much
lower elevation than yours. My son was Human Resources Manager for AMFAC
in
Yellowstone Park, until he finally had too much cold and moved to Ohio.
Used
to trek out there on I-90 or I-80 almost every year. Back in the 1960's
my
ad agency in Lancaster, PA had an office in Denver and we did a lot of
promos for the Colorado Potato Growers Association and some tourism
stuff
for the state. Also had a RR car account that did a historical series
(they
were the oldest car building company in the country, since 1843), which
featured the Durango to Silverton RR in one of our ads. Never got to
ride
it, but still would like to do the trip if I get a chance. Also worked
with
the Sojourner Hotel in Teton Village outside of Jackson, WY. Loved that
trip. Great country!
Please put me on your catalog list, if you're making one. And, I envy
all
the fun you'll have putting your new company together.
Bernie
Writeto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: "tom wishon " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 4:35 PM
Subject: RE: ShopTalk: Tom Wishon's New Company
> Dan, Bernie, John, Bruce, Arnie and especially you Al,
>
> If you don't mind a little noxious promotion on Shop
> Talk...................!!!!!!!!!
>
> This week when the new January issue of Golf Digest arrives in the
> mailbox, if you scan through the back section of ads you might see a
new
> ad in there popping up at you. I am pleased to announce the
> introduction of Tom Wishon Golf Technology, aka my own component
> company! After 30yrs as a clubmaker, it was about time for me and
> Mary-Ellen to finally do this for ourselves!
>
> Mary-Ellen and I have located the company in Durango, Colorado.
> WHAT!!!?? Yes, Durango, Colorado!! For one, I am a native of
Colorado,
> born in Denver and grew up through high school in this state. The
> mountains and this climate (beat the Texas summer heat!) are something
I
> always missed over the many years since I left. Since the nature of
> this business is phone/mail/internet orders and all communication with
> clubmakers is done by catalog/newsletter/email we felt that we could
be
> anywhere to build this business as long as there was adequate trucking
> in and UPS out, which Durango does have. Durango is in a unique
> location in that not only are there three UPS hubs within a couple
> hundred miles (Denver, Albuquerque, Grand Junction) but the climate
here
> is really mild. Two of the 4 golf courses here stay open 12 months,
the
> other two do not only because they are winter feeding grounds for
> thousands of elk who have no concept of the etiquette of staying off
the
> greens!! Yet if you drive 30 mins north of Durango, you are
litereally
> in the shadow of more 13,000-14,000 foot granite peaks than anywhere
> else in the country. If I was looking for inspiration from the
> surroundings to keep working on clubmaking technology, it is here!!
The
> other reason we decided to launch our own company and locate here is
> partly personal - in the span of 4 months in 2001 I lost three very
> close friends in the golf business to tragic circumstances, who were
all
> my age or younger. In short, the old adage of "life's too short" hit
me
> like a 2X4 'tween the eyes in 2001 and made me realize it was time for
> me to get away and get back to work on just what I wanted to do with
the
> rest of my working life in golf. So here we are, and I look forward
to
> doing the best work of my entire career in the next several years.
>
> If you don't mind, I would like to tell you a little about what we are
> planning, because we are going to be a little different in terms of
our
> product design offerings in some areas. Our catalog is in the final
> stages of creation and will mail on February 1, 2003, but here's a
> general overview of what we have planned.
>
> First of all, in 2003 you will see what I really feel is the best
> overall clubhead product line I have ever designed. Virtually all of
> the various materials imaginable plus a few new ones, and the various
> methods of manufacture from casting to forging, are included in the 8
> sets of woodheads, 8 sets of irons, 4 models of stand-alone wedges and
3
> separate models of putters I created for the opening catalog. The
> design tone is clean, solid, unpretentious but intended to stand toe
to
> toe with ANY clubheads in the market, whether component or OEM. And
> there will be a very good representation in there for the left handers
> too!
>
> In the area of shafts and grips, this is where we are pursuing a
little
> different direction in our design and product development. Our shaft
> and grip offerings are going to be 95% all of our own designs. I
really
> feel that the years I have put in doing research on shafts, including
> the book I did in 1991 called The Modern Guide to Shaft Fitting, and
all
> of the following testing and analysis that was published in various
> magazines/newsletters, etc., gave me a really solid foundation to
design
> a very strong line of shafts. In addition, I am working closely on
all
> of our shaft designs with Robin Arthur, the designer of the ProLite
when
> he was at Grafalloy and now designer of all the Rifle graphites for
> Royal Precision, and the two of us really are convinced with his
> composites engineering experience and my testing and analysis and
> fitting experience, that we can make the best shafts on the planet.
> Because we know that some vendor branded shafts are always going to be
> in high demand, we are going to stock a few of the popular Grafalloy,
> True Temper Steel, UST and Aldila shafts, but only a few that we chose
> for their variety of playability for golfers. For example, we will
> stock the ProLite 35S and 45R, but not the 35R or 45S because I
believe
> from my work that a shaft like the ProLite 35 is only suited for
higher
> swing speed players, and a shaft like the 45 is only modeled for
medium
> swing speed players.
>
> In the area of grips, we are offering a totally 100% proprietary line
of
> our own grip designs. We will offer no other vendor's grips in our
> product line because I really had a fun time working with two of the
> biggest and best grip manufacturing companies in the world on
different
> rubber compounds, molding techniques, and new styles and grip design
> features. The result is 6 different lines of grips from soft to firm
> molded compounds to simulated leather slip-ons. For example, the 2
> different cord grips are really different in that they feature
different
> populations of cord fiber with a much less harsh texture on the hands.
> Or for example, the rubber wrap style grips are made with a wider and
> different angled wrap design that feels better in both hands, or a
> bigger lower hand section as a standard feature.
>
> The Tools and Technology section is also going to show clubmakers a
> completely different approach in our product line. For one, we are
not
> going to offer clubmaking tools for assembly or repair. Instead, we
are
> going to focus on fitting tools/devices and technology items to help
> clubmakers learn more and do a better job of fitting and educating
their
> customers. For example, our new putter fitting tool will fit all
> lengths from normal to Belly to Long and will do it all in a way that
> puts the golfer's eyes directly over the ball to ensure accuracy of
the
> length/lie fit. There will also be a number of new software programs
to
> help clubmakers learn more about how golf clubs work, and how to fit
> golfers more accurately. On the R&D side I have three of the BEST
> engineering/testing/analytical minds in golf helping me so that we can
> continue to keep helping clubmakers learn and educate their customers.
> That's a little tough on an opening year budget, but it was important
to
> ensure we keep putting out the best tech information so I bit the
bullet
> to do that right from the start.
>
> Right now we are all working our tails off here to get things up and
> running for the time of the catalog mailing. Our web site will go
live
> around Jan 1, 2003 and I have finished a lot of new tech information
but
> have a lot more I want to get ready to post before our site goes
"live".
> We will also have a program for serious clubmakers to gain a 15-30%
> pricing advantage over the clubmakers who order less frequently that
> will be a little different program than anyone has tried in this
> industry so far.
>
> Mary-Ellen and I do not want to build this into a company that is as
> large as the current sales leaders or ever to try to do what they do.
> Our goal is to be the best in tech info, best in product, and just be
> here in Durango doing what we do best. We have plans to build our own
> testing range reasonably soon with all the bells and whistles, and to
> provide the golf equipment and advise on the instruction to make golf
a
> permanent part of the P.E. curriculum of the Durango middle schools
and
> high school, but we have to walk first before we can run, so that will
> be down the road a year or two.
>
> Anyway, sorry to run off at the mouth on this, but I am pretty pumped
> about this and now that our ad is about to appear, I wanted to share
> this with you.
>
> Oh, and the other reason we chose Durango is that at my age and with
> what I have already done for my own golf clubs over the years, the
ONLY
> thing I can draw on to hit the ball farther myself is the 6500 feet
> elevation!!!!!!!!!! Of course I have also been told when we buy the
> land for our testing range, we have to buy more of it because 300
yards
> ain't going to be enough thanks to this air density up here!!!
>
> TOM WISHON
>
> Tom Wishon Golf Technology
> 695 County Road 233
> Durango, Colorado 81301
> Catalog request - 1-800-480-0017 (Catalog mails on February 1, 2003)
> Voice - 970-375-0411
> Fax - 970-375-0412
> Email - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> URL - www.wishongolf.com (not until January 6, 2003)
>
>
>
>
