Off the Deck

The Otey Crisman Story with Steve Strano

• BestBall • Season 3 • Episode 5

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In this episode, Steve Strano shares the fascinating story of reviving the historic Otey Putters brand, exploring the craftsmanship, heritage, and community connection behind these legendary golf clubs. Discover how a passion for history and craftsmanship is fueling a revival of a nearly lost art in golf.

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SPEAKER_03

Driver off the deck for calling comments. Here's driver off the deck. Peter Hatland the driver off the deck.

SPEAKER_00

Oh maybe the building hit it off the deck and get that thing down and flight and running.

SPEAKER_03

You have to put your foot on the gas. You pull out the driver off the deck and you put it on the drain all the way up the hill.

unknown

Don't stop, don't stop, yes, don't pack it.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome back to another episode of Off the Deck. Of course, Off the Deck is brought to you by Idaca Golf. I am wearing uh the new Capri Polo right now. Uh visit idaca.gov. It's Id a K A dot golf, and make sure you use promo code OTD for 25, or excuse me, OTD 25 for 25% off your purchase. That is a uh a legit code. I mean, it's not a 10% or 15% like you see some other people giving out. Truly 25% off your purchase, which provides a ton of value. Mr. Steve Strano, welcome to off the deck. How are you doing? I'm doing great.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, it sounds like we both had busy days working. So now it's the fun part. You know, we both get to sit down and talk golf for an hour.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Absolutely, absolutely. So I like to allow guests to introduce themselves. So what is it? Who is Steve Strano? What are you doing right now? And then we can go into why we're actually sitting down to chat. So my name is Steve Strano.

SPEAKER_01

I'm the creative director for Odie Putters. And uh we're currently in our ninth week of relaunching an 80-year-old company. Um right now we make hickory-shafted putters, which on its surface is like, hey, who's using grandpa's putter right now? But um, when I first discovered this brand, I'd been legitimately using a hickory-shafted putter in my bag with all of my modern calaways. Uh it's it's a feel thing for me. It's something where I've, you know, people would go, you know, you're using that? It's like, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then I'm collecting their money on 17 kind of thing. So I I love using a hickory shafted putter and stumbled upon the Odie story late last year and discovered. I mean, I grew up in the golf world. My dad played semi-professional and professional golf for 18 years. And it's I I felt like I've read all the books and I've I've you know known a lot of the big names, including manufacturers, but the Odie story evaded me. And, you know, come to find out they won, I guess, their putter help lift five uh uh winners at Augusta in 10 years between 1947 and 1957. And that just blew me away. I was like, that is such a powerful story. And then you look at the putters, they've got this beautiful brass insert, they're good looking, they're eye-catching. And when I first reached out to Odie, I was like, what can I do to help? And I didn't know it at the time, but he was a month from closing down shop last year. So we uh, you know, I I came on board and and helped him, you know, redo the social media, redo all the websites, and I mean kind of touched on the stuff that that uh he wasn't good at. He's a 75-year-old guy that loves making putters, and I think we all have our blind spots, myself included. So I was like, how can I fit you know, myself into this, you know, this puzzle, this Odie puzzle to help, you know, bring light to you and to this amazing company and this amazing story. And we uh we did a soft launch late last year. We sold more putters in a week than he did in the best month in the last 20 years. And he was like, okay, hold on, we gotta stop. You know, we gotta, we gotta, we gotta relay the foundation here. We've got to, you know, kind of get some things in order. And then um, we're we're proud to say for the first time in 35 years, he's got a building that he can call his own, and we are off to the races.

SPEAKER_00

That is really exciting. That's that's incredible. So it was interesting to me that you mentioned that you were playing with a hickory-shafted putter on your own. So, so tell me a little bit about your background and and growing up with a father who played semi-professionally. Um, and then also how in the world did you end up with a hickory putting hickory shafted putter in your bag in 2026, just uh anyway, before you even came across Odie?

SPEAKER_01

It's it's such a weird story. So when I was going to college and I played football in high school, and going into college, I was like, I'm kind of business minded, but I grew up in the golf world. What can I do to marry the two worlds? Um, I'm not, you know, I'm I'm six feet tall and I'm I've got a really, you know, accurate arm, but I'm not, I've I've got no illusions of playing on the next level. And I had a uh uh academic scholarship to go to Florida State. Okay. And Florida State has a professional golf management program, the PGM, which is like the business side of golf. And in that program, you have to take uh internships. There's, I think, I think it's like two months, the first two years, and then it's like four months your junior and senior year. And my first year of internships, I came back home. I came back to Destin, I went to Kelly Plantation for my internship, and I did everything. I did, you know, course maintenance, you know, worked with all the superintendents, worked in the clubhouse, did the cart barn stuff, and just tried to be a spun for everything that was there. And in the last month of me working there, under the clubhouse, there's the cart barn. And in the cart barn was like a little owner's closet where you keep like all the owner's bags. And you've got these, you know, stack units of stuff and and a little bit of lost and found in there as well. And behind one of the stack units, I can still picture it, behind one of the stack units, like literally forgotten and covered in cobwebs was this hickory-shafted putter. And I was like, this thing is wicked cool. It had the, you know, the aluminum head, it had the hickory shaft, the hand wrapped leather grip. And I'm like, you know, you know, I'm we got a little bit of time and and I'm gonna, you know, go putt with this thing, and it was just magic. Um, I I can tend to be a little bit of a concrete-handed putter on the greens, and and and it just kind of forced me to chill. Because it just looking at it, I was like, I feel like I'm gonna break this thing. You know, it's just it had that kind of uh special factor when I when it kind of um was in my hands and forced me to kind of concentrate and just focus and feel. And the feel that kind of came out of me using this hickory shafted putter was like nothing I've ever felt before. So it went into my bag, and um, which was probably something I shouldn't have done. Um, you know, but I was kind of waiting on the phone call from the pro shop going, yeah, who's seen my dad's putter, you know, my grandpa's putter, but uh that calls.

SPEAKER_00

The statute of limitations is up. You're good.

SPEAKER_01

I can tell the story now. This was this was seven years ago. I found this thing. And it's it's legitimately been in my bag ever since. I've got it actually sitting here behind me in my my PGM bag from Florida State. And um, and then uh August of last year, with you know, AI and search engines and stuff, I was like having a late night creative burst. And, you know, it's like, who else, you know, is out here that's making these putters? Well, I guess the first question was does this putter manufacturer still exist? And it was a Frank Johnston out of Riverside, California, so not an Odie Christman, but had a similar mallet head and had the hickory shaft hand wrapped leather grip. And um, unfortunately, Frank uh had been out of business for decades. But then I decided to go further down into that rabbit hole and uh discovered a couple names, and one of them was Odie Christman. And I'm like, who is Odie? What? You know, I've I've grown up in the golf world. Who's this Odie guy? And you know, come to find out in 10 years, his putter helped lift five players to victory at Augusta. And when I heard that, first thing in my mind was bull. You know, like it was like that's that's too too cool. You know, you you think like that'd be a a name that'd be, you know, still be around. Like that'd be that'd be a you know, they would have modernized, they would they'd still find a way to exist somehow. And and the the more that dug around, the more it was like, no, this story's real. Um the the website was just you know very mid. It it's you know, they weren't doing much on social media. I mean, if you can imagine the company was being ran by a 75-year-old guy that loves making putters, but just hadn't modernized anything else. And um, so I ended up meeting Mr. Odie Christman, um, who's the second generation?

SPEAKER_00

That's where I want to stop you for a second. So, what did that conversation go like of you reaching out to him and telling him what you wanted to do?

SPEAKER_01

So, so it's it was such an incredible conversation because it happens every time that I introduce someone to him now and I'm there, he is a golf nut. He is in in the best way possible. He's he's he's uh 75. He remembers names like he just met him yesterday, and he he'll pull these amazing stories, these golf legends, like like um, oh my goodness, like he was talking about Gary Player the other day and how he met with him in Birmingham in 1975. I'm going, holy smokes, like what? Like and he and he but he's from Selma, Alabama. So he's uh just a good old southern boy, and and he's he he he just grew up around these guys. And and um I was talking to him last week, and he mentioned he's like, you know, it it was just something that the family did, you know, you know, the Harrises owned the tire shop and the Johnsons, you know, ran the the the whatever, and and my dad just built putters is what he'll say. And and it's just like he he just never thought that he was famous or his family was famous until he legitimately turned 30. So it was just something that he just kind of grew up doing. It's just that's just what dad does. So um and he he still you you still talk to him, you go, you still have that feeling. It's just he makes putters. That's just what he that's that's just what he knows and what he loves. He's just a craftsman through and through, and he just loves building these beautiful pieces. I mean, he's he built his first putter when he was 14, just working in the shop, you know, kind of I mean his his first full putter, he was gripping and doing other stuff before then, obviously, but was was working with a team of 30 back in the uh 60s and 70s, you know, building these things up.

SPEAKER_00

So and that was when he was work he would have been working for his dad, is that correct? Right. And his dad used one of his own putters in the is it the 1946 US Open qualifying? Yes, I think, and apparently lit up the scoreboard to the point that everybody was noticing how well he played, and it was all about the putting. Is that correct? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so so if you can imagine back in the day, so 1946 is spot on, and and so um my Odie is Odie the third, and so his dad was Odie the second, his Odie the second's dad was also a really good golfer. So there's three generations of Odies that were really, really good ball strikers. And Odie the second was a really good ball striker but struggled on the greens. So around this time, putters were mostly one material. I mean, think Bobby Jones, Calamity Jane, you know, uh hockey stick style kind of stuff. Yeah. And so he was like, Well, greens are getting faster, they're getting a little more challenging. I need help with my distance control. So he went literally two blocks away to the Alabama um uh it's like the aluminum metal shop, had a head cast, you know, put the insert, the the different weighting mechanisms in there, and then finished fourth in the country in US Open qualifying. And it's just nuts. And this is this is back when if you're playing golf and you're winning tournaments, you're you're you're walking away with like a check for 500 bucks. So it's not by any means like it is today, where you win a tournament and you get to live off of your earnings. So a lot of the pros that were around uh Odie Sr. at this time would, you know, go play the tournament and then they'd go back to their their head pro jobs at their golf courses back when being a head pro meant that you were a pro, you know. It was it was, hey, you you're here making money, you're at the clubhouse, and then for you know, four or five months of the year, you're out on the on out on the circuit, and then you come back home. So when he, when Odie Sr. was winning, sorry, when Odie Sr. uh made his big statement at the US Open in 1946, he's playing with all these guys that have connections at some of the most prestigious golf courses around the country. And they go, I gotta get me a dozen of those. I gotta get 20, I gotta get 30 or 40. And so he came back home to his wife and he's giggling to himself, you know, counting the the the receipts of people going, Hey, I I want to, you know, get some of these putters. Yeah. And he had, I'm gonna get the number wrong, but I'm gonna get close. He he had made in basically a weekend like forty five hundred dollars, which is an insane amount of money back then. Right. And he's like, Honey, I'm in the putter business. Off of pre-order for putters. Yeah, pre-orders for for these putters that that then went out to these just insanely amazing clubhouses around the country.

SPEAKER_00

And then goes on to get them in pros' hands to win five masters. Uh, I guess it was the 1947 Masters, I think. Was it Harry Varden that used one?

SPEAKER_01

Um no, so that would have been Demeritt. So Demeritt.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, Jimmy Demerritt.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, Demerrit won twice. Um, so two out of DeMerit's three wins were with an Odie Putter. So it's the 17H and the 51H uh that Demerrit used. And and this is also back in the day, get into the name of Odie. Um, so you had Spauld, Spaulding, you had McGregor, you know, Hogan was coming out with his own stuff. So all of these golf uh golf club manufacturers were known by their last names. So Odie at that time, it was known as an Odie Christmas putter. And he was trying to kind of popularize it's a Christmas. But, you know, the the public and the people using the putters are going to determine what it's called. And Demerit, who's who's who's a super colorful, you know, what he was he was known for wearing reds and yellows and singing as he walked down the golf course, and he was always the center of attraction at the at the pub after the round kind of thing. And and they're going, Jimmy, what's that putter you're using? You know, it's rolling pretty good. And he's going, Oh, yeah, this Odie is hot today. So the name flipped for Odie to be the first name. So it became it's an Odie was on all the the literature and all the magazines for the brochures for the pro shops, it became known as an Odie, not an Odie Chris magnet. It became known as both, but more primarily as an Odie.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. That's wild. So so you discover uh late one night, you're browsing, and find that there is a shop in Selma, Alabama that is still making hickory shafted putters. Um and then w when did it kind of come to you to reach out about helping them revive the business? I mean, that there had to be a level of entrepreneurship there in you of wanting to do that, of like, yeah, you know what? I'm gonna kind of stick my neck out there and see if they'll let me do this.

SPEAKER_01

Right, right. So, so at this time, um, I'm still doing it. I'm I've got two full-time jobs, I'll I'll joke and say, which is very true. But um, for for better or for worse, I'm I I work full-time in real estate as well. And so I do video marketing for my real estate business, which includes, you know, website development and email marketing campaigns. And and I've had a ton of other previous businesses that I've either owned or worked in that have been very entrepreneurial, um, where I've made my own divisions and uh, you know, had to had to go build business and you know, build up a book of business and make money for a company or for myself. And I mean, business is hard, entrepreneurship is hard. Businesses fail every single day. So when I kind of went up to Selma, you know, introduced myself and and just was a sponge just trying to try to. We we had a had a brief email back and forth. We talked on the phone for like half an hour. You know, hey, I'd love to come up. I want to come see the shop. I want to learn more about you and your story. And and luckily from the panahandle of Florida to Selma, I mean, it's it's uh only three hours. So or at least at least the way that I drive, it's three hours. So um if if anyone else is driving, it's probably three and a half. But um, I I got up there and was just this is so cool. And and the shop is so different from modern shops. Um as as you can uh probably imagine. I mean, you look at like the YouTube videos of of these amazing big manufacturers, the Callaways, the pings, the titleists, it's like a laboratory. It's you know, there's not a speck of anything anywhere. I mean, there's there's a what they call a mess is what Odie calls clean. You know, it's it's it's you know, a 75-year-old running a shop in Selma, Alabama, and um it's it's just and the everything's made of, I mean, the shafts are made of wood, so there's wood dust everywhere. You know, it's a craftsman, it's it's just it's his, you know, uh play place to make beautiful putters. And then and then out of this shop comes these just beautiful handcrafted um, you know, brass insert. It's got the lead weight system that's in there, hand wrapped leather grip, like almost no one on the planet knows how to make anymore, except for these small itty bitty shops. So when I went up to go meet with him, he said something that almost broke my heart that really kind of got me hooked. And because from the first time of me digging into the story, I mean, just just light bulbs went off. I'm like, this is such a cool story. I mean, I it in in my other businesses, it's all about the hook. It's all about getting attention for all the right reasons, of course. I mean, you got guys that get attention for the wrong reasons and then they fail, you know, but there's there were there was such an attraction for me from being not only someone that loves golf, but also loves history, that loves craftsmanship, that loves heritage. And when I was digging into it, the more that I dug, the more in love I got with the story, the more that I, you know, talked to Odie, the more I was like, this is you're you're a couple puzzle pieces away from being back. You know, it's that's that's kind of how my mind worked it worked. It wasn't it wasn't like like like businesses fail all the time, but it I my my only brainwave was like, there's no way that this fails. This is too good of a story with with enough effort, with an with the right teams in place, with the right, you know, posts and the right connections and the right, you know, uh uh uh uh people that are that are out there. I mean, th this thing is just you know, a couple months from being back on the map. And just just really trusted my gut on that, just from from previous business experiences where it's like, man, I should have trusted my gut more. I was right, you know, and and I didn't stand up for myself enough. And and then in this moment going, I know I'm right about this. I know I am, but I've got to meet the guy, you know, because maybe he's just toxic. And he couldn't have been further from that. He was just such a good, loving, loving southern guy. And um, but he almost broke my heart when when I first met with him because my business brain, you know, after hanging out with him for two hours in Selma, just being a sponge and seeing, I mean, he made a putter in front of me, and I was just like, there's 62 steps to make these things, and he can do it while talking to you because it's literally ingrained into his brain and into his into his hands. And at the very end of the conversation, I asked him, What's your five to 10 year business plan for Odie putters? And he goes, Well, Steve, when I pass away, the story and the brand dies with me. And that was a moment where it was like a stab to the heart. It was like, Well, I see you've got so much passion in this. You've got there's such an amazing story that's there. And you go online, there's Odis all over the place. There's got to be a way that we can fix that. And and, you know, what would it look like if I helped you out with your just anything? But hey, social media marketing, it's what I'm good at. And then that turned into social media marketing and the website. And then that added into email marketing, and then that turned into, you know, going and meeting with these private clubs is they're now getting putters again. So we just we just signed on a uh our first private club over in Houston called Champions Club. And it's just it's this mountain effect going, hey, trust your gut because your intuition is spot on about this thing. This is such a powerful story, and the golf community has really just wrapped their arms around us because we've discovered that these aren't just putters. These are these are putters that fathers taught their sons how to putt with. Or it was their grandfather's favorite thing, and it's what they passed down to their grandsons. It's it's it's more than that. It's a connection between generations, which which sounds kind of cliche, but when you're on the inside and you see the stuff that I see, it's every week I see a story that's like that going, Hey, I've got to get this refurbished. Um, where do I send it to? I've got to get this thing cleaned up. It was my dad's favorite thing. It was my grandfather's favorite thing, it was my uncle's favorite thing. You know, it's how I learned to put, you know, it was my mom. I mean, the there there was there's an amazing connection with the LPGA as well that that we're looking to reach and tap into as well. There's, I mean, hundreds of PGA, but also LPGA wins as well with these putters between, you know, the 50s, 60s, and 70s. But because this is all pre-internet, it's manual digging from this guy right here, going, Hey, I've got to dig all this stuff up. And because it's all newspaper articles and and it's all you know, handwritten notes and word of mouth stories where before because um uh Mr. Palmer was the was one of, if not the first guy to make um advertising. Off advertising and marketing really popular, where you can make money from that being a player and then having ownership. You know, Hogan ended up following that. And then you see an explosion of, you know, these manufacturers where they they realize, oh, hey, we can make a lot of money doing this. And oh, by the way, let's go ahead and start signing on players. And then the players get paid too. So um this the the the the OD wave kind of happened before that. And you know, you can you can point at you know a dozen different ways of why they're where they're at now and why why we're having this revival, but you know, it's just it's it's just where we're at now, and I'm just so overjoyed to be in the position where we're at because we we've just we feel so much love from the community. Um like there was uh almost it's a community, sometimes it's a little cultish. Uh we've we we had a a post that kind of went pop online, and there were maybe one or two comments that were a little sideways on there out of the couple hundred, and and the I I I let them be because the community just jumped on them. And there's like care of it. Yeah, and you can find those comments real quick. I left them on there on purpose. Yeah, um, you know, because it's the internet, people are hiding behind their keyboards and they're just gonna type whatever they want to type.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_01

But um, you know, the Odie community just just loves that we are back, and I couldn't be so like I couldn't be more excited to be in the position I'm at I'm in right now just to help this story along, to help continue this uh this brand into the next generation because for better or for worse, they haven't changed. It's the same 62 steps to produce these things as they were in the 40s and in the 50s, and we have legitimately no competition in the world we're in right now. I mean, sure there are other I mean there there's there's obviously there's many, many, many other golf putter manufacturers. I've got no illusions on that. But who's currently out there making a hickory shaft of putter specifically from the 40s through the 70s?

SPEAKER_00

There's nobody. You've got guys that make it kind of a dying art anyway. Like we've we've had Trevor Larson on the show, and he said he's one of four or five guys left in the country that makes persimmons. Right. That's it. He's a great guy.

SPEAKER_01

I've I've had some good conversations with him as well. But he's the he he he's finding out stuff that I'm finding out as well, which is um I'm I'm a big analytical guy. I love looking at data, I love looking at who's watching and who's paying attention. So my hypothesis when I first started out was and and I I love being proved wrong. So so my hypothesis was the only people that are gonna care about this are the gray hairs, or the guys that are over the age of 65, where they had one when they were kids, you know, and and that's that's still true, but we're seeing such a magnetic effect from people that are younger than 35 that are going, What is this story? You know, this was this would have been my grandfather's putter, you know, and and and he would have been hanging out or he would have known who Demerit was, or Doug Ford, or Kerry Middlecoff, you know, Jackie Burke Jr., all these amazing players from back in the day that are footnotes, you know, and and and they're they're they're they're not footnotes to to people that know and enjoy the previous the the old old guard, but to the guys that grew up there my age, you know, they're going, man, I don't really know anybody besides Bobby Jones, Nicholas Palmer, Sneed, and player, you know. It's like, well, they were at that level, level and became those good of players and became, you know, uh uh known for their accolades because they they had to beat some guys that were established were that were those guys. So it's it's it's the previous generation allowing the next generation to come in, kind of thing. But um, yeah, it's just we're we're we're on fire for what we're doing, and we we love making these things. I I keep checking, I've got a bag of OD's here behind me, and I'm just like, I'm just in there.

SPEAKER_00

I love it's it's unique. I feel like most of these stories where and forgive me how I describe this, but where young buck comes along to old business owner and is like, hey, let me help you. Most of the time, old business owner is like, no, pound sand, kid. I don't want you anywhere near my business. I'm doing this, I don't need your help, I don't want your help. But I love that he was like, no, come on, let's do this because you've done a great job with the social media. Um, I was given one. I have a doojger that I was given, I actually have it right here in front of me, um, for Christmas, like three years ago by my father-in-law. And I love it. And then I saw your post a week or so ago and I was like, oh my gosh, that's what I have. I have an Odie. And so then uh talk about the because so many people I imagine have them and don't know what they are. Talk about what you have put online so that people can catalog and discover what they may actually have their hands on.

SPEAKER_01

I I missed that last part. I'm sorry, I gotta start.

SPEAKER_00

So in terms of the catalog, talk about what you have for people to as to use as a resource to understand what they may have from their grandfather or from their dad, so they can, I guess the the provenance of an Odie that they may have possession of.

SPEAKER_01

Right, right. So that that's a really, really good question. And I'm gonna answer it in two ways. So when you first started talking, it was um about you know what what it was like bringing a young buck on. And then and then your second part of the question was provenance. I'll touch on the young buck part because that's also really important. Because I was I was kind of happily surprised going, oh, he's gonna let me do this, you know, and and and and maybe that's you know, an oversight by him, you know, where it's like, oh, hey, we're gonna bring in this young buck to come in and and and possibly screw this whole thing up, you know. So it was a lot of there's a lot of pressure on me doing it right and doing this brand justice, you know, and helping the Odie community out. It it means so much to so many different people. So I couldn't really come in guns blazing. You know, I've had this, these other business experiences that I've got, you know, in the back of my mind so thankfully, where it's like, hey, I've got I've got, you know, a laundry list of failures, you know, and I'm looking at all those, you know, and and and successes, where it's like, hey, I've got luckily all these different things that have happened, and I can I can now lean on that experience to help you out. I've I've you know scraped my knees enough, you know, where it's like, hey, I I I I know where the middle of the road is and I can I can help navigate this thing back to where it was. But um I I didn't know it at the time when I first met with Odie, but he was about a month from shutting down. He was frustrated, he was burnt out, he wasn't making much money. He was he was gonna he he's a craftsman. I don't know what he would have done, but I've got a suspicion it would have been he would have gone to build houses, work with his hands, you know, work for the church. He's he's a of uh his dad and himself are are are both uh Baptist preachers. So he's really involved in the local churches where he's at. And I I'd assume he'd go and do something like that. And um, so luckily he gave me a shot and and and we're off and running. We're doing well right now. And and we're allowing him a second chance at at the golf life. Um, but Provenance was something that was really, really tricky because when you look online, if you go on eBay, if you go um into your grandfather's closet with the doojigger, you know, you got all these other things that are out there, there are literally hundreds of different models, just OD specific, that are out there on the market. So you go, hey, what's a what's the difference between a 70H and a 700H? Or a 18 HBW and a 20 HBW, and it's like before you know, eight months ago that you it'd be like, you're speaking Greek to me, brother. Like that doesn't sound like and stuff that I've had to learn as we're going along, going, okay, well, hey, the 34 and the 38H were blades, and then your sevens and seventies were evolutions that um uh Jackie Burke ended up you know popularizing when he ended up winning. But they were, you know, it was hey, we're gonna start with the seven, and then the seventy became a variety off of that because of something that a pro went to Odyssey and went, Hey, I want to see this edge to be beveled. I want this face to be this, I want this to be a little different. And then so they they it just became a uh a hydra of models where it's like, oh, we've got this, the seven, the seventeen, the seventy, the seven hundred are all, you know, grandfathers of each other, you know, they're all of the same family, and then you got that times, you know, a hundred. So when I first came on board, um, I was I was given he had like two catalogs that he still had. Um, and I was like, oh, this is really great. You know, I've got you know 50 models that are in here that I can pull from. And I built an online resource for Odis, which didn't exist until uh late last year. And I thought I was done. I was like, oh, all done. You know, cool, I got my 70, you know, I'm out. And and then uh nope, wrong. Uh, because every for every one that I had, I was missing two. You know, they're going, hey, I see the I see the 17, but what's the 700? Or what's you know, what uh first flight, or or you know, all these all these other varieties that are out there. You know, what you know, when it has a a a fiberglass head, or they had bamboo shafted putters back in the day. They were always tinkering and trying different things. Okay. Right. So so I I had to learn, you know, because I get requests three times a day going, hey, this is my dad's putter. What is what is you know a 111? And it's like, um, I don't know. You know, so I had to, you know, there's a steep learning curve going, Odie help. I I'm stumped again. You know, I feel like I'm fumbling around in the dark, trying to learn as best I can. As soon as I learn something, I was like, well, I I've got to learn this other thing, and then I forget what I had just learned. So I'm I kept trying to add to the database, and I tell that story to tell this one. So um, as we had gotten um, so March of this year, we got our first shop in 35 years. And and um, because he he's got to have his own split uh own space to build.

SPEAKER_00

What was he working in before? Was it just shared space or or where was he working before he got this shot?

SPEAKER_01

So it was it was shared space. So he was he was building clubs for Tad Moore at the time. Oh yeah. And and and so so Tad is obviously a big name in the hickory golf world, and Tad had allowed him space in his shop to make his putters, um, which which were at that time he was making 30 a year for himself for for Odie. But the majority of his work he was making, you know, hundreds in the low thousands of stuff for for Tad, which which allowed him to kind of stay in the golf world, kind of keep his head above water, but um not I mean, just not really do what he could be doing uh without working for himself. But uh just wasn't wasn't able to make that jump. And so when I came on board, it was like, well, let's get yourself a shot. And so we we got our own space right now. And uh two three weeks ago, um, I I went up to Selma and spent uh I did fi 50 hours and four days just remodeling the entire place. You know, I brought brought some guys in there, you know, started moving some walls, you know, uh repainting the walls, moving a bunch of stuff around. That way we can allow to um not only have people come through where it's not like you know, um an old shop. You know, yeah, hey, hey, I've got no illusions, it's still a golf shop. It's still it's it's uh my my my mom would go, it's not mama clean. I'm like, definitely not. I've got I've got no illusions. You know, you you can't drop food on the floor and pick it back up. But um it's uh it's cleaner. And uh so we we got it all fixed up where, hey, if people want to come through, which people have been asking like crazy, hey, I'm in Montgomery, I'm in Prattville, I'd love to come stop by. Now we can do that. Now we can have people come through. But then on top of that, we can allow to have um additional help uh come into the shop. I can I can arm Odie with the team and go, hey, we could be dangerous with three guys. We could be really dangerous if I give him some help. But then also the the the five to ten year plan along with that is, hey, we can preserve this story for the next generation. You know, my my biggest fear is I mean, I if push comes to shove, I think I could figure it out, but it'd be a steep learning curve for me making these things. But I want to not only learn how to do it myself more, I mean, I know how to do it, but but I don't have the muscle memory like he does. Um, but just bring some guys in and train them um the way they should be trained. Um, because my greatest fear is he gets hit by a truck and it's like, well, yeah, this is gonna be tough now, you know. Um so so trying to trying to help out with that. But um, yeah, so so when we were up in Selma, we were going, I mean, it's a 6,000 square foot place. Um, the back half, the back 3,000 square foot is storage, it's dusty, you know, not even lit. It's just, you know, golf stuff. And I was like, well, what's back here? You know, it's his dad's old golf bags and his dad's old office furniture and a really cool chest. Like that was that's from some. It's like this gigantic, you know, 18-foot-wide, uh, probably four foot tall, you know, like this massive office thing. I'm like, well, hey, when we get this thing cleaned up, I'm moving some stuff so we can design and decorate the shop, you know, a little bit better than it was. And then we start digging through the drawers. And as we're digging through the drawers, we find catalogs from the 40s, from the 50s, from the six. So I've got seven catalogs.

SPEAKER_00

That's right.

SPEAKER_01

So cool.

SPEAKER_00

That's so cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So catalogs with his dad's face on them. And and like these, these putters where it's like, oh, that's what a 111 is. I see it here. You know, oh, the the the the 38 that looks like the um, oh my goodness, the um uh the Arnold Palmer, the 8802. It's like, oh, that they they've got 10 blades that are close to that. You know, they've got their varieties on the Calamity Janes, they've got their varieties on their own, their own, um, their own makes and models that pros had gone to them and gone, hey, I want this little change, you know, the bamboo shafted putters, the fiberglass putters. Um it was just it was just a treasure trove of information. And and I'm like, I'm taking these. These are mine now. I'm taking I'm gonna scan them. These are all going online. These are gonna be part of the online OD resource. That way, when people come to me for questions, I can I can not only help them out more, but I can also point them to that resource going, I've got all, I think it's six. I think there's six catalogs that are online right now. So go check those out first. And then on top of that, I've got a 4,000-word article that's searchable. So just go Command F that and you can search the entire document and find out more about the dating potential valuations of it, um, and and you know, hey, what grip cap is on there because that can really help. Oh, it's got the Selma stamp that's gonna be pre-1965, you know. You can tell if a grip's been replaced, more than likely, um, if it's worth being refinished um and and uh refurbished, um, because sometimes, you know, dents and dings and patinas are character. Um, but there's some times where it's like, hey, you should probably get this thing refurbished um because it's not playable or whatever. But yeah, we just did a a massive amount of I mean it's it was a treasure trove of of old catalogs that had been in there for uh nearly a hundred years. It seemed like it. That's it. It was it was untouched. You you you dust them off, you're just like, oh my god, you know. So it was we we had those, and then and then there was a literal treasure chest that was in there. So as I'm back in there, um, on the on the office desk that was that was back in the corner, there was a chest that was on top of it. It was a big black, you know, probably four foot wide, two foot tall chest. And as I'm kind of cleaning stuff out, I just kind of you know eyeballed it. I'm like, that is a good looking chest. That'd be a good piece of decoration, is what I thought. And then I I I pull it out and I I open it up. It's Odie Sr.'s World War II chest. So it has, and I've I've I've kind of put some teasers online. So there's three m three uh newspapers in there, like the Miami Herald, the Miami National. There's like three Miami newspapers saying, you know, World War II is over. It was like the big World War II, you know, news that he had capped. It had all of his old army caps. It had um his uh um because he he was in the in the in the army. Um he he didn't he didn't go overseas and serve, but he was he was doing stateside stuff with with um soldiers that were coming back and they were getting rehabs. So he'd he'd worked with with Sneed and Hogan back in the day when they were, you know, all these all these soldiers are coming back to the states and they've got you know missing arms and missing legs. They were part of the the rehab programs going, hey, you're gonna hang out with us with a bunch of these pros and you're gonna be outside and you're gonna learn to walk again and maybe hit a golf ball. So he's he's hanging out with so there's pictures of that, you know, there's pictures of him in his in his army uniform. Um, and then there was um you know a bunch of personal items that were in there. Um there were a bunch of negatives that I'm still uh I'm I'm sending to go get developed that were like original putter photos from who knows when from back in the 40s and the 50s. And then there were, I mean, remember when I was telling you about 1946 US Open goes kaboom, and then he gets all these sales. There's four of those ledgers that are in there between 1947 and like the 1951 of uh like Lloyd Mangrum and um uh oh my goodness, um Fazio was in there. Um uh George Fasio, so Fazio's grandfather, I think, and uh um there's just just an incredible amount of these old pros that were legends back in the day, you know. But they're going, hey, I want I want 12 orders of Odis, you know, set them to Clipper's point. You know, it's just it went when I opened it up, I was like, I feel like I need to be wearing gloves because it's just we've got to protect all of this, we have to document it, because it's what I would call an impossible artifact where these things shouldn't exist, you know, the these things should have been lost to time because especially from a family where it's just what dad did was build putters. Why would they keep that?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you know, but but then nothing happened to them in in 50, 60 years, no fire, no just nobody throwing them out. The fact that that cat or the that the chest was never sold at a yard sale. I mean, it it is wild that that is still around.

SPEAKER_01

Right. Exactly. That's that that was exactly my thought. And going, hey, someone had the foresight to to take these and hide them. And and it wasn't like they're all stacked neatly neatly on top of each other. It was like one was in this desk drawer, and then one was over here, and then one was in this filing cabinet. It was just like, oh, these things are are I mean, they were kind of all in the same place, but not. So it was just something that was really just such an incredible find. And that this is news within the last month. Like it was just like, oh, this is really, really cool. Um, I've done one video on it, but I'm I'm looking to kind of you know slowly drip and drab, you know, information because we're um, I'm trying to kind of stabilize sales a little bit. You know, we're having we're having a lot of fun right now, and people are just on fire for this story. But it's it's these little things that build connection to the past. And it's when when I when I found it first, um, I mean, Odie's so funny. He he was like, Oh, hey, I get I I guess you got the the treasure trove that you were looking for. And I stopped him. I was like, no, this is your treasure trove. This is not this is not mine. This is not my story. I'm the guy holding the megaphone right now, and and and this is this is all you. This is your family, this is your story. I'm just the guy that connects you with the world. You know, this is I'm I'm just that little off ring. Yeah. I'm the conduit. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So is he rejuvenated by all this?

SPEAKER_01

Like has it fired him up? Oh, he's floating. I think I think he's probably he's he's probably gained a couple inches. He's gotten taller. Um when when I was meeting with him late last year, I mean, he was he was kind of dragging. He was he was just just kind of, you know. I mean, he he was he was still on fire. He loves talking about what he does, but I could tell his energy compared to where he's at now. I mean, he's floating. He loves doing what he does. And and when when we first relaunched, uh first week of March this year, um, we had just like a wave of orders that came in. And then like week two came around, I had I had to pause, I had to basically shut down the website. Hey, we're sold out, you know, build up our email list. And then come Monday of next week, he calls me going, like, all right, where are we at? Let's start, let's start selling some more putters. I'm going, you ready? Like he was, he was just, he's like, Yeah, I I got those 20 done. They're out the door. You know, let's let's get another 20 for this week.

SPEAKER_00

So Yeah, so what is what is from from the moment someone places an order, um, if it's not already in inventory, what does that timeline look like for it to be constructed?

SPEAKER_01

So we've got no inventory. There's nothing that's pre-made, everything is made to order. So if you look at the website, you've got options for right hand, left hand, and then you've got shaft length. So when an order comes in, the head, the head is there, you know, but it's rough. It's not, I mean, it's it's cut mostly. Um, so it's it that all the heads are maybe, you know, 10 out of the 62 steps in, but he'll he'll take a head out of the bucket and you know get it done for that specific order, and it'll that that head and that shaft eventually will you know be paired with that order, and then it'll it'll go down the line. And he's he just loves working in a shop. He's I've I've I've told him from the very beginning, well, I'm not here to change anything about the shop. And he's and he was he was like, Well, I I'm I'm not here to lower my prices. I'm like, I'm not here to lower your prices. I'm not, I'm not, I'm I'm not here to make any changes about the looks, about the history, about what you do in the shop. I am the conduit to get the story to the the the public to get it out there. And um, that's that's the place that I'll be in this entire thing. So Um okay. I look like I skipped out for a second. Looks like I'm back.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you're there.

SPEAKER_01

Um I'm I'm talking too fast for the internet to keep up. But um yeah, so so I was like, I'm not I'm not changing anything. He just loves doing what he does. He's a craftsman through and through. He loves working with his hands, and so that was an understanding from the very beginning. It's like I can't do what you do, and you can't do what I do, but together we can do something.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

We we were we um uh we we we did something naughty at the beginning of this year. Uh we went to the PGA show in January, and uh we didn't have a booth, so we were just kind of walking around. I was just like, I just want to walk around with you just so we can see what's out there. My my dad was going for some other of his golf business stuff, and I I had an Odie under my arm, not to sell. We had we had a couple meetings we were going to go do that were pre-arranged, but I wasn't I was I mean, if you you get guys though, I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers where they're going, oh, you didn't have a booth, you weren't supposed to be there. It's like I wasn't trying to, you know, get business. But um, you know, had our couple meetings and I was just kind of standing with the Odie under my arm as as he was taking a break and getting the water. And as I'm standing there, an you know, older gentleman walks up and he's like, What are you doing with an Odie putter? And I flipped the question back on him, going, What do you know about an Odie putter? And he just started just just just going off. I oh, it was I I I'm I'm a former PGA rules official. I grew up around Odie putters. We would see him all the time on tour when I was a rules official. I can't believe that they're gone, but what are you doing with one? It was that's you know, until only recently, it was my my favorite putter. My my golfing buddies made fun of me, you know, and then I started making putts and they threatened to give me termites, you know, because it had the hickory shaft. I'm like, okay, great. And he you could you could tell like this elderly man was just like just like on fire. And I'm going, well, well, how about you tell Odie himself? And he like Odie turns the corner, and I got to see, I mean, and the guy might have been 62, and but I got to see the 62-year-old man turn into a kid. And it was just like it was like meeting a celebrity. And then Odie got to see someone be on fire for what he does. And it was just like this this mo this beautiful moment of realization where he's going, oh, people care. People remember, you know, people are fond of this story, and and it is more than a putter. So it was it was something where where I I I got to take a step back and just watch these two. I mean, collectively, they were like 140 years old, right? You know, but but they they just got to float and talk and be excited about what they both love. Yeah. And it was like it was it was like this guy meeting, you know, uh Denzel Washington or or or you know, uh uh uh uh Tom Brady. It was just like, oh my goodness, like how cool is it? I get to meet the Odie Christman. And uh and and everyone's walking past going, like, what the heck are these two old gray hairs talking about? But but to the right people, it means a great deal. And it's just something I'm I'm so proud to be in the position I'm at now. But it's it's we've got to, you know, build it, build it right. Um there's a lot of things that we can't do. There's a lot of alliances that we can't make just just to try and protect this as best we can. But so we've had a bunch of great, um, a bunch of great clubs reach out to us, um, you know, trying to get putters back in the shop. You know, hey, we've you know, hey, we used to carry Odie Christmas putters, you know, our club was founded in 1932. So we're not, you know, timelines don't align directly, but you know, the the older guys that are here, you know, still might use an Odie. So let's get you guys back. So we're we're still rebuilding that. Um, but uh the the the the majority of what we do is directly to individual people. Um we've got a big business when it comes to refurbishments. Um it's not a big money-making thing for us, but it's something that we like to take care of the community with. And and it's like, hey, this is your dad's favorite putter. We want to honor that and clean it up a little bit. Oh, that grip's fallen off. That that piece is a little loose, you know, it hasn't been touched in 30 years. Let us get it back to close to as it left, you know, as it was when it left the shop. It's not gonna be perfect. We're not trying to remove all the character from it, but what is it gonna look like if we, you know, add a little bit of TLC to this? And we've just we've just seen some of the best heartfelt notes come back our way where people have just been like, jaw on the ground. I can't believe this putter that that was my dad's looks like this. I I just I've just always not thought of it this way, and now it just glows. You know, once the patina gets removed or or that piece gets added back on, or the shaft gets fixed, or the grip, it's just there's so much powerful um energy and and such such such good momentum for where we're at now. And the the the the community as a whole has just been just so loving with what we're doing.

SPEAKER_00

So, what have you uh heard from people in terms of percentage of actually using it versus displaying it? So I've got my doojigger right here for the people on YouTube. I mean, it is beautiful, and and my wife wants to put it like on a shelf, and I want to put it in my bag and and play with it. So, what have you heard from people about how they prefer to uh utilize their Odis?

SPEAKER_01

That's a really, really good question. There's basically two camps, but the majority of them is shockingly, they'll put it in their bag and they'll play with it. Um, I mean, I I've got all of my modern clubs, I've got my modern Callaways, my Paradigm Drivers, and and uh I've got an Odie putter in my bag. And I mean, I I love using it on the golf course, especially with random players on the first hole, because they go, What is that? I've got to get that in my hands. And then and then on the second T, they want to go, Do you want to play for money? You know, trying to take advantage of someone using a hickory shats of putter. And I go, Yeah, what do you want to play for? You know, and then and then I'm collecting their money on 17 because we're closed out. You know, people love kind of picking on me, and I go, Okay, all right, let's let's go, buddy. Let's go let's go. Let's try because because they're still made the same way that they were when they were winning championships. And and I feel like for people that understand um what it is and have confidence with their putting stroke and and and you know, the belief in what they're using, there's there's almost nothing better. I mean, we're we're not gonna win the technology argument, we're not gonna win, you know, with the CNC machines, where it's this laser computer kind of deal. You know, are we gonna be back on tour in our current form? I don't believe so. But for the average kind of, hey, you you play golf twice a month to twice a year, hey, it's a fun piece to put in your bag. It's something, hey, you're you're not being comp like you're not trying to win big money. Like, hey, if for competitive tournaments with thousands of dollars on the line, you're probably gonna use something else. But for those guys that are out there playing with their buddies and you're you're shooting, you know, 80, 90, 100, like you're gonna be throwing that in your bag because it's a great conversation piece. It's something really cool to kind of use as you are um uh out on the course with with your buddies. So so I'll answer it that way first. And and there's there's a large majority of guys that I hear from in the Ody camps that are going, I've got to get this thing refurbished, it's going back in the bag. Or it's um, I've got to get one for my buddy. He wants one as a gift, but then also he's gonna use it. But there's also a big group of guys where, hey, I need to get a cool gift for that guy, my dad, my son, my grandfather. I don't know what to get him, but he loves golf and he loves history. It's perfect. You know, it's something where if there's ever a such thing as a second putter in your bag or a third putter, you know, or or even I've heard a lot of guys going, yeah, it's never in my bag, but it's always in the corner of my office. And whenever I'm on the phone on my Bluetooth and I'm hitting putts into the cup into the corner, I've got my Odie. You know, I don't have the the new Callaway, you know, whatever, the the spider, the ping, the lab. I don't have a lab in my office, but I've got something cool that's unique that tells a great story that is mine. That's that's something where um I'm seeing a lot of people also kind of gravitate to where it's like, hey, you know, this is this is mine, and I'm I'm gonna use it every day when I'm on the phone. And then on Saturday on the golf course, I've got my Scotty. You know, but for for me, when when when I'm out there, I've got the Scotty that was before the Scotty, which is an Odie. So handmade, crafted. That's well said. Yeah, I mean, that I've I've heard it before. I mean, there's that that's not my quote. I'm stealing that quote from Golf Digest. You know, that's there's there was a digest article that came out in like 1996 where it was um it was like the three or four most prestigious putters, and it was the bullseye, the answer, the calamity jane, and then uh the Odie. And it was like, what great company to be in to be one of those guys. And and it's like, well, okay, hey, if we've got that kind of prestige and that kind of story that's behind us, we've got legs to stand on. I mean, it's it's such an amazing story, and we've got such a this amazing community that's around us. And and it's like, well, hey, is failure out there? Like, absolutely. But for me, it's not an option. There's no way this thing goes down. Um, it's I'm I'm protecting it with both arms, and and and we are going to be, you know, stepping confidently into the future as we are we are, you know, working through this. And have you gotten staff?

SPEAKER_00

Have you gotten some people to work with him yet? We're still working on that. Okay. Because I guess and they, if you get those people, they've got to come in and learn the trade from him. I mean, that's that's uh you're trying, you've got a very specific individual you're looking for, if I'm thinking about that correctly.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. Well, well, I mean, I'm I'm also thinking about the the perfect guy for us, and it could be a girl, but the the the guys that that were in the shop back in the 60s, 70s, 80s, they were all men. But it in my mind's eye, I'm I'm picturing a boy that was really good in shop class and high school, and he didn't have the book smarts to go to college, but he loved working with his hands. We all know people that are like that, that are like, man, I don't care about science and physics and algebra and economics. Who cares? But I love building. I'm I love working on roofs, I love, you know, building furniture. I love we all know. I mean, Jesus was a carpenter, you know. Yeah, yeah, like we all we all know those guys, and they've got their place in society and their language is working with their hands. So I'm I'm currently, I mean that that's been my big push this week, actually. Now that we've got the shop all cleaned up and I feel comfortable going, hey, now we can bring some guys in here and and the the shop is professional-ish, you know. So now we can reach out to the high schools and reach out to the churches that are in Selma going, hey, there's there's, you know, probably some some wayward men that are out there that are trying to find their place in the world that have a ton of skill, but they don't know how to apply it. So we're we're looking for those guys to come in and and and really, you know, kind of give them, give them a story, give them a give them, you know, a way to apply their passion because there's there's a way for um there's a way forward for those men, um, for for this company, but but right now we're we're we're we're needing uh definitely some help in that area. So we're we're we're very, very hopeful. It's not it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when for finding those right guys. And and Selma's not a big town, but it's not a small town either. So um, and it's going through its own uh uh revitalization right now. We're in a in a in a really cutesy kind of you know uh arts and cultural kind of corner. There's a lot of craftsmen and artistic people that are in our area. Um there's a beautiful golf course, the Selma Country Club that's around the corner, and it's starting to um come back a little bit. I mean, last time I was there was a guy that was moving up there from Miami, and his friends thought he was crazy. And he's like to Selma, right? And he's like, Yeah, my friends think I'm crazy. I'm moving from waterfront to riverfront, you know. And it's just like, well, there's there's just something special about Selma. So um I'm real interested to see what the future is like for us there, um, as well as what the future is with the company because we've we've done a really good job with with going, hey, we've got you know a hundred, I think there's like 145 technical models that are online. So we've gone, hey, let's pick the best eight. I'm not trying to drown Odie right now. I want to make sure that he's able to kind of keep up with the workload as these putters are made one at a time when an order comes in. We don't have inventory, they're made as the order come comes across his computer screen. So um we were like, hey, let's let's choose our best eight. And uh with with a recent launch uh uh yesterday, actually, of the 38H, which is a beautiful uh beautiful blade. It's a red brass, really corrosion resistant, and it's flat out gorgeous. So so we're we're doing a few things that are that are a little fun that we're we're slowly releasing um and and trying to test the waters and experiment to get back to where we were. But um, yeah, the future's bright for what we're doing with those.

SPEAKER_00

It's really exciting. Well, you you've been incredibly generous with your time today. And I have one last question, or just a final question. What is the craziest story or phone call or DM you've gotten from someone who has a a putter from the 40s or 50s that you've just been blown away about where this putter's been, how uh the the history of it, what what is what has that been?

SPEAKER_01

You're gonna get me on this one. Um, so and and and there there's been a few. Um there's been some really important, um, really powerful, heartfelt, like tug on the heartstrings kind of stories. You know, hey, I'm so glad that Odie is back. It was my grandfather's favorite thing. He was buried with this putter. You know, it's like, oh, it's so there's there's those stories that are out there too. You know, this is how I learned to putt. You know, this is my favorite memories of my dad were with this putter on the putting green at our local uh Muni. You know, it's it's those kinds of stories that I hear uh just about weekly right now, going, Hey, I've got to get this thing refurbished, you know, really, really cool. The big powerful story, and I've kind of teased it earlier in this interview, was um we we we offer customizations with our putters. So if you wanted to get Josh Decker stamped onto the bottom of your putter, you can get Josh Decker stamped on the bottom of your putter. We get a custom request a month and a half ago with a custom stamp request for Gary Player. And the person purchasing the putter was not named Gary Player. But I do get an email the next day going, Hey, I just wanted to confirm that you guys got that request. And I couldn't help myself. So I ask, Yes, sir, we got your request for Gary Player. Out of curiosity, is this for Mr. Player? And he goes, Yes, Mr. Player's a really good friend of mine. And this is the week of the Masters. So I'm answering this email, and then I'm looking up and I'm watching him hit the first shot, the opening shot with with uh Mr. Nicholas on the on the first tee at Augusta. I'm going, holy smokes, like this is just incredible. And then so, and and then I I, you know, immediately, Odie, you won't guess who this is for. And he he goes off on his story of, oh yeah, Mr. Player, we met and he he's gonna tell a story better than me, so I'll get I'll get close, but I'll definitely mess it up, you know, where it's hey, oh yeah, we hung out in 1975 at the Birmingham Open, and then I saw him down in Shreveport, and you know, oh yeah, we've I've I've crossed passed with Mr. Player before. I'm going, like, you've never told me that story, you know. If I poke Odie in different directions, he'll he's just stories come out. Oh, I forgot to tell you about the story about you know Bob Goldby and about you know uh Jackie Burke Jr. And it's like, oh my goodness, you just crazy, you're just up to your ears with stories. And then that led into um the the I I I I can't reveal his name for obvious reasons you'll understand in a second, but that led us into this guy. He's like, Hey, I'm on fire for Odie being back. I love the story. I see the momentum that you guys have. Are there other Odie putters that you guys have that are originals from the original shop that you guys would be willing to sell? And um, if you saw my post from today, you kind of know where I'm going with this. And and I go, well, let me let me kind of ask and find out. And and I talk to Odie, you know, I'm going, and he's like, actually, I do. I've got 13 of them, but there are eight that are really, really special to me. So, so sorry, there are nine that are really, really special to me. There are four that you know are are still special to me, but you know, I'm I'm I'm willing to part with these, you know, kind of, you know, have you know less putters in my in my bag, you know. You want to see if you can, you know, sell them? I'm like, well, let's let's figure something out. So we go back and forth with this gentleman for, you know, two and a half weeks, and he he ends up buying two out of the four for a total of ten thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_02

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01

Right, right. And and and my wife works in the art world. So we did a really cool like letter of provenance to to kind of detail hey, here's where these these these putters were from. They're from Odie's Uncle Glenn's shop. He was one of the other shops that was in the area that helped produce these putters, you know, when Uncle Glenn's shop shut down. We got all these putter heads, you know, and and they've never been sold. They're really special to us. So we've fixed them up. They've got the original shafts in them, they've never been sold. And here you are. You know, thank you for your interest, you know, Mr. So and so. And it's like, and and this guy was just like, just over the moon. We were obviously over the moon, and and and Odie, Odie was so funny. I I I I call him and I go, I got good news and I got bad news. And he goes, Oh boy. And I go, bad news is, you know, cause because he jumped out. I was like, I I I feel like I left money on the table, you know, like like I I could have got a million dollars, you know, just just being being stupid, you know. And and then he goes, Oh, great. So so what'd you get for him? I'm like, well, um, five grand. And he goes, for both? And I go, no, for for one. He's getting two of them. And he goes, I'm so happy I could kiss you. Like, I go, you stay away from me. You stay away. So so um, but it's it's just the the the story is in such a really fun place right now. We we're in such a fun position. The golf community is just just just wrapped its arms around us. I can't repeat that enough. Um the the the stories that are coming out of the small manufacturer that didn't grow up thinking that his dad was anybody special. He was just a putter manufacturer and putting him back on the map, you know, and seeing seeing his name on golf channel now and and and you know, Mr. Player's got a putter, and you know, we're we're starting to get back into private golf courses around the country, you know, and we were these these conversations are coming out of the woodwork. It's it just feels just like we're just being wrapped or you know, uh, you know, two two arms around us by the golf community. It's it's really, really special. And um, I I couldn't be prouder to be where I'm at right now and to to to be a conduit for this story and just go, hey, you've this this this is something that has to be protected. It has to be told, because if it doesn't get told and um you know he passes away, the story's going to be left to a footnote in the you know the history of of golf. So um, yeah, just trying to trying to do our best every single day to you know keep keep it going one step at a time, and and just the the there's just so many amazing conversations that I keep having and connections that just I I love doing what I'm doing. It doesn't feel like work anymore. And so though they'll come a time and a place where it's like, okay, well, now I've got a real full-time job and it's this and this only. But uh yeah, just so stoked to be where I'm at right now.

SPEAKER_00

That is awesome. Steve, I I love your joy. Um, it is infectious, and and I love your passion for the game of golf. Um, hearing the story, it's it's fulfilled all of my imaginations for our conversation today. Uh wanted to hear just start to finish uh how you ended up in Selma, Alabama. I live in Birmingham, so it's right down the road from me. And I'm like, okay, I gotta get down there and see the place.

SPEAKER_01

You gotta come on by now.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I gotta I gotta come to the shop. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

We'd love to have you.

SPEAKER_00

Very, very seriously very much for for coming on. Uh, I will certainly send you a text and we'll figure out a time next time you're up. I'll shoot down to Selma and we can either play some golf or hit some putts or do whatever. But uh thank you for coming on and telling the story. Really, really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00

For Steve Strano, I'm Josh Decker, and this has been another episode of Off the Deck.

Head Shot

Josh Decker

Host