A clubmaker's makings

David L. Lawrence - born; Little Rock, Arkansas August 29th, 1955.

Growing up I always thought of golf as a serious waste of time. My dad used to get up in the wee hours of the morning, a real dew buster, just so he and his buddies could get 9 holes in before work. I'm pretty sure I thought he was absolutely insane at the time and I certainly wasn't encouraged by my favorite uncle who referred to the confounded game as "cow pasture pool." As a teenager I caddied a few times for one of Dad's friends at a tournament in Searcy, Arkansas, just for the money of course. Little did I know that 20 years later a young star would find his way into that very same tournament. Timing is everything I guess. The young star? Long John Daly of course. In 1991, living in Indianapolis and pretty new to the game of golf, I bought two week long passes to The PGA Tournament at Crooked Stick and invited my Dad up from Arkansas for the weekend. I'll never forget, he called me on Wednesday night all excited and asked if I'd heard the news? "You remember that tournament you use to caddie in back in Searcy? Well a guy that plays in it now was the 9th alternate for Crooked Stick, and he got in." I had been walking the grounds all week, watching the likes of Faldo, Norman, Couples, Lietzke and Nicklaus and I couldn't even fathom why my Dad was so excited. You see, as usual, he knew something I didn't, he had SEEN John Daly hit a golf ball. Needless to say we followed Daly all weekend and hooted and hollered and called the Hogs until we were hoarse. I'm not sure I've ever seen my Dad happier. Imagine the stories he told back at the tournament in Searcy. Nobody hits the ball like John Daly, nobody. It's those stories, we all have them to tell, that's why we love this game so much!

I often wonder how I grew from that uninterested start in golf as a teen, to a self taught, accomplished amateur golfer with a undying love for the game, it's rules and all it stands for. I didn't even pick up the game until I was 34 and in just 14 years, "just 14", I have become a competitive amateur tournament player. When I started I couldn't have ever imagined. I remember like it was yesterday, going out for the first time to play golf on a little municipal course in Pittsboro, Indiana, infamous for it's native son, NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon. Of course he was still an unknown in NASCAR. Guess that kind of puts 14 years into perspective doesn't it? Anyway, I shot 59 for 9 holes and I was absolutely awful, in fact I only scored so well because I could putt. It was not pretty, but I wasn't discouraged. I played on. Now fast forward back to 2004, Jeff Gordon is a Legend, he's probably turned as many race laps as I've hit range balls and the hard work does pay off. I've gone on to qualify and play in two Indiana State Amateur Championships at Morris Park and Otter Creek. Two Indiana State Open Championships at Rock Hollow and Prairie View. I finished 12th in the 2001 Indiana State Pub Links Championship at Harrison Hills, I'm the Club Champion at The Trophy Club in Lebanon, Indiana, site of the 2001 Indiana State Open Championship. In 2000 my partner John Watts and I won the 54th Annual Pepsi Spring Four Ball Championship at South Grove. more....

Many friends come to me for the latest in golf equipment news. Mostly because they know I keep abreast of the newest trends and developments and I love to buy and trade equipment all the time just to see what's hype, and what's really worth beating around the course. Two years ago I was quoted in the Indianapolis Star as saying that the Callaway C4 driver would flop just when Callaway was betting the farm on it. It's so much fun being right. Now we'll have to see if what they learned will make the ERC Fusion worth trying next year. And by the way, Tom Wishon first designed a composite driver nine years ago. Check out what he's doing this year, the 949G/Ti.

I also enjoy teaching and analyzing others' swings and I have helped many would be hackers get their swing smoothed out. It's really Easy! A little video, a computer, a dab of high tech software and viola, swing flaws gone for good, well at least for a round or two. <grin> Of course it helps that I have a pretty keen eye and a knack for problem solving. I have also come up with some pretty cool drills of my own to help get the proper feelings across. Here's one you can try.. Easy Driver Drill.

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