About Not Living Up to Expectations

When I met Lydia Ko for the first time, I wasn't that familiar with a 3 wood. So unfamiliar in fact, that I could't tell you the difference between that and a hybrid. But how could I pass up the opportunity that I had, and do nothing when so many in my position, would give their eye teeth for it. Imagine being able to get behind the ropes and chat away to the likes of Inbee Park & Yani Tseng? What about dinner with Lexi Thompson? I looked at the market place and I opened a golf shop - with those ladies who might like to do all of the above, in my mind.

Golf Addiction was devised as a scribble on an iPad program and in a completely Anita way of thinking I decided that that was what I was going to do, and in the face of adversity, I cracked on with it. Adversity because every one told me the market was shrinking- membership is down and everyone in this industry appears to be batting for themselves and themselves alone- and suspicious of everyone else who is just doing the same, in other words competition is tight. I'm not a billionaire starting a new golf brand either- so stacking up against the competitors I have was never about an endless pot of money in the bank. It had to work financially as well.

So because I was barely a beginner- and I still can't brag about ever having had a handicap, so many people thought that the girl who didn't know what she was talking about, couldn't possibly do it. But I never thought of it that way. Gene who has been in this industry for 38 years has done everything, anyone in this industry could have hoped to have done, but he was pretty good at keeping it a secret as well- so my head start came in the shape of my better than the rest other half. Better at being honest with the golfer, better at being good at what he does custom fitting and building golf clubs, giving handicaps gains to more golfers than any other fitter you know. At Golf Addiction we don't sell off the rack.

Gene has more club fitting awards and qualifications than you can shake a stick at. But like my very talented photographer Phil- who is responsible for the work above, I haven't got a business degree, or a stamp of approval from anyone, but I have a passion and an eye for detail which neither money nor education can get me. And to get over the point of difference in Golf Addiction that we strive to give the customer I needed someone who could demonstrate that in a single photograph. (Or actually a series of photographs). Not why we are different, but that we ARE different in our outlook.

At a golf course, somewhere in the world, there will be a meeting about how 'we' can grow the game, or someone will be talking about it in a magazine. Then, everyone will go home and think about the actions from that meeting and carry on as they were. We at Golf Addiction position ourselves next to a supermarket, where there are more non golfers passing than golfers and we make ourselves approachable to these people- because the opportunity to grow the game lies with them- and most golf shops are either out of reach on a golf course, or full of merchandise a beginner can't understand. We talk about how golf for kids, is the new black in terms of social interaction, manners, self respect and cheap babysitting- expressing to more mothers and golf widows why they should take it up in our keep fit or look shit world.

Talking to people about why they should take up golf, and not how to get them to do so- means we are actually growing the game. Addressing parental concerns and giving kids a well priced solution or alternative to cub scouts or guides or holiday club at nursery where they will still get sat down in front of an Xbox, in terms of occupying them throughout the summer holidays golf offers the best and cheapest solution bar none. And it'll get kids away from their smart phones as well.

I am not everyone's idea of the perfect golfer, but I want to be giving the best service, in an atmosphere where shopping is treated as the reward to oneself that it should be. Where quality is a much higher value option than price, after all trousers from M&S that cost me ￡20 30 years ago- cannot possibly be of the same quality at the same price, 30 years on. So I steadfastly believe in the quality of my brands, at the price on the ticket. I want to be known for doing the right thing, and even if that causes offence sometimes, (like telling a customer we are not a discounter) in the longer term- its for the right reasons. Hopefully more of my golfing peers will catch on and help me do it - because when we do it together, we all win.

I always think, when I hear someone saying something bad about someone else, that chances are what they say about me is probably the same. It makes me question their integrity, in this industry- I hear professionals trying desperately to hold on to members or customers by putting down their perceived competition. My observation to that is, when you know what you're talking about- you recognise someone who is good as well.