Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/165363
8/29/13 3:07 PM Page 1 CORPORATE PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT/COURTESY: LISA VLOOSWYK INTERVIEW BY LISA "LONGBALL" VLOOSWYK ACCRA Golf, run by Gawain Robertson and Dave Makarucha, has been making tremendous strides worldwide as a leader in the high performance golf shaft upgrade and replacement market. They work with over 350 handpicked professional club fitters and studios in countries around the globe and they are proudly Canadian. Here is a recent interview with co-owner Gawain Robertson (shown above). iG: How did you and Dave meet? We met when I was the Head Professional at Cataraqui CC and Dave was the manager of sourcing for Wilson Sports Golf division. When Loyalist Golf club was up for sale in 2000, Dave and I created a consortium to purchase the club and that was the beginning of our working relationship. In 2003, we started PGMC (Premium Golf Management Corp.) and began distributing golf shafts in Canada for Royal Precision and UST. In 2004 we created ACCRA. iG: What sets ACCRA apart from other companies? We are not bound by the restraints of dealing with club manufacturers, distributors and national big box retailers, who all need to make profits and demand lower wholesale pricing. We can use the highest quality materials and designs regardless of cost and we have cut out the middleman as we deal directly with our fitting studios. As we have dedicated ourselves to the professional club fitting industry, we design shafts that have a formula for fitting. Our DyMatch and DyMatch 2.0 lines are revolutionary in the concept of matching driver shafts to fairway woods to hybrids. We introduced "Constant Flex Technology" to all of our shaft models, meaning that the stiffness of any model of our shafts is the same whether the shaft is 45 grams or 85 grams. Most companies make lighter weight shafts much softer than the heavier versions even though they both say "S" flex on them. iG: You have a solid presence on the PGA Tour and the majority of the Tour events are in the United States. Why do you stay in Canada? Honestly, we shake our heads every day at this one! 65% of our sales are in the US, 20% in Europe, 10% in Japan and Asia, another few percent in South Africa and Australia and less than a couple percent in Canada. All of our competitors are based in California or Japan, so Kingston, Ontario is certainly a weird choice. Both Dave and I love Kingston and what it has to offer; recently we have developed a great relationship with Queens University and this has a huge benefit. We are currently developing a revolutionary shaft analysis machine with a Queens engineering grad and a partner in Arizona. It's kind of cool that the #1 golfer in the world for more than a year used a driver and 3 wood shaft from the small town of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Currently we have two players in the top 10 in the world and more than 60 PGA Tour victories in nine years. iG: What is your response to recreational golfers who think being fitted for a shaft is just for the pros? Custom fitting is the fastest growing segment of the golf club industry; the biggest issue is understanding the levels of club fitting. Some club fitters read some numbers from a launch monitor and find the best results from 2 or 3 "made up" demos and golfers walk away thinking they were fit. In my opinion a professional club fitter is someone that fits and builds you a golf club. When you are getting fit, a golfer should have choices of club heads and multiple shafts to try with each of the heads. Then once the best option is found, the golfer should have a set built to specific specifications that most golf club manufactures cannot do. This generally is not any more expensive than purchasing golf clubs anywhere else, yet a golfer will have the comfort of knowing that the swing weights, lofts, lies, flexes, etc. are all in spec. iG: What has been your most successful shaft ? The original ACCRA SE80 and SC series of shafts certainly put us on the map, but the DyMatch and now DyMatch 2.0 and the revolutionary fitting system that goes along with them have certainly moved us to a new level. That combined with our i-Series iron shaft, which by volume is actually our best selling shaft. Lastly, the ACCRA Tour Z series PLAYERS FROM LUKE DONALD TO PETER HANSON TO STEPHEN IMAGE CREDIT/COURTESY: ACCRA iG1308--proof2 AMES (SHOWN) HAVE BEEN USING ACCRA SHAFTS has had huge success on all major Tours and that has translated into by far the most popular shaft that ACCRA has ever introduced in the super premium segment of the shaft market. iG: What is new & exciting for 2014 for ACCRA? ACCRA recently introduced an innovative new iron shaft that will change the way golfers look at iron shafts. The new ACCRA Hybrex iron shaft is a unique combination of metal and graphite using Exogrid fusion technology currently used in racing bicycles that offers strength and performance. This is the perfect shaft for those who want the performance of steel but the distance and shock absorption of graphite. ACCRA Golf pushes the envelope in design and technology. This is a company that will continue to put Canada on the map in the golf industry. Lisa is a 7-Time Canadian Long Drive Champion for women and is currently ranked top 5 in the World. Lisa is a Golf Entertainer at corporate and charity events and Keynote Speaker at conferences and meetings. Lisa can be reached through her website at www.lisalongball.com 49