KZG – If it Isn’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

In 1977, Bert Lance opined “That’s the trouble with government. Fixing things that aren’t broken and not fixing things that are broken.” And here we are some thirty-nine years later, facing a similar quandary while staring at a store full of the latest golf equipment, most of which comes from companies who operate in roughly the same manner. Golf equipment manufacturers tinker year in and year out, all in the name of sales cycles.

A Different Kind of Equipment Business

KZG is an equipment company that operates by a different playbook – if it ain’t broke, they don’t fix it. It’s a story common to many small equipment companies who, if we’re being honest, don’t have the massive R&D and marketing budgets of the big guys. Is the plodding pace emblematic of a higher calling, or is it simply the way things have to be?

Truthfully, it’s a bit of both.

Instead of focusing on bells and whistles, KZG believes that the keys to success on the course lie with a proper fitting and a precise build. Generally speaking, KZG is slow to put out new product. One of its most trusted iron models (ZO blades) has gone unchanged since it was first introduced in 2000. The reality of the innovative pace can be partially traced to cost. Launching new clubs is really expensive. This doesn’t mean KZG clubs don’t perform, but it does mean it can’t always leverage new technologies as quickly as the larger OEMs.

How much of a difference new technology actually makes is open for debate, but the majority consumer can be apprehensive about parting with his money if he does’t feel like the club he’s getting doesn’t offer every imaginable shiny, moving thing.

A Conversation with KZG

We talked with KZG’s President about the company’s position in the marketplace, and had a fitting done at the KZG Performance Center in Palm Desert, CA. If KZG is going to call itself the #1 Custom ProLine Equipment Company™, we need to check out how it actually stacks up.

WHAT KIND OF COMPANY IS KZG?

First, KZG is a small company that does only 18% of its business in the United States. The remaining 82% comes largely from Europe and Asia. As a result, it doesn’t have the name recognition of other small equipment companies, and without a signature product, there really isn’t anything about KZG which immediately grabs your attention. However, if you stop to peruse the website for a minute, you’ll notice an extensive assortment of product product that includes 4 hybrids, 5 wedges, 6 fairway woods, 8 drivers and 15 different sets of irons).

That’s more SKU’s than your local mini-mart.

KZG’s clubs are only available for purchase through the company’s dealer network. Every customer must be fit by a KZG authorized fitter and clubs are built to exceptionally tight tolerances. KZG’s detail-oriented process is one other companies would be wise to model.

Because of its unique approach, you can’t really compare what KZG does to TaylorMade or Callaway, who King describes as “marketing companies who make golf equipment”. Their interests lie primarily in turning a quick profit with sales generated by the hope driven by the latest ad campaign. No doubt their goals are different. King calls KZG a “labor of love” and in talking with her, you immediately realize she’s truly passionate about helping golfers get equipment that will help them play better.

Being big isn’t all bad and being small isn’t all good. Perhaps the chief benefit of being niche is the ability to control a process and thus the final product.

KZG’s mantra is simple. The optimal club for any golfer is the one which fits them the best, and is built to the tightest tolerances. That’s entirely accurate, but KZG is far from the only company preaching this message.

There are myriad high-end fitters/builders – TrueSpec, New York Golf Center and Cool Clubs to name a few. They work off the same premise but they carry multiple product lines.

What does KZG have to offer a customer that he can’t get somewhere else?

KZG’s answer is that it’s a player-centric company that disavows a profit-at-all-cost model in favor of one committed to giving golfers a tour-van quality build and a comprehensive no stone unturned fitting process for about the same price you’d pay for an off the rack set from a major OEM. In addition, its clubs are built to more exact tolerances. It’s more expensive, but it simplifies the custom building process.

KZG doesn’t publish its prices. With some many options available, the company says it’s basically impossible to say what each club costs. The consequence, however, is an additional hurdle between the consumer and a product. In a world when nearly every piece of information is at our finger tips, the omission of a starting at price seems a bit foolhardy.

An Island for Misfit Golfers

We know there’s a vast number of golfers who might eventually be convinced that purchasing off-the-rack clubs isn’t in their best interests, but if KZG wants to capitalize on “misfit” golfers, they’ll to find a way to become a louder and more demonstrative voice in this conversation. 

It’s a fact not lost on King, who notes “we had a very slight drop [in sales] in 2015 and 2016.” She attributes moving the headquarters from Universal City to Palm Desert as the primary contributing factor and goes on to say “we are opening up many more new dealers than ever before around the globe, and believe 2017 will be a big bump as a result.”

You have to admire King’s resolve to push forward. If KZG is to grow, the credit will likely go to improved distribution models in Europe and Asia. An American company expanding abroad isn’t the narrative we’re used to seeing primarily because North America is still the largest golf market in the world. If KZG is to grow in this increasingly challenging environment, it will have to do more than 18% of its business in the United States.

For small equipment companies like KZG, the battle is uphill in pretty much every direction.

Unlike the larger companies, KZG doesn’t have millions for tour players or mass marketing efforts. As a result, the company is reliant upon a word of mouth approach – and that limits how fast KZG can grow. That’s fine with King who says she “doesn’t want explosive growth – only steady growth.”

KZG grows by finding and training qualified fitters which King feels are “a rarity indeed.”

The greater challenge may lie in finding qualified fitters willing to offer KZG products along side those of Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist and other giants of the equipment world. To me, this helps explain why such a small percentage of their revenue is generated from the United States, where qualified fitters are apt to carry several product lines and the consumers lean heavily towards the brands he sees on TV.

It’s an approach that, while perhaps not the best way to shoot lower scores, is certainly the reality.  

LEVERAGE IS A GOOD THING

KZG has partnered with renowned designers Clay Long (currently with TaylorMade) and Kim Braly (the KB in KBS Shafts). It also leverages feedback from a select number of fitters worldwide to help create new products based on real player feedback. The equipment is plenty good and everyone once in awhile, there’s a homerun (ZO Blades, H370 Tour hybrid), but dollar for dollar, small companies just can’t compete with the R&D capabilities of the big boys (more on that HERE).

KZG’s clubs have been played on every major pro tour in the world, but with pay to play ruling the tour, you’re never going to hear about it. In fact, several major champions have bagged KZG clubs (irons mostly) by choice at one time or another.

Because of its stated dedication to growing the game and actually helping golfers improve, you’d like to think PGA Professionals would be a natural partner for KZG. The reality is most simply aren’t going to go out of their way to promote a company that competes directly with the brands already on the pro shop floor.

The Bottom Line

KZG doesn’t have the pedigree of a Miura and it doesn’t have the PR bull-horn of TaylorMade either. What it does have is an expanding network of exceptionally dedicated dealers who fit and build with the singular goal of providing golfers with equipment that will “truly improve their game.” My personal experience suggests this isn’t simply lip service. It is, in fact, the guiding principle of how KZG operates.

KZG’s fitting and building process is on par with any high-end custom operation. The product line as a whole lacks the gadgetry and modern polish of the biggest names in the equipment industry, but the gear, nevertheless, still performs well. KZG may not become the bar by which all companies are measured  and likely won’t become a household name in the North America either, but as King reminded me, “when you do things right for golfers as we do, you make a decent profit.”

When you make the decision to only fix what is broken, decent is more than good enough.

For more information on KZG and its products, visit KZG.com, and be sure to read about Chris Nickel’s KZG fitting experience.