Swinging Through the Seasons at Shot Makers

Jan. 4, 2015

Lloyd Swadling started playing golf his freshman year of high school. And from the day he started, he was instantly hooked. What began as a sporting hobby has turned into a career for the Alanson entrepreneur who has opened an all-seasons golfing center in his hometown.

YEAR ROUND GOAL

"I have been involved in the golf industry for 17 years," Swadling said. "Over the years, I’ve aspired to improve my game and become a better golfer, but the only issue was that, in northern Michigan, I could only work on my game six months out of the year."

Swadling soon found himself driving to Grand Rapids a couple of times during the winter to play golf on a simulator.

"In doing this, I began to wonder what the market would be like for something of this nature in, or near, my hometown," he said.

The dream took hold and Swadling started sharing the idea with other people.

"I found that they were just as intrigued and excited about the idea of having a place to work on their golf game all year long," he said.

Last year he discussed making the dream a reality with his wife. The result: Shot Makers Golf Center.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Swadling has several goals for his business that help ensure it offers a well-rounded golfing experience.

"The first goal is to offer a quality practice facility for golfers of every age – the ability to, not only hit golf balls, but to learn the game and become a better golfer," he explained.

To do this, he’s teamed up with golfing professionals Mike Fay and Brian O’Neill to offer clinics for golfers of all skill levels.

"The second goal is to bring to northern Michigan the opportunity to access and try all of the latest golfing equipment from all of the major brands," he said.

Feeling that a lot of the equipment available in the area was "dated," Swadling pursued eight different brands he thought worthy: Mizuno, Ping, TaylorMade, Adams, Callaway, Cobra, Nike and PowerBilt.

"Our goal with the equipment is to offer not only the newest, but to keep our price as competitive as possible," he added.

One way of achieving this goal is offering the option to trade your old equipment to offset the cost.

"It has been fun seeing the responses from our customers as we continue to grow our brands."

WORLDWIDE GOLFING

And, of course, there’s the indoor golf, which means golfers can practice any time of year, in any kind of weather.

Shot Makers’ three golf simulators utilize ProTee software, which supplies a full shot analysis after every swing, as well as a variety of terrain.

"They also offer you the chance to "˜play’ one of 95 golf courses from around the world," Swadling said.

This means that if you’ve ever wanted to golf Big Sur, Firestone Country Club, Snake Pit, Rock Mountain Golf Resort or even the Abu Dhabi National Course, you now have your chance.

"Plus, we have three driving range settings where you can work on your golf swing or you can practice your short game at our chipping range," Swadling added.

If you miss the competition almost as much as the game itself, you can participate in Shot Makers’ tournaments and golf leagues, which run throughout the entire winter over two separate 10-week periods. The next round starts in January.

LEARNING THE GAME

"Our leagues are open to men, women and youth and we keep them very open in that players can play any day, Monday through Thursday, during normal business hours," Swadling explained.

Club repair, custom club fittings, demo days and big screen TVs round out the entertainment offerings. Next summer, Swadling plans to expand outdoors to take advantage of the region’s good weather.

"The outdoor range is by far one of the things I am most excited about," Swadling said. "That will also allow golfers to demo clubs outdoors and see the ball flight versus the option of hitting the clubs indoors where the conditions are ideal."

"All anyone needs to do to start golfing at Shot Makers is to come into the store," he said. "We have rental clubs and offer some basic instruction to help golfers get started; everyone starts somewhere. There are never any dumb questions, nor is it ever too late to start learning the game."

Shot Makers Golf Center is located at 2773 S. US 31 in Alanson. Reach them at 231-348- 2072 or visit them online at www.shotmakersgolfcenter.com.