The 2015 PGA Merchandise Show is set to begin this week and there will be over 1,000 exhibiting brands and companies in over 400,000 square feet of exhibit space. It will be four days of the ultimate golf experience where the latest trends, ideas, new products and industry professionals come together to grow the sport of golf.
Big Fish Golf (BFG), based in Singapore, will be making their PGA Merchandise Show debut this year. Acknowledged as Singapore’s #1 independent club fitting studio, Big Fish Golf offers PGA tour level club fitting facilities outfitted with Trackman Pro, a world class putter fitting studio, tour quality club repair shops, and the latest and greatest equipment, upgrades, and essential gear. They are also creating their own line of irons and wedges as well. Ahead of the show, Eighteen Under Par had the opportunity to speak with the visionary behind Big Fish Golf, Eric Ng – here is our conversation:
Eric, could you tell us a little about yourself and your background in the golf industry?
I have been a keen golfer for a long time. For the bigger part of my life though, I have worked in the advertising industry. I have worked in the largest local newspaper, a local agency, one of the largest agency in the world (for a big part of my life – McCann Erickson), my own communication company and also a local lingerie company with operations in China and Singapore.
How did Big Fish Golf (BFG) start and what has been the inspiration for the company (Especially the name! We love it!)?
In 2005, while I was working as a COO for a local company, I was approached to invest in a new club-fitting studio, which I did. Seven months later, that individual told me that there was no future in club fitting. He told me nothing has changed in the 7 years he has been in the business and wanted out. I did not want to lose my investment and made a decision to quit my job and take over the reins of the fitting studio. I knew nothing about the industry when I took over and after nearly a decade, I realized it wasn’t a bad thing because I did not bring along any baggage, which the traditional businesses carried. I had a fresh start and had no preconceived notion about the business.
When we started, my only involvement was naming the company Big Fish. Firstly, it was a name that I felt everyone could relate to. I envision that if we were to operate outside of Singapore, golfers from the region must be able to relate and get a good vibe from the name. Furthermore, the earliest drawing known to mankind had been a fish in the caveman era. It’s not religious symbol but it symbolizes abundance and life.
From the very start, I developed a tagline for the brand. It was simple – our mission was to create Better Golf. It was the nucleus of our existence and all decisions was easy as long as we have a mission for our customers and ourselves.
Can you tell us a bit about the fitting services that BFG provides and the process golfers go through at the studio?
Every year that passes, we tell ourselves that we need to do even better than the last. When BFG first started, I washed the toilets, cleaned the shop, wrote the newsletters and organized all kinds of company activities and promotions to bring golfers to an industrial building.
Today, we have an app built for each golfer as they come and get fitted. It captures their personal data, playing history, swing statistics, equipment statistics and even recommends what needs to be looked at closer. We have also devised a 3-Dimension Fitting Program. This includes the development of 9 unmarked shafts (labeled 01 to 09) built specifically for fitting and they are made for us by Mitsubishi Rayon Japan. Used in conjunction with KVest 3D and Trackman IIIe, we are able to get a clearer picture of motion and results.
Using a launch monitor does not take into occurrence – it only shows results. However, if we aim to make fitting as consistent as we can and turn the art of fitting into a repeatable process, we have to rely on proven processes and advanced measuring devices. Now we are pretty confident that our analysis processes can be implemented just about anywhere with the right training and hardware. We have been lucky to meet many advance thinking individuals who have helped us along the way and supported our vision.
You’re also offering BFG products in forged irons and wedges. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Is there a specific type of golfer in mind that you are targeting with your clubs?
It all started when I was involved in fitting junior golfers. I realized that we could not find any good equipment for a competent junior player from the ages of 8 to 14, especially the girls. So we set out to find a manufacturer who was willing to work with us on manufacturing small quantities of golf clubs specified to our needs. Over the years, with better knowledge of club head design, D-plane applications and swing patterns, we are able to design club heads for the specific market and beyond.
Hence you will always find that BFG irons – CB 003, CB 005 and the BFG wedges are designed and produced in 2 weights, a regular, which is industry standard, and a “J” that is 10 grams lighter. Our irons are forged from a high quality steel that allows us to bend the irons for golfers from 4 feet to 6 and half feet tall.
When we started, we had juniors and ladies golfer in mind, but now our customer base has grown beyond that. The majority of the golfers taking to our products are individuals who share a sense of performance as opposed to brand adoption or playing what the pros use. We do realize that our brand value has also grown in stature and in every key market, our secondary target (adults) has far outgrown our primary target.
Currently all 3 models (CB 003, CB 005, BFG wedges) are 100% milled to CAD-CAM specific drawings using cold-forged blanks. This is an expensive method of production, but as we do not produce in large quantities and do not have too many layers of cost in the distribution channels, it is still our preferred method of production. In our expansion to North & South America and Europe, we will use a lean method of distribution without incurring layers of unnecessary cost centers. We believe the world today is a lot more transparent and mobile, hence, if we are able to keep communication, distribution and cost tight, we can always deliver a better product at a lower price.
What do you best think differentiates BFG wedges and irons from the existing products in the marketplace today?
I know we have an edge in the design of golf clubs, which uses advanced CAD-CAM designs to locate our desired sweet spot, CG and perimeter weighting. You can see clearly that the hosel length & weight, hosel depth, toe weighting and sole designs are all meant to push the sweet spot closer to the center of the clubface. Four years ago when we first introduced the CB 003, there were a lot of comments on why we had a significant toe weight. Today, one can see a lot of new iron designs that validate our position.
In fact as clarity in ball flights and gravity becomes clearer, I envision that more designs will flow in the same direction that we have taken. If you asked me what is our ideal platform of a design, it will have to be the Ping Eye2 which in my opinion is still the best designed club head in the world, arguably not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it will remain the most efficient.
You’re headed to the PGA Show in 2015 – what has the road been like to get to this point and putting Singapore golf on the map?
I always maintain we have been lucky. We have had the good fortune of working with the right partners in the right country at the right time. The PGA show is no exception. I served on the ICG (International Clubmakers’ Guild) and our colleagues, particularly those on the Board, have encouraged and given the courage to bring BFG to the arena of the world, The PGA Merchandise Show.
We have worked hard in the last 5 years; we had a dream that we pursue relentlessly. We created the vision and constantly create ideas around that vision. Some worked better than others and we have been fortunate that we have been more right than wrong. The Singapore government has an active programme, which supports local businesses going abroad. Through IE Singapore, it has given us great confidence to move ahead in our expansion plans. We are thankful for that initiative and the support that the Singapore government lends to companies like us.
Where do you see BFG and Singapore Golf over the next five years?
The last 5 years have been a great journey for us and for me particularly. We have grown 500% in vision and 200% in business growth. The next 5 years, I hope that the business end will catch up with the vision end of our brand mission.
We also hope that our vision for delivering Better Golf will continue with better products that will serve our customers better. We already have some in mind.
We hope you enjoyed our interview with Eric Ng and Big Fish Golf Singapore. It’s a great insight into the golf industry in one of the sport’s growing regions. We’ve seen fitting centres in Canada (Modern Golf Toronto, Modern Golf Vancouver) as well and it just shows the importance of getting the right equipment fit for a golfer’s specific swing. If you’re going to attend the 2015 PGA Merchandise Show, make sure to check out the BFG booth (Exhibit Hall – ICG7), say hello to Eric and hit their wedges and new CB005 irons!
Source: Big Fish Golf
