Golfers pair their drive in community-focused pro shop

Two local business executives are stepping outside their day jobs to bring the first Pro Golf franchise to Minnesota. Darin Zielsdorf and John Hanselman opened the golf merchandise store last fall in Blaine and plan to weave the franchise's youth-centered focus into the community.

The Pro Golf franchise is more than 40 years old and has about 120 stores in the United States and Canada. Nationally, it's a big supporter of The First Tee, a program promoting junior golf.

"Being a business owner is one thing," Hanselman said. "But being a community partner and watching Blaine grow is another."

Pro Golf this spring will partner with the National Youth Golf Center at the National Sports Center in Blaine by setting up a satellite pro shop at the center's golf course. Last year, The First Tee program in Blaine gave golf lessons to nearly 5,000 children.

The 4,000-square-foot Pro Golf store has "everything you need for the game of golf," Zielsdorf said, from beginner and professional equipment to club repairs and lessons, and will compete with other local golf retailers such as Golf Galaxy and Nevada Bob's Golf.

Besides selling golf equipment, Hanselman and Zielsdorf also jumped into the business of virtual golf, opening an indoor golf center, called Eagles Nest Golf, next to the shop with simulated courses. Golfers can play 18 holes at St. Andrew's, on the same course where Tiger Woods won the British Open, or size up the favorite Pebble Beach course in California.

Neither Hanselman nor Zielsdorf will work full time at the store. Zielsdorf is a vice president/business banker at Wells Fargo. Hanselman is locally based vice president of marketing for PenCal, a California firm that administers executive benefits.

To run the shop's day-to-day operations, the duo hired golf professionals who know more about the game than they do, Hanselman said. General manager Tom Pream is certified in club fitting and club repair. The other full-time employee, Rob Probus, is a PGA professional with experience in pro-shop management.

Purchasing rights to a Pro Golf franchise evolved as an investment opportunity, Hanselman said. Instead of buying an office building or condo as an investment, the friends followed their passion for golf.

"When it's something that combines golf and business, it doesn't even seem like work for me," Zielsdorf said.

Zielsdorf's zeal for the business might be precisely Pro Golf's recipe for success, said Ralph Massetti, president and CEO for The Franchise Builders, a franchise marketing firm in Tempe, Ariz. Finding franchisee prospects who have enthusiasm to run a business around something they love is a lot easier than finding a franchisee who is passionate about sandwiches or doughnuts, he said.

As a result, Pro Golf has nabbed a solid portion of the $25 billion golf industry, Massetti said, and seems to be going strong.

"Their brand is pretty established, pretty well-known," he said. "They've definitely held the No. 1 rated golf franchise for the past 10 years."

© cities.blzjournals.com, January 21, 2005
BY ELLEN P. ABLER, STAFF REPORTER

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