It's a Small World in Orlando

When recently travelling through Orlando to play golf, John and The Blogette stopped by one of his favorite golf stores in the area - America's Golf Clearance Outlet, located at 5552 International Drive.  A new set of irons and possibly a putter were on the shopping list since John has been looking for a remedy for his ailing golf game.  Before getting too serious, we noticed a huge selection of great shirts, shoes, and other equipment.  Making his way over to the clubs, John spotted a set of irons that caught his eye.  Sales  rep Tom Anderson approached, and it was obvious that he had a wealth of knowledge to share.  Originally from Minnesota, Tom has been a member of the PGA of America for 30-plus years, and is also a teaching pro for Orlando area golfers.  It was clear to us that Tom has been in the golf industry for some time.  He knows details about grips and shafts, as well as the golf swing itself.  While discussing problems with John's golf game, Tom gave him a few much-needed putting tips.  As we engaged him in conversation, we found out that his wife Patti is the office manager at The Golf Channel.  Later, we drove over to their nearby studios, and discovered that tours are given on Tuesdays and Thursdays only between 9:00 and 1:00.  This will have to wait for future visit, since we weren't there on the right day or time.  John purchased the clubs, and after testing them out during a couple of rounds, he is sure glad he took the advice of a PGA professional in getting the proper fit.

PGA pro Tom Anderson

On down the street, a "Golf Outlet" sign got our attention.  Inside, we met Matt Reese, one of the three "Golf Fellas" who started this superstore.  Ryan Green originally started the business out of his garage with his two buddies, Matt (pictured below) and Jason Caperelli.  When the garage became too full for Ryan's wife to tolerate, they moved into a store of their own.  Part of their story involves travelling the country to get a perspective on the needs of the average golfer, and to do that they took their equipment on the road.  Matt told us that they had been to Columbia a few years ago in an effort to clean out that garage!  They say they don't sell anything they would not wear or hit themselves, and we found their merchandise to be top-rate with good deals on prices.  You can click here to find out more about their background, and to order merchandise from their website:  http://www.thegolffellas.com/

Behind this story are two great guys that we discovered when we shopped Orlando for golf goodies.  They took different paths to get to the same street - one by being a PGA professional and the other by being a creative entrepreneur.  The hidden connection between these two guys is that Matt caddied for Tom when Tom tried to qualify for The Champions Tour five years ago.  Apparently, around Disney it is a small world after all!!