Introduction to B60 Putter

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Now, the B60 is a special putter because

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it's a top of a heart, and my dad did

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that for my mom.

Welcome John A. Solheim

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Today on the Servant Leadership Podcast,

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we welcome John A. Soulheim, the

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chairman of Pingolf, one of the most

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iconic and innovative golf companies in

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the world. Jon grew up working alongside

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his father, Karsten Soulheim, the

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engineering genius who invented the Ping

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putter in his Redwood City garage. Under

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J's leadership, Ping became a dominant

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force in professional golf. At one

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point, holding 70% of putters on tour,

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the Soulheim Cup, created by J's

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parents, has turned into one of the most

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premier events in golf. Jon has led with

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a simple but powerful philosophy. Take

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care of your people and they'll work

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their hearts out for you. John is now in

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his third generation of family

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stewardship, having handed the CEO role

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to his son, John Kay, while continuing

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to pour into the company's design and

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direction. His faith, his family, and

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his love of engineering have always been

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at the center of everything he does.

Discussion on Family Business

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Join us as we talk about leading a

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family business across generations, the

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servant leadership culture that has

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defined Ping from the very beginning,

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and why taking care of people is still

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the greatest competitive advantage of

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all. John, thank you for being on the

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servant leadership podcast. Well,

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it's great for to have you here and u

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you know, this should be fun.

Origins of Ping

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This will be really fun. Talk to us

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about how all of this got started. How

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did Ping get started? Well, thing got

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started when the engineers at General

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Electric, who where he worked, invited

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him to play, not knowing he had never

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played

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and they were waiting on the second TE

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for him to finish to get on to the first

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hole. Um, so, but he was a little

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frustrated because the ball didn't go

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where he thought it should and uh that

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bugged him. So he started working on it

Early Innovations

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and u back then I'll throw a little sub

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story in it. He did the there's a TV

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behind me probably. Yeah.

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Um, that's General Electric's first

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portable television and he did the

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cabinet for it, but along with that

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rabbit ears antennas

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and and that was in the New York time

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for us and

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General Electric decided they weren't

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going to do it the build the antenna and

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they get so the patent went to my dad

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and they told him this is a would like

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to build the antennas.

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So he went to dinner with him and over

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dinner gave him the patent.

Decision to Innovate Independently

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Okay. And they thought they'd be

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building 40,000 of these and uh you know

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he didn't get any money out of it. But

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at the first million they sent him a

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goldplated set and at the second million

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another goldplated set of the antennas.

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Wow. So after that he decided if I

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invent something

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I'm going to do it myself.

Karsten's Golf Journey

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Well later he got hooked on golf because

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of these guys and uh

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you know he uh wanted to get back to

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California where

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they live most of the time and uh I'm

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the only one that was born in

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California. the rest of the family were

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all Seattle and my dad of course near

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Bergen uh Norway

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but um he got transferred to

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uh for the Bank of America's first

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computer at Stanford Research Center. So

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he was happy we lived in Redwood City.

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He loved it. And uh he did the checks

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order, the first one to read the

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magnetic print at the bottom of the the

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checks. And u while he was there, he

Invention of the Putter

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was,

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you know, working on how to make a

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potter better. Now, you got to go back

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to and I he he says this isn't the

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reason, but I think it is, but he also

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did the first tricycle landing gear for

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landing on aircraft carriers.

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Wow.

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Okay. Uh working for Ryan. It was the

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Navy's first jet, but it had a propeller

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in front. So, he he was the engineer in

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charge of the tricycle native gear and

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and did that. Well, he got to fly in

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some of the planes. sometimes. And he

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realized when the wing tipped tanks were

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full, the plane was very stable. But

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when you move, you run out of fuel or

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low on fuel, you're not near as stable.

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So he started thinking, why don't I

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build a putter with the weights on the

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extremes so it' be more stable. So if

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you mishit it, it doesn't twist.

Development of Stable Putter

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And you know, that's what he worked on.

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and he made a

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an aluminum putter for himself with lead

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weights in the heel and toe.

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And he was out at the putting green at

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PaloAlto Muni

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when u the the head pro

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uh came to him and commented what a good

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putter he was and he

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he basically said, you know, he you

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should have seen how bad I was before I

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built this putter.

Pro's Encouragement

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And uh in talking

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uh the pro told him, "Well, if you can

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get it to roll the ball too, you'll sell

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a million."

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Little did he know, he greatly

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underestimated.

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But um so then he started working on a a

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putter that would roll the ball as well,

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which was the 1A putter. And it had

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weights on the heel and toe, parallel

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blades. At first it could be right or

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left-handed. Later we put bends in it.

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So it didn't

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uh but it had a torsion bar on the

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bottom and the hostel or the there was a

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hostel coming off the middle of the

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torsion bar and the shaft came off of

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that.

Early Manufacturing Challenges

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There's a short hustle and my first job

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was drilling the hole in that hostel.

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And when you got a a uh got to drill in

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a hole, something that's mounted to a

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torsion bar and you can't actually clamp

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it because it's in the middle of things.

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You got to you got to get good with your

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screwdriver to wedge in there and get it

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done.

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Wow.

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So, that was fun for me. My brother

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Allan did the grips, which was a

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three-day project back then because, you

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know, wrapping cardboard around the the

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shaft with Elmer's glue on it and and

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then letting it dry overnight and then

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next day you cut the flat on the top and

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the flats on the side and then you dip

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it in a waterproofer

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and u let it sit overnight again and the

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next day you wrap the leather on

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and Um they're just absolutely beautiful

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works and

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yeah it was kind of special.

Allan's Contribution

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Wow.

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But uh but then he went in the Marines

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but he built up up a stock of grips

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beforehand. But he was in reserve so he

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was in for 6 months and the you know

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weekend a month after that. You know, my

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dad putters in the shops and he'd go

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back and they'd still be there and, you

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know, and then he started,

Tour Player Success

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you know, going to the pro tournaments

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and one of them, you know, our first

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putter, which is a a brass putter, he

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handed one to Arnold Palmer, and Palmer

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said, "Well, the faces caved in.

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Somebody had dropped it and the face was

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bent." Yeah.

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And uh from there on my dad went to with

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the best materials that he could which

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at the time uh was high tetsel maganese

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bronze

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and uh we never had a problem with that

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material.

Unique Business Strategies

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Uh my dad did a lot of things unique to

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the industry.

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Uh including the fact that the most

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popular putter at the time was a

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bullseye putter that was $12 and it my

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dad's starting price was $1,750.

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So u but then after

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a while the uh you know we started

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getting some tour players using our

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putter. Not so much the u

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the 1A, but a few use the 1A, but the U

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some of the later models. Uh Jack

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Nicholas won three tournaments with the

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BL.

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Gary Player won a lot of tournaments

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with the answer and so did George

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Archer, but Semi Ballister was use the

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answer exclusively and the answer had an

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offset hostel in it. So it it actually

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uh my dad always liked things that you

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pull through, not push through because

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if you push something through it's

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easier to deflected and it's like

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pushing a wheelbarrow over a curb. If

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you're pushing it up, it stalls on the

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on the curb. But if you go turning the

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wheelbarrow around and pull that wheel

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over, the goes a lot easier. M

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um now this came after the answer

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well came out just before the the USJ

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disallowed our the bins that we put in

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the top of the at basically at the

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bottom of the grip.

Answer Putter Design

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Mhm.

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And that forced your hands to be in line

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with the center of the ball. So in other

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words, a forward push to it and work

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extremely well.

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Um

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that answer hostel took care of that

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when they did and we put straight shafts

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and then from there out on the answer.

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But then others we put bins in but no

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bins. But then he modified the grip so

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that it would uh

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be thin in the the butt side and then in

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your right hand it would be thick so

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that your you're more aimed your grip is

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more aimed at the center of the ball.

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And um it worked extremely well.

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And at one time we had 70% of the

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putters on tour.

Challenges with Competitors

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Yeah. But then other manufacturers

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decided to start paying their their

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players to play their putter.

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And

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we still do pretty good, but not as good

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as we'd like to on putters.

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Drivers were really good.

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It's interesting because somehow Ping

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and the Soulheim name has become

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probably one of the most, if not the

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most popular name in golf, family name.

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Uh that is such an achievement and what

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a cool honor when people associate you

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and your family with being so

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significant in the golf world. At what

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point did you realize that what you guys

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were doing would be a big deal?

Realization of Success

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You know, we just kept growing and

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taking it, you know, and one one

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important thing that my dad the only

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money that he ever borrowed was to buy

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that Bridgeport mill that you saw in the

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lobby here.

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and um you know that he didn't expand

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larger than what he could pay for and I

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still hold that true today.

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So uh but

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you know it's

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probably as the Soulheim Cup became

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popular and you know the first Soulheim

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Cup we we agreed to do it the uh

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in 1990. Okay. But we had the tournament

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in 1992 and it uh it was a good start,

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you know, but the uh

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the Europeans hit the ball inside the

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Americans the majority of the time, but

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the Americans dropped putts from outside

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of them and then to have to make a putt

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uh on top of it. The Europeans didn't do

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too good at that.

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and only the final

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match went 18 holes.

Solheim Cup Impact

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Okay, two years later we went to Dalmoy

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in Scotland

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and the Americans after the first two

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days were leading pretty strongly

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and the Europeans came back in the the

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finals the

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head-to-head matches

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and beat us

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and you know then we knew we had an

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event because it would you know

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everybody was thinking the Europeans

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wouldn't have a chance. Well, they did

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it. And uh right now they've been doing

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it better than the Americans. I mean the

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Americans dominated for a long time but

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um

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you know

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I think some of the attitude of the

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Europeans

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it's a little better than what the

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Americans might be at times

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but uh this there'll be one in the

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Netherlands

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later in September I believe

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and that'll be a real good match. Sure.

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I know you started out uh early like at

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13 or something doing your first

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Yeah.

0:14:19
your first work with Ping. At what point

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did you realize you wanted to do this

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for the rest of your life?

Early Career Decisions

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I

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u never thought about it

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really.

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Yeah. In other words, it um

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uh when I was in school, I really wanted

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to become an architect.

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Um

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but then I didn't finish school. I left

0:14:45
my second semester my junior year

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u to

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run two shifts instead of one.

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And um you know it it's amazing how some

0:15:00
of that worked out because

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you know my mom wanted me to to go to a

0:15:06
an interesting little school in

0:15:10
in Long View, Texas. And uh that was LNO

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University. And I mean, uh,

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you know, I loaded up a car with my

0:15:22
stuff and

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which was a 59 Citron.

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Okay. There weren't too many Citrons

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back then. And then in 72 they quit

0:15:34
importing them. So,

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um, but

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it was a a great car.

College Experience

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But so I drove there and didn't know

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what to expect and I hadn't toured

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schools and stuff and it was all army

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barracks,

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okay? Because it was a military hospital

0:15:53
before

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and

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uh my dorm was the first building that

0:16:01
they built outside of that and so it was

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nice.

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Wow. And u but

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you know I get cold easily and u

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the uh my roommates were

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from back east

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and they like the windows open where the

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rest of the dorm had the heat on and I I

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decided okay I should go home. M

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and um

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little did I know what a major thing

0:16:35
that was because you know I took great

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classes, a lot of hands-on stuff at

0:16:40
Lerno

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and

0:16:44
then I went to Arizona State in their

0:16:48
engineering program but and I used drop

0:16:52
dropad very effectively and never took

0:16:55
second semester English

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and uh

0:16:59
the um

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but took all of my major courses in the

0:17:06
three and a half years I was going to

0:17:08
school

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but u and enjoyed it and but the

0:17:13
interesting thing was u we had ROC

0:17:19
required in at ASU

0:17:22
and so every Tuesday morning I think it

0:17:26
was I was up marching And you know in

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uniform marching and

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that was interesting. Then I decided to

0:17:36
if I'm going to this is Vietnam times

0:17:39
and if I've got to go in the military

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I better go advanced. So I go in as an

0:17:45
officer

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and I

0:17:49
so I signed up for advanced.

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Then when I went in to sign up, they

0:17:56
said, "Oh, you're missing a semester of

0:17:58
marching

0:17:59
because I went to Lerno."

0:18:01
M

0:18:02
and oh, you don't have to sign today.

0:18:06
So, I didn't.

Military and Career Path

0:18:09
And

0:18:10
uh when I dropped out of school

0:18:15
um

0:18:16
you know because I hadn't signed

0:18:20
um

0:18:22
you know I didn't automatically go in

0:18:24
the military. M

0:18:25
so later on I got drafted and ended up

0:18:28
one way and

0:18:30
you know I don't really know why but

0:18:32
it's uh later on I had a quite a bit

0:18:36
later on I had a kidney transplant so it

0:18:40
probably something in my chemistry that

0:18:42
showed that up early on. M

0:18:45
so but

0:18:48
you know if the Lord hadn't led me to go

0:18:50
to Lerno I would have been in

0:18:53
Yeah

0:18:54
and uh

0:18:56
you know but uh it it worked out well

0:19:01
and you know it's interesting I was with

0:19:04
a group of guys

0:19:07
uh one of them was one of my mentors uh

0:19:12
Wayne Dorne Wayne was uh chairman of

0:19:16
Ford land development, built all the

0:19:19
Ford buildings uh back then and uh just

0:19:23
a a real good guy.

Military Support Initiatives

0:19:26
But you know, he called me up and he

0:19:28
said, "We're doing a military outpost at

0:19:31
uh waste management tournament and

0:19:36
um you know, will you help?" you know,

0:19:39
and he had a good group of guys and we

0:19:42
we helped me the military could come in

0:19:45
and get in for free, have a place to go

0:19:49
get food or drinks without charges.

0:19:53
And uh so it was a neat thing.

0:19:56
But the the Sol comes into that type of

0:20:00
thing as well because

0:20:03
um I think it was the fourth event was

0:20:06
at the Greenbar.

0:20:08
Well,

0:20:10
and this is be in

0:20:15
probably 98 or 90.

0:20:24
Yeah, probably 98.

0:20:26
Um, some of the gals decided to go visit

0:20:31
Walter Reed Hospital and visit some of

0:20:33
the wounded warriors.

0:20:36
And they asked, "Can we have some

0:20:38
putters to take along?"

0:20:40
And I said, "Sure." You know, and got

0:20:43
them some putters to take. And when they

0:20:45
came back, they said, "We need some

0:20:47
more." You know, we didn't have enough.

0:20:50
So, we took care of that.

Supporting Wounded Warriors

0:20:52
And over the next few years, we started

0:20:55
working out things that uh,

0:21:00
you know, made a a big difference in

0:21:02
things. And um we worked it out that if

0:21:06
somebody went through their golf program

0:21:09
at the hospital

0:21:12
um they would get a full set of clubs

0:21:15
and a bag and be all set to go play.

0:21:20
Wow.

0:21:21
And that, you know, I didn't think much

0:21:24
of it and I never looked at what we were

0:21:26
spending in it either.

0:21:29
But, uh,

0:21:31
a few years later,

0:21:34
our business was kind of down and in the

0:21:36
dumps a little bit.

0:21:38
And all of a sudden, this letter comes

0:21:41
out of a

0:21:46
a guy that played with one of these

0:21:47
soldiers.

0:21:49
And

0:21:51
you know, he he wrote about it and the

0:21:53
guy didn't want to talk about it,

0:21:56
what his wound was or what.

0:21:59
Uh but then he did some research and

0:22:04
found that here we were doing that and

0:22:07
they uh you know weren't charging,

0:22:11
weren't saying anything about it, just

0:22:13
did it.

0:22:14
And um so you know he wrote this letter

0:22:19
about his experience. Well the letter

0:22:21
went viral six or seven times.

0:22:24
Wow.

Impact of Generosity

0:22:25
And really helped us in a difficult

0:22:27
time.

0:22:28
People learned realized what type of

0:22:31
company we were.

0:22:32
Yeah. It's interesting because obviously

0:22:36
with your dad Karsten starting uh

0:22:38
starting Ping, nobody envisioned how big

0:22:41
it would get, right? It was just it it

0:22:44
just kind of happened under your

0:22:46
leadership. Ping really grew. Uh I'm I'm

0:22:50
interested to know what leadership

0:22:51
lessons did you learn from your dad and

0:22:53
as Ping was growing so rapidly became I

0:22:57
mean you see it on TV in every major

0:22:58
tournament.

0:23:00
A majority of the golfers are playing

0:23:01
something ping or wearing something

0:23:03
ping.

Leadership Lessons from Karsten

0:23:04
What did you learn about leadership?

0:23:08
Well,

0:23:10
you know, leadership,

0:23:12
you got to challenge your people,

0:23:15
but you also have to take care of them.

0:23:18
And if you take care of them,

0:23:21
they'll work like I'll get out for you.

0:23:23
I really, you know, and

0:23:28
take care of your people.

0:23:30
And you know, it's just uh

0:23:36
you know, it's you you comment on, you

0:23:39
know, under my leadership.

0:23:42
Um we had bought a lot of companies

0:23:45
under my dad's leadership and basically

0:23:48
we were buying land, but we bought the

0:23:51
company that was with it. So we did

0:23:54
vacuum brazing, heat treating,

0:23:58
uh Moon Valley Country Club,

0:24:02
um

0:24:07
couple other other things.

0:24:10
Um

0:24:12
and they weren't making money. So when I

0:24:14
came in,

0:24:16
you know, we had about 2,000 employees,

0:24:19
bigger than we are now, quite a bit

0:24:21
bigger.

0:24:23
But I needed to cut it down. And in

0:24:26
reality,

0:24:28
I was did it too slowly,

0:24:31
but you know, I did it at the pace that

0:24:33
I felt we could. And we gave some

0:24:36
businesses to employees that were

0:24:39
managing it to it. we

0:24:42
um you know sold some and

0:24:45
you know sold Moon Valley back to the

0:24:47
members

0:24:49
and that you know

0:24:52
it just

0:24:54
um

0:24:57
that was a hard time and then we then we

0:25:00
could put you know the money back into

0:25:03
Ping instead of having it going

0:25:05
elsewhere

0:25:06
and then you know I we were making golf

0:25:09
balls We had, I think, three wins on

0:25:12
tour.

0:25:14
Uh, but we were given away to the tour

0:25:19
players more balls than we could sell.

0:25:22
And, uh, but we could sell all we wanted

0:25:26
of two-color golf balls with tone on

0:25:29
tone logos for resorts.

0:25:32
And um you know it was it was

0:25:35
interesting but my feeling on that was

0:25:41
we're a technology leading company.

0:25:43
That's not our kind of business. You

0:25:46
know having winners on tour is our type

0:25:49
of business.

0:25:50
Mhm.

0:25:51
So I I shut that one down.

Engineering Focus at Ping

0:25:55
Yeah. Well, it's interesting at Ping,

0:25:58
and I've heard this from people outside

0:25:59
of Ping, and I've got to tour the plant

0:26:01
multiple times. Uh, this is an

0:26:04
engineering company full of some of the

0:26:06
world's best engineers. Uh, you guys

0:26:09
have been on the forefront of creating

0:26:11
not only amazing golf products, but a

0:26:13
lot of other products over the years. Um

0:26:17
why why was engineering such a

0:26:19
differentiator for you compared to how

0:26:22
other people viewed it as more maybe

0:26:23
marketing type companies?

0:26:25
Yeah, you know my dad was known as a

0:26:28
maverick mark for marketing cuz he think

0:26:32
did things completely different like his

0:26:34
pricing. He would only sell to pro

0:26:37
shops.

0:26:39
One time, this is years ago,

0:26:43
uh, Sears opened up the golf shop,

0:26:48
uh, in the Sears, and I I went down, it

0:26:50
was beautiful, you know, they did a

0:26:52
great job of it. And I went home and

0:26:55
commented to my dad, really nice shop.

0:26:58
You know, he says, we're not opening.

0:27:02
You know, if we opened them, pretty soon

0:27:05
they'd be telling us what price to

0:27:07
charge them

0:27:09
and we're not going to do that.

0:27:12
Uh he believed in protecting the golf

0:27:15
pro.

0:27:17
The marketplace has shifted a lot to the

0:27:19
big stores today.

0:27:22
Uh we've moved too, but we still

0:27:26
charge the same prices to the golf pro

0:27:29
and look at that base and take care of

0:27:33
people.

Karsten's Engineering Legacy

0:27:34
But something people generally don't

0:27:36
realize is my dad was an engineer's

0:27:39
engineer. Okay,

0:27:42
he was really good.

0:27:45
I'm not too bad. My brother Allan's not

0:27:48
too bad. He's

0:27:50
he's more in the setting up how to do

0:27:54
stuff or to build stuff and I'm more in

0:27:57
the club design end of things. M

0:28:00
my brother retired a long time ago and

0:28:03
then the only graduate engineer we have

0:28:06
is my oldest brother Karsten Lewis

0:28:09
and he's an electrical engineer but he

0:28:12
did the computer systems here and

0:28:15
you know unfortunately they

0:28:19
keep rolling over you got to redo them

0:28:21
and redo them but uh you know he worked

0:28:25
for IBM for 12 years and

0:28:28
in advanced programming languages.

0:28:32
So, but um

0:28:36
it's what my dad enjoyed.

Role of Family in Business

0:28:38
But the real business side of things was

0:28:41
my mother.

0:28:43
She was really sharp

0:28:47
and uh her favorite job that she had,

0:28:50
she was working for Eastern Milk

0:28:52
Producers in New York. and uh she wrote

0:28:56
their newsletter

0:28:58
and she sat in on meetings with the

0:29:01
government on different things and so

0:29:05
you know and then she worked a lot of

0:29:08
different places.

0:29:10
Uh,

0:29:12
but she's the one that made things

0:29:14
happen. You know, it's just like the

0:29:17
first time we got an order for some

0:29:20
putters overseas.

0:29:22
It u

0:29:26
you couldn't

0:29:27
she couldn't figure out how to do it.

0:29:30
You know, she went down to the Chamber

0:29:33
of Commerce and asked talk to them and

0:29:37
um so she she had a you know,

0:29:40
difficulties there. But what she did

0:29:42
discover is we if we shipped them as

0:29:45
gifts, there was no taxes.

0:29:48
So the first two putters went as gifts

0:29:51
and u you know that's that solved that.

0:29:56
But then she started going to school at

0:29:59
ASU taking courses to do it and uh sat

0:30:04
down with Chamber of Commerce on how to

0:30:06
do things. But she just figured out how

0:30:09
to do what she needed to do. And uh but

0:30:13
it was tough on her

0:30:15
because she always felt that golf took

0:30:19
people away from church on Sunday.

0:30:22
So she she was not happy with that.

Family Values and Business

0:30:27
But finally she took it to the Lord

0:30:30
and

0:30:34
afterwards she was fine with it. Wow.

0:30:37
You know, so it's

0:30:42
she was a very special lady

0:30:45
and my niece Staca kind of

0:30:49
u you know stayed real close to her and

0:30:52
you know was her protege.

0:30:54
Wow.

0:30:55
And is doing the same family stuff

0:30:57
today.

0:31:00
Not so much the market. there really my

0:31:02
dad was a marketing but the

0:31:05
you know handling the business side of

0:31:07
it but u

0:31:12
you know in

0:31:14
my dad always enjoyed the design part

0:31:17
and that's what I enjoy

0:31:18
and I mean

0:31:21
in 22 I made my son John

0:31:24
uh president CEO of Ping you know

0:31:28
because I had a tough time taking over

0:31:31
for my dad. And when that that time came

0:31:36
about, his health wasn't very good.

0:31:40
I talked about me moving into his office

0:31:43
with him or to work something out. He

0:31:46
wouldn't have anything to do it. And

0:31:50
so that was difficult.

0:31:53
And we added three

0:31:58
from the third generation

0:32:01
uh to the board

0:32:05
a while back and

0:32:09
probably 95.

0:32:12
And at that board meeting, I told my dad

0:32:16
I'd like to nominate him as chairman.

0:32:19
We didn't have a chairman.

0:32:22
I'd like him to nominate me as his

0:32:24
president

0:32:26
and him and my mom had a discussion

0:32:30
and it happened.

Transition to Next Generation

0:32:32
Wow.

0:32:34
And so, you know, the battle stopped and

0:32:38
my dad's health was not good.

0:32:40
But it's tough for somebody like that,

0:32:43
you know. And I mean, you look at me,

0:32:46,
I'm 80,

0:32:48
you know, but I still enjoy design

0:32:51
and that's the part that I like getting

0:32:53
into. My son's looking after the

0:32:55
marketing and doing a good job.

Future of Ping

0:32:58
How do you think of now now there's

0:33:01
third and fourth generation in this

0:33:02
business. And how do you think about um

0:33:07
stewarding ping and transferring ping

0:33:10
through generation after generation?

0:33:13
Well,

0:33:15
it was my parents' goal to hand it down

0:33:19
and it was my brother Allan and I's goal

0:33:22
to hand it down. Um

0:33:29
wasn't so much my oldest brother's goal

0:33:31
to hand it down.

0:33:33
But my mom took care of that

0:33:37
and with her trust her his kids will be

0:33:40
fine.

0:33:41
Yeah.

0:33:42
And um so

0:33:45
it's uh you know she set up trust that

0:33:49
and we'll pass a lot down. My brother

0:33:52
Allan and I pass quite a bit of stock

0:33:55
down

0:33:56
as we can and government restricts a lot

0:33:59
of it. So we always, you know, try to do

0:34:04
the max we can every year to the kids

0:34:06
and grandkids. My mother wouldn't uh

0:34:12
uh yeah wouldn't go into the the next

0:34:16
generation.

0:34:18
She made sure they got taken care of in

0:34:20
the trust they followed down, but they

0:34:23
can't get rid of it either. One of the

0:34:25
things that's impressive from the

0:34:27
outside is that it seems like there's a

0:34:29
lot of cohesiveness between uh between

0:34:33
the various family members, let's say,

0:34:35
in a company the

Family Business Mindset

34:38
size of Ping and with the notoriety. I would imagine it could potentially be easy for people to maybe have not the same mindset um you and your siblings did going in or you and Allen like talking about, hey, let's keep passing this down. And people just think, what's in it for me? How do you help think about training up the younger generations after to have the same mindsets as you?

Working with Siblings

35:00
Well, it's Yeah, I mean, my brother Allan and I have always worked well together.

Family Goals and Challenges

35:09
Okay. My oldest brother had the same goals as I had, but totally different ways to get there. And uh

Controlling Stock Revelation

35:19
but u when he found out that uh I had the controlling stock and not didn't own it but controlled it uh he became

Brotherly Support

35:36
uh very much behind what I was doing. So, I'm happy. But he he's good at challenging, you know, he he asks good questions and, you know, helps push.

Family Communication

35:50
Mhm. And uh, you know, we need that, too. I I still bounce things off my brother Allan a lot and always keep my brother Lewis, Kirsten Lewis, informed of what's going on.

Fourth Generation Decisions

36:06
Yeah. But you know there's some of the fourth generation that have sold stock and uh you know back to the company and we set it up that they can but it's

Long-term Vision

36:24
you know it to me they're they've been shortsighted but uh you know but let's put it this way for the the long run it's better that it's a smaller M

Setting Up Future Generations

36:36
yeah, for sure. You know, as people are are watching this, they're probably thinking about um how do they help their kids or future generation uh succeed, right? It's one of those things of people are always worried about their kids. I've got little kids and I'm starting already to think about how do I set them up for success? Maybe not monetarily as much as um as experiences and learning. How did you do such a good job where within the last 5 years you felt like you could hand off the company to John K? And what are things that you recommend to people as they're trying to think about business handoffs or helping set their kids up in a different career path after them?

Supporting Future Generations

37:21
That that's a tough one. Um, you know, you you try to support them the best you can. You try to let them know the way you feel on different factors of it. M

Family Involvement in Business

37:36
um you know it's you know it my boys have picked it up very easily. Um

Valuable Family Members

37:46
so is Allen's daughter Stacy is you know she's very valuable to us and uh and and so is Dawn Karsten Lewis. She's more on the legal side of things and does our political

Legal and Political Roles

38:04
uh lobbying and well she she's not a lobbyist so she she she's not but she yeah yeah she talks to the right lobbyist.

Family Legal Expertise

38:15
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But uh you know and then her husband is uh our head legal and Raleigh he's very sharp. We're fortunate to have him.

Current Business Structure

38:28
Wow. And uh that's that's why I like the way it is right now because I can tell John how I I feel about how he's doing things and explain what what my thoughts are on it and then I let him take it. M

Faith in Business

38:48
one of the things that's interesting and I know um you might have a different experience than other people on the team but your faith has been really important to you uh in all of this and how do you see that play out when leading such a big company where there's a lot of differences of opinions and how have you brought that into the workplace? I've seen too much in my life

Importance of Faith

39:08
and what the Lord's done for me in a lot of ways to ignore him, you know,

Family Faith Background

39:21
and you know, it's just uh you have to go to him to to work out your problems and u you know, look after your family as well.

Christian Family Values

39:34
But it's um you know it's my folks were strong Christians, my brothers and really the pretty much the whole family are strong Christians.

Divine Interventions

39:48
Wow. And um you know it's you know but just different things that he's done on on my route you know that why did I meet this person over here you know and it just it falls in and it was it's something the Lord set up.

Golf Industry Changes

40:16
You've obviously seen golf change a lot in the last 50 years. Uh in some sense it's the same game, in some sense it's a totally different game. What do you think is one or two things that have been absolutely game-changing for Ping and that you're really excited about moving forward?

Equipment Rules and Challenges

40:34
You know, unfortunately, and I say unfortunately, the the equipment rules are governed by the USGAA and the RNA. Okay? And at times they make rules to eliminate one product they're scared of.

Impact of Rule Changes

40:57
Uh they don't realize what what else they've done at the same time.

Golf Ball Controversy

41:04
And uh you know it takes a few years for things to to set in. You know right now there's a big controversy on the ball.

Golf's Pandemic Growth

41:16
Uh I understand why they want to do it. But right now the game is in the best position it's been in years and years. And we, you know, the kicker is we got to thank the the pandemic for it.

Golf's Popularity Surge

41:34
Yeah. Because golf was a safe sport, one of the few. And uh so golf grew and people discovered they enjoyed it, you know, and that's that's been very fortunate for us.

Rapidfire Questions

41:51
Wow. I I want to ask you 10 rapidfire questions where you just say the first thing that comes to mind and there's no right or wrong answer. Uh some of these are going to be golf related, some aren't, but who is the first person you think of when I say servant leadership?

Servant Leadership Icon

42:12
Billy Graham.

Self-Description

42:13
Wow. What are five words that describe you?

Describing Himself

42:17
Quiet but to the point.

Favorite Golf Course

42:22
when you think through uh different golf courses, which you've been you've been to some nice golf courses. What's one that stands out to you most?

Memorable Golf Course

42:31
Cypress Point.

Memorable Ping Experience

42:32
Yeah, that's a good one. Very good one. Um what's the most one of the most memorable experiences you have leading Ping?

Solheim Cup Proposal

42:42
When Bill Blue, the commissioner of the LPGA, came in and proposed the Soulheim Cup to us.

Mother's Influence

42:51
I pulled my dad aside. They were asking for two events and I pulled my dad aside and I said, "If we do two events, they'll sell it to somebody else."

Solheim Cup Agreement

43:03
Okay. Indeed. My mother came up. I made the comment to her and she said 10 events 20 years or thinking, you know, it was 18 but then ended up 17. it. That's where we went back to with and that's what we got.

20th Solheim Cup

43:21
Wow. And this event will be the 20th coming up.

The Gold Putter Vault

43:24
Wow. That's amazing. Uh I'm We don't have to go into it much, but people can look it up. The gold putter room. Uh the vault as as people talk about it. Uh what's one of your favorite vault items in there,

Favorite Vault Items

43:39
which there's some amazing pictures online if people look that up and we'll link to it.

Unique Putter Designs

43:44
Yeah. You know, I like the fact that the u there's a awful lot of crazy putters in there that are one of my designs. The le it's the second most popular putter in the in the golf vault. The answer, my dad's is by far the favorite. But then the one I enjoy most

Special Family Putter

44:07
is there's a a putter in there that I had John doing when he was um I think coming out of high school about to go off to college and working summers and I had him working on a stretched version of the B60. Now the B60 is a special putter because it's the top of a heart and my dad did that for my mom.

John's Putter Design

44:32
But so we did a stretch version. It didn't look like a heart, but and so I called him up at school and and told him that u you know the molds are done. You know, we're going to start building them. And then I called him up again said, "We started shipping them." M

Special Win Moment

44:57
but when I called him up and told him Lord Davis won with it, that was a real special time.

Gold Vault Collection

45:05
Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah. Wow. And there's quite a few of them in the gold vault.

Number of Putters

45:12
Yeah. How many Next question. How many putters are in that gold vault?

Vault Inventory

45:16
Uh is 3,100.

Success Indicator

45:20
Wow. And that's amazing. And if people look up how putters get in there, it means Ping has had some major success over the years.

Golfer Partnerships

45:27
Yeah. Which is cool. And uh and the golfers that you partner with, they're amazing. Um who's who's a golfer that you've been able to build a relationship with over the years that you've just enjoyed spending time with? And I know there's countless of them, but one that stands out. Well, I mean, Bubba's one that I

Mentoring Bubba Watson

45:45
uh Billy, we were our salesman in Florida, gave me a call when he was about 12, and he had been looking after him since he was about eight and said, "It's your turn to start looking after this kid."

Supporting Young Talent

45:59
Wow. And okay, I'll look after him. And I mean, Doug Hawkins was our president. He gave me a hard time later on. you know why why you looking after this kid but then when he won two masters Doug went very silent

Special Golfers

46:17
but uh you know he was special um you know George Archer was a special person

George Archer Memories

46:25
it was funny watching him and my dad walk down the aisles of production screaming at each other But with total respect for each other.

Father's Influence

46:43
Yeah. And uh you know it just they had different thoughts and they had to put it put it on. But you know George u you know he won the first men's major for us and yeah just you know very special person and the tallest guy on tour and also the best butter on tour.

Golf for Beginners

47:07
Yeah. All right. Three more quick questions. If somebody's listening and they're not a golfer, what do you recommend? Should they try it? Definitely they should. It's uh

Benefits of Golf

47:16
you know you you could you can get a group of friends and be out in the open air without

Practicing Golf

47:30
you know without other people around and really enjoy the time or you know like I did sometimes you know you go out and practice all by yourself

Golf's Special Nature

47:44
and uh you know you you just get a calm time and yeah, it's just uh it's a special game. Uh the more you practice it, the better you get, but it's always a challenge.

Best Advice Received

48:02
What's the best advice you've ever received?

Father's Wisdom

48:04
Probably for my dad, just do things the best you can.

Servant Leadership Importance

48:08
Wow. All right. And finally, this is a podcast on servant leadership. Why do you think it matters for people to become better servant leaders? And I'll preface, me and my father-in-law were talking about this on the way over here, too. You walk around this place, you talk to anybody, and this is full of servant leaders. Everywhere you look at Ping, people are serving other people. What Why is that important for people listening?

Living a Harmonious Life

48:33
It just shows them a wonderful way to live your life and be not be at odds with everybody.

Mutual Care

48:44
Yeah. you know, just it's yeah, if you're looking after people, they'll look after you.

Podcast Conclusion

48:53
I love that. Well, John, thank you for doing this and being on the podcast and thank you for sharing with our audience some of your wisdom and amazing stories.

Reflecting on Life

49:02
Yeah. Well, it's been a wonderful life and uh you know, the Lord put me in the right position and just u I've enjoyed it and uh yeah, there have been tough times. One thing I didn't tell you, I got fired three times.

Fired and Quit Stories

49:17
Really? And uh I quit one time for for three days or two days.

Future Podcast Tease

49:27
Wow. Okay. But uh yeah, yeah, if you we can go offline, I can tell you something.

Podcast Round Two

49:34
Well, maybe round two of the podcast at a future date, we can we can get the behind thescenes version of those. Oh, well, thank you.

Gratitude and Farewell

49:45
Well, thank you. Really appreciate it. Yeah.

Podcast Outro

49:48
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Servant Leadership Podcast. If you enjoyed what you heard, please give it a thumbs up and leave a comment below. Don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell to never miss an update. Be sure to check out the servant leadership podcast.org for more updates and additional bonus content.