Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2022 - 31

Golf
Tales
THE
GOOD RX
Stan Steuter, the local " golf club doctor, "
fixes golfers' equipment and repairs their psyche.
By Joseph Oberle * Photos by Matt Seefeldt
I
n the marketing of golf equipment, new is always deemed
better. But when golfers think of their clubs, old was often
very good, so why can't it be again? That's the prescription
Stan Steuter, " The Golf Club Doctor, " has been doling out
for more than 40 years. Steuter owns The Golf Club Hospital
in South Minneapolis, where he refinishes and refurbishes old,
used and broken golf clubs, and helps some golfers heal their
mental game in the process.
" I get to talk to a lot of people, and I am kind of a counselor
for them about their golf games, " Steuter says. " They have to tell
me their story. "
Working as a part-time " golf counselor " is not foreign territory
to the Nebraska native, who left the farm for the University
of St. Thomas to become a priest. That career path veered to
teaching when Steuter graduated with a degree in history before
attending graduate school at the University of Minnesota to
work on his teaching certificate. But supporting his young family
changed his career course once more, and Steuter took a job
at Bullseye Golf Center.
Any regrets?
" I have enjoyed what I do a lot, " Steuter says. " My son ended up
doing exactly what I was planning-he's a high school teacher.
But I kept getting told in1974-75 that there were almost no high
school jobs available. Bullseye paid me well to start there, and
this has ended up working very well for me. "
Learning by Doing
Indeed it has. Steuter, who grew up working with his hands,
started in club repair at Bullseye while in grad school. He soon
became the repair lead. That led to opening and managing other
Bullseye Golf Centers in the region, but he always kept his hand
in club repair.
mngolf.org
" I grew up on a farm in Nebraska. You learn how to do things,
and have some aptitude with tools, " Steuter says. " [The club
repair] was all pretty much self-taught. You just figured out how
to do things. I wasn't the best at it the first few years, but I was
better than other people. "
Steuter was managing a Bullseye in Des Moines, and all the
major repair work from the other stores was being sent to him.
In 1982, he got the opportunity to buy The Golf Club Hospital
(with a partner, whom he eventually bought out) and has been
working there on his " golf club medical practice " ever since.
" When I bought this place, my wife wasn't on board to start, "
Steuter says. " She preferred the secure income we were getting
from the Golf Center. But I was 29 and ready to strike out on
my own. "
He eventually became the sole proprietor and employee
(Steuter prefers club repair to the paperwork and problems of
managing employees), and has built a national reputation for
golf club refurbishing that occasionally attracts some worldwide
customers. His work in restoring hickory-shafted or wood
woods for either use or display put his craftsmanship in demand.
A Golf Doctor in Demand
While speaking to Minnesota Golfer from his crowded and timeworn
Bryant Avenue shop, Steuter took a call from Palm Springs,
Calif.-a customer with a Scotty Cameron putter in need of
repair. Like most of Steuter's clients, he'd learned of " The Golf
Club Doctor " by word-of-mouth.
" The industry has changed so much, " Steuter says. " When I
started it was all wooden woods until the late '80s or early '90s
before the metal woods became popular. It was very much a
local business back then, and I did work for country clubs and
golf shops around the upper Midwest. Nowadays, a third of my
Directory 2022 MINNESOTAGOLFER
31
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Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2022

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