Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2020 - 22

LARR Y BOBKA
L
arry Bobka calls himself a
" golf guy, " but that moniker
scarcely describes his club
making and fi tting career, nor his
contributions to the game. Currently working at 2nd
Swing in Minnetonka, the road Bobka-a self-proclaimed club
jockey-took is circuitous, star-studded and remarkable.
The former college golfer from Chicago has been tinkering
with golf clubs since he was 15 years old and rebuilding old
persimmon drivers in his father's garage. He worked as a golf
teaching pro, a clubmaker for Wilson and Titleist, helped start
UST graphite shafts, spent time as a golf course owner and built
custom putters for ARGolf. He and his wife then moved to
Minnesota, where he is now a clubfi tter, mentor to 2nd Swing's
younger fi tters and an advisor to its
owner. Plus, he still has time to work
with Lucas Glover and Tim Herron on
their putting.
If there is such a thing as a golf club
guru, Bobka is it-and in our midst,
ready to fi nd the right club to help
improve your game. We asked him a
few other questions about his storied
career and what it's like creating clubs
for Tiger Woods.
Q: How different is club fi tting now
than when you started out?
A: Back in the '80s and '90s, if you
worked on tour you were considered
a " club jockey. " Now, you're a technical tour representative-
things change so much. The fi rst time I stepped onto a tour
event, there were barely any tour vans there. Now you go to the
3M Open and there are 20 trucks and all this high-tech stuff.
Back in the day of persimmon woods, guys would be out
LARRY BOBKA
Q: Which other " golf hats " have you
worn?
A: My wife and I bought a small nine-hole golf course in
Wisconsin. I have been a golf course owner, too, which, if you
have on your bucket list-do yourself a favor and scratch it off.
But if you want to work 80 hours a week and not make any
money, go right ahead.
there [banging them on concrete] to change the loft and lie. I
remember standing on the range, and Andy Bean was hitting
his driver a little too high. He put it over his knee right above
the whipping and bent the shaft a little bit to make the loft a little
stronger. Now they adjust the driver lofts by giving a wrench
a couple turns.
Q: As the Senior VP of golf club promotion at Titleist, you built
clubs for David Duval, Davis Love III and Tiger Woods-how
was that experience?
A: Tiger was great to work with. The thing about working
with pros is that it's really not as much teaching as it is leading
them in the right direction. They're talented players. You're not
rebuilding a golf swing. You're augmenting what they do.
Larry
Guy
the Golf
y
A golf club guru, Larry
Bobka knows all about
the tools of the game
and how to make
them work for you.
* BY JOSEPH OBERLE *
Q: How did you get into club making?
A: I was a pretty decent junior golfer in
Illinois and had a minor temper. My dad
said, " You've either got to stop throwing clubs,
or you better learn how to fi x them. " So I chose to learn
how to fi x them.
From the barrels in golf shops fi lled with old persimmon
clubs, I would buy the ones in the worst shape and practice on
them. I would spend two or three dollars on a club and try to
bring it back to life. I would take the sole plates off, take the
inserts out, re-shaft them and refi nish them. I learned by doing.
Q: You started out as golf teacher-where did that lead?
A: Some of my students were getting better, but they were tending
to plateau. You would work on fundamentals
and on their ball striking,
and they would make better contact,
but there still was something missing.
Through my own playing, I would fi nd
a club here or there and fi gured out
what worked, so I decided to build my
students a bag of clubs and see if that
would help them play better. I found
that loft of the driver, fl ex of the shaft
and club length really mattered. They
were playing better; this " club fi tting "
was enhancing my lessons.
22
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2020
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Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2020

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