April 26, 2010
Firm Offers Unique Golf Course Materials
RHI’s new sales director is ‘Naked’ author
GoGolfNW Correspondent
Greg Rowley, left, former golf pro at Black Rock and author of “Golf Naked,” is now national sales director for RHI, which fabricates course accessories. It’s based in Hayden Idaho, and Reid Hatley, right is the founder and president.
(Full-size photo) (All photos)
Greg Rowley, author and former director of golf at the exclusive Black Rock Country Club near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, has another new gig.
In addition to writing an instruction book, “Golf, Naked,” which he’s rewritten as a text for high school and college physical education classes, he’s now national sales director and Northwest sales representative for RHI, a four-member firm which produces custom metal golf course accessories.
Early in March Rowley joined forces with Reid Hatley, 29, the company founder and another former pro golfer at Black Rock and the Hayden Lake Country Club in Hayden, Idaho.
With a 50,000 PSI waterjet machine, their firm carves accessories that include tee and proxy markers, course signage and range ball containers.
RHI’s products feature custom logos unique to each course. They are powdercoated at a factory near their Hayden, Idaho firm.
Hatley says their machine uses sand and water to slice the aluminum and steel sheets from which the golf accessories are formed. It’s capable of cuts from two-tenths of an inch up to 8 inches, he says.
And, he claims, because their OMAX 60120 machine is state of the art, it’s able to produce custom products for less than other firms charge for stock items.
Thus far, the firm has fabricated products for 14 courses, ranging from the Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle to the Chicago Highlands Golf Club in Illinois.
Rowley, 36, relates that he took art classes in high school and college and is willing to design logos for courses if such help is needed. He claims that he’ll be able to provide a potential customer detailed 3-D renderings of their concepts within hours after their first conversation.
With nearly 17,000 golf courses in the U.S., another 1,400 planned or under construction in Asia and South and Central America, the RHI managers are optimistic about their company’s future. They intend to work with course designers to ensure a distinctive “look” for each operation.
Rowley says he wants to recruit sales personnel in other parts of the country and his firm offers commissions and incentive package for those representatives.
Rowley also provided an update on his book’s progress: He published the first version, in paperback, himself. A publisher, the Greenleaf Book Group in Texas, liked it and produced a hardcover version. Altogether, about 4,000 copies of each were sold, including sales to more than 20 colleges which will use them as textbooks.
Another publisher, Kendall/Hunt in Iowa, saw a potential for additional sales as a textbook if he added chapters, so he did – two on the swing and one on “fatal flaws,” or the most common errors made by golfers. He also provided additional tips for female golfers.
The PGA sponsors a program called Play Golf American University which is designed to teach and engage college and university students in the game through professional instruction. It’s offered at 42 schools of higher education Rowley says, and his book is being considered as a text for the course.
Finally, the Independent Book Publishers Association has selected “Golf, Naked” as one of 10 finalists for the sports book of the year. If it wins the competition, he’ll be awarded a prize named for an earlier author and publisher, Ben Franklin.
For additional information on RHI and examples of its products, visit www.rhigolf.com, or by calling 208-635-5203.
