Steve Hutton is a great PGA of America Golf Professional and golf shop owner, and I am proud to play a part in the success of his Geneva Golf & Country Club golf shop. I have known Steve for 40 years, back when he was a golf apprentice at what is now Arsenal Island Golf Course, located on an Army installation. I was a police office on the arsenal at the time.
Now a PGA of America Golf Professional at Geneva Golf & Country Club, I play a large role in golf shop operations, oversee our outside operations team and conduct many of the custom club fittings utilizing my years of experience as a fitter for a couple of golf club companies.
Although we are a private club, we also custom-fit non-members to facilitate the sale of new clubs to local golfers of all skill levels. Developing a reputation as the go-to fitters in our area, with extensive knowledge and state-of-the-art technology, has boosted new club sales at Steve’s golf shop during our time together.
I will conduct the fitting process at our club with my own launch monitor or use the Trackman technology at a nearby facility in Riverside, Iowa, which houses our GIVE Program — Golf for Injured Veterans Everywhere. As the lead instructor, I will be highlighting this program and my involvement in a future PGA Magazine Best Practice article.
Back at GGCC, this article coincides with the opening of a new two-bay indoor Trackman facility, a project that is certain to further buoy engagement and sales. I look forward to using this stellar tool to custom-fit my golfers, but I am not averse to conducting an old-school fitting for some golfers, as I feel they can sometimes skew the numbers when they look into the data too much during the process. Before you know it, you’re fitting them for the swing they want to have rather than the swing they have right now. In these cases, when I see that lessons are more pressing than new clubs, we’ll put the custom fitting on hold, returning to that aspect of our player development efforts only after we’ve gotten the golfer’s physical performance to a level where new equipment will actually help his or her scores and further their enjoyment in the game.
As the only assistant professional in Steve’s golf shop, I am involved in the buying process, sit in on some vendor meetings and provide my expertise and opinion on various apparel lines and styles, particularly for our ladies' brands.
Training, supervising and overseeing the outside staff and small golf shop staff takes that function off Steve’s head golf professional plate. I’m a good sounding board, as well, handling any issues that might arise and could take up the head professional’s time.
We’ll rearrange displays periodically to present a fresh look for members who frequent the shop several times per week. This is a vital merchandising function that helps increase engagement and sales. And I’ll teach our local high school players free of charge and spend much time in-season on the lesson tee with members and other local golfers, helping them improve their golf skills and the fun they have in the game. Steve is a great teacher and has been a valuable asset in my development as a coach and teacher. What started four decades ago has proven to be a great team in Muscatine.
Mike Armes, the 2019 and 2024 Iowa PGA Section Patriot Award Winner and 2021 Section Assistant Golf Professional of the Year, is a PGA of America Assistant Golf Professional at Geneva Golf & Country Club in Muscatine, Iowa.