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Photos by Ingrid Schnader.
Smith inside his shop, which also sells clothing, accessories and gear.
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Photos by Ingrid Schnader.
Pebblehurst Golf and Putter Lab owner Ron Smith hits a golf ball with a 7 iron with the in-store golf simulator.
Pebblehurst Golf and Putter Lab
WHERE: 2915 Linden Ave.
HOURS: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday
Downtown Homewood saw the opening of a new golf retailer in April.
Pebblehurst Golf and Putter Lab is a one-stop shop for everything golf, owner Ron Smith said. Smith is an Edgewood resident and said opening his own golf store has been a lifelong dream.
“Growing up playing golf and playing competitively, all of my friends wanted to be professional golfers, and I wanted to open my own golf shop,” he said.
He didn’t want it to be like any other golf shop, though. He said he wanted it to be different in terms of what was offered and how it was presented. The store’s location at 2915 Linden Ave. is a former bridal store, meaning Smith was able to take advantage of clean, white decor and windows that bring in a lot of natural light. He describes his store as one that has an upscale look and feel.
His store also offers about a dozen products that no other stores in the area offer, he said. One Japanese brand, Fujimoto, chose Pebblehurst as its first account in the United States.
“A lot of this stuff you can either only buy directly from the manufacturer or from me,” he said.
Smith only sells products he believes in, he said. “Sometimes it bites me in the butt, but sometimes I’m too honest, and it’s hard for me to sell something that I don’t believe is the best product out there,” he said.
The shop will “focus heavily” on custom fittings, he said. It will also offer private lessons from a PGA-certified trainer. An in-store golf simulator gives customers a chance to try the products before they buy, and Smith also installed a nine-hole putting green outside of the store.
The shop sells clothing, accessories and gear. Most of the in-store merchandise is for men, but Smith said he can order women’s products. He also plans to expand the store’s children’s merchandise and lessons, he said.
“It would make me proud to be able to get some kids into the game because of this being here,” he said.
Smith has been playing golf since he could walk when his grandfather got him into the sport, he said. His favorite part about golf now is being out on the course, especially when his family is with him, including his wife, Shelly, and two children, Amelia, 3, and Jackson, 6.
The shop is named after two memorable trips Smith took with his grandfather: one to Pebble Beach and the other to Pinehurst. As a way to dedicate the shop to the man who got him into the sport, he combined the names of the two locations into Pebblehurst.
For more information, visit facebook.com/pebblehurst.
