The Loerzel Story
Steve Loerzel, the Director of TOUR Operations and Master Club Builder at PROTOCONCEPT GOLF, has been deeply engaged in golf since childhood. From age 10 to 16, he worked at the Arnold Palmer Driving Range in Crystal Lake, IL, fostering a deep passion for the sport.
Later, Loerzel sharpened his golf equipment repair skills at Custom Golf House in Orange County, California, servicing over 100 golf courses in the region and managing warranty work for notable brands. His 17-year tenure there significantly shaped his career path.
Loerzel’s proficiency in repair and club building led him to Cleveland Golf, where he excelled in crafting clubs for TOUR professionals, coinciding with the company’s TOUR program expansion. His expertise contributed to the growth of Cleveland Golf’s TOUR department, eventually managing the production department and its 120 staff members.
His notable work caught the attention of Fourteen Golf, a premier Japanese golf brand, where he spent eleven years enhancing their presence on both the LPGA TOUR and the WEB.COM TOUR, contributing to over 100 professional victories. Prior to leading PROTOCONCEPT GOLF’s TOUR Department and Custom Fitting Program, Loerzel was instrumental in the rapid expansion of Club Champion Fitting Stores, overseeing their Build Shop as Manager and playing a key role in their swift growth.
***
You wake up in the morning — what’s the driving passion?
The passion that drives me is golf.
It has been my life since my first job at 16 years old working for a club repair company in Southern California. I started playing the game at the age of 10, it’s in my blood.
It doesn’t hurt that I’m a people pleaser, I love to help players improve their game.
How does Protoconcept Golf differentiate itself from others in the category?
ProtoConcept Golf is a premium Japanese club manufacturer.
Forged, high quality, small batch product. Nothing is mass produced so tolerances are able to be kept to a tighter range.
Major manufacturers are trying to meet profit margins, sacrificing quality to meet their margins.
Who is your customer?
Our customers are golfers, of any level, looking for premium quality golf clubs.
We have models that meet the needs of all levels of players, from pros to high handicappers. All four of our models can be made into combination sets.
The shape, offset and overall appearance from address is very similar, allowing players to mix and match models without having a completely different look from one model to the other.
Most of our tour players are playing combo sets, a more forgiving model in their long irons then in their mid to short irons.
What’s the biggest misunderstanding golfers generally have regarding club fitting?
That it’s only for the serious golfer.
All levels of golfers can benefit from being fit.
A good fitter can recommend a club setup that works for your swing. Nothing replaces the benefit of taking some lessons to help make a better pass at the ball, but if you are swinging the wrong shaft flex, as example, you may need to completely change your swing to make them work for you.
Getting a fitting will determine if your equipment is right for you.
What’s more challenging – fitting a tour professional or average player?
Fitting an average player is more difficult in my opinion.
Professionals generally have a better or at least a more consistent swing.
Average players don’t have the repetitive swing that allows to precisely match a shaft to their needs.
Consistency in the striking of a golf ball is central to success. From a practical level what is the lowest loft iron most players should have in their golf bag?
I’m seeing more and more players using some type of a hybrid iron for their 3 and 4 iron. Even a hybrid wood in some cases.
I think for the average player, the 5-iron should be the lowest loft — in a standard iron — they should carry. Look for a utility or hybrid style iron — like our C01.5 — if you are going to carry a 3 or 4 iron.
Does it help or hurt most golfers when opting to use a 60-degree wedge or more?
That is a hard question to answer.
I tried a 64-degree wedges for a very short time, it cost me more strokes than it saved me. With the stronger lofts on iron sets these days, I think a 50, 54, 58-degree setup is more functional.
Our wedges are so easy to open up, and still make good ball contact, that I think a 58 degree is better. It really depends on the loft of your sets pitching wedge and the players’ ability level. If the pitching wedge loft is 45 degrees, then you may find a 4 wedge (48, 52, 56, 60) setup works better for you.
So much depends on the ability to hit half and three-quarter shots consistently.
If you could change one thing in golf unilaterally — what would it be and why?
Change the rules to make the game more friendly for non-professional golfers. Get rid of going back to the tee for lost balls or out of bounds.
Allow players to move balls out of bad lies at no penalty. We need to speed up the game to keep or get new players interested.
This is not new, but I think it is very important. I know there have been some changes made in the past few years that are moving our sport in that direction. I hope it continues along that trend.
The biggest challenges facing Protoconcept Golf short and long term are what? And what strategic responses are being developed to deal with both?
Product recognition is the biggest problem I see for ProtoConcept short and long term. It is hard for a small company to get a strong foothold in this industry, especially when you are a high-end product.
To help solve that issue, we are investing resources on major professional tours worldwide. We are competing against big companies with deep pockets, who pay big dollars to professionals to play their products.
We aren’t there yet, but with time, I see us making strides to get our product recognized.
Best advice you ever received – what was it and who was it from?
“When you love what you do, you never work a day in your life”. I know that is not unique, and I’m not sure when the first time I heard it was, but it has been true for me.
I was lucky to find my passion early in life and even luckier to be able to make a career out of it. Anyone that works in a support position on tour knows they will never be rich, but that wasn’t ever my goal.
I enjoy the comradery and family feel this job gives me working with both professionals and other tour reps.
***
For more info on PROTOCONCEPT – Premium Custom Golf Clubs click HERE
