Starting Wed, 7/20/11 - Get To Know Rob Rigg

[Rob Rigg]

Rob:

Any progress in trying to put together your walking-only course in the Portland area?

You can take the Fifth Amendment on this if you want to, since you are a U.S. citizen.

Hi Tom,

The Walkers Course is currently on hold unfortunately. We found a great site about 30 mins from Portland and 15 mins from the airport, had a fantastic architect very interested and put together a really good team to make it happen. Unfortunately, the land owner was asking for more than the property was worth so he had to put it on ice. The team still has hope and I really do believe it would be a wonderful addition to golf in the Portland area. Time to sell a bunch more golf shoes so we can get it done!

Since I'm a Canuck I couldn't take the 5th

[Rob Rigg]

How much does walkability factor into your course/Doak ratings? Has your rating gone up at Sand Hills with subsequent plays because i thought I remember you saying it was a 6...

The SH saga continues . . . how surprising and boring. 

I never said SH was 6. Did I speak with you directly Sean and tell you it was a 6? Someone else said that SH was a 6 or 7 at a rather raucous GCA dinner. To suggest SH is a 6 is a rather ludicrous statement. Duh.

If you are really bored I would suggest dredging through the very long thread about this last year so you can read it for yourself.

Do my opinions of courses change over time with repeat plays and reflection - absolutely. It is ridiculous to play a course once or twice in a day and form a strong opinion that will never change. I usually walk off the course and evaluate it based on what I saw of the architecture and the playing experience that I had on that day. One of the obvious faults of any magazine ratings system is that the raters simply cannot play the course enough to get a feel for all of the nuances. Therefore ratings are just an opinion, usually based on one play.

Walkability plays an important part in my opinion of courses because I believe that enjoying a round of golf goes hand in hand with the experience of walking the course because it allows you to take in much more of the nuance and design elements. I also think that very walkable layouts are advantageous to the architect because they do not have to worry about figuring out how to build in cart paths and green surrounds to accommodate cart paths. There is a reason that most of the great courses in the world are walkable.

[Rob Rigg]

Rob-

Ano other special additions coming?  Camo maybe?

CJ

CJ - We have LOTS of stuff up our sleeve for '12!

Workin' on something to align with a certain course opening - fingers crossed.

[Rob Rigg]

Rob,
What do the boys from Swooshtown think about Trues?    I know I would've worn Trues if they were around when I worked at Nike.  

Where do you play in Portland?   I used to play at Riverside (before they ruined things by shortening the 18th and building a new clubhouse).  Also spent time at Forest Hills, Heron Lakes, Rose City, and C-E.

All of our friends there are very excited for us and some people are wearing our shoes when they tee it because they are so comfortable. It's easier not to wear the swoosh outside the burm. It has been great to see the support - the swoosh has a very innovative culture and I think they respect when people take product to another level.

I used to play at Witch and Ghost mostly. I had played Forest Hills, CECC, and a bunch of other courses in the area by the time I left. Portland has some good golf courses but I don't think there are any great golf courses. If you like tree lined golf that plays very targety most of the year then it is a great place to live. At a lot of courses the trees are simply overwhelming. It is good to hear that some courses are starting some serious thinning and/or remodel projects.

[Rob Rigg]

What is the theory behind the sole pad under the ball of the foot in the Trues? It made me feel like I was back on my heels when I tried them on. A very weird feeling to me even though everyone swears by them.

Steve - Our theory around the TRUE tour was that we wanted to build a golf shoe that was designed around the human foot, not a dress shoe.

When people try them on for the first time some will rock back on their heels and say "these feel like slippers but I feel like I'm falling over backwards." That is what happens when you remove the heel wedge and midsole. We are working our shoes towards a zero drop which is the natural position of the body. Sam Snead talked about hitting barefoot and more recently Sean Foley did - it is the most natural position you can be in to swing a golf club.

In our opinion the optimal thing that you can do to improve your golf swing is put your body in a position to succeed - by removing the midsole, heel wedge, etc. and boiling the shoe down to its most natural elements you can significantly increase both proprioception (the communication between your very sensitive feet and your brain) while also improving traction by having a wider surface area which promotes more ground contact.

A lot of our customers say that they will not wear another pair of golf shoes again because they are so connected to the ground while also being protected from the elements. We are obviously ecstatic by this response.

[Rob Rigg]

Rob,

Ryan Moore was getting some serious face time at the Open, in the interview room, but where were the logos?  You need to add some hats or turtlenecks to the catalog!

David, Ryan has a little tab on his hat and "TRUE linkswear" is written on the side that was facing away from the camera

We'll have some hats available soon and we are working on apparel (slowly and deliberately).

Yeah, we definitely are not the loudest company out there, we think the unique look of the shoes and their performance will end up doing a lot of talking for us. Of course, the staff bag we designed is pretty darn loud - we might end up offering them some day.

And if you know Ryan he tends to shy away from logos on his clothing - pretty much just the hat and bag.

[Rob Rigg]

Rob,

A couple things. First - you know I love the shoes. They are now essential gear when it comes to my golf. You wouldn't believe how disappointed I was when I left Ballyneal for Dismal and realized I had forgotten them in my room! I made do with a back up pair of Nike Airs, which are really great, but still - not the same thing.

So, how did you come up with the idea to put memory foam in the shoe? Do you know the weight density of your memory foam and is it made by a factory that produces sleep products? (Geek question I know, but I think maybe I told you last year that I'm selling a line of mf products?)

Do you travel through Shanghai or Honk Kong when you visit your manufactuer?

I look forward to crossing paths with you one of these days and wish you continued success in all of your endeavors.

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the props - I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors as well!

The memory foam idea came from an analysis of how to make the shoe as comfortable as possible while also being snug and supportive in key areas because the toe box was going to be much wider than normal. Our goal was to get your ankles really happy the first time you slipped on the shoe, and locked in, which in combination with our sockliner makes it easier for people with varying foot widths to really enjoy wearing the shoe. I'd have to check the CBD to find out if there is density - we pretty much just tested the product until it felt right. We figured adding a small amount of weight there was worth it because the rest of the shoe is so much lighter than anything else on tour.

I do most of my travel through Guangzhou but I've been up to Shenzen and through HK as well. Guangzhou is pretty much the footwear capital of the world - it's incredible how many factories they have there.

Let me know if you are ever heading over and we'll see if our calendars can align.

[Rob Rigg]

Rob, I wear a size 14 but it looks like you stop at 13.

Any likelihood of partnering with Oddball Shoe, which you probably know is in Portland and exclusively services size 13 and higher?

Garland - I can't believe you guys said no - I was more than a little disappointed

JL - If you go to http://shop.truelinkswear.com/ you will see all the styles/colors/sizes we currently have available.

Our sizing goes from 6.5 to 15 so we should have you covered. We really need to 2.0 our website - it's on the list - the newsletter still shows 8 to 13 but that has been wrong for a LONG time. Sorry about that.

I have never heard of Oddball Shoe - very interesting - I'll have one of our sales guys look into it - Thanks!

[Garland Bayley]

Rob:

Any progress in trying to put together your walking-only course in the Portland area?

You can take the Fifth Amendment on this if you want to, since you are a U.S. citizen.

He asked me and my buddy Carl Icahn to back him on that venture. But, we turned him down. The admin and sales costs were too high.
We are threatening a proxy fight.

If Icahn can pick up Mentor Graphics, then he could donate some of that campus farmland in Wilsonville to the cause. Purchase the adjacent 60 Acre former mobile home park and you'd be set. They made Langdon farms out of worse land than that.

Emile,

I don't think Carl is that interested in golf. He is interested in making money.

[Rob Rigg]

Emile - We found some good potential land aside from the "ideal" site we discovered.

Oregon has some very strict laws when it comes to converting farm land to anything which means you need a lot of influence and $$$ to make a project happen. "Dream Golf" was a fascinating read on many levels - the time it took for Mr. McKee and Mr. Keiser to navigate getting the green light for Bandon was daunting.

We were intentionally looking for a rather flat site where we could grow native grasses reminiscent of Heathland courses around London. We really believe that a site that drains well naturally, combined with likely sand capping, could play pretty firm and fast for most of the year and add a very interesting dynamic to golf in the Portland area.

The Walkers Course is one of the dreams I work towards every day at TRUE and with the current economy and the number of courses getting built if we have to wait a while I think we'll be okay.

[Mike Benham]

Unfortunately, the land owner was asking for more than the property was worth so he had to put it on ice.

I think you meant to say "the land owner was asking for more than we were willing to pay".

[Jim Nugent]

Rob, more a comment than a question, though it could be both.  I hope you run a marketing campaign, based on Jim's 155 hole golfathon for Ben.  I think you could build Trues into a national (or international) brand with that.  

[JLahrman]

JL - If you go to http://shop.truelinkswear.com/ you will see all the styles/colors/sizes we currently have available.

Our sizing goes from 6.5 to 15 so we should have you covered. We really need to 2.0 our website - it's on the list - the newsletter still shows 8 to 13 but that has been wrong for a LONG time. Sorry about that.

I have never heard of Oddball Shoe - very interesting - I'll have one of our sales guys look into it - Thanks!

Will check out your link.  Oddball can probably move your 14s and 15s for you.  I use them a little less these days now that I found Zappos, but guys with big feet always know other guys with big feet.

[RJ_Daley]

TRue Blue?

[Rob Rigg]

Jim,

What Jim did for Ben and his family was beyond amazing.

We were very proud to support his efforts and look forward to supporting him as much as possible in the future - not quite sure but this is likely the tip of the iceberg. Very few people can act on their passion is such a compelling and selfless manner for the good of others.

[Emile Bonfiglio]

Emile - We found some good potential land aside from the "ideal" site we discovered.

Oregon has some very strict laws when it comes to converting farm land to anything which means you need a lot of influence and $$$ to make a project happen. "Dream Golf" was a fascinating read on many levels - the time it took for Mr. McKee and Mr. Keiser to navigate getting the green light for Bandon was daunting.

We were intentionally looking for a rather flat site where we could grow native grasses reminiscent of Heathland courses around London. We really believe that a site that drains well naturally, combined with likely sand capping, could play pretty firm and fast for most of the year and add a very interesting dynamic to golf in the Portland area.

The Walkers Course is one of the dreams I work towards every day at TRUE and with the current economy and the number of courses getting built if we have to wait a while I think we'll be okay.

I understand all to well. I can't even cut down a tree on my property without 2 arborist, a city planner and 90% my direct neighbors giving their approval. Keep up the great work, I love the shoes (especially your customer service when I had insole issues), I think the TWC WILL really be amazing WHEN it happens. Lets hook up sometime in PDX.

Cheers!

[Steve Kline]

What is the theory behind the sole pad under the ball of the foot in the Trues? It made me feel like I was back on my heels when I tried them on. A very weird feeling to me even though everyone swears by them.

Steve - Our theory around the TRUE tour was that we wanted to build a golf shoe that was designed around the human foot, not a dress shoe.

When people try them on for the first time some will rock back on their heels and say "these feel like slippers but I feel like I'm falling over backwards." That is what happens when you remove the heel wedge and midsole. We are working our shoes towards a zero drop which is the natural position of the body. Sam Snead talked about hitting barefoot and more recently Sean Foley did - it is the most natural position you can be in to swing a golf club.

In our opinion the optimal thing that you can do to improve your golf swing is put your body in a position to succeed - by removing the midsole, heel wedge, etc. and boiling the shoe down to its most natural elements you can significantly increase both proprioception (the communication between your very sensitive feet and your brain) while also improving traction by having a wider surface area which promotes more ground contact.

A lot of our customers say that they will not wear another pair of golf shoes again because they are so connected to the ground while also being protected from the elements. We are obviously ecstatic by this response.

Thanks Rob. Interesting that just the removal of the heel wedge and midsole causes that feeling. I have looked into VFFs and I guess a similar feeling would occur. And, you are right, everyone I know who pkays in your shoes swears by them.

[George Pazin]

Thanks for playing, Rob!

Can you give us a little background on the genesis of TRUE? The original idea, the meeting with Sean, etc. You may want to start keeping a journal, if you aren't already. I really enjoy reading books written by successful entrepreneurs. I could write one on what not to do...

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Rob-

What do you rate Talking Stick North on the Doak scale? I thought it was a 6 with a few good holes, no great ones, and was pretty good for an extremely flat site. I also loved the smell when you walk into the resort/casino.

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being shit your pants excited, how cool was it to get a picture of THE Jules Winnfield wearing Trues?

[Rob Rigg]

Thanks for playing, Rob!

Can you give us a little background on the genesis of TRUE? The original idea, the meeting with Sean, etc. You may want to start keeping a journal, if you aren't already. I really enjoy reading books written by successful entrepreneurs. I could write one on what not to do...

Sure, I can give a quick summary of how TRUE happened.

As I mentioned earlier Sean Eidson, our co-founder and CEO, notice someone golfing in VFFs while he was playing in Dallas. He had read an interesting article in the NYT about the rise of barefoot running and how small companies were "wiggling their toes at the footwear giants." Since barefoot running was already becoming a trend he saw a great opportunity in golf - ie) if the barefoot guys got together with the walking golfers there could be a really cool product. Sean was a member of The Walking Golfers Society and we had communicated a couple times in the past after meeting randomly at Pacific Dunes. Sean knew I was working at a large footwear and apparel company and was a very passionate walking golfer who was always testing product. Sean had found a designer and started kicking around some ideas and drawings which he passed over. I provided him with my feedback and told him that I thought, if done properly, this product could absolutely kill it. What two surfaces to people enjoy walking on barefoot the most - grass and sand - through some water proofing around your foot and make a comfortable shoe and in our opinion you have the ultimate golf shoe - which can also be worn off the course.

I had been golfing for the most part in indoor soccer shoes and whenever I made recommendations for "comfort" improvement in product I had been testing for my employer they did not seem interested. Their concern was making product for the guys on tour - although it seemed strange to me that if you practice/play everyday wouldn't you want to be comfy? I was not involved in footwear at my employer, only footwear product testing.

So Sean and I had what we thought was a good idea - and as others saw what we were up to they were really impressed as well. The key for us was figuring out how to turn this into a business. We were fortunate on two levels - 1) being able to find interested investors early on and 2) having the opportunity to get our idea in front of Ryan Moore, his brother Jeremy and father Mike.

The Ryan story is interesting - Todd Rohrer of MacKenzie Golf Bags was down in Scottsdale the same time as Ari Techner from Scratch who was in town to do some work with Ryan. Sean and I put a power point deck together for Todd to give to Ryan. Long story short, Todd was able to hand it off to Jeremy Moore - Ryan's brother and manager. This was obviously very fortunate and it ended up being a serendipitous moment as Ryan was suffering through ankle problems with the shoes he was currently wearing and they were getting worse. Ryan was also frustrated by the weight and structure of golf shoes on the market and was really excited about a "barefoot" golf shoe that put you as close to the ground as possible. Ryan is obviously a unique pro golfer and we knew that his honest and "lone wolf" attitude would be beneficial for you TRUE. On top of that, Ryan is a really great guy who loves product - so we'd have a great product tester and partner who would validate our shoes on the PGA Tour.

We signed Ryan around The Colonial last May and he became our third co-founder. We have a great group of investors that helped us get up and running and Jeremy Moore, Ryan's brother, is an integral part of our company. Along the way we picked up Mike Wagner, who y'all should know from GCA, and a couple other young guns who were really passionate about what we are doing as a company.

The TRUE tour went on the market through our website for pre-sales in September 2010 and we began shipping the shoes out in October. We've been pretty much sold out since then as we get shipments in and they immediately go out to retail or customers. We absolutely killed it at the PGA Show and that added a lot of energy to 2011 which has continued. It has been an incredible ride thus far and we are continuing to get better in terms of product design, materials, quality, etc. We can't thank all of our TRUE friends for their support along the way - and there are a bunch of them on GCA - chapeau guys! We really appreciate it!

[Jud_T]

Rob,

When's the last time you rode in a golf cart?

[Rob Rigg]

Rob-

What do you rate Talking Stick North on the Doak scale? I thought it was a 6 with a few good holes, no great ones, and was pretty good for an extremely flat site. I also loved the smell when you walk into the resort/casino.

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being shit your pants excited, how cool was it to get a picture of THE Jules Winnfield wearing Trues?

Hi Patrick,

I love TSN - it is such a fun course with really interesting GCA, especially for such a flat site. C&C used the washes, ob, and every bunker to create what I would consider a really pure minimalist layout. There is very little waste out there - every bunker has a reason for its existence and they strongly dictate strategy on what is a wide layout. A great design.

 A few holes are kind of similar - I really like 2, 3, and 12 that run along the fence on the north side. The North is a fantastic course to walk - I've been carrying out there when it's 110 and I really don't mind it that much because the terrain is so easy to navigate. I think a Doak 6 is spot on. If you are in the area it is worth checking out. During the summer it's on $40 - a steal - I play out there whenever I can.

I also enjoyed playing Southern Dunes, probably my favorite public played thus far, and We Ko Pa Saguaro which I would also rate a 6. Desert Forest has been my favorite private thus far, a really cool classic track through the desert - a fantastic walk in a neighborhood where that is rarely a priority, or at times, even a consideration.

Getting the photo of Mr. Sammy L rockin' the TRUEs was definitely a 10 - how freakin' sick was that!!!! He is THE man. Total icon. Such a stud.

[Rob Rigg]

Rob,

When's the last time you rode in a golf cart?

A couple weeks ago. When we have "business" golf and it's 105 to 115 there is little chance that anyone else will want to walk so I have to ride or at least get chauffered. One time we were like - "So we're walking right?" and the guys were like "Umm, no, are you crazy, it's 110, we're going to ride." It is what it is.

I also had to take a cart when we were up at Desert Mountain a while back - the course was not walkable.

When I have to ride I usually walk a few of the holes to try and get in a rhythm - I don't like it but sometimes you have to go with the flow.  There are some great walking courses around PHX - ACC, Desert Forest, TS North and South, Saguaro - but a lot of others are a real challenge due to green to tee transfers. It's unfortunate.

[Michael Dugger]

Rob

Do you still think Old Mac is a better course than Pac Dunes?

[Rob Rigg]

Rob

Do you still think Old Mac is a better course than Pac Dunes?

I prefer Old Mac to Pacific - OM is probably my favorite course to play in the US rivaled only by Ballyneal (of the courses that I have played).

Both courses are amazing and every time I go to Bandon my "list" is open to change - however - Old Mac is a strong #1 at the resort for me, it's just so much fun and such a great walk. Just brilliant. When I get to the 14th tee at Pac I look over at the Road, Biarritz, Redan, etc. in the distance and want to go cross country.