What happens in the LPGA van…stays there. A happy reunion for a Mitchell Golf fabricator.

We recently sat down with Wesley Turner, one of the Mitchell Golf Equipment Company fabricators, to hear a great story about what happened when the company got a “surprise” visit from the LPGA Tour Van. It turned out to be a nostalgic reunion with a custom loft and lie bending machine that he help build exactly one year ago, to the day.

For Wesley Turner, the special day started out just like any other. “I was just about to clock in for the morning. As I was scrolling through Facebook, a 1-year memory post popped up. You know, the one post that seems to make it to the top of your newsfeed each morning to remind you of something that happened on that date in years past, “Turner recalls. “That particular day it was a memory of a custom machine we had made for the LPGA. I thought it was cool and did a little reminiscing after seeing it, but then didn’t think much more about it.”

What Wesley didn’t know was that earlier that month, Patrick Gallagher, Director of Operations at Mitchell Golf Equipment Company, had attended the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. During the visit, Patrick was able to connect with the LPGA Club Repair Tech, Paul Boehmer, who also operates and transports the LPGA Tour Van to each event. And what a van it is. From sanding machines and bending machines to grip tape and shafts, the van is outfitted with all top-of-the-line repair aids and tools to keep the player’s equipment at peak performance during events. Repair aids, which of course, included the custom loft and lie bending machine made by Mitchell Golf.

Excited about the prospect of the team seeing the tour van, Gallagher talked to Boehmer who agreed that after the Meijers classic, he would indeed take time on his way to an event in Arkansas to make a special stop in Albion, Michigan where Mitchell Golf is headquartered.

Gallagher, a PGA Pro himself, was equally excited about the visit and informed the guys in the shop that the van was on its way. However, he told them only an hour before it arrived!

The van pulled up to the shop a little before 8:30 a.m., and once introductions were done and Boehmer got a tour of the facility, it was time to tour the van. In Turner’s words: “It was kind of surreal. The machine that I had just seen on Facebook was back where it all began.”

Indeed, there it was. A custom blue Mitchell Golf Loft and Lie Club Bending Machine was affixed atop the workbench just as they walked into the LPGA tour van. Turner, now in his 2^nd year at Mitchell Golf, was thrilled. “Knowing how frequently those machines are used out there on the tour, I couldn’t believe this machine was in such good condition. They had really taken good care of it.”

This up close and personal tour also gave the team at Mitchell Golf a chance to inspect the machine. The guys quickly noticed that the machine needed a very slight adjustment. They took it back to the shop to make the minor adjustment and had it back and installed within the hour.

These moments, whether it be a coincidence or part of a “Master Plan,” are rare. But they happen, just like they did for Wesley and the crew at Mitchell Gold. When building these or any of the hundreds of machines, parts, and accessories, the guys at Mitchell Golf Equipment put a little something special into each product: Heart. It’s a love for what they do, and it shows.

If you are going to do something, do it well. Because you never know when it might come back to you.