Golfer Turns Club Repair Hobby Into Business
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
Photo courtesy of Nathan Frazier – Nathan Frazier of Scenic City Clubworks poses with his trophy from the Amateur Players Tour.
What started as a hobby for golf enthusiast Nathan Frazier became a business after a little push from a friend. Frazier learned to repair golf clubs as a teenager, but he didn’t start his business, Scenic City Clubworks, until November 2022.
“I’ve been repairing clubs for friends for years because it usually takes other places at least two weeks to do a repair,” Frazier explained. “Friends learned that I could do it immediately as long as there wasn’t a delay with supplies.” He charged friends only for the supply costs, leaving it up to them to compensate him for his time as they saw fit.
Frazier grew up at Wind Stone Golf Club in Chattanooga, right by the Georgia state line. He began playing golf when he was five. He recalled, “As a kid, I never got into video games. I played sports. Both of my parents worked, so I would go to the golf course, play 18 holes, get to know all the guys, and I’d help clean carts.”
At the time, pro golfer Richard Rebne was at Wind Stone, and he took Frazier under his wing. “He taught me a lot about golf, and when members came in with issues with a club, I would watch him fix it. I started by fixing grips and learned from him. You can pay thousands of dollars to attend a club work training school in Florida, but I feel like I learned all that and more from Richard.”
After years of repairing clubs, a friend of Frazier’s told him that he should consider making it a business. “He asked me what I would name it if I did start a business, and I said Scenic City Clubworks.” Frazier didn’t seriously plan to start the business, but his friend sent him a Christmas gift with five dozen golf balls branded with Scenic City Clubworks.
Frazier recalled, “He said I should just roll with it, so I did. I started on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and set up a website. I made business cards and gave them to golf clubs. I try to take the business side out of it. Most places charge you to do a fitting. I do it more like, ‘Come out here, and I’ll watch you hit some balls without charging.’”
Frazier believes that taking the time to do work properly and learning the best way to fix clubs is important. He handles about 15 to 20 orders a month and says, “If you’re happy with my work, don’t tell me thank you; tell somebody else about my work.”
Having worked for a freight brokerage company in Chattanooga for about 16 years, Frazier doesn’t plan to make club repair his full-time job, saying, “In the golf business, unless you have a full retail store or own a course, it’s hard to profit. I’d rather be more of a boutique business on the side. I enjoy my full-time job, and this is something I enjoy doing on the side.”
He notes that golf is well-liked in the tri-state area because of quality courses and a comfortable climate. “Golf is huge in Chattanooga. There are some old, really famous courses here. Trenton is putting money into their course. They hired JD Williamson, and I think he’s gonna do great things.”
He continued, “If you live in Florida and it’s incredibly hot in the summer, you can come up here to play. I think it’s the perfect climate.”
Located on Lookout Mountain in Rising Fawn, Ga., Frazier is close to McLemore Club, Lookout Mountain Club, and Trenton Golf Club. He’s done work for the Covenant College golf team, and he’s done work for Black Creek Club in Chattanooga and McLemore. Frazier meets customers in person when convenient or he uses several drop-off points.
He recently became Golf Pride grips certified with Golf Pride’s Innovation Center at Pinehurst, N.C. He said, “85A% of people on the PGA tour play with Golf Pride grips.”
Visit his website (sceniccityclubworks.weebly.com), call 423-273-8081, or email sceniccityclubworks@gmail.com to get in touch with Frazier.