Golf season is in full swing. We’ve got the
2025 Dow Championship LPGA tournament coming up in Midland June 23-29. Golf leagues, junior golf leagues, and tournaments are under way all over the region.
All of that adds up to create the need for pre-owned golf equipment in the area.
There was a time when pre-owned golf equipment was available in the Great Lakes Bay Region at a handful of businesses, but slowly those places closed. A few people started selling golf balls and re-conditioned clubs out of their garages, but that didn’t fill the full gap.
A few years ago, Dave Coppler talked to one of those garage golf enthusiasts, and it wasn’t long before the plans were in the works to open
Encore Golf Supply, LLC.
Coppler, who is a Physical Therapy Assistant for the Bay-Arenac ISD, says Encore Golf Supply started small.
“The one guy that we bought out first, he was 87 years old. So I said, ‘Have you ever thought about selling?’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’ “
Coppler talked to his friend, Rudy Schlatter, owner of the Rudy Schlatter Farm Bureau Agency, and the two joined forces to buy used equipment.
They started out in Schlatter’s barn near Auburn while they worked on finding a more permanent space. Coppler says in April of 2023, they held a grand opening in their new location at 2450 Midland Road in Monitor Township.
It didn’t take long for the two men to realize they’d made the right decision.
“We started with a $12,000 investment,” says Coppler. The seasonal business, open three to four days a week, quickly made that initial investment at least four times over.
“Every year it’s gotten better and better,” Coppler says.
Coppler says their customers come from all over the Great Lakes Bay Region, the Thumb, and even Flint and Flushing.
Who they see are people who need clubs re-fitted. Some have clubs that came from garage sales, others were gifted equipment from friends or family. Still others come to the shop after buying one-size-fits-all clubs from sporting goods stores.
“We do club fittings, and we’ve shortened shafts for people. We can do all club repairs, re-grip them, and fit them to people,” he says. “A lot of what we do is when people are ready to move off their junior clubs and move into a men’s or women’s set, we’re the stop for that because we can get you fitted for that.”
Along with helping get the best fitting clubs, Coppler says the store carries a large inventory, including an “insane amount of golf balls.” The balls are sorted by brand, so golfers easily can find their favorites.
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Graphic courtesy of Encore Golf SupplyEncore also carries a wide variety of vintage putters, woods, and other clubs.
“There are people that are like, ‘Wow, I haven’t seen this club in a long time,’ and ‘These bring back memories.’ I love seeing that stuff there. It’s fun,” he says.
Because kids grow out of their clubs so fast, Coppler says Encore keeps its prices low.
“We sell our kids' clubs for $2 a piece.”
Supporting the community is important to both Coppler and Schlatter.
The shop donates equipment to Bangor Elementary School and John Glen High School for students to use. Coppler says they give discounts to people who have served or are serving in the military.
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