The Branding of D’Lance Golf

D’Lance Golf

The branding of D’Lance Golf was probably like most small businesses.  So what do we name this company and what does it mean?  To be honest, 22 years ago, we thought Golf Fit was the brand we wanted.  But, then maybe people would think we were all about fitness.  Nope.  We are all about improving golfers performance through equipment, instruction and practice.  My son, Lance and I were working on this as he was graduating from college…Project X we called it.  But no interesting brand name came to mind.  Finally, I was at a conference sitting next to a lady from Quebec talking about all the telecommunication companies that were launching at that time and I heard the French word, lancement…meaning launch.  Well, my son’s name is Lance and we are launching a new business so voila’ – D’Lance Golf (the D is my first initial) was born.  Yeah, Lance was not too excited about it either!  After all, what’s a Nike??  The first few years we had a great logo, green and gold colors like a country club, and we branded everything from our hats to shirts to our golf clubs.

D’Lance Golf Performance Center

But D’Lance Golf didn’t really say what we did.  So, we said, let’s pick a better moniker and then brand that with a slogan.  We are all about improving our golfers performance.  Well, in reality, that did not happen until 2004 when D’Lance Golf Performance Center was born.  We were developing a fitting system that was far beyond anything in the industry in terms of using technology to predict recommendations, so that was a key factor in our brand.  So, part of that whole initiative was to create a slogan or catch phrase that went along with our new brand name.  That really was pretty easy.  With the three things that we focused on in our business; custom fit equipment, instruction and practice, we felt that our golfers could get better…faster with custom fit equipment.  Better Golf…Faster!

Focus on Improved Performance

If there is any lesson in business I have learned it is focus…focus…focus.  Oh, and adapt…adapt…adapt!  Remember, when we started, there was no eBay, Amazon or Google! And I STILL have an AOL email account…  In our first few years, we were in that era where “clone” clubs were competing on price against the major brands.  We could buy “stock factory models” from China that looked very much like certain brands at a fraction of the cost.  Well, we tried that for a few years but everyone kept asking “What’s a D’Lance Classic? and Who is using it on Tour?”.  Well, no one, actually.  So it became painfully obvious that our “brand” was all about the custom fitting rather than the actual equipment we sold. So, goodbye to our own equipment brands and hello to BGF (Better Golf Faster) Fitting System.

Another key thing we recognized is that coaches (instructors) coach, and fitters fit.  It is hard to find a good clubfitter that is a good coach and visa versa.  So, we partnered with some of the best coaches in the area and focused all of our efforts on improved performance.  We also felt it was important to offer practice at our golfer’s convenience so we started 24-Hour indoor practice in 2000.  We were even on the cover of USA Toady!

Golf Digest Top 100 Clubfitters in America

To be honest 22 years into this business, we are still in the business of educating our customers on the importance of clubfitting for improved performance.  If I hear one more “it’s not the arrow it’s the Indian” I will have heard it one too many times!  But, thankfully, our reputation continued to grow with golfers in the area for improving their games.  We even invested in a fitting trailer and traveled all over Colorado, Arizona and Texas spreading better golf through custom fit equipment.  But the real brand recognition came in 2010 when Golf Digest published their first Top 100 Clubfitters in America and D’Lance Golf Performance Center made the first list!  We have been honored to have made that list five times in a row including 2019-20. 

The Future of our Brand

We are extremely proud of the golfers that we have helped over the years become better golfers.  We know that golf is NOT dying, it is adapting, and so are we.  We are seeing more young players in the game thanks to programs like First Tee.  The retirees that used to play when they were younger are coming back to the game.  Courses are making it less expensive, and helping keep pace of place shorter so we can enjoy the game we love!  We will continue to bring the latest in technology for golf equipment, instruction and practice to our customers so that they will always play Better Golf…Faster!

Dan Sueltz