Date: Fri 19-Jul-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

golf-Adam-Bagger-sales

Full Text:

with cut: Adam Bagger Builds A Business One Ball At A Time

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

When the hit movie Caddy Shack came out nearly 20 years ago, young boys and

girls flocked to their neighborhood golf courses to earn some extra money

hauling golf clubs.

But most of today's golfers either carry their own bags or rent a golf cart

and caddying isn't worth the money any more.

At the Newtown Country Club, 12-year-old Adam Bagger has come up with another

way to earn money out on the links.

From the sixth tee at the Newtown Country Club, the Brushy Hill Road youngster

has set up shop selling golf balls and occasionally ice-cold lemonade.

It's proven to be a lucrative business as many a golfer has ventured out onto

the course figuring he or she had more than enough balls, only to lose them in

the woods or in the drink.

"I recently became interested in golf and figured it would be a good way to

make some money," the Newtown Middle School eighth grader explained earlier

this week.

Adam, who recently began playing golf, was seen patiently awaiting customers

on the Elm Drive golf course Sunday when temperatures soared into the mid 80s

and the humidity level was off the scale.

This is Adam's first summer working the links, but judging by his success, it

won't be his last. On a typical Saturday or Sunday, the young entrepreneur

sells more than 120 golf balls at 50 cents apiece.

And, as Adam points out, every sale is at almost a 100 percent profit because

there's little or no overhead. He scavenges for his product. It is not

unreasonable to assume that some golfers have bought their own lost balls from

Adam - perhaps more than once.

"I spend about two hours a day looking for golf balls in the woods and in

people's back yards," Adam explained. "You have to be careful, though, there's

a lot of poison ivy and ticks."

The young man said he's found a boat load of golf balls in the gardens behind

the home of Bee publisher R. Scudder Smith on Elm Drive.

After locating the balls, Adam selects only those in the best condition and

washes them with bleach. After a thorough scrubbing, his product is ready for

the market.

"You have to have really good balls and then lay them out nicely," he said. "I

put mine in egg cartons."

Adam's supply doesn't figure to run dry any time soon. Afterall, as long as

hackers continue to slice and hook shots, golf balls will continue to be lost.

Newtown Country Club golf pro Paul Miller said the reaction from golfers has

been very positive.

"They like to see kids earning their own money," Mr Miller explained. "Some of

the guys buy balls even if they don't need them."

The middle school student said he's open to making deals with golfers and

often gives discounts to those golfers he's gotten to know.

Adam's success at the Newtown Country Club was not kept under wraps for long,

however. Local boys Tim Hoeffel, 12, Anthony Mason, 11, and Matthew DeLuca, 9,

have gotten into the act themselves, selling their wares on the other side of

the course. Adam has already laid claim to the back nine.

As for the competition, the Tim, Anthony and Matthew admit they're mostly out

to beat Adam even though they acknowledge that their business rival, though

new at the game, is an old pro.

"We've come up with our own ways of selling golf balls, but we've also taken

some pointers from Adam," acknowledged Tim.

Running a business is nothing new to Adam. In the past, he's run a successful

lemonade stand outside his parents' beach house in Breezy Point, New York.

The young golfer is hoping to receive a junior membership in September. That's

bad news to the other golfers as Adam will likely be a ringer on the par three

sixth hole where he's watched hundreds of golfers tee off this summer. In

fact, he's even witnessed a hole in one. But for now, he is content to measure

his golf success one ball - and 50 cents - at a time.