Off TRAQ Podcast — Golf's Real Conversations
Sep 29, 2026 · 1 hr 19 min · 13 segments
Brian Kim, founder of Liteyear Golf, joins Off TRAQ to talk about what it really takes to build golf equipment from scratch and why most junior clubs are designed the wrong way. Brian shares how he…
Brian KimGuestRoyHosta little bit.
And obviously, now that you are in the club design world, right? I was wondering, is there something that affects the way you buy clubs now? Like, what do you look for? Because obviously, there's a different lens now,
right? So when
you're looking for your own clubs, because obviously, Lightyear doesn't make adult clubs yet.
But yeah, what do you look for these days? And has it changed since becoming the founder of Lightyear? It's
Um, how it's made the story behind the club manufacturer, um, visually appealing a lot of those things you know aren't really marketed but to me that's as a founder of a golf manufacturing company and golf equipment you start to understand like what really separates certain brands and certain manufacturers and and so A lot of these clubs, there's only so much you can do with metal, right? A lot of these clubs are pretty similar, but those, for example, a lot of the Japanese irons I'm really into right now are forged in the mountains of Japan.
for me for sure.
You know, you know, what I found is a lot of people do care about feel, but I realized that obviously it's so subjective, right? There's no grade for feel.
And so I realized people are in like crazy spectrums.
Like there are some people that love it when the golf ball like feels like a trampoline and just like jumps off the club face.
I personally don't like that because I feel like I lose control.
a little bit.
And obviously, now that you are in the club design world, right? I was wondering, is there something that affects the way you buy clubs now? Like, what do you look for? Because obviously, there's a different lens now,
right? So when
you're looking for your own clubs, because obviously, Lightyear doesn't make adult clubs yet.
But yeah, what do you look for these days? And has it changed since becoming the founder of Lightyear? It's
Um, how it's made the story behind the club manufacturer, um, visually appealing a lot of those things you know aren't really marketed but to me that's as a founder of a golf manufacturing company and golf equipment you start to understand like what really separates certain brands and certain manufacturers and and so A lot of these clubs, there's only so much you can do with metal, right? A lot of these clubs are pretty similar, but those, for example, a lot of the Japanese irons I'm really into right now are forged in the mountains of Japan.
for me for sure.
You know, you know, what I found is a lot of people do care about feel, but I realized that obviously it's so subjective, right? There's no grade for feel.
And so I realized people are in like crazy spectrums.
Like there are some people that love it when the golf ball like feels like a trampoline and just like jumps off the club face.
I personally don't like that because I feel like I lose control.
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