HOWDOYOU COME UP WITH
THE DESIGN FOR EACH PAINTED
CLUB? I love including the client in
the design. The whole point is to
make someone really happy when
they get it. So, I’ll do a preliminary
Photoshop sketch of what we could
do. I generally give them two to three
different sketches. I’ll give you two
to three options and then we can
narrow it down.
COURTESY OF ANDREW TEDESCO
HOW LONG DOES THE PROCESS
TAKE? Thirty days from when the
design is finalized, because some
people’s designs take long, while
others know exactly what they
want. Right now, we have quite
the backlog of golf clubs to go.
CAN PEOPLE PLAY WITH THESE
CLUBS? Yes. I contacted the United
States Golf Association, and they
said it was completely legal and
conforming for all professional and
amateur tournaments. So, that
really allows me to continue with
the business. I recently got a phone
call from a charity in Mississippi, and
they wanted me to paint their charity
logo on agolf club. So, I’m going
to meet all new people and new
ventures from this.
HOWMUCHDOESEACHPAINTED
CLUB COST? Between $750 and
$1000 —that’s kind of where they’ve
all been falling right now. The cost
of aclub isabout $500 when they’re
new, but you’re not buying aclub,
you’re buying apiece of art. Idon’t
really like togoany lower than that,
because Ilike tomake them
perfect. It takes about tenn
hours aclub, and you
can’t paint one straight
through.
HOWHAS PLAYING
GOLF HELPED THIS
NEW BUSINESS? It’s a
really interesting game.
You get four hours to
spend with somebody,
and you get to learn alot
about people. That’s what’s
THE PERSONAL TOUCH (Above) Cigar labels make for popular golf club designs, says Tedesco, who
uses real 23K gold leaf here. (Below) Tedesco painted this golf club for aFisher Island golf pro shop in
Miami’s South Beach.
so amazing about these painted golf
clubs: they’re such great conversation
starters. The pro that works at Glen
Ridge, Idid his club, and he was
a goalie at the University of South
Carolina. So, on his golf club we put
two goalie gloves and a soccer ball
with anet over it. When he gets on
the tee, everyone says “What is that?”
and then Iget to tell them about my
passion.
WHAT ISITLIKE SPECIALIZING IN
MURALS AND THEN SWITCHING
TO THESMALL CANVAS OF ACLUB?
It’s almost exactly the same; the
tools are just different. Ipainted a
drone shot of the country club at
Metedeconk National Golf Club,
and it’s the same thing. IfIwere to
paint a40-foot mural, Iwould do
the sky first; that’s the farthest thing
away. Then you dothe hills, and then
you do the trees, and then you
do the club
house and
foreground.
It’s very interest-
ing. My tools are
different, and the
aches and pains
are alittle different.
When I’m
workingw
on a
giant scaffolding,
my legs are sore,
but whenw
I’m paint-
ing the clubs, I’m
sitting still so my shoulders and neck
are very tight. This is because you’re
trying to control your large muscles
and just use your fine motor skills.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE FOR THE
FUTURE OF YOUR BUSINESS? When
I started my mural business 35 years
ago, I didn’t do any advertising, and
it just sort of grew. That’s what I’m
doing with this business. I’m really
hoping that as Iget older, Ican
transition to more and more golf
clubs, all the while working on my
murals. I will never give that up, but
the golf clubs are a really neat niche,
and I didn’t see anybody doing it.
So, as I’m building up my portfolio
with different clubs, I want to really
start approaching the pros and see if
anyone wants to use them for events
or charities.
WHAT’S THE MAIN DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN YOUR GOLF CLUBS AND
CONVENTIONAL ONES? If you asked
golfers “Where’s your club from last
year?” or“Where’s your old club?”,
they’re down in their basement
collecting dust. They never get used
again. But the cool thing with this is
it can sit on your mantle or your desk
or you can give it as agift. So, there’s
this whole other side of it where it
becomes this sculptural piece of art,
not only something you can play
with. ■
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE BACK TO SCHOOL 2020
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