I had the vision to make the very best pole in the World. I found a special uni-carbon material with extremely flexible strain ratios available. However, the minimum order was $10,000 per gram size. A local golf manufacturer, UST-Mamiya Golf, used a high volume of it and was willing to sell smaller portions to ESSXSport; I would go every month and buy the necessary amount from them to produce carbon poles produced proudly with confidence. I was limited by working capital to buy the carbon directly from Japan. Finding a place to share the knowledge of making poles and the resources of volume buying seemed the answer. Moving to a space in the UST-Mamiya Golf facility in Fort Worth, TX, was the answer. After some time, they took a significant interest in the process.
Selling the manufacturing to them meant I could still sell ESSX poles, and they would make them for me. They were driven to update the machinery and had the buying power to buy carbon and glass at an excellent per sq ft. price. This new solution became affordable for ESSXSport and UST Mamiya, as they used this carbon daily on their golf shafts. UST-Mamiya Golf was driven and successful in making tough golf shafts to break, something I felt the pole industry also needed. While very successful and growing for three years, our agreement ended in 2016 without the distribution renewal. They planned to make changes in the designs of the products, the personnel, and the marketing that would yield them more profit and ease in a faster supply mechanism. I was not fired as I did not work for them. I did not fit that model, was not a fan of the changes to the pole and had other products and ideas to share and focus on. So we parted ways hoping they would maintain my legacy with my product ESSX. That did not happen, and I knew I would miss working with my pole customers, but I could still do so as they would be my customer for the other products. Over 35,000 vaulting poles I sold in the field had my cell phone on them. And today, many people call me for the kind of service they are used to getting from me over the years; dependable and with a passion for the Sport!