The Hollrock Story
The Hollrock family has been in the golf industry since the early 1970’s.
The beginning of Rick Hollrock’s interest in the range business dates back to his college days when he worked at a golf course during his summer breaks. “I came home one day and mentioned to my father that I had seen people collecting golf balls by hand from ponds,” says Hollrock. “My Dad suggested I should try my hand at inventing and building some sort of a machine that could do the same,” adds Hollrock. A tinkerer by nature, Hollrock came to realize after building a few prototypes that it was a lot easier to build and then sell these new ‘ball retrieving’ machines than it was to manually extract balls by hand from ponds.
Based on some early success, Hollrock decided the industry was ripe for new ideas and products. Incorporating Hollrock Engineering in 1974, he started to produce and patent products with applications in the golf range industry.
As the golf industry picked up steam through the 1980’s and 1990’s, Hollrock Engineering released a number of innovative products that enjoyed quick acceptance by the industry. More patents followed as Hollrock Engineering released a popular ball washer called the “Scrub Tub” Country Club Golf Ball Washer. Other ball washers included the 38K Commercial Duty Golf Ball Washer and the golf ball WJ3 Prewash Sorter Machine. One of Hollrock’s more intriguing designs was something he called the “Ball Shooter”. This was a ball conveyance system that was based on ‘blowing compressed air’ through pneumatic tubes thereby transporting range balls through these tubes from a Hollrock washer to a ball-dispensing machine. Hollrock adds, “I also developed something called the ‘Dumper Hopper’ golf ball handling system which allowed my ball pickers to come in loaded with picked range balls and then unload these balls without actually lifting the baskets out of the unit.”
Hollrock even opened a full service golf driving range where Hollrock products can be fully tested under actual playing conditions. Hollrock is the only golf range equipment manufacturer in the world to operate a commercial driving range. This facility, the Western Massachusetts Family Golf Center, is located just down the road from Hollrock Engineering in Hadley, Massachusetts.
Hollrock Engineering, Inc and the Western Mass Family Golf Center are family run businesses. Over the years Rick’s children enjoyed growing up on the golf range using Hollrock Equipment and learning the range equipment business. Today, his daughter Lynn, is bringing a fresh new perspective to the business.
Rick Hollrock has learned a few lessons since the first products were introduced in 1974.
One is, when a customer tells you something, listen, he/she knows what they are talking about. When a customer says they need something overnight, get it to them, they need it. If a customer has a special request, do everything possible to accommodate them. Satisfied customers are our number one priority.
When you work with quality people who are diligent and care about their work, your Company will produce superior products, give outstanding customer service, and be regarded as a leader in the industry.
However, Rick says his most valuable lesson of all is that he needs to trust and depend on God each day. He says the following scripture has helped him… “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight”. Proverbs 3:5
Thank you for choosing Hollrock Engineering, please feel free to contact us for any reason.