Pannone Builds Clubs and Confidence at Spargo Golf

The golf world is filled with club fitters and builders, all professing personal service and custom work. However, nestled in a pocket of golf heaven in Providence, RI is the real deal. His name is Jon Pannone and his business is Spargo Golf.

Pannone, 36, began his apprenticeship under the tutelage of Tom Spargo, the legendary club fitter, in 2016. He has owned the shop since 2019 and has been spreading his golf gospel to a vast array of new and returning customers. The brand of club is secondary. Trust is what keeps customers coming back. We are fitters. These are the tenets upon which Pannone has built his national reputation.

He explains, “To me, customer service and building trust means being there for players, listening to their goals in the fit, and doing our best to accomplish them. Our focus is being reliable, open, and honest with players.

“We work long and hard hours to get clubs done for players in the time frames they seek. Most importantly, we provide a great experience - having a positive attitude through the very simple fact that I really love and am obsessed with golf.”

Indeed, Spargo is more than a golf facility, it is a laboratory, and Pannone is more than a fitter, he is a scientist. In the course of a session, he is constantly communicating with clients, asking them what they want their shots to look like and what works for their swings. They discuss particular shot scenarios. Pannone gets personal information from the client and tailors his club construction to the customers’ goals.

“We provide driver/woods fitting where we focus on the gapping off the tee and long approach shots,” says Pannone. “The iron/hybrid/wedge is designed to dial in the scoring parts of the bag. Then, the putter fitting puts all the pieces together. Each fitting is two hours long.”

Pannone’s success as a fitter comes from his background as a player. He learned the game from his parents at Potowomut Golf Club in Warwick, RI and counts Rhode Island golf legend Angie Santilli as one of his early influences.

Pannone played at the University of Rhode Island for two years under Coach Tom Drennan. He then transferred to the University of South Carolina where he met a key golf mentor, swing teacher and coach Shane LeBaron.

From there, it was a golf playing odyssey. Pannone explains, “I moved out west to compete in any pro event I could. I traveled around the west coast for four years with the goal of making a living playing golf.”

This experience has turned Spargo Golf into an incubator where better golf is nurtured. Pannone talks the language of golf to his clients, as if they were walking up the fairway together between shots. His input is as personal as it is professional. While the client swings, Pannone monitors the motion at his computer. This is the place where technique and technology meet.

Pannone has been honored as one of the top club fitters in America by Golf Digest, PING, Mizuno, and ACCRA, but that is not what drives him. “Those honors are nice wall ornaments, but it’s not why we are in this business,” he professes.

“We prefer the words from players that have been through our process. Hearing players say it was an incredible experience, that they can’t wait to tell their friends, telling us that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing in life. This means so much more to us.”

One of these players is Dylan Edwards of Johnston, RI, a 31 year-old wealth management professional who has been coming to Spargo for five years. He states, “I trust Jon’s perspective to understand what I need in a club to have as much confidence as possible.”

“I came here recently to get some fairway woods which are probably the hardest club for any player to grab. Jon understood what I was looking for in a head shape and in a shaft response. That was a very detailed and intimate conversation. Within just 45 minutes, we were able to rule out three brands. That gave me the knowledge that I can take the club and hit any shot I want.”

Edwards talks about what separates Pannone and Spargo Golf from the competition. “Jon brings a player’s perspective to his work. He can tailor his conversation toward trying to break 80 or 90. At the same time, we can talk about carry distance and what window of trajectory we are looking for on a particular shot. His ability to communicate and connect with a player is astounding.”

Pannone hands out shared credit as seamlessly as he does golf analysis. “I have to talk about my man Steve Coletta,” he relates. “Steve is our putter fitter. He holds down the shop while I am in fittings 8 hours a day. I wouldn’t be here without his passion, commitment and love for the game.”

Ah yes, love for the game. It runs through every one of Pannone’s appointments, conversations, and fittings. He truly has found his niche and knows how fortunate he is.

“I turned my wife Caitlin into a golf nut so we play 3 to 4 days a week together. I still compete in Monday’s and State Opens around New England. Fitting has allowed me to have the balance of both worlds. My goal has now changed to showing the golf world that fitters are just as important as teachers. I truly feel like the luckiest pro in the world.”

John Molori is an author and columnist for numerous publications. Like him on Facebook at John Molori, Twitter @MoloriMedia. Email molorimedia@gmail.com.

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