The meaning behind the ‘Japrechaun’ is quite special to me.
I am half Japanese and half Irish. I was born in 1958 and adopted by two very special people: mom and dad. I am one of 4 children in a family of mixed heritage. My two sisters are both half Japanese and my brother is half Chinese. We are brothers and sisters, but not blood related. My parents are the warmest people you will ever meet.
My father, Dr. Rev. Alfred R. Slighter is a major figure in my life and I doubt to ever walk in his shoes. The closest I will ever live up to dad is my name. He named me after a Scottish minister: Thomas Chalmers. My mom is my idol. The heart and soul of our family. Both mom and dad accepted four Asian children into their lives during difficult times.
I grew up in a small town and being of mixed race I often felt out of place. I experienced identity issues trying to figure out who and what I was. Sometimes accepted by everybody and other times by nobody.
I have always been proud of my Japanese heritage and embrace the culture. I am equally proud of being Irish. I suppose that’s why I live in Seattle, WA, where it is green and rains a lot.
I now have 3 children and it is my turn as a father to instill pride in their lives. Always be proud of who you are and walk tall; even though we’re short. Be courageous and embrace your ethnicity.
I came up with the idea of a Japanese leprechaun as a play on my nationality. Hence, the ‘Japrechaun’ was brought to life. The ‘Japrechaun’ character represents me in a nut shell: a happy individual with a gift to create and a passion for life.
Now that we’ve all heard the story of Slighter Golf, we asked Tom to tell us what’s in his bag:
I personally have 5 Slighter putters: First putter I made, the Slighter Seattle, the first Slighter Bellevue, the first Slighter Redmond, the first Slighter Ninja.
I now have my dad’s Slighter Seattle (2nd Slighter putter made) proudly displayed on my desk.
I play Mizuno Grads (4-PW) I purchased new in 1993. I just freshly installed KBS Graphite TGI 95g regular flex shafts in my irons.
Taylor Made M3 driver
Callaway Steelhead Plus 3 wood, 5 wood, and 7 wood
Every time I wanted some custom work done on my clubs I visited a local club repair guy at his small shop in Salem, OR. I decided to re-shaft my own clubs and ordered components from Golfsmith. I slowly built up my own shop and began doing repair work and custom finishing for my home course, Salem Golf Club.
I made a few bucks on this new gig and was able to get some free golf. I was working for State Farm Insurance and they transferred me to the Washington in 1998. After moving to the Seattle I noticed there were several established golf repair shops and did not want to compete with them. I began following this auction site my wife mentioned to me called eBay. I had about 40 putters in my collection and decided to sell them all on eBay to pay off some debt that I accumulated with our move to Washington. I was really impressed how quickly they sold on eBay.
While selling my putters on eBay I began to follow the putter trend. At this time, Cameron putters maybe had one page of eBay auctions going on at one time. I took a chance and purchased a new Scotty Cameron Newport Two Pro Platinum for $178.95 which was a lot of money for me back then. I did some custom refinish work on that putter and sold it to a gentleman in Japan for $585.00. I then went out to all the golf shops in the Seattle area and began purchasing Cameron putters. I worked on them and sold them on eBay. I began receiving special requests from people all over the world to work on their putters after seeing my auctions on eBay.
This was a pretty lucrative venture I happened in to which then triggered my curiosity about making my own putters. I started my search for a machinist to help me design and make my own putters. Most all the machinists I contacted were not interested in helping me make putters. I finally found a machinist about an hour away from my home who was willing to assist me. In 2001, I designed my first putter and named it “Slighter Seattle”. It was a tribute to the Pacific Northwest opposed to Cameron’s choice of California names for his putters. I auctioned my first Slighter Seattle putter on eBay in 2002 and it sold for $289.00. I made a total of 27 of the Slighter Seattle putters and the rest sold fairly quickly. I then began designing my next putter called the Slighter Tacoma, then the Slighter Bellevue, Slighter Redmond, etc.
I was hooked.
I began to learn how to make the putters by observing my machinist. He helped me learn the art of machining which prompted me to purchase my first milling machine. I began honing my skills with the milling machine in my garage. I began purchasing all sorts of equipment that completely jam packed my 3 ½ car garage with machines and tools. I became very proficient at hand crafting putters in a short time. After learning all the tricks of the trade I was no longer sourcing out work, but rather doing all work myself. The only areas I lacked skill was the CAD/CAM or programming and tooling the CNC machines. All while I was making my own putters I continued to refinish other putters. Refinishing putters has and will always be a passion of mine. Refinishing putters was the start of Slighter Golf and will always be a part of Slighter Golf. The art of taking an old tired putter and refinishing it to its former glory will always be a true enjoyment of mine.
It is truly amazing for me to have met so many interesting people through Slighter Golf. A gift I will always cherish the rest of my life. I have been blessed to work with professionals in all aspects of life. I have had the privilege to work with Stephen Curry, Paul Casey, Kenny Perry, and Matt Kuchar to name a few. I have met good friends like LaMont Mann (Mannkrafted Putters), Jason Smith (my partner), Jeremy Camp (FST/KBS), Erik Stone (golf instructor), also to name a few.
One of my true pleasures was working with a 14 year old golfer who saved every penny just for me to build him a Slighter putter. What a true honor to say the least.
We all know that selecting the best putter is mainly personal preference.
I have always believed the first thing about choosing the best putter is it should look and feel right at address. All you should be thinking about is getting that ball in the hole. If a putter is aesthetically pleasing to your eye you are able to focus more on the putt at hand.
Some believe you should select a putter that suits your stroke and not how it looks. Somewhat true, but what have you actually purchased that is best for you and not what you preferred. Take shoes for instance. We all should be buying shoes that best fit our feet and not necessarily care about how they look.
I have had customers come to me to build them a putter defined by their instructors geared to their stroke whatever that might be. Arc stroke, straight back and through stroke, short stroke, etc. As a builder, I would build my customer what they desired only to find them coming back wanting another putter that appeals to them more.
The goal is to “try” and find that happy medium. We pretty much buy shoes that look and feel good, so choosing a putter should be similar in nature to purchasing shoes. Therefore, I suggest you get back to basics and choose a putter that looks and feels good. Try not to be so scientific when purchasing the best putter for you.
