An Exclusive Club
Stephanie Luttrell parlayed her passion for playing golf into a career designing clubs
By Paula Pasche
Re-published with permission from Michigan Links magazine
When Stephanie Bezilla Luttrell’s dad taught her to play golf, it was the beginning of her passion for the game. A few years later, when she was deciding on a career path, her dad told her to find something she loved.
She excelled at math and science and found a way to involve golf. Today, Luttrell is the director of metalwood development at Titleist, celebrating 20 years in the golf club design business. If you’re playing a TSR driver, you know her latest handiwork.
Luttrell started playing competitive golf at Grandville High School, where she shot a 108-109 in the state tournament as a freshman. “At that time, Stacy Snider was the same age as me, and she was the best golfer in the state of Michigan. … My senior year, just having that barometer of being able to watch players who are better than you play and practice with them, I was shooting in the mid- to low 70s,’’ Luttrell says.
Grandville won back-to-back state championships in her junior and senior years. Luttrell then walked on to the women’s golf team at the University of Michigan, where she played for four years and earned a degree in mechanical engineering.
“You could say it was a blessing in disguise that I wasn’t more talented because I probably ranged between sixth and ninth on the team,’’ the now 42-year-old Luttrell says. “I didn’t have to travel as much for tournaments, but I did get to have that experience of being a collegiate athlete. It allowed me more bandwidth to focus on my studies.’’
She graduated in 2002 and attended the PGA Show with her brother Shaun Bezilla, the head PGA professional at Harbor Point Golf Club in Harbor Springs. Resume in hand, she introduced herself to representatives from several golf manufacturers. Callaway created a position for her to join their advanced research and innovation team.
“They’re the ones who brought me to southern California. I was fortunate to work with them on their motion capture testing and research and looking at how a player swings and how the parameters of the golf club design can impact player performance and swing,’’ said Luttrell, who lives north of San Diego.
A turning point in her career came two years later when Cleveland Golf called.
“My job there was really a great formative experience for me in terms of learning about golf club design and development. I worked on every product category — drivers all the way through to putters — for the Tour players. Some of it led to new product offerings for Cleveland,’’ Luttrell said. “So, it was a great experience for me coming from the background of being a player, getting to work with the players directly, understand what their performance needs are, and translate that back into new designs and specifications for them.’’
Three years later, she moved to Titleist, where she has been for 15 years.
“We have a great relationship between our R & D [research and development] team and our Tour team. We have weekly meetings where we gather feedback from them. We understand where their performance needs are. We consult with them,’’ Luttrell said. “We had a meeting last week about how it’s going with the TSR on Tour. This has been our most successful driver launch to date since I’ve been here.’’
As a bonus, Titleist is where she met her husband, Aaron, who is the product manager for Titleist Vokey wedges.
She considers herself a weekend warrior since playing golf is not a function of her job.
“I have a lot of love for the game. I’m still a scratch player. I try to keep my game sharp, but I’m not playing at a competitive level for my business per se,’’ Luttrell added. “I do have an opportunity to take out new equipment, new prototypes, to be able to evaluate them.’’
She doesn’t get back to Michigan as often as she did pre-pandemic but remains close with her family. Her mom and dad, Karen and Ed Bezilla, moved Up North to be closer to her brother and his family. Her mom competes in GAM senior women’s tournaments.
Her brother Shaun qualified in 2022 for the Senior PGA Professional Championship.
“He’s on staff with Titleist as well. It’s great to have it all in the family, so I don’t have to harass him about playing some other competitor’s clubs,’’ Luttrell said.
She takes great pride in the Titleist brand and remains a huge Wolverines fan.
“When I was at Michigan, Tom Brady and I both worked the front desk at the U-M Golf Course. For NCAA regulations, I couldn’t have practice-and-play privileges throughout the summer unless I was an employee of the university. Tom and I worked the front desk together, and I’m happy to say he’s playing Titleist now.’’
