LAS VEGAS — Golf is a great unifier, attracting all shapes, sizes, genders and ethnicities. That was the message at a Birdies, Bogeys and Banter event at Project here last week.
In recent years — and accelerating during the pandemic — the sport has seen an influx of women and young people taking up the game. These groups are also helping to raise the profile of several disruptive new brands offering less-conservative apparel, footwear and hard goods to this new crop of golfers.
That includes companies such as Bad Birdie and Eastside Golf, both of which were part of the panel at the event.
Jason Richardson, founder and chief executive officer of Bad Birdie, grew up caddying at traditional, conservative courses but soon tired of the rules — fashion and otherwise — that he found outdated. So he decided to launch an alternative and started putting “crazy prints” on polo shirts to appeal to guys like himself looking for fresh alternatives. Bad Birdie soon found its community and Richardson has built a $30 million-plus business centered around his lively prints.
Eastside Golf has also built a profitable brand, attracting people of color with an assortment that straddles both the performance golf segment as well as golf lifestyle.
Founder and creative director Olajuwon Ajanaku took up the game as a child, excelled as a youth and turned pro after college. While he was unable to make that lifestyle work and pivoted to corporate finance to pay the bills, he never lost his love of the game. So he created a logo — an illustration of himself, a Black man in jeans and a sweatshirt wearing a gold chain — that he was planning to put on his golf bag and clothes. Instead, that logo proved to be the impetus for the creation of a brand, Eastside Golf.
Eastside Golf’s unconventional take on golfwear is making inroads.
Courtesy Photo
Since then, the company has become an ambassador for Mercedes-Benz and has collaborated with a number of other firms including Jordan Brand, with which it has created nine golf shoes. In October, he revealed, Eastside will partner with Nike on two shoes.
Collaborations are also helping TaylorMade, a traditional golf company, to expand its reach, said Derick Gallegos, senior manager of collaborations and partnerships for the company.
Gallegos said that in order for partnerships to be successful, brands must, first and foremost, align and then tell a story in a way that will connect to consumers.
And today, many of those consumers are women. Gallegos said the fastest-growing segment in golf is females, but the sport has a way to go to service that market correctly.
Not only do women have different requirements when it comes to apparel, they also need clubs and other accessories designed specifically for their gender.
Bad Birdie launched a women’s line last year, Richardson said, and Eastside Golf also began dabbling in it of late. Ajanaku said it’s important to encourage women to take up the game and create clothes that not only perform but also look right. “That’s how the game will grow,” he said.
Pro golfer and three-time Long Drive world champion Maurice Allen, who was also on the panel, said there are still some private clubs that bar women. But he’s doing his part to encourage females — particularly minority women — to take up the game by writing financial support for this market segment into his Adidas sponsorship contract.
It’s no secret that golf is a potentially lucrative business and the speakers used Augusta National, the esteemed course in Georgia that hosts the Masters tournament each spring, as an example.
The merchandise tent at the event does more than $25 million in sales over four days from those lucky enough to score a ticket to attend, Gallegos said. Patrons snap up hats, gloves, shirts and other memorabilia with the Masters logo that indicates they were a part of the select group that was able to attend what he described as golf’s Super Bowl.
Interestingly, the merchandise and food prices are intentionally kept low because the club cares more about maintaining its prestigious standing in the golf world than making boatloads of money — providing a lesson to other companies seeking to achieve similar status.
