Behind the Golf Brand Podcast with Paul Liberatore
It’s like playing a round of golf with some of the most interesting innovators and entrepreneurs and listening to the stories behind their success.
Hi, I’m Paul Liberatore, and I love talking to entrepreneurs and the stories behind their brands. I find it intriguing when people are vulnerable and honest about their struggles and successes. I invite you to join me as I explore other people’s stories. We will celebrate, above all, the challenges and setbacks that ultimately lead to some of the biggest names and brands in the game of golf.
So come join me on my quest to find the stories Behind the Brand.
Behind the Golf Brand Podcast with Paul Liberatore
#136 - Swag Golf: Nick Venson
Swag Golf is a dynamic company that has been transforming the golf industry since its inception in 2018. Founded by Nick Venson, along with three friends, in Northbrook, Illinois, the company initially focused on creating unique putters and headcovers. Their bold approach to golf accessories quickly gained attention, leading to rapid growth and expansion into various product lines.
Swag Golf's success can be attributed to its innovative designs, combining high-quality craftsmanship with limited-edition releases that resonate with a passionate community of golf enthusiasts. The company's headcovers, in particular, have become highly sought after, often selling out quickly due to their creative and pop culture-inspired themes.
Beyond headcovers, Swag Golf is renowned for its precision-milled putters, which have been used by professionals on the PGA, Korn Ferry, and LPGA tours. Notably, Anna Nordqvist won the Women's British Open using a Swag putter, further solidifying the brand's reputation.
Swag Golf has also ventured into licensing partnerships with major brands like MLB, WWE, and the NFL, expanding its reach beyond golf. This strategic approach has allowed the company to tap into collector psychology, leveraging limited-edition drops to drive sales and create a buzz around its products.
With a strong online presence and strategic marketing, Swag Golf has managed to maintain its unique identity while challenging traditional golf industry norms. The company's growth is evident in its expansion from a small team to over 150 employees nationwide, with plans for a new headquarters. Swag Golf continues to innovate, offering golfers a fresh perspective on the game through its expressive and functional products.
Appreciate it. Paul, you're making my head blow up a little bit here, so thanks, appreciate it, that's all right, dude, that's cool.
Paul:I don't mind that.
Nick:We all have to get that sometimes. Um, so where are you from? From chicago, born and raised. What part of chicago, uh, north of the city, up in lake forest, is where, uh, where, I grew up?
Paul:um. Are you good at golf? Are you shitty? I'm good really are you really yeah, zero handicap zero scratch are you really? Yeah, you're honorable almost 15, so that makes that choke my buddies hate it.
Nick:You know it's uh. I don't know why I don't play as much as I should, but somehow, uh, the duct tape and super glue keeps the, uh, the game, together. Is your dad?
Paul:like who taught you how to golf? Like your dad, or what?
Nick:your grandpa, uh no, you know my, my dad dabbled golfing growing up, but um, actually, a good buddy of mine kind of convinced me to go play with him one day and I just kind of fell in love with the game. I was 13 years old. How old were you?
Paul:13. Wow, and then did you start taking lessons.
Nick:You play in high school, or yeah, I played through high school um no, I didn't take any lessons um kind of really just self-taught um, you know, just playing 36 holes a day at junior golf, carrying my own bag all summer, working at the golf course parking carts when I was like 14, 15 and getting free golf out of it. So I played like 200 right yeah, it was awesome, it was the best so that was like your first taste.
Paul:Like into golf, though right, it's like just playing as a kid and like really getting into it and getting good. Like did you do like all like the agca, whatever tournaments and all that?
Nick:no, I didn't do any like the ajga or anything like that. I played some of those ijga, like local events, you know, cdga, local events, um, but uh, honestly, like the, it was a lot of playing golf with like a lot of the older guys that at the club who were, uh, you know, in high school or whatever and honestly, you know, they took my money in the early days and they taught me how to gamble on the golf course the good, the good, the real parts of golf. Yeah right, I mean that's where I really learned how to play what's the most amount of money you ever won as a kid gambling um, actually, I mean, I wouldn't say it was amount of money I.
Nick:I remember a time I won a ti-83 calculator no way, yeah, yeah, I want a calculator off. Somebody, uh, who wanted, who wanted to double down, didn't have the money, and so yeah yeah, I got. Yeah, hey, what was the game used to play on TI-83s, like Drug Wars and some of those games?
:Oh, yeah, drug Wars. Oh my God dude.
Nick:Yeah, one of those really crappy games you could play. Oh my God.
Paul:Yeah, and you'd be like you could buy stuff. It was very like this is what it is Hit, yes or no?
Nick:It was like GTA way before GTA.
Paul:It was like yeah, it was like the four guys version of gta. Yes, yeah, exactly, it was so cool.
Nick:So when you're high school, you're not trying to pay attention.
Paul:You're like, hold on, you guys saw some crack. Um, oh my god, dude, that's crazy. I heard a story once about a guy who lost 60 grand, uh, at one round, one round of golf. I was like I believe it, I've seen, I've seen some crazy stuff, crazy stuff, like crazy. Um, what else have you won?
Nick:is that when you?
Paul:want your star tack phone, or is that?
Nick:like no, no, no, you know, I don't know. We, honestly, as kids, we were always playing for, like you know, lunch or something like that. We were playing eight point scotch for you know a nickel or something it was. It was nothing, it was, it was. They were cheap games. Um, I've gotten to some bigger games lately, you know, in the past years, but it's uh, it's more for fun and pride.
Paul:I just want to win, I don't really care. Yeah. So I know your story because you told me it, but I love your story. So, like, how did you get into putters? Initially? Because he's like the og of putters.
Nick:You guys like initially because he's like the og of putters you guys like you know I got, I got into it like honestly I was, you know, like I said, 13, 14, 15 years old, playing at deer path golf course up in lake forest and um, for whatever reason, like one of my buddies needed a putter to be refinished. Um, he dinged it or dented it and I like had in my head that I could fix it for him somehow. So, um, I was like in my basement with sandpaper and doing the whole thing and like made it look nice for him and at the time I was just super interested in in, uh, buying a scotty cameron, my first scotty cameron. I was 15 years old. I was like I got, I gotta have a scotty cameron, you know how did you hear?
Nick:about scotty cameron. Back then you just thought on the tour honestly because I was watching Tiger, right, I mean, I was watching Tiger and he had the Scotty Cameron Terrellium and it was just super cool and different copper insert.
Nick:Nobody had anything like that. I thought the putter was sexy as hell and I wanted one and they were expensive and it was one of those things where it's like I had to have it. So I was like the first guy in my group to get a Scotty Cameron. I had to borrow money from my dad to get it and uh, I remember him telling me like it was crazy how expensive it was. Kind of thought he was going to teach me a lesson. You know like you shouldn't be buying a putter that's this expensive and um, it just took me down a rabbit hole of learning about collectible putters and high-end putters because back then, like it wasn't really a thing yet, right, like, like it just it had just started.
Nick:but I mean, don't't forget what year was this? End of 97. Tiger won the Masters in 97. End of 97 or 98. And maybe eBay was around, but I don't think anybody was using it as we are today. There was, like golf web classified ads and there was the Yahoo golf forums and all these just weird old archaic websites where people were buying and selling golf products, but just nothing like you know, nothing like we have today with you know, the golf works and the Facebook groups and all that sort of stuff. I mean there's, there's nothing like. There was nothing like that.
Nick:And I found myself in this golf wide classifieds where people were looking for like rare Scotty Cameron's and I was like man I, I think Scotty Camerons and I was like man I, I think Scotty Camerons are cool. I think I could. I think I could. You know, maybe I can find some of these. And I ended up becoming friends with a guy in Japan who was looking for some Scotty Cameron new Scotty Camerons from the United States and we made a deal. I had no idea who he was at the time. It was honestly like a handshake agreement over the internet. And I got handshake agreement over the internet and I got him putters he wanted from the us and he got me old scotty cameron stuff from japan.
Paul:that was handmade and I became like, yeah, I became like a dealer at 15 years old um buying and selling 83 dude and you learned how to do that.
Nick:Yeah, exactly, exactly. So I had all these packages showing up my house and, you know, I think my dad was, you know, probably not 100 sure what I was up to, but, um, I got the job done and I was making money selling putters, so it was fun.
Paul:You were making pretty good money. How old were you?
Nick:like 16, 17 or something. Yeah like 15, 16, 17. I was making more money buying and selling putters than I was working at the golf course, that's for sure.
Paul:So that was the initial everything was. You were just buying and selling scotty camerons. Yeah, like I don't, like I know when, like what's the oldest scotty cameras back then? Like when, like when you don't think of an original ogs of that from the 80s?
Nick:me I don't know early, early, early 90s, um, like some of this handmade stuff that was, yeah, you know, true handmade putters that were, um, just really special, super cool stuff. That, um, you know it was it was, it was um stuff that it was impossible to find them. Back then it was really hard to find them because people coveted them.
Paul:So then did you start amassing a collection then?
Nick:Yeah, I built up a collection. I was buying and selling but at the same time I was amassing a collection of them. Then there was a Yahoo Scotty Cameron collectors group that started and then there was another Scotty Cameron fan page that started and I just kind of became known as somebody who-.
Paul:What was your name on there?
Nick:Nick Benson, scotty, cameron, number nine no, no, no, it was like my nickname from as a kid. People called me venno, v-e-n-n-o was my nickname, so, um, that's just what. I went by on there and uh, um, yeah, it's got known as a guy that could get stuff and I was just intrigued at the idea of making money off anything I could at the time, just because I was an entrepreneur. Um, I was into trading cards and all that other good stuff too that kids were into. But but putters was a, was a was a much higher profit margin.
Paul:Like what, like back then, like what would it sell for? I have no idea. Like I mean, not crazy.
Nick:I mean honestly, even back then it was all over the place. I mean, some of the, some of the high end stuff was already going for a rare scotty back then crap, yeah, I mean, that's playing fine, how much. Thing that that is worth. Now I don't even know.
Paul:I mean, the prices have gone up dramatically, yeah so you were venno, you were the big venno, um, and everybody knew that you were like the man. And then what happened? So, like you. This is so cool.
Nick:I love this story so I, um, I get, I get um. You know I could I'll fast forward like a little bit into it, but I I basically get known as this guy that's really into it. No, I know my stuff, I know the, you know, I know the nuances of uh the putters and um as the years go on. I'm in college and um, this guy, rand, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago, wanted to uh open up a new scotty cameron distributorship in uh, la and um, I was on a short list, um of like three people, but I was number one on his list for somebody he thought could really do this. I had met scotty at a at a cameron collectors convention a few years earlier and uh, I just think that you're in high school, though. Right, I was in high school.
Nick:Yeah, I can't believe it was like I was, like I was like 17 or 18 years old it was my end of my junior year, I think and, um, I had an eye for it and, uh, this guy ran, knew I had an eye for it and uh, they wanted me to run the art of putters, which was this um, they wanted me to run the Art of Putters, which was this new high-end distributor in LA, and deal with all the collectors and do some of the high-end collectors putters and really be like a concierge to those guys, because I knew them all already, because I was Veno right, I was the guy on the board that everybody talked to.
Paul:Yeah, you knew you could get it, or you could try to find it, or you know I might have had one, or whatever. Yeah, so then it's so crazy. So then you're in, we're, you're in. You're you of iowa, weren't you? I was at.
Nick:I was at iowa, I was at iowa I was at iowa dropped, dropped out of school, wtf yeah, you shouldn't got that scotty cameron for me five years ago.
Nick:No, he was, he was pretty supportive. You know I was. I was the one that was kind of uh, you know, a little tongue-in-cheek. I was like, yeah, hey, dad, I told you I didn't need to go to college, like for this, I was going to figure it out on my own. I was always like I said, I was always an entrepreneur, but um dropped dropped out of college um halfway through my junior year and um moved out to LA on my own and just started my life in the putter world.
:How old were you?
Nick:I was 20 when I moved out to LA, did you?
Paul:like LA Couldn't even drink that Pardon, did you like it? Or you're like oh man, this is not, you know what.
Nick:I fell in love with the idea of LA but, being a Midwest guy born and raised, no offense to Los Angeles who are listening right?
:now yeah, Midwest guy.
Nick:It wasn't my place. It wasn't my place. It wasn't my place. I love to visit, but I like the Midwest, I like Chicago. It's my home.
Paul:So then, what happened to that company? What were you doing there?
Nick:So, yeah, we were running the Argo Putters, it was going great, but, honestly, it was one of those things where I just realized it wasn't for me, la in general. I had bigger aspirations to do my own thing, um, so I moved back to chicago. Uh, three and a half years later, almost four years later, and um was about to go back to school actually, which I hated the idea of and someone goes you should, you should go talk to, uh, bob bentonardi. Um, he makes awesome putters. He's in chicago. I think you guys they're in new Orleans, aren't they?
Paul:We're in New.
Nick:Orleans Park, I think you guys would hit it off and I said, okay, great. And I got introduced to him. We had a great talk. I explained to him I wanted to do more than just sell. I had my own ideas for design and I thought I could be an asset to grow in his brand. And we made a deal and I spent nine years, you know, growing the market. Yeah, really, honestly, start off, you know, just kind of dabbling it, but by the time I was done, I was designing and and polishing, painting, doing, you know, doing, doing a lot of everything, doing everything. But I was in love with putters. I mean, that's, that's been my, it's been my jam. I'm a putter nerd at heart and, yeah, again, kind of same thing.
Paul:Like that. I think putters are a work of art that are functional.
Nick:Yeah, oh, definitely it's, it's, it's art for sure. I mean, I dabbled in 3d modeling and AutoCAD and all these things and I I think I knew enough about um engine, not engineering but like I knew enough about machining that I had my own thoughts on how I wanted to make a putter um, and I had, you know, been fortunate enough to work with, you know, basically two of the greatest putter makers of all time, and all time like seriously, yeah, and and those guys, um are are awesome at what they do and I think that it was one of those things where I was like how do I put my own, my own spin on this?
Nick:Because I had a bunch of ideas. Honestly, even since the days of the Scotty Cameron stuff, where I'd always been working on like I'll call it my little black book of ideas, I was told it's too loud or it's too crazy, or you know, we can't do it that way because of X, Y, Z, or no one can, nobody can machine it that way, or nobody would ever stitch that many stitches on a head cover. And I just it was like why, I don't know why, what, what's the what's the reason? I keep hearing no, but no one's really telling me why.
Paul:And I decided that I didn't want to, didn't want to, or didn't have to. I don't know you know, didn't have to, I don't know, didn't have to. It comes down to dollar and cents. It's not like when you're young.
Nick:I had a couple of buddies who had really honestly been telling me man, you're so good at this stuff, why are you not going out on your own doing this? And so I said, screw it, I'm going to do this on my own. I had had it with being told no, and so I decided that I was going to start my own company. So I, um, I started swag and, uh, basically, I had, I had the idea for swag for a while the don't give a pot. I had that like the trademark, the whole idea of it, like I had already had it in my head, but I hadn't known how to execute it.
Nick:So I went to a couple buddies. I said, hey, guys, I need to. I need to do my own thing now. Um, are you interested in this? Um, this is middle of 2017 and I go, I'm gonna start this thing tomorrow. Basically, are you, are you in or out? Here's my five-year plan. And, uh, all the three guys that I went to um, and then I had, uh, you know, a few other, like just friends and family that wanted to invest, just because they thought it'd be, you know, fun to have a piece of it and help you and yeah, um, they just wanted to say they were part of it and um it it was awesome I had.
Nick:I had four you know four buddies and myself. We started that. We started the business. Um. The other three of them really knew nothing about golf. Um, I was the only golfer, um, only one in the golf business and the only goal and but they were.
Nick:They were talented in their own right. Uh, one of them was, uh, one of them was an engineer, um. Another one was an amazing, uh, artist, um, who invested, and a graphic designer. And um, the other one was someone I had met more recently who just was, um, you know, uh, just a good guy basically. And then another buddy of mine that I'd had for like 35 years, um, who had dabbled in a whole bunch of other stuff, um, in sales and whatever. And I just said, guys, if you trust me, we're going to, we're going to create a cool business. And, uh, they did so.
Nick:Um, we sat in a room together in a 2000 square foot building and, uh, I did most of the heavy lifting when it came to like the uh, you know, getting the putters built, getting them ready, getting figuring out how we were going to sell this stuff. Really, all the original designs were all my own on day one, um, and then I started letting you know the rest of the group kind of put their their spin on it and, um, it was very successful, um, when we launched it in april 1 2018 I remember you guys first came out I was like, oh, this is cool, you know, we te know, we teased it.
Nick:We teased it, the PGA show. We I hired two models to run to run a booth the PGA show with a pedestal that had one head cover and one putter in it, and it was. I told them we had the big swag Don't give a pot. It was a little 10 by 10 booth, really cool putter with this amazing like 170,000, 125,000 stitch head cover on it. And they said well, what do you want us to tell people? I told them, just tell people.
Nick:You have no idea who's behind the business. You have no idea anything other than show up to swag golf on April one at midnight Don't be a fool, april fool's day, right, and it worked. And we had a bunch of people show up to the website. We teased a few things online. Um, we basically sold out of everything the first night. Um, you know, and that first night was, you know, it wasn't like we had a million products up there, you know, we maybe had 200 like that products, but, um, it was just a. It was a. It was an awesome launch, fun experience for us to uh see people that were attracted to these ideas that I'd had for a long time well, you knew, I mean you knew that people wanted that right.
Nick:Like like you, I felt yeah, I mean I felt that they wanted it. I mean it felt like there was a, there was a void. You wanted it. Right, you probably wanted it, I wanted it.
Paul:Yeah, people out there like oh, I want that.
Nick:And putter people like you knew it was, just no one was was willing to try it right or like, yeah, and you know honestly the the crazy part is I really started to be a putter company, but the head covers kind of overshadowed it, just because they were so cool and they came out so awesome and um, the quality was amazing being made here in the us and really just um, I think that we just ran with it because we realized how, how much demand there was for badass head covers super badass head covers.
Paul:Super badass head covers.
Nick:Yeah, yeah, I mean again, putters being my passion. I still love putters. We make an unbelievable putter, but the head covers have always been the star of the show for sure.
Paul:So was that part of the initial drop when you did it in the beginning? Was the head cover or that was just part of it?
Nick:No, no, no, we had like six different head covers up there one putter, a hat, maybe a couple t-shirts, um yeah, a few other accessories, nothing crazy.
Paul:And then so that first that first drop happened, it blew up and you're like holy crap, I knew it's gonna happen. So then what did you do? Did you start like, okay, now we're gonna come up with new designs, you know?
:how did you grow it?
Paul:You grew it really fast, dude. It's only been like seven years, but that's not a long time, right? No?
Nick:I had my little black book of ideas, so I just started executing all these ideas that I thought were good and Tommy, who was our head of he, he was amazing at taking my ideas and, um, really like making them come to life. Um, that was that was. It was huge. Uh, it was it. It allowed us to move quickly and make really cool stuff at a quick pace.
Nick:Uh, we were working with, uh, this company, ep, out of Georgia, who was making all the head covers, and they were like, you know, maybe they had been in business for five or six years at most, maybe five years at the time but they made a really high quality head cover and I quickly realized in our first year that we were going to be in trouble if we didn't start making our own head covers. So we acquired EP then in early 2020, because I still needed to own that manufacturing of the head covers, just like we were making our own potter's head. Yeah, then you'd be hostage, right like then you're like oh crap. Yeah, honestly, I thought somebody else was gonna buy them. That's, that's really your hose, yeah yeah, such a forward thinker bro so yeah, so, um, but yeah, I mean it's, it's been amazing.
Nick:I mean, uh, we have an, we have an amazing facility in georgia. Now I mean it's been amazing. I mean we have an amazing facility in Georgia. Now it's humming, it's making I don't even know how many head covers a day right now a lot, and it's been a great opportunity to be able to leverage, be able to turn things quickly without having to worry about trying to make everything overseas.
Paul:So what percentage is made in the United States?
Nick:and most of it things quickly um without having to worry about, you know, trying to make everything overseas. So what percentage?
Nick:is made in the united states and most of it, yeah, I mean I'd say 90 percent. Yeah, honestly, there's certain things we can't do here, just like there's materials we can't source the united states. There's certain um like plutonium, and it's just it. Just in the golf industry in general though right, I mean like grips, like nobody's making really there's very few grip opportunities here in the united states. Um, all the shafts are made overseas, outside of you know, maybe dynamic gold for a small batch of what they do. Um, golf pride, I still think, makes some of the grips here in the us. I don't think they make them all. Um, I could be wrong on that, but it's just again, it's, it's, it's. The options are are tough, so some things are sourced I have no idea that did that much.
Paul:Honestly, I didn't know those that you had that much in the united states.
Nick:That's amazing yeah, I think, honestly, you know, the fine thing is, I think that I think overseas kind of gets a bad rap. Um, they're very good at what they do, but um, you know, honestly, with everything that's going on in the world right now, it's nice to have domestic manufacturing oh yeah, dude with tariffs and shit that happens yeah it's great and you're like we're the same price as we were before.
Paul:Yeah, um, american made um. So how do you come up with all these ideas, like, because you've come up with like some like just I don't know cool stuff, like is it in your black book or you just think you something and going you know what that'd be kind of cool. Are you an artist when it comes down to it?
Nick:I mean, yeah, I am Honestly, graphic design was what I enjoyed most growing up, through high school and college. That's something I always did. Adobe Illustrator, adobe Photoshop, all that sort of stuff yeah, I have an eye for it. I don't know. I always tell people it's like it's one of those weird things where I could like be watching a movie or I see something somewhere else in another industry it could be fly, fishing, you know whatever it is and I go, man, it gives me an idea.
Nick:What if we did this with a golf head cover? What if we did this with a putter? We know what? What do I like that other people you know might be attracted to, right, you know? Uh, I'm, I'm not. I always tell this one all the time like I'm not a wwe wrestling fan. It's just something I never got into. Yeah, right, but I got friends who love it. Why isn't anybody made cool wwe head covers? Well, why don't we do it first? Let's just do it. I mean, why not? Let's bring people into the brand by making things that people, um, who golf, like outside of golf? Um, that's really kind of how I thought about everything with a lot of the designs we do. It's just what could you be into that?
Paul:um is is unique and different that maybe nobody else in the golf space is thinking about I mean, you need some like even with all your, even when it comes to like your ball markers, like like, for example, you have that one that's like a it looks like the old school nintendo cartridge, right? Yeah, like, that's so smart, you know?
Nick:yeah, just like yeah, I mean we made, we've made little patrone bottles for, uh, you know, for for um markers. We've done, god, I mean so many things candy hearts like, like, like, like sweethearts with all like the little yeah, I remember that bottle caps, um, I mean just a ton of stuff we've done and to me it was always about making them the right way, like not getting a cheap stamped version of it, making like a realistic yeah like oh, it's the knockoff of whatever, like a realistic, milled version of what that would be if it was miniature and it took a lot of time to make that stuff.
Nick:But it's, it's fun. I think it's different, you know, so does somebody? Is somebody gonna mark their ball with a sombrero ball marker? And, uh, you know, is that a good idea? Probably not. Or the mini solo cups? Like no, it's a bad idea, right? Um, it's gonna. It's gonna block someone's putt, but at the same time, you know, don't give a putt, don't give a putt attitude, hey, hit the ball closer to the hole and my mark won't be in your way how big is that ball marker, the one with the solo cups?
Paul:it's like, only like that big.
Paul:It's like it's like yeah, maybe, maybe, uh, I don't know three quarters of an inch tall, half inch tall I think what's cool too, before we go into like the head covers and like the putters, is like the forward thinking you have when it comes to licensing and working with other very large brands, like you said, with WWE and MLB. It's like bringing in other sports so that it's not like, as include the golf's not an inclusive sport anymore. Right, people have other interests. Yeah, like I mean, why dance around the issue to say like I'm going to work with them? You know?
Nick:like well, yeah, but I also. I also think it's like about working with, working with people, um, or working with brands and people who understand that golf can be fun. Golf can be different, right, I mean, it was, golf was a's not, it's not my grandfather's golf, you know anymore right, it's it's. It's a new age in the in the golf industry, and being able to express yourself, I think, is important on the golf course, because everything was kind of stodgy and old. It just was. It was the old guard of making things the same way. And now you see all these companies, um, that are, I think, bringing some life back into the game, which is why golf's kind of in this big revival. Right, it should be fun to golf. I don't care if you're a 25 handicap or a zero, right, you want to crush six beers, listen to some music and go have fun for four hours I'm in, I don't really care, right, at the same time and still have high quality stuff, yeah, but why not have something on your bag? You're a Cubs fan, right? Why not have the Wrigley Field scoreboard on your bag? If you want it? Why not have? Yeah, right, you want Coach Dicka on your head cover, why not. It should be fun. You should be able to express yourself and have what your other passions are, be reflective of it on the golf course.
Nick:And I think that you know, historically, when you look at things like like MLB in the NFL, it's a lot of, it was a lot of slapping, you know, like pasting logos right, taking team logo, throwing on a head cover. For me it was like, well, why can't we just do something really cool and different? Why do why do we have to logo slap? Um, let's, let's, let's make it fun. Um, let's, let's tie into the core fan. What, what do they remember? What do they know? Um, what's the? What's the inside?
Paul:joke on this, like that they would understand that this is about not. Oh, it's a 49ers helmet. Oh, you know like, yeah, how does that work though? Because I don't really know like. So, like, if you do a collab or you do a head cover for the cubs, like you said, right, did you get like approval from them before?
Nick:I would assume so right, like you gotta get full approval by by you know, uh, mlb, the cubs, everybody, uh, yeah, all parties, yeah, and honestly, you know it's not an easy process. Um, as we've gone into movie licensing and some of these other things, um, it's typically pretty difficult to to really have full creativity. So we gotta, we gotta, walk a fine line a lot of time. But usually, as time goes on, the the, the more we do, the the line goes a little further out and they let us do a little bit more so uh more, and they know, like they're not, the leash gets longer because they're not like, listen, we're trying to be respective respectful to everybody that we work with.
Nick:We're never gonna do something that we think is disrespectful to them. But you know, it's, it's gonna, it's gonna be. It's also the same time it's gonna be hard to uh convince. You know, let's say I'm trying to think of an example of one, but oh, I have a great one. So we made the winning scorecard from Cubs game seven world series from Pat Hughes as he was writing it, as he was announcing right, and at the time when we submitted this idea to make a head cover out of that, one of the worries was that we were somehow going to be hurting the Cleveland Indians players because they were the losers on the head cover and it was going to not be seen as a respectful head cover to them, and had to explain to MLB that, hey, this is the real scorecard from the game. Nothing is, it's just we're not making it up.
Nick:And thankfully the cubs came to bat for us and um and the and the indians also signed off on it, which was awesome because it was a historic moment. It was a cool thing to be able to memorialize on a head cover so how big is the team when it comes to doing the designs?
Paul:I mean, there's probably obviously you, but you have a team that helps you also.
Nick:Come, you got like 10 10 people on our design team right now.
Paul:Dude I love your head covers brothers, like like seriously, they're so freaking cool. Let me, I'm gonna share the screen, like seriously how like here this is.
Nick:I'll show you my favorite right now. This is one of my favorites. Oh my god, you look so badass. You remember when he was walking across the field?
Paul:yeah, I just wanted that's all I used to do, man, did I have? Like I still have my bears jacket. I do look so badass. You remember when he was walking across the field? Yeah, that's all I used to do, man, I still have my Bears jacket from 1985. Yeah, starter jacket, that was awesome. No, if I got it for Christmas, I'd get my son to wear it and it was like, oh my God, I remember I got it for Christmas morning. I got that and the Jim McMahon sunglasses.
Nick:I thought it was cool. Oh, we worked with Jim on some. We made some punky QB head covers. They were awesome.
Paul:So you like I don't know Like I, when I go to your like what's so cool about your stuff? It's nostalgic but modern, if that makes sense.
Nick:Like you know.
Paul:I may get brought back to that moment.
Nick:You're like oh yeah, that's that's how we, that's how we look at kind of everything we do. Right it, that's how we look at everything we do. I don't care if you're 42 years old or 32 years old or 52 years old or 62 years old. There's something from your childhood that calls out to you and you remember. You can tell us right away what that was. It's fun to do stuff like that and give people something that they can um, you know, remember and make they feel a little bit younger again. Right, I mean I'm I don't think I'm old at 42, but there's things I remember from when I was 15 that are fun to remember and I want to. I want to.
Paul:Maybe I want that on my golf bag like this I remember this game wasn't it called like cruising or something? Yeah, say like, like that's it, like you see it and you know right away, like I don't know this thing. It's so cool, man. Like honestly, um, it blows me away. Uh, when like so what's coming out right now or this year that you guys are really excited about, like what's the latest drop?
Nick:well, the big, the big thing now is, uh, april 1, so it's our seven year anniversary. So on midnight on april one, we're gonna be dropping, uh, new products, like we always do every year, and usually all of our hardcore ogs plus, you know, new fans of the brand show up at midnight central time and, uh, we do a drop and then we drop other stuff throughout the day on april one, but, um, it's usually where we bring back some some of our most iconic stuff, as well as any new stuff that we want to show off.
Paul:That's like the big ramp-up period right now, a week and a half.
Nick:That staff bag. Right there is the cool thing we just dropped yesterday.
Paul:That's cool, and this is for the April 1,?
Nick:I'm assuming no this is just something that we dropped this week just because we wanted to drop something cool that's so freaking cool dude.
Paul:What I love is the baseball stuff, personally, Especially with the LA Dodgers and the Cubs. The series Scroll down one more.
Nick:I like, I like the. Uh, the bobbleheads are those down? There's one line below, I think. Yeah, I love those, the bot, the king bobbleheads I go is that my hair yeah, that's it.
Paul:I mean, it's like so innovative, like honestly, man, I mean like I have mine right here, I'll show you guys.
Nick:You got the King of Diamonds right. Yeah, king of Diamonds, dodgers.
Paul:I've got that one too, so freaking sick and the.
Nick:Cherry Blossom yeah.
Paul:It's like, and you know it's going to sell out Like you know it will, and you know that it's going to out like I, you know it will, and you know that it's gonna be like something people are gonna remember, especially if you're a fan of that team or that time or I don't know. It's. It's awesome, what. So right now you have licensing deals with who?
Nick:kool-aid. Huh, wow, wwe garbage bill, kids, ml, mlb, nfl, ncaa. I'm sure there's ones I'm forgetting, but yeah a lot.
Paul:Do you have to do individual deals with each college? Don't you have to do that with NCAA?
Nick:Yeah, yeah, every college.
Paul:Yeah yeah, I remember reading that somewhere. What, let's talk about the putters. What is your most popular putter?
Nick:you would say Probably that one that you're looking at right there in the middle, the Boss 2.0, yeah.
Paul:Now where are?
Nick:these. Boss 2.0 or the Handsome one. It's a standard original Ping Anser Scotty Cameron Newport style head. You know a standard like original ping answer scotty cameron newport style head. Boss is a. Is a like a mid uh or a larger size mallet, um face balance mallet and um I mean they're all.
Paul:I mean that all of them do pretty well, but those two by far are the best and what's cool.
Nick:Then you have, like the head cover to go with it, right, like anybody can choose it, whatever. Yeah, they can choose like one of the one of the crazy covers to go with it, which is which is fun is this?
Paul:is this putter right here? What was it from last year? When was this one?
Nick:no, those are all from like, oh man, I don't know, overall that's so cool, like five years ago maybe. Um, I love that wrigley field putter. Or this, the, that's so cool too. Or the swagatha, the don't give a putt.
Paul:Um, I love that one too I bet your office are pretty sick with like. Do you have all, like, at least all the originals of everything too?
Nick:you know what we um so I kept one of everything we've ever made, um, as far as putters go, and almost two of every head cover we ever made. And we just moved to a new office back in december and we're in the process of getting our uh, our putter studio up and going. So we're gonna have like a little over three, three and a half thousand, three and a half thousand square foot, uh, putter studio. It's gonna have one of every head cover we've made on the wall, all the putters, every ball marker we've ever made, just like almost like a museum of everything which is really it's gonna be like pop art almost too.
Paul:You know, over time you're just going to see like all these cool designs and stuff that are just going to be like that's really cool yeah, I mean, honestly, a lot of a lot of people kind of consider it art.
Nick:To be honest with you, um, we have a lot. We have a lot of believe it or not, we have a lot of collectors who will never use it legitimately, have never played golf, um, or they, they have the aspirations to play golf and they have bought our products and hung them in their offices or their homes because they think it's cool. They treat it like artwork and they value it. And it's pretty cool to see that when you have somebody who's not a golfer, who's got like 100 head covers behind them just because they dig it, it, looks cool.
Paul:I bet that. I mean even, yeah, you get a whole wall of just head, of your head covers, like that would be sick dude, that's like I don't know. I think that'd be cool. You gotta do like a gi joe one or something dude, or like stuff from when we were kids, like I think other stuff like we've talked about getting to toy licensing.
Nick:Yeah, like, like mattel and hasbro and those kind of yeah, for sure, um let's talk about your bags.
Paul:Your bags are super sick too. What inspires you to make those look like that?
Nick:um, honestly, just like, if you click on those, that yellow bag right there, that uh, uh, to be loud, um, that you have to scroll down to get that yellow one. Yeah, there it is. That's, that's like. That's just. To me it screams like, hey, let's, let's party, let's, let's party. It's fun. It's different, uh, when, when our pga tour guys or lpga um players have used a neon yellow bag like that in the past, um, it's very hard to miss on the golf course, very hard to miss on tv. You know, you know, they're a swag ambassador. That's so sad. Is that your favorite bag? Um, your bag? Yeah, no, that's, that's that one, or that purple one right there. I think that one's cool too. It's like the defaced, uh, the defaced, uh, joker, um, like hundred dollar bill. Looks like it. Looks like ben franklin, looks like, uh, the joker from the, from the batman movies. That's hilarious.
Paul:This looks like the one from the Batman movies. That's hilarious.
Nick:This looks like the one from oh, that's funny. I love that one too. Yeah, mutt's Putts, it's kind of like a little dumb and dumber.
Paul:Yeah, exactly right, that's not, it's like so cool, and I'm not just saying like, oh, you make cool stuff, like it's just so innovative, but it's also like it just brings you back, like you get the joke or you get the reference or whatever it is. It's not like you know, I don't know. I think it's amazing.
Nick:We try to touch back on nostalgia all the time.
Nick:I think it's part of what makes you feel good, right, and I think there's something about showing up with you know a new head cover or a new bag, uh, you know, to your saturday foursome or whatever, and some guy looks at your bag and goes like what the hell is that?
Nick:That thing's amazing. Um, and you feel good about I mean it's I I joked when I started swag, like it's kind of like being the first kid to get nintendo or the first kid to get the new jordans. Like Like if you were, if you were, you know, in grade school or you're, you know, 13 years old or 14 years old, and your buddy gets you know his, his, his pair of whatever it is, you know Jordan 11s and you're like, damn, like I wish, I wish I had those right, like I want to get a pair of those. If you show up to your foursome and you're the only guy that's got this ridiculously cool head cover or putter or bag. Everybody likes that feeling. It's a cool feeling and I think that making cool products in limited amounts and not having the whole world be able to have it is fun.
Paul:So is all of Swag's stuff. Is any of that sold in stores, or is it mainly just D2C?
Nick:We've basically been 100% D2C for the first six years. This last year we started getting some of our putters, like in Club Champion and Golf Galaxy. You'll find some of our head covers, some of our licensed head covers. In Golf Galaxy we actually launched two new business lines this Rewind Golf, which is all the movie licensing, and Hometown, which is all the movie licensing, and hometown, which is all the sports licensing. So you'll see those in golf galaxy and dicks and like golf town, canada and some of these other places. But, um, swag is is basically mostly on the website. Still, um, we just we do. We do do some corporate and green grass stuff though.
Paul:Yeah, I mean I. Yeah, I mean I, it's like cool to have it in retail. Right, it's called retail, but then it's like a lot of stuff is kind of one of a kind you know what I mean not one.
Nick:Yeah, I mean, you know, honestly, the main reason for even putting it in retail is, um, to attract people who don't know about us, right, because not everybody's on instagram, not everybody's, you know, a slave to the algorithm and uh, you know they want to go buy something cool for their mom or their dad or whatever it is, and I think if we can offer some cool stuff to them it's worth it. But the super limited drop stuff just all lives on swaggolfcom.
Paul:So what are you most excited about? It's coming out on April 1st. Are you super excited about that?
Nick:The thing I'm most excited about I can't talk about because it's coming out in April 1st. I think super excited about that. The thing I'm most excited about I can't talk about cause it's a surprise.
Paul:It's and it's really cool.
Nick:It's really cool, we got some. We got some cool stuff coming. Let's see what, what, what can I talk about that's coming out.
Paul:I saw some cool stuff the PGA cool stuff, the pga show you guys have coming out and I was like that's cool.
Nick:Yeah, I mean you know, we got some big projects in store this year. So, um, it's, it's going to be a busy year, as it always is, but we got some really big projects coming out.
Paul:Another big growth year could let new cool stuff yeah, another, another big growth year.
Nick:We um, you know, we, we've been. We've been fortunate enough to been asked to do um head covers for the rider cup the last couple years and for the team as the captain's gifts. This year, we're actually the official bag of the Ryder Cup, which is awesome and we're really excited about that. Yeah, so that'll be unveiled in a month or so.
Paul:Well, I just want to tell you guys, swag. Golf makes some cool stuff, and if you like cool head covers or cool bags or cool putters or you want to have really, really cool, that's like I don't know. I feel it's like the kind of forefront of what's happening right now in golf, especially in accessories and putters. You guys have to check out swag. I mean, like where where can people find swag if they don't know where swag is, if they don't have the internet, I guess?
Nick:Swag if they don't know where swag is, if they don't have the internet, I guess Swaggolf is the number one place you can go. Also, you can check Golf Galaxy and Club Champion. They have our putters in there and a few head covers as well. That's cool.
Paul:Well, guys. Thank you, nick for being on the show today. I really appreciate it. Like I said, swag is awesome. We're to find them and I will see you guys on the next episode.
:Thanks for listening to another episode of behind the golf brand podcast. You're gonna beat me. Stay connected on and off the show by visiting golfersauthoritycom. Don't forget to like, subscribe and leave a comment. Golf is always more fun when you win. Stay out of the beach and see you on the green.
