When Ali Marler went to buy her first set of golf clubs, she said she found the experience intimidating and frustrating. As a novice, she was not familiar with golf vernacular like “flex,” “loft” and “bounce.”
But that’s the language the sales rep was speaking.
And when she looked around the store, she saw that men’s golf equipment offered a lot of choices. Yet she only saw a few options for women.
She left the store believing there were other women who had similar experiences.
That catalyzed her to start Robin Golf, based in Los Angeles, along with her husband Andrew and her brother-in-law Peter. The company, which sells golf clubs and apparel, just closed a $1.5 million seed round led by Pentland Group. Pure Imagination Brands and 75 & Sunny also participated in the round.
Robin Golf’s mission is to create more diversity and inclusion within the sport.
Skill-wise, it’s focused on new, beginner and casual golfers. And, the number of newbies is rising.
Last year saw a record number of people playing on a golf course for the first time — more than three million — according to the National Golf Foundation.
Robin Golf Takes Flight
The company launched in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic. As lockdowns ensued, golf was one sport that thrived, when some outdoor businesses started opening up again — since it could easily be socially distanced.
As golfing increased, sales of golf equipment skyrocketed.
The value of the global golf equipment market topped $7 billion in 2021, according to the IMARC Group. Its research predicts that the market value will exceed $9 billion by 2027.
Peter Marler, who serves as CEO of Robin Golf, told LA Inno he expects the company’s revenue this year to grow 100% over last year. He declined to disclose the revenue amount for 2021.
He attributes his expectation of such torrid growth this year to the company’s rapid rise in popularity on Amazon — it won Best New Golf Set on the shopping platform — as well as its partnership with the PGA Tour Superstore nationwide.
Diversity and Inclusion
Robin Golf strives to make the sport more diverse and inclusive in various ways. One is to create the “highest quality” and “most stylish” products for new and casual players, Peter Marler said. And then offer the golf clubs in “the most accessible way possible, without the need to speak golf vernacular,” he added.
The fastest-growing demographics among new and casual players are women, juniors, people of color and off-course players, he said. Off-course includes indoor golf simulators.
Reaching out to women is a key prong of this effort.
”Women have been traditionally overlooked in the golf industry, which is why we’re proud that women represent about 50% of our customer base, about 10x the industry average,” Ali Marler said in a company-issued press release.
Another tactic is to create more diverse representation in the company’s marketing content. And, the company partners with creators, communities and school districts to create “authentic” connections with underrepresented groups in golf, Peter Marler said.
For example, Robin Golf provides equipment for the golf program created by the San Bernardino City Unified School District, which has a predominantly Hispanic/Latino and Black student body, Peter Marler said. The company does this in partnership with Sixtyone, which has a golf academy and also facilitates ways that golfers and non-golfers can interact, to make the latter feel more comfortable.
Funding
The Marler trio initially funded prototypes of the product line — which it manufactures itself — with a Kickstarter campaign in 2019. That raised $35,000.
Based on the campaign and positive feedback from Kickstarter donors, they then received $500,000 from friends and family to continue developing the brand, build a website and stock initial inventory.
Robin Golf has raised $2.4 million in total, Peter Marler said.
It plans to use the recent $1.5 million seed funding to hire new employees, expand R&D, test new marketing channels and invest in more community-building initiatives.
Other Recent Milestones
Within the last year, Robin Golf also launched a men’s clothing line in collaboration with Michael Strahan, an NFL Hall-of-Famer with a Super Bowl ring earned during his time playing for the New York Giants. Strahan is an avid golfer and previously partnered with Men’s Wearhouse for his athleisure line.
