Company Profile: Quagmire Golf
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioGolf.com
Copyright 2008 London Ontario Golf

J. Lindeberg. Ian Poulter Design. Puma. Ecco. Just a sampling of how hip today’s golf apparel and shoes are – a far cry from the game our grandparents played on Sunday afternoons before sipping tea under the tent. Even mainstream companies like Nike and Callaway are getting in on the game, producing contemporary attire fit for on and off the course.

Enter Quagmire Golf, a Toronto-based clothing company knocking the socks off the golf industry with its ultra-cool clothing. And it’s not only the younger set who have adopted the Quagmire style, according to Quagmire co-founder, Geoff Tait. The St. Thomas native says even 40- and 50-something golfers are hip to Quagmire’s trendy threads.

“During our first year (in 2006), our cuts were a little smaller, more fitted,” explains Tait, who worked at St. Thomas Golf and Country Club for 10 years. “Our first clients were at St. Thomas, and at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. They put us in the junior section of the pro shops, called it a Junior line.

“Then, ladies were trying on our skirts and dresses, and asked, ‘Can we buy this stuff?’ So, we made larger lines too, a little more forgiving, and it has taken off from there,” says Tait. “In fact, one of our biggest markets is the 40-something ladies who are fashion conscious. Sure, the 16- and 18-year-olds love our stuff. But so do 40- and 50-year old golfers.”

Tait and partner, Bobby Pasternak, are both in their mid-20s but already accomplished businesspeople. The duo met as tour leaders at a summer golf camp in Florida, where they realized golf shops, in their opinion, offered very little for younger golfers.

Pasternak always had a good eye for business, starting numerous ventures to make extra cash during his high school and university years. Like Tait, he has travelled extensively, and he grew up on the golf course, playing out of Bayview Golf and Country Club in Thornhill. Tait is also a surfer and skater – which partly explains the unorthodox (according to traditional – read boring – golf standards) but hugely popular Quagmire Golf style.

Because of their passion for golf and contemporary golf apparel, no one defines Quagmire Golf’s roots, nor its brand, better than its founders. They state:

“We started this company as two young, Canadian, guys looking to change the trends in golf fashion. We were tired of our boring golf duds and decided to create chilled, lifestyle wear. We realized the need for this modern outlook on such a traditional game when we were working as tour guides, taking young teens through the U.S. to all the major PGA courses. Instead of wearing golf's big-shot, name-brand clothing to hit the links, we just wore our favourite surf/skate clothes that we felt more comfortable in. Not surprisingly, all the young guys rocked the same fashion independence as we did. From this, came idea to create a line of clothes that are edgy and fun, yet respective to the traditional game.

“We've branded Quagmire as lifestyle wear that can take you from the beach to the course and on to the patio for beer after the game. Even our slogan sticks to this laid back idea as "Not Fit for the Fairway", emphasizes that you don't have to be a low handicapper to have fun and feel good on the course. Just smash your drives, hang with your buddies and feel comfortable in your clothes.”

Quagmire’s “Not Fit For The Fairway” slogan is catchy, and true to the brand. In fact, when Pasternak and Tait search for professional golfers to represent their brand, they look for athletes who are a good fit with the clothing: relaxed, approachable, fun yet stylish.

“We look for personality plus looks, obviously, but talent is number one,” says Tait, who himself fits the bill. He could walk onto the stage with any contemporary rock band and fit right in with the crew. And despite the company’s quick success, both he and Pasternak remain grounded.

The list of golfers decked out in Quagmire gear is growing. Already, the edgy apparel is worn by the likes of Chez Reavie and Jimmy Walker on the PGA Tour; Kelli Kuehne, Nicole Hage and Stephanie Louden on the LPGA Tour; Futures Tour competitors Kristina Tucker of Sweden, and Toronto’s Claudine Foong; Ottawa’s Lee Curry on the Nationwide Tour; and Mike Mezei and J.C. Deacon on the Canadian Tour.

In total, more than 200 top shops are carrying the Quagmire Golf brand. You’ll even see it on the Angus Glen Golf Club food and beverage staff, not to mention the Michigan State Spartans women’s golf team.

The critics are applauding, too. The Über-fashionable Marty Hackel of Golf Digest has given Quagmire a thumbs up, as has SCOREGolf which named Quagmire its Emerging Canadian Golf Company of the Year.

“We’re a lifestyle brand, to be worn on and off the golf course,” says Tait, who recruited St. Thomas singer/songwriter, Sara Westbrook, to model many of Quagmire’s women’s clothing. In turn, Westbrook recruited Aylmer-based photographer, Erwin Loewen, to shoot Quagmire’s catalogue.

With a design studio on King Street in Toronto’s fashion district, Tait and Pasternak say, “We are proud to be a 100% Canadian company.”

Not fit for the fairway? Perhaps. But no matter what your handicap, you can only look totally gnarly on – and off – the golf course with Quagmire Golf. Visit the company web site at www.quagmiregolf.com.