<p>"I felt so put into this bucket of 'you're a girl, here's what you golf with and this is all you get'," she said. </p><p>It was the beginning of a business venture dedicated to creating a direct-to-consumer golf club company with an eye on increasing diversity in the mostly white male sport that drives the $84 billion industry.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MzI1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzcyOTc3MX0.nScFMEni3YEbnBhF6Qp-eLMYZgLQR5UA8lA7K_XSkLE/image.jpg?width=980" id="29dd0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0ab0e3abb69f0b5b7df131459a46ab2d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Andrew Marler, Ali Marler, Peter Marler" data-width="1280" data-height="960" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Robin Golf co-founders Andrew Marler, Ali Marler and Peter Marler.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Courtesy of Robin Golf</small></p><p>They teamed up with Ali's husband and Peter's brother, Andrew Marler, a more experienced golfer who played in college, and launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2019 that raised $32,000. <a href="https://robingolf.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Robin Golf </a>went online in March.</p><p>Then a global pandemic effectively halted the economy. The Marlers worried about the viability of the company.</p><p>"What we didn't realize is come May — once golf courses were deemed socially distanced approved — the golf industry would have its record year in its 1,000 year history," Andrew said.</p><p><span></span>Golf playing was up almost 100%, golf equipment sales were up 30% and there has been a record number of new golfers entering the sport, even more than when Tiger Woods became a professional, he said.<br/></p><p>Those new golfers needed clubs. They sold out their inventory in two months and saw a 900% increase in sales from April to May.</p><p>And they've raised $1 million through angel investors, including dot.LA co-founder Spencer Rascoff, recently turning down a term sheet from an institutional venture capitalist. The company said ultimately their "visions were misaligned," and that they're not focused on the hyper growth approach the VC was looking for. </p><p>Driven by how Ali and Peter felt at the golf shop that day, the L.A.-based ecommerce startup has marketed its clubs to beginners, women and a diverse and inclusive audience to make it easier to enter the golf world, typically dominated by affluent, white men. </p><p>The fastest selling club is the female set. Of Robin's customers, 45% are women or kids. Those groups make up just 5% of sales industrywide.</p><p>While the major golf equipment companies, such as Callaway or TaylorMade, are targeting the 7 million avid or skilled golfers in the U.S., Robin Golf is marketing to the 27 million casual or beginner golfers, Andrew said.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MzI1My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NTk5Mzg4M30.z50T_r3q23ogWM-h35xwkAqxc-ahuOmGkNYDwkylwO8/image.jpg?width=980" id="8c1f7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0c59de9a625e120dc77070187d0fcf91" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Robin Golf" data-width="1500" data-height="844" />
</p><p>For an example of just how intolerant golf can be, Peter pointed to pro golfer<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-golf-hawaii-justin-thomas-1c8a5669c2acb9d0cc6bf7d84bffed5b" target="_blank"> Justin Thomas' recent use of an anti-gay slur</a> under his breath when he missed a putt at a tournament.<br/></p><p>"Golf has a long way to go in terms of embracing diversity," Peter said. </p><p>He also recalled how he and Andrew were playing with a "major golf influencer," when Peter mentioned his husband in conversation. </p><p>The golfer said, "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize gay people golfed," Peter said. </p><p>"It's very personal to us in terms of creating sort of new communities, new accessibilities for people who previously felt as though golf was not for them," he said. </p><p>Lane Demas, a history professor at Central Michigan University and the author of "Game of Privilege: An African American History of Golf," said, there are "many barriers to expanding golf participation."</p><p>Among them: Many neighborhoods don't have golf courses nearby, while urban golf courses often charge high green fees and there is a lack of golf programs in K-12 schools that serve predominantly non-white students, Demas said. </p><p>Often, the golf tradition is passed down by family members, making it harder for novices to enter the sport, he added.</p><p>And while Robin Golf clubs are not as well-known as some of the bigger brands, they are much cheaper. The clubs are sold as a set rather than individually. The men's and women's set cost $699 each. A junior set sells for $259. </p><p>Cognizant that people may be hesitant to buy clubs online, Robin has a generous return policy, giving customers 90 days to test out their clubs. They describe the business model as the Warby Parker or Casper mattresses for golf, a direct-to-consumer business with products sold online. They've found that many millennials prefer to buy things online and golf clubs are no different.</p><p>This year, Robin Golf wants to expand into selling golf balls and accessories as well as apparel, allowing first-time golfers to purchase everything they need before they step onto the links. </p><p>These days on the course, Peter feels less intimidated and Ali now enjoys the game on vacation — with three rules: Always have a drink in hand, it's okay to stop if you're frustrated and remember that no one else is looking at you. </p>Related Articles Around the Web
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