📈 Toddler bag takes off

Greetings! Lots of golf news to discuss. But first, an awesome story out of Iowa about a dad and the golf bag he designed for his 3.5-year-old son, Charlie. I hope you enjoy!

Toddler bag takes off

Tyler Johnson was at his niece's birthday party when he realized that a tweet he posted on the car ride over had gone viral. 

Months earlier, Johnson, a father of two and former collegiate golfer at Northern Iowa, struck out when trying to find a golf bag for his 3.5 year old son Charlie. There weren’t many options online, he told Quick Nine in a recent interview, and none that fit the classic, Sunday bag look he envisioned. 

“It doesn’t need to be complicated,” Johnson said. “It just needs a strap, a pocket, and enough room for three or four clubs.” 

Determined to bring his concept to life, the software salesman sketched out a design, went down a “rabbit hole” to find the right manufacturer, and — after making some tweaks to initial prototypes — placed his first order for 150 bags. 

It was a financial risk for Johnson, having just under 50 people on his waitlist at the time. But that number has soared to over 1,700 since the tweet that “changed everything,” as he put it. 

“I think people can relate to having a three year old, to the problem of not having a bag for them, and just wanting to have that connection with their kids on the golf course,” said Johnson, who named the company — Charlie Golf Co. — after his son. “I also think people rally behind you when they know it’s a bootstrapped business. I think that was big.”

Whatever the case for the quick success, Johnson has been forced to learn the ins-and-outs of e-commerce on-the-fly. Inventory projections are the most difficult, he said, especially after selling out of his initial 150 bags last month in 28 minutes. One hundred more bags should arrive before Christmas, but no inventory around Thanksgiving meant missing out on popular shopping days like Black Friday. Another 500-plus bags are expected in the new year. 

Moving forward, Johnson hopes Charlie Golf can expand beyond bags and become the go-to toddler golf brand for kids ages 2-5 years old. Whether that means selling clubs or other golf accessories is TBD. But Johnson is clear about his mission: “I want this brand to be the reason why kids are getting introduced to the game of golf … to build connections with mom or dad or grandpa or whoever it may be.” 

As for how one can get their son or daughter interested in the game at a young age (aka, the million dollar question), Johnson said it’s simple: “Let them have fun.” 

“We’re not trying to create the next Tiger Woods. We’re not trying to do swing drills,” he said of his time on the course with Charlie. “It’s just about … going to ride the golf cart, playing in the sand bunker, getting a Gatorade. He might swing 5-10 times and hit a few putts, but most of the time he’s just out there enjoying it … Understanding that the golf course is a fun place to be, that’s the biggest thing.” 

Charle Golf Co. toddler bags, $88. Sign up for the waitlist and receive a 10% discount. 

Rollback could reach us all

Welp. Remember when officials said golf ball rollbacks would have “no impact on recreational golf?” Likely, that’s about to change.

Golf Digest reported Friday that the USGA and R&A are soon expected to announce a sweeping rule update for both pros and average joes that limits how far a golf ball can travel.

• It’s not totally clear how much a new, conforming ball will cut down on distance, but Golf Digest reporter Mike Stachura estimated the loss to be around 5%.

• That’s 15 yards for someone who hits the ball 300 yards today, and around 11 yards for someone who averages 225 yards off the tee.

So why the change of heart?

Golf’s governing bodies were searching for ways to roll back distance gains at the elite level.

But apparently, along the way, they ran into resistance from players, organizations (like the PGA Tour), and manufacturers who were against the idea of bifurcation (or, having two different balls for professional and recreational golf).

Reactions to the reported, universal rollback have been mixed (and heated).

Keegan Bradley said on Saturday: “For the amateur world to hit the ball shorter is monstrous. I can't think of anything more stupid than that.”

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy took to X to say: “I don’t understand the anger about the golf ball roll back. It will make no difference whatsoever to the average golfer and puts golf back on a path of sustainability.”

• In a reply, he clarified: “I don’t believe an average golfer giving up 5-10 yards off the tee is going to have a material effect on their actual score, handicap or enjoyment of the game.”

In a wide-ranging thread, Padraig Harrington pointed to the potential upsides of a rollback, including golf course preservation (“Most of the golf courses in Dublin City are obsolete for the young adult golfer,” he writes) as well as faster pace-of-play (think, fewer people trying to reach par 5’s in two).

What’s next?

Golf Digest said it expects an official announcement on the matter early this week.

• If enacted, the new standards wouldn’t apply until 2028 for the pros and 2030 for the rest of us.

So, what do you think?

Results

Scottie Scheffler won the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas — a non-official PGA Tour event hosted by Tiger Woods.

• Interestingly, Scheffler took home the title with a new putter in his bag from a small, custom manufacturer out of Humboldt County, California called Olson.

LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann won the DP World Tour’s ISPS HANDA Australian Open on Sunday after making an eagle on his second playoff hole.

More news

Rumors are swirling that Jon Rahm is headed to LIV, though nothing is confirmed.

• Still, as CBS’ Kyle Porter noted:

A group of PGA Tour golfers reportedly sent a request to the Tour’s leadership last week, asking for a meeting to discuss FedEx Cup point allocations for Signature Events, the Player Impact Program program, and more.

• As Golf Digest’s Joel Beall writes: “The petition comes amid a flurry of changes to the tour’s infrastructure, changes that some of the rank-and-file have asserted caters heavily to the tour’s best players.”

Luke Donald will run-it-back as Europe’s team captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup in New York.

And finally…

Tiger finished 18th (out of 20) at the Hero World Challenge this weekend, but said after his round Sunday that he still plans to play around one tournament per month in 2024.

• Hopefully, there will be more entrances like this one.

That’s all for today! Thanks so much for reading ya’ll and if you enjoyed today’s edition, I’d love for you to share it with a dad or two.

Talk soon! - Nick B.