MAYNARD, Mass. — Will Fowler is wearing many hats these days.
And a few golf shirts, too.
Not only is Fowler a high school senior, captain of the Maynard golf team and locker room assistant at Nashawtuc Country Club, but the 17-year-old is also a business entrepreneur.
Last fall, Fowler decided to start a golf clothing company with his older brother, Ian, that aims to provide a polo that combines fit, feel and design, all while being sold at an affordable price.
And now the brand — Pure Golf Apparel — is currently in full swing.
“It’s honestly a dream come true,” Fowler said. “I think it could go big. I think we can shoot for the stars and see what happens.”
Turning golf apparel idea into a reality
When Maynard High School teacher Will Soto asked students from his intro to business class to come up with their own “fake” business ideas last September, Fowler instantly knew what he wanted to create.
A golf shirt that was fashionable but didn’t break the bank.
“I wanted to start a golf brand,” said Fowler, who also plays basketball at Maynard High. “(So I) took my phone out, texted my brother and I said ‘Hey, I like this idea, (and) I think we should run with it.’”
With his brother on board, the two took a deep dive into the basics of business. Designing, manufacturing, marketing, you name it, the pair of siblings from Maynard dug into it.
“We went down a rabbit hole,” Ian, 22, said. “We learned as much as we could about the whole business or industry.”
“They started dipping their toes, so to speak, in a golfing apparel company,” said their father, Kevin. “They learned a lot on the go.”
When it came time to decide a name for their company, the siblings ping-ponged ideas back and forth over the phone — with the mantra that no name was a bad one. Finally, the Fowlers found one that stuck.
“Just landed on ‘Pure Golf Apparel’ and we love it,” said Ian, a 2020 Maynard High grad who now coaches the JV boys’ basketball team at his alma mater.
In April, the pair of brothers went to Wedgwood Pines Country Club in Stow with their first crop of merchandise in tow.
The brothers, along with their father and family friend, modeled their company’s new “eye-catching” golf shirts ($59.99 apiece) as other friends from Maynard helped with photos, logos and their website.
“That’s my first experience modeling,” their father said.
“We’ve had a lot of people we’ve reached out to for advice and help,” Ian said.
The company officially launched online on June 14.
Shortly after, Millis High athletic director Derek Phinney saw the new golf brand pop up on his social media feed. Phinney reached out to the brothers to see if Pure Golf Apparel could outfit the Millis High golf team this fall.
Not a problem. The Fowlers designed two custom shirts for the Mohawks.
“It’s awesome to see and expose exciting and unique opportunities for students who have a passion. Especially for high school sports,” Phinney said. “The Fowlers are starting hopefully a new trend where local startups support high school athletics and give them another option outside of the big dogs.”
“I can’t even put words to it because (when) we started this, never once did I think we were going to sponsor a golf team this early (on),” Fowler said. “But it happened, and we’re excited to keep going with it.”
Three months since Pure Golf Apparel went live, the Fowler household has experienced a bit of a remodel.
With hundreds of golf shirts, and everything needed for postage, shipping and handling, certain areas of the family compound have started to look like the back of a retail store. Business is booming.
“I think at some point there will have to be some sort of rent charge,” said Kevin with a laugh.
Before Will Fowler fired a 5-over par 40 to help his team defeat Hudson in a match at Maynard Golf Course Thursday, the Maynard captain had to switch outfits.
Between team photo day for the Tigers and a few flicks with the T&G, Fowler donned two different T-shirts. Luckily, he wasn’t wearing any hats. Just the hypothetical one.
It’s a slice of life from Fowler — whose new business endeavor has kept him busy the past 12 months.
“It’s been great,” Fowler said. “It’s a blessing and starting it with Ian has been really good and it’s been a great year, and we’re going to look to keep going.”
With fresh designs and new clients currently in the works, the Fowler brothers of Maynard are excited for what’s next with their clothing brand.
“Being able to create something out of nothing with your brother, I (don’t) even have words to describe it,” Ian said. “We’ve put so much work into it and it’s something we deeply care about and it’s just been great seeing it grow out of nothing to where it is now.”
“We’re going to shoot for the stars,” Fowler said.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: These Massachusetts brothers started a golf clothing company called Pure Golf Apparel
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