There’s a saying that goes, “the best things come in threes.” I don’t know if I believe that, but I do know I don’t have a better way to intro the third installment of Fringe Thoughts—our new blog from the sand traps at Waggle HQ.
Things have been pretty exciting here over the last month, particularly with the launch of our new expanded women’s line. As I reflect on the growth of this particular collection, I’ve found myself thinking more and more about the game as a whole.
Unlike anything we’ve developed in the past, this project kicked off with a focus group comprised of women’s golfers spanning a variety of ages, experiences and interests.
During the session, we asked the group what they look for when shopping for golf outerwear. To which one woman replied, “I don’t shop for golf outerwear. If I have to wear long sleeves, I’m not golfing.”
As a reformed second-grader who was regularly restricted from recess for eye rolling at other students, my instinct here was to do just that. You’re not a real golfer unless you’re out there in the thick of it on a bottom ten weather day. But as I sat with it for a moment, I realized the error of my quick judgment. After all, who am I to say who a real golfer is or isn’t? All those times I’ve been caught out in a cold rain, hands stinging and slipping with every swing. In those moments, the only real I feel is real regret over how I’ve chosen to spend my day.
This, paired with my employer, probably paints the picture that I’m some diehard scratch golfer. That’s… not the case. Just recently, I was playing in a scramble and completely duffed a shot. We’re talking fifteen yards from the tee box, lodged straight into the tick-infested brush. The hole sponsor literally laughed in my face before asking, “Don’t you work for a golf company?” I responded, “I work for a golf company, I don’t play for a golf company.”
See, I’m the type of golfer where, if the first few holes don’t go how I’d like or I find myself distracted by the company of good friends, I’ll give counting a rest and keep my scorecard with smiley and frowny faces. I may have ended with a brutal four-putt but, overall, how did the hole feel? Am I proud of my drive? Did I hit my seven iron pure? If I’m having fun, that’s a smiley face. The frowns are for the tough holes. When the frustration hits and zig-zagging across the fairway gives me the urge to list my clubs on Facebook Marketplace. When the frowns start to far outnumber the smiles, I take a break for a week. That’s the type of golfer I am.
Of course, for every hundred-thousand of my type, there’s a Scottie Scheffler, a Nelly Korda or, even closer to our own backyard, a Bella McCauley (who we are very lucky to claim as a partner of ours). Only a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, Bella recently won the Big Ten Championship after posting EIGHT UNDER in the final round. Stormed from 18th all the way to 1st with eight birdies, zero bogeys. Talk about a different “type” of golfer.
But even for as hard-working and fierce of a competitor that Bella is, she understands that the true magic of golf isn’t in the championships and low rounds. I once asked what her future golf aspirations were and, in what I think is the coolest answer ever, she simply said, “I know that I want to be playing golf for the rest of my life.” Whether she pursues the LPGA or goes a different route entirely, Bella McCauley is going to be golfing. That right there is someone who just flat out loves the game, regardless of who she’s playing with or what she’s playing for.
And the crazy thing is, we can share a tee time all the same. The outerwear objector from the focus group, me with my silly emoji scorecard and Bella who can make playing the tips look easy. Perhaps this entire blog is a ruse for justifying our own lackluster handicaps but, at Waggle, we’d love to think that it’s not your score, or the courses you play, or even the number of rounds you’ve logged. No matter your who, what, when, where, why and how—if you’re enjoying the game, you’re a golfer to us.