Most men meet golf by way of their fathers. It’s just how it goes. Professionals like Tiger Woods and Rory Mcilroy credit their dads and grandfathers with introducing them to the sport. Legend has it Mcilroy hit a 40-yard drive when he was just two. And although I can’t really imagine any three-year-olds I’ve ever met doing this, Tiger shot a 48 on the front nine at age three.
Although non-professional’s first times likely weren’t as successful, they follow a similar script: dad or grandpa took them to the greens, first just to watch, then to be of assistance and then as competition. Just ask designer Todd Snyder.
“When I was little, I caddied for my dad and my grandpa,” Snyder says. “My father and grandfather taught me how to golf when I was a kid in Huxley, Iowa. I grew up across the street from a course and in the summer I would sneak on after hours to practice and play a few holes.”
Sure, he was help, but he has fond memories from those trips. It makes sense, then, that he’d return to them when it came time to make his own golf collection. But he couldn’t do it alone; it wouldn’t be authentic. So, just as he’s done with other storied brands from his youth (Randolph, L.L. Bean, J. Press, Timex, etc.), he coordinated a collaborative collection.
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“I never had golf shoes until I was big enough to wear my dad’s, and he wore FootJoy,” he says. “So I associate them with family time and comfort. I still remember how comfortable my dad’s shoes were.”
