FORE! Tyler Johnson and Charlie Golf Co.
Tyler and I caught up on a call from the Charlie Golf Co. warehouse in Iowa… Toward the end of our conversation, a door in the background opens. Light floods in from the outside. All I can see is a tiny top of a head, running up closer—it catches Tyler's attention. He scoops her up so she can see who’s on the screen… It's his daughter, rocking a princess shirt, lollipop in hand. With a little encouragement from Tyler she sends me an adorable hello, before scurrying off to find mom.
This is what Charlie Golf Co. is all about.
Tyler has grown the company into something that supports his family. Meanwhile the company puts something into the world that keeps family at the heart of golf. And for a company that frequently employs enthusiastic family volunteers to pack and ship boxes and keep it all moving, it seems it’s doing a fine job keeping them together too.
Their story begins with Tyler wanting to get his son Charlie out on the golf course to do something fun together. That idea turned into a business that has been growing right alongside his family ever since.
It started simply enough: Charlie had a few clubs his grandpa had cut down for him, but no decent bag to carry them in. Tyler couldn't find one that made any darn sense—everything felt too big, too bulky, built for someone twice Charlie's size. Irritated by the options, he was inspired to design his own.
For Tyler, the whole point of Charlie Golf Co. comes down to one word: fun. If two words—maybe it's family fun. Golf at the beginning doesn't need to be about grooming the next Tour pro. It needs to be about getting outside, snagging a snack at the turn, hitting shots, taking big swings, learning, (all while keeping pace), and being together as a family. The bag is about carrying on what's important. Keeping it light and fun along the way.
That philosophy comes from his own experience with the game. Tyler didn't have a formal lesson until college. Growing up, he just played—hitting the links with friends, figuring it out as he went, putting in the work because he enjoyed it. He has thoughts on the state of junior golf today, and he feels Charlie Golf Co. represents and stays true to the spirit that golf should be a game where joy is at the heart and center.
Personally, I played a lot of golf as a kid with my friends, and I feel like I'm sometimes still chasing that joy. We'd get dropped off in the morning, picked up when the sun went down, in between rounds hunting down a tuna sandwich at the halfway house named The Oasis over at Moravian Hills. Perhaps donated to my dad from a family friend's garage, my first junior bag was a white-and-red leather Wilson. It had two pockets and came stuffed with a hodgepodge of hand-me-down Chi Chi Rodriguez clubs. I hit that Chi Chi 7-iron until I bent it out of shape. I can picture those clubs vividly, I can feel the worn grips with those little green >>> symbols. It’s nostalgia that tickles deep in the soul. I remember how big and vast the golf course felt and the first time I was finally able to hit it past that big fairway-eating bunker on the par 5 first tee… I remember being out there with my family.
(I also remember being in that bunker a lot.)
Golfers who grow up with the game have these cherished memories, and they want to share them back with their kids, nephews, or whoever appreciates it. Tyler's building a company to hand that same feeling to the next generation. A little bag that's really about the big feeling of family.
The bags themselves are named after his kids, and the brand is quite literally growing up alongside them. Charlie, the original namesake, has outgrown the toddler line and moved into junior stand bags. Tyler's plan is to keep building the company to keep up with what Charlie needs, offering new products to grow with him. And with a fourth child on the way, Tyler's gearing up for a new bag and color launch that's part product drop, part gender reveal.
I'd actually met Tyler in person almost a year before our chat, at a B.Draddy event in Jupiter. It wasn't until after I wrote a FORE! feature on his buddy Jared Doerfler of Hanna Golf that I realized the two were old friends. Tyler and Jared go back to their college golf days at University of Northern Iowa, and now they're running their businesses out of neighboring warehouses in the same industrial park in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Tyler laughed that he's "spent way too much time with him over the course of his life"—but there's something genuinely wonderful about two friends pushing each other, building side by side, each finding their own way to keep golf close to home. Much is owed to Tyler and Jared for making golf businesses in Iowa feel like a thing.
A testament to quality product and something so undeniably charming that people demand it, Charlie Golf Co. has steadily grown on a foundation of organic marketing and good ol’ fashioned word of mouth. Tyler doesn't spend much time on cold outreach—people speak fondly of it, and they share the Charlie Golf story, and then the pro shops and clubs come calling. He’s grateful for a lot of great partnerships and humble and graceful in how he mentions names and prestigious clubs who have supported the brand.
Ask Tyler where the company's headed in 20 years, and he'll tell you he doesn't think that far ahead. He stays focused on the day-to-day grind in front of him. He wants to build something that keeps golf fun and keeps families in the game for generations—even though Charlie's name is on the bag and the others are named after his kids, he's not interested in building something his kids are obligated to inherit. He's seen how forcing that kind of legacy can work out (as he so kindly put) not-so-well. He'd much rather his kids choose their own course in life.
He enjoys the freedom to do his own thing and Charlie Golf Co. has given him that, but he also is aware of the serious effort it takes to balance life and know when enough work is enough. Being your own boss means knowing when to leave the shop and go play a round, or just be present with family.
Which brings us back to that little girl in the princess shirt, ducking through the warehouse door during our call.... That was my cue to wrap things up. This is a busy, hardworking man running a super fun family business and holding onto a family dream too.
Time to get back to work. Time to get back to family.
Check out Charlie Golf Co.
FORE! is a weekly series from From The Fringe highlighting the people and organizations shaping golf. From The Fringe also creates premium video content for golf courses, resorts, and brands. Interested in a feature or working together? Connect at johnny@fromthefringe.golf
