Jones Golf Bags: How the Lemman Family Relaunched the Brand

When Matt Lemman, today’s guest on the podcast, and his family purchased the Jones Golf Bags brand, they had dreams of bringing it back as a mainstream company within the industry. Now, seven years later, it is safe to say that dream is a reality. The classic single-strap Jones carry bag can be seen on the shoulders of golfers around the country. And more importantly, their brand message, the course is calling, is inspiring people to get out and enjoy the best parts of the game.

Jones Golf Bags was originally founded in 1971 and for two decades they dominated the market. Matt mentions that it was a ridiculous 90 percent of bags purchased were from Jones. So with staggering numbers like this, you would wonder how the business could decline into non-existence.

But in 1990, the founder, George Jones, sold the company. The new owners changed the look of the bags and with it the branding. As a result, their pristine market share that had disappeared. All that remained of the rich Jones Golf Bags brand was just that. The name.

For golf fan’s like us who enjoy simplicity in style and authentic products that join us on our golfing journies, the Lemman family did us all a great service. When they relaunched the brand in 2011, a staple in the game’s culture was back on the course.

Over the next eight years, the crew would start with just the original carry bag and expand on it with a robust line of products that the modern golfer would enjoy. With just the brand name and the heritage that George Jones created in the 1970s and 1980s, the team had to start from scratch. They were basically a start-up again and like any new venture, there was a lot of hard work to get it off the ground.

In this week’s show, we talk with Matt Lemman about everything that went into the relaunch of Jones Golf Bags. It is a jam-packed episode, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did. Listen to the episode below or on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. And as always, thanks for listening! If you are enjoying our show, please subscribe, rate, and review.