LinksStyle Golf: How Two Lifelong Friends Are Taking the Golf Hat to the Next Level

Here at G&E Magazine, we aim to deconstruct the journey that golfers and entrepreneurs alike take on their road to success in this world. Their achievements, as well as their trials and tribulations, serve to inspire us, and we hope to pass that along to our readers.

This week, we sit down with Danny and Greg, founders of LinksStyle Golf, to get a better understanding of how two lifelong friends are influencing golf, fashion and the greater entrepreneurial community:

So – Danny, Greg… tell us a little bit about yourselves. Where are you from?

We grew up in the Connecticut suburbs and both ended up going to colleges in Massachusetts. We now both live just outside of Boston and work in investments and finance. Major east coast roots, though one of us did do a two year stint in Silicon Valley recently.

That’s great. So, when did you first start playing golf? Any particular reason why you picked up the game?

Our first rounds were at a local par 3 course when we we’re about 6 or 7. We grew up playing traditional sports through high school and college, but there’s no sport that brings out your competitive spirit more than golf. It’s a constantly moving target pushing your scores lower and lower.

Wow, so you guys go way back. What made you want to start LinksStyle?

First and foremost, both of us have always had the drive and ambition to start our own business. With LinksStyle, we feel like we have a great business concept that we’re addressing in a unique way. The fact that we love golf is a huge bonus (and gives us another excuse to play), but it wasn’t necessarily the only force behind it.

Cool, so tell us some more about the name… Why “LinksStyle?”

Well, we wanted something that spoke to the fact that this was a modern golf brand focused on style – not just a golf equipment manufacturer slapping its logo on a hat or a lifestyle brand making a polo and branding it as ‘golf’. Since ‘links style golf’ is an actual term for those treeless, windy courses that were popularized in Europe, we thought it’d be a natural fit. We can remember discussing and eliminating a lot of bad – some quite bad – alternatives and when LinksStyle came out, I think we were both pretty confident that it was name we were looking for.

Perfect – it’s those early-stage, entrepreneurial nuggets that we love to capture. Have you guys engaged in any other entrepreneurial ventures prior to LinksStyle?

Outside of co-writing a weekly high school newspaper feature and hosting some extremely small stakes poker games, this is our first official entrepreneurial venture.

Have any doors opened as a result of launching LinksStyle Golf?

Well first of all, it has totally lit the entrepreneurial flame for us and allowed us to personally express our passion for golf and business. We’ve also been able to partner up with a bunch of different people in the sport – instructors, pros, long drivers, blogs – which has been a really exciting to develop.

That’s great to hear. So, what is your vision for yourselves and your company in the future?

We want to be the premier hat provider for those golfers with an opinionated sense of style. Truly focusing on one product is the course we’re following – a similar model to how Bonobos started with pants, MVMT started with watches, and Lululemon started with yoga pants. You’re going to see some really sharp hats drop early next year.

We’re looking forward to it! What have you learned most from starting LinksStyle?

There needs to be an impeccable balance between time spent on the broader vision and determining exactly what needs to get done today and this week.

I think we could all appreciate that sentiment. So, how do you guys engage with the community?

We have a weekly email that aims to be light-hearted and fun for our customer base, and we’re always active on social media. We also recently hosted a tournament at a local course in central Massachusetts which was a blast both for us and our golfers. We’re very proud to have New England-based roots – a hallmark of our brand. We’re always looking for local businesses/pros/instructors who share our passion for the game.