Eastside Golf Is Doing It Their Own Way

Among the numerous benefits of the explosive growth golf has seen recently are the creativity and talent that newcomers are injecting into the game. One of the many brands bringing that excitement is Eastside Golf, committed to making the game accessible and approachable to youth as well as people considering taking up the game for the first time.

A Lifelong Pursuit

Starting his golf career at the tender age of six, Eastside founder Olajuwon Ajanaku eventually earned a golf scholarship at Morehouse College in his native Atlanta, where he and his team won the 2010 PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship (by a whopping 20 strokes).

After school, he pursued professional golf but was forced to step away due to the exorbitant costs of supporting himself through tournament play. In 2019, after a few years working in finance, he couldn’t resist golf’s siren song and decided to give pro golf another shot.

During the process of pitching himself to potential sponsors, Earl Cooper, his former Morehouse teammate and now PGA professional, encouraged him to put his logo on a T-shirt. Following a compliment-laden jaunt through downtown Detroit wearing one of his tees, Ajanaku knew his design had some juice to it.

Next thing he knew, he and Cooper were en route to the 2020 PGA Show with thousands of products already sold and over a dozen designs that would eventually become Eastside Golf.

A Brand is Born

Four years on, Eastside has gone from that determined duo toting merch around the PGA Show to having their own booth in 2024, where they were sidled up alongside giants like Ralph Lauren. They now have a wide-ranging assortment of apparel and accessories, plus multiple golf shoe collaborations with the footwear titans at Jordan Brand (many of which sold out instantly).

A Shining Example

Eastside is the perfect example of golf’s accelerating evolution. What was born out of frustration with the lack of golf apparel options turned into not only a thriving brand but an indication of a larger movement within the game. Eastside gives golfers the ability to express themselves on the course, eschewing tired traditional country club conventions and creating a new look, one that is just as at home off the course as it is on.

Classic polos and techy pants find themselves next to hoodies, Air Jordans and rugby shirts. It’s not a combo we would have expected four years ago but it just works. Eastside gear looks dang good, from head to toe. Their apparel strikes a perfect balance between tradition and innovation, perfectly suiting what today’s golfers are looking for.

As for the future, Eastside has endless potential. The fact that they had their own booth at this year’s PGA Show proves it. It was a huge opportunity for them, Cooper says. The way he’s thinking about it, though, confirms that they’ll be doing it their way.

“We’re for real. This is a real business. This isn’t just some charity, you know, some diversity and inclusion effort. We grew a business, bootstrapped it, and we got to this point, and we were not showing up other than ourselves. We’re gonna be wearing hoodies, we’re gonna be wearing varsity jackets.”

After hearing what the MyGolfSpy crew saw at the Eastside booth in January, we know this is just the beginning for them. With new funding injected into the brand and a few key PGA Tour endorsements, you should get used to seeing the Swingman on Sundays (and every other day that ends in “y”).

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