Notes from the studio
Notes on sourcing, making and the stories inside a brand. The who, when and why.
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SOURCING
Labels, tags and trims: the part of a golf garment nobody budgets for
The fabric makes the garment. The trims decide whose garment it is.
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PRODUCTION
Working back from the first tee: a production calendar for custom golf apparel
Ten days is a decoration lead time. A garment made from the fabric up runs on months.
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SOURCING
Size curves: how many of each size to actually make
The total was right. The split was wrong. That is how a sold-out program ends with a box of XL.
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SOURCING
Proto, fit, PP: what each sample is actually for
Every sample answers one question. Approve it for a different one and bulk will tell you.
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COLOR
Club green is not a Pantone: lab dips, substrates and the color that has to match
A brand color is one number on a screen. On a finished program it is five different dyes.
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FIT
Grading for real swings: why golf apparel fit breaks down between sizes
The sample fits beautifully. That tells you almost nothing about the sizes on either side of it.
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MATERIALS
Reading a fabric spec sheet: what the numbers actually promise
GSM, wicking, four-way stretch. Every mill quotes them. Almost none of them mean what the brand thinks they mean.
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SOURCING
Embroidery, screen print, or DTF: how the decoration method actually gets chosen
Most brands pick a logo method to match a mood board. The fabric, the order size, and the placement pick it for them.
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SOURCING
Tariffs don't kill a sourcing plan. Guessing at them does.
The number on the news is a rate. The number that matters is what it does to your landed cost, and that's a different calculation entirely.
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SOURCING
The inspection nobody budgets for: what QC actually catches
The sample passed. That tells you almost nothing about the four hundred units behind it.
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SOURCING
The tech pack is the contract: what gets left out and paid for later
A vague tech pack feels like a shortcut. It's actually a bill nobody's written yet.
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TOURNAMENT
The prize table problem: sourcing for quantities nobody can give you
A gift order has one number. A prize table has ten, and none of them are final until the day of the event.
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SOURCING
Private label vs. white label: what a golf brand actually owns
Every brand asks which is cheaper. The real question is which one you're allowed to change.
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GIFTING
Corporate golf gifting at scale: what breaks when 40 becomes 400
A member-guest gift and a corporate outing gift solve two completely different problems. Most programs are built for the wrong one.
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Production
Private label golf apparel: what a factory actually needs from you before it needs your logo
Everyone shows up with a logo. Almost nobody shows up with a tech pack.