Truth be told, this question probably warrants a few different answers. However, the short (and fairly boring) one is pretty straightforward – the two blokes behind Flush, just really love playing golf.
Way back before Flush was even a concept, we pursued multiple entrepreneurial pursuits together, yearning for the day when we could break the shackles of employment and become bosses in our own right. We learned a lot from those early days. We learned that building a business is tough, making that business a success is even tougher, and staying permanently motivated amidst the rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship, well, we’re still trying to figure that one out. But to be honest, without having each other’s backs, I doubt any of our endeavours would’ve even taken flight in the first place.
One of our earliest ventures was running an activewear brand together, along with one of our other mates. It was a business that we ran alongside our 9-5 jobs, but with us all being in our early twenties, we mainly saw it as an opportunity to exhibit at festivals and party, opposed to a venture that we could scale into a full-time job. Those years were a lot of fun, but we did gain real insights into the realities of running a brand, and we learned a lot about the clothing industry - the good and the bad bits.
Aside from us being aspiring entrepreneurs, we both spent our early years being completely obsessed with sports. Football, tennis, ice hockey, athletics—whatever we could get ourselves stuck in to. Growing up, if we weren’t playing sports, we were watching them. And like others our age, we made lifelong mates in those childhood teams that we’re still tight with today.
In our late teens, one of us (not me, unfortunately) enjoyed a few golden years playing semi-pro football. It's a hard one to swallow, but I have to admit, he was pretty good. Even now on a rare occasion, he can still be found having a run out at Goals on a Thursday night. Granted he’s a bit slower, but he’s still got it ;)
While all that was happening, I was attending golf college (yep, that's a thing). I learned two things at college. Back then, telling girls you were an aspiring golfer did not quite have the same sex appeal as saying you were a semi-pro footballer. And secondly, to become successful at golf, you need to be really, REALLY, good. I could respectfully knock my way around 18 holes, but some of the lads I played with were on a completely different planet. I made my peace with that and resided to the fact that if I ever wanted a career in the golf industry, it almost definitely wouldn’t be by playing.
A good few years later, and "LIFE," with all its capital letters, had kicked in hard. The hazy days of college and semi-pro football were long gone, and we found ourselves entrenched in uninspiring jobs, clock watching, and counting down each day to the weekend. The knock on to this meant we were less active than ever, playing hardly any sport and struggling to stay focused on that dream of one day working for ourselves.
One sunny September evening in 2019, we were sat having a beer after a quick nine holes we squeezed in after work, and we started reminiscing about the early days of running that clothing brand together. At this point in our life, golf was one of the few opportunities we got to hang out, and it often ended up with a few beers and us plotting through some kind of rogue business idea. But the more we spoke about that brand the more we warmed to the idea of entering that space again, but this time in golf. It made total sense; we already knew a fair bit about selling clothing, and it would mean us working in a sport that we both loved. We were pumped, we got straight to work, then essentially spent the next six months locked away focused on nothing else but Flush.
Roll on March 2020, and well, we all know what happened next! Covid 19 hit and the world came to a complete standstill. It was the worst possible timing for Flush, but we quickly realised that it paled into insignificance compared to what was going on in the world at that time. The 18 months that followed really tested our motivation, but we found new ways to work and continued to develop the brand throughout the rest of the pandemic. *Next slide, please.
So, what kind of brand was Flush going to be?
Growing up playing junior golf, I always remember feeling uncomfortable in what I wore to play golf in. Not that I didn’t get the formality of the game or respect the history, but it was so different to anything I would wear off the course. I remember the first time Tiger Woods wore that collarless shirt in 2003 (the one he’s now become synonymous with) and thinking “now that’s more like it”. It was so different to anything I’d seen before, and I loved that about it. I’ve always seen golf as such an athletic sport, and never understood why it was mandate to dress like you were heading off to church to play it.
The modern game is a stark contrast from the golden era of golf, when suave looking men adorned the fairways, chain smoking cigarettes and looking more like movie stars than golfers. Nowadays, it’s about athleticism—being bigger, fitter, faster, stronger. More club head speed, more distance, more smash factor, more, more, more. It’s all gone a bit nuts, really, but it does show you how the game has evolved.
We knew we wanted our brand to reflect that evolution and take on a sportier aesthetic, after all, sport had played such a huge part in our upbringings that it was the most natural direction. We get that it’s not for everyone, and there’s probably a few traditionalists out there still foaming at the mouth that Tyrell Hatton won the BMW Championship wearing a hoodie. But the truth is, the game is evolving and so is its popularity. And by making it look more appealing to a completely new audience can only be a good thing, right?
Whichever direction the brand did take, we knew one thing from early on. We wanted to make sure we were being as conscious as possible when it came to sustainability. This wasn’t a buzz word or something we felt we could shoehorn into our marketing efforts, it was just something we both felt passionately about. The textile industry is famously quite a bad industry when it comes to the damage it does on the planet. That’s why we decided to make every effort to make smarter, greener decisions wherever we could. We opted to use recycled fabrics in all of our clothing, removed all single use plastics from our supply chain, and made a commitment to plant a tree for every item we sold. After all, what's the point of making golf clothing if there's no greens left to play on?
So, where do you start when trying to find sustainable suppliers? Nowadays, I'd say Instagram would be a great place to start. A lot of factories have their own accounts, and there's a ton of pages dedicated to finding suppliers. But back then, this wasn't as common, so we took the rather long-winded approach of combing through Google and contacting every single supplier we could find with solid credentials, and asking for them to send over their company profile and certifications. Being completely honest, this was one of the few periods in our journey that I really don't miss.
So, we had some experience in designing clothes and building a supply chain, but when it came to garment technology? We were novices. Fast forward to now, and we could write a book on colour fastness, fabric shrinkage, and the correct process for applying water repellency to fabric. But in the early days, we were learning on the job. We needed help, so we sought the advice of a very talented designer who had years of experience under her belt, working for one of the biggest sports brands in the world as a designer and garment tech. She's been a huge part of our journey and continues to do so to this day. Shout out to Lindsay!
When we started to design the clothes together, there were a few elements that we had to get right. We knew we needed to make a high-quality product, it had to be made using recycled materials, and we needed to be able to sell it an accessible price point. There's a common misconception towards start-ups that because they're just starting out, their pricing should be ultra-low. The reality is manufacturing in smaller quantities means a much higher unit cost. It might cost a small brand 6 or 7 times more to make the exact same t-shirt as a giant like Nike. However, we knew most consumers don’t really care about this. What they do care about, though, is whether they’re getting a quality product thats worth the price tag. And to that, we can answer with a resounding YES.
As we move into our second year, we’re more excited than ever. Our team is growing, our product offering is expanding, and we’re pumped to be building our squad of truly talented Flush athletes. But as far as we’re concerned, this is still ground zero, the very start of our journey with a thousand more highs and lows yet to come. And you know what? We can’t wait.
So, there it is, a brief look back at the story of Flush so far. We’re a small team of passionate golfers, dedicated to making high-quality, responsibly sourced golf clothing for a new generation of golfers. To this day, we’re driven by the exact same motto that we had back in 2019. Look good, feel good, golf.
