BogeyPro Label Targets Golfers Who Can Take A Joke!

Listen up on almost any golf course in the land and you'll hear shouts of triumph sprinkled among curses of frustration. Now three longtime golfers are trying to make money by contending that the game is good for a laugh.

The three Minnesota advertising pros have created a brand of golf merchandise that brings self-deprecating whimsy to a sport that has humbled even mighty pros. Unlike marketers whose balls, shirts and hats try to associate the buyer with a golf hero, a legendary course or top-flight performance, the new BogeyPro brand pokes fun at those who take the game oh-so-seriously.

Consider BogeyPro's motto, "Swing harder," which jabs gently at the typical response of many golfers who slice a banana ball out of bounds.

"We're not about a better golf game," says Matt Farley, who heads the fledgling brand. "We're about a better golf experience."

Is that a cop-out for mediocrity?

No, says Farley, who once shot an 85 but admits to his share of lost balls and penalty strokes. "Golf will rob you of your self-esteem," he said, and after watching golfers throw clubs in anger he has come to believe that the game is best enjoyed as "a social event"--- a good time outdoors with friends who possess a sense of humor.

BogeyPro's marketing includes careful drawings of how to throw a bag or use a footwedge---the artful, undetected kick of a ball from a vexing lie.

Farley and his partners, Arik Nordby and Jeff Ess, concede that the BogeyPro philosophy probably won't appeal to country club players who double their bets on the back nine. But they expect it to attract the 80 percent of golfers who seldom score lower than 90---an estimate of the U.S. Golf Association.

"If we could connect with only a small percentage of those people," success would be a gimme." Nordby said.

Farley said that although BogeyPro relies on humor, "We're very serious about the products we sell. The company's prices and the quality of its apparel and accessories are expected to compare favorably with those of more established brands. It's just the message that's different, he said---for example, golf balls labeled "Zero Distance," "Poor Spin" and "No Control."

The three hope to turn heads at January's big Professional Golf Association trade show in Orlando, Fla. Their goal is to sign 120 dealers and generate sales of $250,000 the first year. Outlets could include pro shops, golf retail stores, mass marketers, gift shops, catalogs and on-line channels.

Farley, Nordby and Ess developed BogeyPro after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks discouraged some clients of their Magneto Communications company in suburban Minneapolis from proceeding with previous marketing plans.

Each of BogeyPro's co-founders felt the sting of not putting together a consistent string of below- 90 scores but they figured there must be a market among others with similar frustrations and an ability to accept their limitations.

As Farley put it: "We want to be the brand of the best-adjusted."

For more information about BogeyPro products click here!