Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want to live in.
If that’s true, I want to live in a world where Tyler Nguyen sells an awful lot of golf gloves.
Unless you’re an aggressive Instagram user, you’ve probably never heard of Tyler or his company, forelinksgolf. Once you get to know him, however, you can’t help but root for him.
I can’t tell you that Tyler has revolutionized golf gloves. Heck, Tyler himself will tell you he hasn’t reinvented anything. What he has done, however, is carve out a niche in a very competitive end of the golf industry. He’s done it by using the tools at his disposal and the kind of persistence that’s more prevalent in young people than many of us choose to believe.
His story, and that of forelinksgolf, is quintessentially American.
The hardest-working kid in Silicon Valley
Tyler Nguyen is 25 but looks a lot younger. As in, “It’s a school night, kid. You shouldn’t be out this late,” younger.
“I was just in Las Vegas,” he tells MyGolfSpy. “I can’t tell you how many times I got carded.”
If you’re the narrow-minded type who thinks today’s youth wants everything handed to them, Tyler’s going to ruin your argument. He works three jobs and lives with his parents, who came to the U.S. as war refugees from Vietnam in the ‘70s. His dad was two years old when his family was sponsored to come over. His mother’s journey was more arduous. She and her family were among the so-called “Boat People” who fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975.
Tyler’s father runs a construction company in San Jose, Calif. His mother has a thriving craft business. Tyler has an economics degree from San Jose State and, during the day, he’s an account manager at a Silicon Valley bank. On Sundays, he works in the pro shop at his local golf course. The rest of his time is spent on forelinksgolf.
“If there’s one thing I love more than anything, it’s golf,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to be in the industry somehow.”
That somehow turned out to be his own line of golf gloves. Again, nothing revolutionary, but it’s how he found his way into the glove business, how he’s building his brand and how he’s promoting his business is where it gets interesting.
Getting forelinksgolf from Point A to Point B
Tyler credits his mom and dad for his desire to own his own business.
“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial drive. I tried a drop-shipping business at first. What I learned there is if you’re not passionate about what you sell, the drive and persistence aren’t there.”
He started forelinksgolf as an apparel business but again learned he didn’t have a passion for clothing. Eventually, the glove idea found him.
“One day, I was working behind the counter at the golf course and noticed that golf gloves were the second-most sold items in the shop, right after golf balls.”
At that point, the figurative light bulb clicked on over Tyler’s head.
“It’s a consumable product. If you make a good one, there’s a 75 percent chance that a golfer, when it’s time to buy another one, will buy yours because they liked the product.”
That led Tyler to resurrect forelinksgolf as a golf glove-only brand. He started by doing what a lot of others do: find a large golf glove manufacturer and order off their menu. They stamp your logo on it and that’s that. Tyler was looking for soft, thin and durable with a “second skin” kind of fit. What we got was thick, terrible-feeling and ill-fitting.
“It felt like one of my mom’s gardening gloves.”
That led to a pilgrimage to the motherland of cabretta leather, Indonesia and a chance meeting.
Finding the right stuff
What Tyler wanted was a more durable version of the Titleist Players glove.
“That was my favorite glove growing up. It was so thin it felt like a second skin.”
His search for a supplier eventually led him to a small town near Jakarta where he met the owner of a small, family-owned leather business.
“They treated me like family. The owner was actually from Riverside, California and moved back to Indonesia to take over his family’s business.”
As the two discussed what kind of glove Tyler was looking for, Tyler eventually came up with an analogy that hit home: Peter Parker’s black suit in Spider-Man 3.
“There has to be that kind of feeling and that kind of confidence when you wear it. I literally gave him that analogy. He knew exactly what I meant because he’s a Spider-Man fan, too.”
They went to the factory and Tyler went through bins of different kinds of leather. He felt every type with his fingers and eventually picked several samples that felt good. The owner whipped up samples which they field-tested the next day.
“I gave them every detail that I wanted in terms of feel and fit. I wanted everything to be snug.”
Tyler says the finished product has the fit and feel he was looking for, with added durability.
“I can’t promise you our gloves will last over 200 holes but I can guarantee they’ll last longer than most others. That’s because we made the glove just a little thicker while still preserving that soft, second-skin type feel.”
Telling the forelinksgolf story
Tyler really does run forelinksgolf out of his bedroom at his parents’ house. That’s where he processes and fills orders and where he films his Instagram videos. Social media has many flaws but it does provide a good storyteller a free platform. Although he admits it wasn’t easy, Tyler has developed into a seasoned pro.
“I knew social media was my only way to be seen and heard,” says Tyler. “My worst fear is speaking to a camera but I knew if I wanted to get anywhere, I’d have to be able to do that. People want to buy from a person.”
When you check out Tyler’s videos on the forelinksgolf Instagram feed, you’ll see a guy who, despite his fears, does an excellent job of delivering his message in a very personal, human way. He draws you into the forelinksgolf story with his intimate style that reflects his personality and passion. When you watch his videos, you feel he’s talking directly to you.
“The first purchase doesn’t make a customer,” he explains. “The first time they buy, they’re just testing you out. They may like the story but no amount of storytelling can save a crappy product.”
In one of his videos, Tyler tells the story of those first gloves and how bad they were. He even gave them away free with orders of his improved glove (called the Cabsoft) so his customers could see for themselves the journey he’s taken.
“If I can stay transparent and give my customers the best experience they can get, from opening the box for the very first time to trying the glove on for the very first time, that’s when I can get them to be a repeat customer.”
The question of price
A single forelinksgolf Cabsoft sells for $27.99, while a three-pack order brings the per-glove price down to $19.99 with free shipping. New customers can also get $5 off their first order. He offers standard and cadet sizes for lefties and righties and men and women.
“I’m targeting golfers who value feel, fit and performance,” says Tyler. “If you value that, try my gloves. If you don’t, there are plenty of other brands out there, like MG or Costco, at lower prices.
I purchased a Cabsoft three-pack for a recent golf trip and can attest that they perform as advertised. The fit and feel are first-rate and a single glove is still in fine shape after nearly 60 holes and a fair bit of range time. It certainly holds its own versus other top-of-the-line gloves.
“When someone says your gloves are too expensive, I can tell them I have bundle deals but I do prioritize quality, performance, feel and fit. If that’s not for you, there are plenty of other great brands you can look to.”
Additionally, for every glove sold, Tyler donates $2 to Youth On Course, an international organization that helps youngsters learn and play the game for as little as $5 per round.
“I’m an alumnus,” says Tyler. “Without Youth On Course, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now. I want to give back.”
To infinity and beyond …
Whether it’s the design of his golf gloves or his Instagram videos, it’s apparent that Tyler puts a ton of thought into what he’s doing. That even extends to the forelinksgolf logo.
“The infinity logo means limitless,” he says. “I’ve seen a golfer with one arm hit the ball better than I can. I know a Navy vet with no legs who’s a stud on the golf course. It’s a limitless sport.”
Tyler is at an age when limits are for other people and there’s no trace of quit in him. That’ll sustain him through those rough spots when the P&L statements aren’t pretty.
As we said at the beginning, we vote with our dollars for the kind of world we want to live in. The kind of world I want to live in is the one in which kids like Tyler Nguyen – kids who work hard, who get it and do it the right way – see their hard work pay off. I need a world in which the Tyler Nguyens of the world are successful more than I need a cheap-ass golf glove.
‘My long-term goal is to make this passion business my full-time job,” he says. “I absolutely adore this game and if I can be a part of it and find a way to help golfers feel confident in my products, that’s what I want to do.”
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