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Sunfish shines with fast, affordable custom head covers and leather goods

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One of the reasons many golfers spend so much time perfecting everything about their bag? It says a lot about their game, as well as who they are off the course.

Nashville-based Sunfish is known for its wool head covers, but in recent years the company has expanded into leather head covers, cash covers and scorebook/yardage book holders. We spoke with Sunfish Co-Founder Alonzo Guess and Minister of Marketing Nathan Stiteler about the company’s growth, and what it’s doing to help golfers get the perfect gear for their game.

WRX: Custom golf clubs have increased in popularity in recent years. Is the same true for custom golf accessories?

Alonzo: We are definitely seeing a trend toward more customized accessories, for on and off the course. It’s been great working with our customers to expand our range of custom options in response to this demand. We take feedback very seriously when considering new product offerings. Many of our design decisions are made based on feedback we see on the GolfWRX forums.

WRX: What can be customized from Sunfish? What can’t be?

SunFish's college cash covers.

SunFish’s college cash covers.

Nathan: We like to keep an open-door policy with custom requests. A lot of our greatest product ideas have come from our customers requesting something out of the norm. Right now, our website allows our customers to completely design their own knit and leather headcovers, scorecard and yardage book holders, and cash covers. There are a few new products that are in the works to add to that list. We always encourage people to let us know if there are options that they’d like to see, so we can add them to our custom builders. So really, the sky is the limit. If you can dream it up, chances are we can make it happen.

WRX: Tell us more about your “greatest product ideas” that have come from customers. 

Nathan: My personal favorite item created by a customer is the infamous Ric Flair headcover. We’ve gotten so many calls about this headcover that we had to add it to our store permanently, and have started to pursue character items a bit more. The Ric Flair has also made for a pretty entertaining GolfWRX thread as well. This item is a sure way to make your friends jealous on the course.

octopus engraved

A custom Sunfish leather scorecard/yardage book holder with laser engraving.

Another great idea and recent addition is our laser engraving option. This option gives us the ability to turn around leather items with personalized images and text extremely quickly and with high precision, which is definitely a life saver for customers who find themselves in a time pinch. Having this full range of custom options has also paved the way for big tournament orders as well. A lot of customers who have built out their own personal items with us have gone on to order for tournaments, charities, and other events.

WRX: Are your sales primarily to individuals or groups? For both groups, what is most popular right now?

Custom Leather Headcover

Alonzo: We consistently work with individuals and groups, and the most popular category for both are our custom options. Designing your next custom order is a fun process, and one thing our customers find helpful is seeing examples of our work. To make this process easier and more fun, we’ve recently created a brand new image gallery. It’s a great way to have fun looking at our work, while generating ideas for your next order. For individuals who already know what they want, they can use our custom product builder on our website. If someone is looking to customize some products for their golf shop, or is wanting something special for an upcoming event or tournament, they can reach us directly at [email protected] or complete a wholesale contact on our site. In all cases, we’re happy to work with those looking to create something unique at a great price.

WRX: Thanks guys. 

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5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. Randy

    Jul 11, 2016 at 10:04 am

    I’ve dealt with these guys in the past. They seem like real straight shooters. Would highly recommend.

  2. Ben

    Jul 11, 2016 at 8:46 am

    I think the website needs updating. Tried building a custom leather headcover, but decided not to order because there is no preview function. If I’m going to drop $60+ on a single headcover I should be able to see what it looks like before I order.

    • RAT

      Jul 12, 2016 at 2:23 pm

      I AGREE with you! They need a way to see how yours will look when finished..

  3. steve

    Jul 10, 2016 at 6:29 pm

    Problem with knits is if you carry a 3w,5w and hybrid. the 3w and 5w have the same headcover, so many times hitting 3 wood off the tee, take the headcover off on the teebox and it is the 5w. have to walk back and get the 3w. now i use a different color knit for the 5w.

    • Adam

      Jul 10, 2016 at 8:17 pm

      There’s a simple solution. Order them customized and match the number of stripes to the club. I was playing a 3W, 3H, and 4H last year. I had my hybrid headcovers white with yellow stripes, three stripes on the 3H and four stripes on the 4H. The 3W was yellow with three white stripes so I knew the difference. The mis-match looked great.

      As for Sunfish, I wouldn’t recommend. I’m careful with my headcovers but the stitches keep breaking.

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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