Steady play brings good result

Written by Fritz Schranck. Posted in Golf Column

April 19, 2024

The Cape Henlopen High School golf team traveled to Heritage Shores Golf Club in Bridgeville April 16 and defeated the Blue Raiders of Woodbridge High School 174-231.

The Vikings posted the six lowest scores in a steady and tightly bunched pattern, led by first-time medalist Logan Gamuciello’s 40 on the back nine. Dalen Daminger’s 43 is his best varsity score for this season. Brendan Staggs shot a 45 in his first varsity match for 2024, followed by Chad Hughey’s 46, also a personal best in scholastic competition.

Gamuciello said he began his round with four straight pars, then a double bogey, then three bogeys, ending with a birdie finish on the par-5 18^th hole. “I made some crazy saves today,” he said. “My chipping was really good. I definitely could have played better, though. Just missed going below 40.”

Viking head coach Robert Harrod said, “It was a good day against an up-and-coming team trying to figure stuff out. Really cool kids, it was cool to watch our guys help them. It was also cool that after this round we have been able to play 11 of our 12 golfers. There were good scores across the board. It was a fun day watching the kids play golf. It was exciting to see Logan get into the act in his first varsity match and come out as medalist. I walked along and watched him play par golf, hit a bump, and then pull it all together to make birdie on the last hole. It was cool to see that for him. He was happy. I think he finally played the round of golf that he can play.”

“We have a lot of golfers in the mix. It’s a good place to be. Four [home] matches next week, that’ll be interesting,” he said.

Cape plays Milford at Jonathan’s Landing April 19. They host Lower Cape May Regional of New Jersey April 22, followed the next day by Delmar. The Vikings also have a tri-match April 24 against Laurel and Sussex Tech.

New golf apparel focus on boys

The Covid pandemic created a general boom in the golf business in the United States.

According to the National Golf Foundation, much of the significant boost in rounds played came from new entrants into the sport, especially women and children. Kids who might have otherwise been busy with little league or soccer gravitated to one of the few sports that did not experience major regulatory restrictions.

I observed one effect of this rise in junior golf play at last year’s PGA Show, with the new presence of Marie Birdie, a new apparel company aimed at young girl and tween golfers.

This year’s PGA Show continued that trend with two new companies that focus on boys’ clothing options.

Karly Barker of Charlotte, NC is the founder of Courtside Kids. Lindsey Leech of Charleston, SC founded Bear the Palm. Both are mothers of active boys who now love to play golf.

Their company origin stories sounded remarkably similar, based on what they observed as their boys played more and more golf. Barker said, “I saw a hole in the market” for boys’ golf apparel. Leech said, “I couldn’t find anything” for her boys Bear and Palmer, now ages 5 and 7. “The polos looked like they were shrunken down from men’s styles.”

Barker teamed up with former Lululemon designers to come up with a range of active wear using poly/spandex technical fabrics and boy-oriented features, such as liners inside the shorts.

Leech also came up with the liner idea for the shorts. In addition, both designs use a string system sewn inside the flexible waistband for adjusting the shorts to growing bodies. Leech said she wanted to make sure the polos looked good whether tucked or untucked.

That comment showed a mother’s appreciation for what easily happens to boys when they run amok.

Pricing for both lines are similar.

The Courtside Kids lines sell for $48 for shirts, $52 for shorts, and $56 for joggers. Bear the Palm’s polos range from $45 to $49, with shorts at $55 and joggers for $58.

Both noted positive reactions from club pros and buyers at the Show.

As they said, the buyers recognized the missing gap in potential sales that the two new companies addressed.

 “It’s been really good,” Barker said. “We’ve been having a lot of fun,” commented Leech.

In the meantime, the two companies are enjoying significant success with direct-to-consumer sales at their respective websites.

I was impressed with the fact that two young women with entrepreneurial mindsets decided to do something about a missing market niche that affected their sons.

With no signs of a significant drop in junior golf participation in the foreseeable future, I think they will be pleased at how they will profit from taking the initiative.

Local club competition results

The Mulligan’s Pointe Ladies played their opening match of the 2024 season April 16, pitting two-player teams against each other.

Maxine Ansbach and Terese Kane won first place, with M. L. York and Ann Reid in second. Peggy Claussen and Joann Foster finished third.