DUO HAS CLUBS COVERED
TWO local players hope to continue Geelong’s proud manufacturing history by designing and producing golf club covers.
Travis Mott and David Laherty’s concept has received international interest since it came to life at the height of COVID last year.
The pair had discussed the idea for a while but put their plans into action when Laherty was on reduced hours. The golf tragics got to work and came up with start-up business 4GolfCo.
“So much negative came out of COVID and for us it was really positive,” Mott said.
“It gave us something to think about other than all the negative stuff. It gave us something to look forward to.
“We’re both keenly interested in golf … (and) that makes it easy as well.”
The two have sold about 100 driver, wood, hybrid and putter covers, including sales in the US and Europe though
its promotion on social media. The product is made locally by a Deakin University student — “she’s just a craft whiz,” Laherty said — and fabrics are sourced from leading retailers and reclaimed materials, including a mix of eclectic and traditional appearances to suit different personalities.
“It’s really only the last five or six months that we’ve found somebody who can make them the way we want them made,” Mott said.
“It’s hard when you come from a background that’s not manufacturing to know what you’re doing but Geelong has a rich history of manufacturing. We’ve both
got family history in this town so it’s good to be able to manufacture something when (Geelong) has a rich history of manufacturing.”
Laherty has since returned to his full-time position and the two hope sales will help pay for a golf trip. But they both agreed it had the ability to go further. “I posted three today to someone in Tootgarook, who saw our head covers in Melbourne, followed us on Instagram and then he’s gone and brought some,” Mott said. “You’ve got to remember (Geelong’s) Nigel Austin started Cotton On selling acid-wash jeans in a Sunday market. Anything could happen.”