The RBC Canadian Open will be one of the few places this week where you are likely to see headcovers bearing the colours and logos of major club manufacturers – after all, the vast majority of players in the field are being paid handsomely to fly the flags of their image-conscious sponsors.
Go to the average public course, however, and you might see something entirely different.
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Pro golfers make sure their golf bags are well-protected and carefully guarded to prevent theft. Joe golfers don’t have that luxury. You and me, we need to take steps to avoid seeing that $500 driver or $250 3-wood wander off in the hot little hands of some unscrupulous thief.
Job1 in that regard is to do away with the headcover that came with your club. Keep it on your bag and you might as well post a sign that says, “Steal me and put me on eBay.”
So what’s a style-minded, patriotic Canadian to do during Open week? AB Golf Designs has the answer.
AB Golf has been having great success with their new line of throwback knitted pom-pom headcovers, which have a modern twist — they’re made out of recycled plastic containers.
And in case you haven’t noticed, the throwbacks are making a comeback. Companies like AB and Rocket Tour Golf are making a name for themselves with knitted and vinyl offerings that give your modern-day bag a bit of a retro-bling look, all the while hiding your high-tech hardware from the prying eyes of a would-be thief.
“We’ve noticed that a lot of people don’t like the OEM covers anymore; they’re either too hard to put on and take off, or they’re branding your clubs, so they get stolen more often,” AB co-founder Chip Burley ( no, that’s not a Hardy Boys character, it’s his real name) said earlier this year in an interview at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.
“These kinda hide it.”
And if you have ever coveted the pugilistic proclivities of players like Esteban Toledo or Pat Perez, AB has just the thing – boxing-glove headcovers adorned with the flag of the country of your choice.
And just in time for the Canadian Open, which gets underway today at Shaughnessy Golf Club in Vancouver, B.C., comes the Maple Leaf version. It’s perfect for those days on the course when things didn’t go so well and you feel like going a few rounds after your round.
Maybe your buddies don’t want to make good on their wagers, or you feel like wailing on that course ranger who gave you a hard time on 13 tee. Now you can extract a measure of revenge without having to retreat to the clubhouse because your knuckles are bleeding!
AB Golf used to be Butthead Covers, a small U.S. company that was known primarily for one thing and one thing only: headcovers that resembled the backsides of animals.
Yeah, you read that right.
“For us, we’re really starting to get recognized,” Burley said. “Last year, people were a bit confused; we even had some signs up that said, ‘Formerly Butthead Covers, now it’s AB Golf.’
“People are now starting to recognize our logo and AB Golf and, ‘Oh yeah, they’ve got the Butthead line,’ but it’s not all about Butthead anymore.”
Shortly after buying out the company, Burley realized AB would have to diversify its product line.
“We’ve basically got something for everybody, which was our goal,” he said.
“You can’t get into a stuffy country club with a baboon ass.”
