Stuburt is making waves in the golf industry, as the first multi-team apparel partner in LIV Golf. We spoke to Worldwide Golf Brands MD Graeme Stevens to find out more about the ground-breaking deal.

Congratulations, how did the deal come about?
We’ve been looking for ways to elevate Stuburt over the last few years and we knew that LIV Golf teams were interested in doing their own commercial deals. It became clear last year that there were a number of teams looking for apparel partners. After some initial discussions I went out to Chicago and met with management teams to present the vision we have for the brand.

Sergio Garcia, Joaquin Niemann and Louis Oosthuizen all decided that they wanted their teams to work with Stuburt. This is a great deal for us and for the three teams: Fireballs GC, Torque GC, and Stinger GC.

Is this going to be a fresh start for Stuburt?
This is a new beginning. Outside of the UK, Stuburt isn’t well known so we have the opportunity to launch what is ultimately a global brand. We’re drawing a line in the sand here in the UK. We know that part of the launch will require challenging preconceptions of the brand amongst trade and consumers in the UK. We’ve built a business here on being price lead, but whilst we are still going to offer exceptional value for money, customers will notice a jump in quality of the product and in the finish.

We are investing in significant changes that will enable us to deliver a product that competes in the £30 to £45 category for a polo, for instance. We have introduced different suppliers, a dedicated design team, new and improved distribution and will support all of this with premium point of sale units.

To reflect the shift in the business, we are also ending third party distribution on Amazon. It might have been good for our numbers, but it does not help build a strong multi-national brand.

And we can already see that this approach will work. We have picked up new distribution deals off the back of these partnerships. For Example, The Pro Shop, the largest retail group in South Africa are stocking the Stinger GC merchandise this season. While Torque merchandise is being sold into South America.

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Having three teams, does that mean you are having to produce three collections?

Absolutely. The three LIV Golf teams will have their own collections separate from our main range. Think of it like a sportswear brand making their own collections, plus different ranges of products for the football teams they sponsor. This is new and exciting in the world of golf.

When Kate our designer went out to Miami last year, she had 40 designs per team. The captains have been really involved in the entire design process. All of them have had a really clear idea of what they wanted their team’s uniforms to look like and what garments they want in their collections. Each collection is really distinct and reflects their team spirit.
The teams have actually been wearing Stuburt team apparel all year. So Niemann was wearing Stuburt during his two LIV wins this season. Call me biased, but I think we have the strongest apparel in LIV Golf. The teams really stand out, even LIV commentators have talked about Sergio’s outfits on air. All of the team members and caddies will wear different uniforms throughout the year, so not all the styles have been seen yet.

We have great connections when it comes to sourcing apparel, and we are making the three teams some really great, high-quality products. What’s really exciting is the future of these collections. From 2025 all retailers will be able to buy into the new product, and our main collections will also align more closely with the LIV apparel in terms of quality, styling and the new Stuburt brand DNA.

This deal really helps elevate Stuburt and gives the brand instant credibility and visibility in new markets. Stingers’ Dean Burmester has won twice in South Africa, and Fireballs GC David Puig won on the Asian Tour. We’re going to have multiple players wearing Stuburt in the Majors this season. It would have cost us $10 million to get all these players in Stuburt with traditional sponsorship deals, so it’s a fantastic deal for us.

Will the teams be wearing Stuburt footwear?
I hope so. I’ve just come back from a trip to Vietnam where I’ve met with new suppliers who specialise in sports footwear. They understand what we want to achieve with Stuburt as a brand and I am excited to see what they can do to bring Stuburt golf shoes up to the level that we want. The plan is to do with footwear what we have already started to do with apparel and once that happens we will present the range to our LIV teams.

When will people start seeing the changes in the brand?
I think if people look back, they will see that these changes started over the last two years. This hasn’t been an overnight project. We’ve been improving design, fabrics our internal systems, logos, marketing, social media and website for what feels like a long time.
The product that fans will be able to buy at LIV events starting at the JCB in July is where we want the main collection to get to. While AW24 is an awesome collection, which we are really proud off, it will be SS25 where everything aligns in terms of the quality. We’re already working on that collection and it is really exciting.

Our distribution will be 10 times greater than we have had previously, and that’s only the start. We have orders already placed going into Australia, South Africa. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. From July Stuburt will be a truly global brand.

How has reception been to the news?
Crazy! And overwhelmingly positive. Of course there was some negativity on social media, but that’s to be expected. People need to understand that this is a new Stuburt supported with new investment.

We’ve had dozens of meetings all around the world with the team captains showing them fabrics, showing them designs, measuring them up. All three of them had other options for clothing deals, but they chose to team up with us.

If some of the best players in the world understand the vision and see the changes we are implementing, I don’t think it will take long to change preconceptions. The Stuburt of old is out. This is a new beginning. GR

For more info visit stuburt.com