He runs a golf glove company from his bedroom – and it’s helping junior golfers

On Sunday, at the pro shop at Santa Teresa Golf Club, an hour’s drive south of San Francisco, you can buy a set of balls, grab a bag of T-shirts and take a photo with the “Father of the Glove.”

A customer recently called Tyler Nguyen that, which made him smile.

Nguyen, 26, is not yet anyone’s father. Nor is he a powerful industry figure. He’s the founder of Forelinksgolf, a bootstrapped golf glove startup that he runs out of his bedroom at his parents’ house. Sales are picking up. But Nguyen still works three jobs, including weekend shifts at the public facility where he first learned the game, and his green fees are subsidized by Youth on Course — the youth golf program his company now supports.

“Beyond a great product, I realized my greatest asset is my story,” Nguyen said. “An important part of the story is giving back.”

The story begins when Nguyen was 13, the older of two boys born to Vietnamese immigrants. His father worked in construction and, like many busy parents, used his free time between work and family time to swing a golf club. Ruan followed suit. Soon after, his parents dropped him off at Santa Teresa at dawn and picked him up at dusk. The course is not expensive by industry standards. But $40 a day adds up to enough.

“There are days when I’m just hitting balls on the range instead of hitting balls,” Nguyen said. “It was just too much for us at the time.”

The financial stress ended a few months later when Nguyen heard other kids talking about Youth on Course, a nonprofit that allows teens to play on thousands of courses across the United States, Canada and Australia for $5 or less. The calculation method has changed.

“[Youth on Course] Gave me an opportunity to continue competing without financial barriers,” Nguyen said. “Without it, I don’t know if I would have stayed in competition. “

He persevered and played on the high school team with Justin Suh, who played on the PGA Tour. Nguyen can also play golf, but he has no illusions. He had to find a different path into the game.

While studying economics at San Jose State University, he indulged in entrepreneurship, orchestrating direct sales of cat beds, alarm clocks, hoodies, and anything else he thought might sell. Just did something.

After college, he got a job in marketing and started his own side business: an online golf apparel store called Forelinksgolf. Just like a hard day of lessons, businesses teach us hard lessons. Chief among them: Cutting corners on quality is a good way to end up with a bunch of ugly shirts.

Through contacts he maintained in Santa Teresa, Nguyen also found a part-time job working behind the counter of a specialty store. It comes with perks (free golf) and something else: a front-row view of how the merchandise moves. After the golf ball, nothing moves faster than the glove, and just like the ball, golfers will blow through the glove in different ways.

Around that time, Nguyen was reading Phil Knight’s memoir “Shoe Dog,” Absorb its message about brand building and risk-taking. He tried manufacturing gloves overseas. The first run was made in China and didn’t work out well. It reminded him of something else he’d noticed in the pro shop. Most high-quality golf gloves are made in Indonesia.

Ruan Leng said that the manufacturer has it. Several people replied. He was invited to visit. Nguyen booked his first international flight and headed to Jakarta with notebooks, samples and a camera to document the trip—partly for posterity and mostly to show customers that he wasn’t putting his name on generic imported products. He wanted people to see the craft.

In July 2024, Forelinksgolf transformed into a different business, focusing solely on gloves. Sales gradually increased. Then came a positive review from a golf website. Orders surged. Inventory disappeared.

The product itself is a point of pride: The full-grain Cabretta leather is cut slightly thicker (approximately 0.50 mm) than the industry standard of 0.40 to 0.45 mm.

“On paper, it might not sound like a big difference,” Nguyen said.

On the one hand, though, it translates into a glove that’s durable but still delicate enough to feel “like a second skin,” he said. Nguyen won’t promise a specific lifespan, but he expects his gloves to last longer than leading brands. Retail price is $27.99.

Nguyen thinks a lot about his business. He also often thinks about the boost he got when he first got hooked on the game as a kid. About a year ago, he formed a partnership with Youth on Course, through which he will donate $2 from every sale to the organization. As the number of “teenagers on the course” increases, so does the number of such inquiries. Most were unsuccessful.

“But Taylor’s is different,” said Michael Lowe, head of impact at Youth on Course. “We serve so many young people and we hope this has a positive impact on all of them. But his journey has been truly remarkable. What could be better than an alumnus starting his own brand? And donating to the company at its inception. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

For Nguyen, it felt like a debt paid off. He has more money in his coffers than ever before. In 2024, Forelinksgolf’s revenue is $10,000. Nguyen said the company is on track to hit $150,000 in revenue this year.

“We’re not trying to outdo the giants in this space,” Nguyen said. “We just want to carve our own path based on our story of community and trust.”

By “us” he means himself. Although his parents are sometimes involved in boxing and hauling, Nguyen is Forelinksgolf’s only employee.

Currently, he is still holding on to other jobs, pursuing his dreams while staying firmly grounded in reality. The company’s gloves are sold online and at three brick-and-mortar stores, including Santa Teresa. But Forelinksgolf’s logo (the infinity symbol) reflects the view of its founder, who believed golf was a game of endless possibilities.

“No matter how old you are, no matter how big or strong you are,” he said. “You can make it the game of your life.”

You could even turn it into a business, one strong enough to house a bedroom, replace a side hustle, and inspire a not-quite-joking nickname.

One day, the father of the glove might actually fit in.