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It is enough to drive you to drink. In Ontario, after weeks away, patios are finally reopening, and golfers can kick back and regale or delude themselves with stories of successes and failures while putting back a couple of cold ones. For Geoff Tait, the timing couldn’t be better – or more important.
Tait is the founder of Triple Bogey, a golf-specific beer that captured the imagination – and quenched the thirst – of golfers throughout Canada since he first dreamed up the idea eight years ago. But he’s experienced the challenges of navigating the golf business during a pandemic, and it was a rocky ride for a business that is still driven by Tait’s enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit.
“We’ve been at the mercy of a guy who decides to flip the switch whenever he wants,” said Tait, 42, from his Toronto office. “I’ve worked really hard to get to this place, to build 28-year’s worth of relationships with people across the business. It has been such a (bleeping) mess.”
Only, of course, he didn’t use the word “bleeping,” but another that one might use in more casual conversation. He punctuates his speech with the occasional f-bomb because for Tait, there’s no holding back. He’s always been authentically himself, from his early days working at St. Thomas Golf and Country Club, about a half-hour from London, Ontario, through to developing the Quagmire clothing brand, which he helped run for seven years starting in 2005.
Along the way, Tait became a central part of the Canadian golf business, whether it was hanging out with Arnold Palmer during a short-lived stint in which Quagmire ran the golfer’s clothing line, or running around after the 2008 RBC Canadian Open when Chez Reavie unexpectedly outlasted the field while wearing clothing designed by Tait.
After Quagmire folded in the midst of a disagreement with his business partner, Tait, then in his mid-30s, looked at his options. He’d spent his life around golf, often hanging with friends having a few drinks during or after a round. Tait had the personality and the energy to pursue something different, and it didn’t take long for him to lock onto a new idea. The concept was simple – golfers drink beer, so why not give them their own brand?
The concept of Triple Bogey was pure Tait. He’s never been one to treat golf with too much reverence. He recognizes that most golfers are hacks hoping to break 90 while hanging with their friends for four hours. If a round goes sideways, well, why not have a couple of beers? The company’s tagline – “Better hit another” – demonstrates the whimsical style Tait brought to the business. In beer, as in golf, sometimes you need to tee another one up.
Last year, before the world changed, Triple Bogey was poised for a breakthrough. Tait had the company well positioned in western Canada, growing the business in Alberta specifically. He had a new arrangement with a company from London that brewed his beer. He had an amber offering and expanded the line to include a light beer and even wine in a can. Everything was going great, until it wasn’t.
“We had 2½ months of nothing,” he said.
When the pandemic hit, no one knew what the future would hold. Golf was shut down and so, largely, was Tait’s business. Then, just as suddenly, it reopened, and as golf surged, so did the demand for beer. If you couldn’t hang out at a bar with your buddies, you could at least have a couple of drinks on the course. Triple Bogey’s popularity exploded, leaving Tait struggling to keep up.
This year he was prepared. Even when Ontario shut down golf amidst the COVID-19 third wave, Tait never shut off the taps. That meant when golf returned in late May, Triple Bogey had a well-stocked pipeline and was prepared for every thirsty golfer who wanted to drown out that three-putt on their last hole.
“It’ll be golf’s biggest year ever,” Tait said. “And it’ll be great for us too. Everyone has been through it already and knows what to expect. There’s so many young people coming to the game who think golf is cool again. Time to get people hooked.”
Whether Tait means hooked on golf or on his beer, it really doesn’t make a difference. His business is so deeply connected to the game that what benefits golf is great for Triple Bogey.
What’s next? Tait says some people have made inquiries about the brand, but he’s not prepared to move on. Triple Bogey is his baby – and he wants to see exactly how big he can go.
“I’m in my forties,” he said. “How do you reinvent yourself again? And I don’t know if I could work for someone else.”
Better hit another indeed. For Tait, it is just a question of how many and for how long.
E-Mail Robert