Kingsmen Golf: How this 2-Year-Old Apparel Company is Finding Success in San Diego
Donald Burlock, former San Francisco tech designer launches golf apparel company.
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Donald Burlock is a founder of Kingsmen Golf, a San Diego-based apparel brand that was designed to be worn both on and off the golf course.
The 40-year-old entrepreneur previously worked at top global companies, including Meta, Capital One, and Amazon before building a company of his own.
Kingsmen is privately funded by Mr. Burlock, who is the sole owner. The company has seen growing demand for its golf apparel due to its social media presence.
Launched in 2023, the direct-to-consumer startup recently reached $100,000 in annual revenue. More impressively, it is profitable, has less than five employees, and has not raised a single dollar in venture capital funding.
“Kingsmen is a lifestyle brand,” Donald Burlock told me on the phone. “Our company is fully bootstrapped. I decided I was going to put my own savings toward the first order purchase, which was around $9,000 dollars. I’d say the majority of our sales have come from hustling in-person. We've been fortunate to get larger wholesale orders from tournament organizers, and that's also led to some really good income.”
Founding Story
Mr. Burlock spent more than a decade working at the intersection of product design and development. He moved to San Diego in 2020 from the San Francisco Bay Area, and spent his free time enjoying the outdoors and playing golf.
In 2022, he began pursuing a creative side hustle, which included designing a logo, selecting the right patterns, and identifying the best manufacturing partner.
“My first round was played with some college friends during a trip in Cancun, and that’s when the bug bit me,” said Burlock, adding that he later returned to the sport years later after moving to San Diego, where he invested more time into the sport.
“During that time, the brand started to take shape,” said Burlock. “I knew I wanted to create a brand that balanced performance with the diversity of new players from all different cultural experiences getting into the game.”
“That’s when Kingsmen really went from some logo and pattern explorations to the formation of a company,” he said. Fast forward to today, the San Diego-based brand sells golf polos, tapered trousers, quarter-zip sweaters, among other items.
Building the Brand On and Off The Course
Since its founding in 2023, Burlock’s personal passion for golf became professional when he began posting about it on Instagram. “Social media has given us some social proof,” said Burlock. “But we are still in the early days where we’re trying to figure out what's going to help us grow online sales.”
On average, Kingsmen sees a range between 50 to 100 orders a month, with a return purchase rate of nearly 20%. “Most of the customers who fall in love with the product, when they come back, they end up spending more with us. The average order value increases throughout the year as we continue to release new products regularly.”
To date, one of the biggest accounts for Kingsmen has been Balboa Park Golf Course.
“It’s a high-traffic golf course,” said Burlock. “We’ve hit some really good sales numbers there. Obviously, the course is well-maintained, city-owned and represents golfers with disposable income. There’s also many who are considered working class, who aren’t playing at the country club every week, who buy our products.”
Thoughts on San Diego’s Business Scene
There are several San Diego-based golf-related companies making a name for themselves in the industry including golf bag makers Sunday Golf, Vessel Golf, and Fairway Finder — a mobile app that helps players book tee times.
Burlock had plenty of positive praise for San Diego, in terms of providing the opportunity for up-and-coming brands succeed in the space. He also mentioned it is a different culture compared to the Bay Area.
“San Diego is great in terms of lifestyle,” said Burlock. “It has this mix of the transient people who are here because this is a destination, plus you’ve got a lot of people who’ve spent most of their lives here — who build long-standing relationships, even if they’re not native San Diegans.
“In contrast to the experience I had in the Bay Area, you had to operate in a very transactional way, largely due to the nature of the startup scene there.”
Well done sir! I like the overall look and feel of your site. Business must be good, because several of the items I liked were sold out. I know a bit about this business--happy to chat, if you'd like.... Richie Goldman (aka Curmudg)