Jessica Cavolina - Golf Shop Manager at Maidstone Club

Alex Elias

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Courtesy of Jon Cavalier (@Linksgems)

As many know, walking into a Top 100 Pro Shop can feel as if it’s Christmas morning. Although a Holderness & Bourne or B. Draddy polo are excellent on their own, there is an extra sense of pride when a polo or hat displays a particular club’s logo, even more so when it’s a club like Maidstone Club. When speaking of the membership, Jessica Cavolina, Golf Shop Manager at Maidstone Club, said, “They want to represent where they belong and they are really proud of it. They want to display their pride.”

“It [the logo] tells a story. It gives us something to talk about. You see someone wearing a certain logo and right away it sparks a conversation,” said Cavolina. 

As the Golf Shop Manager at one of the country’s most prestigious clubs, Cavolina is perfectly positioned to witness the obsession surrounding golf merchandise first hand. While there is no denying that the members at Maidstone Club love their club and logo, the obsession surrounding golf merchandise may be even more visible when guests are fortunate enough to visit. Cavolina said, “We have guests that visit with members with an actual list written down. They visit and they leave having bought for like eight people, friends and family.”

“I remember one guest last year in particular. He came into the shop with a list of items and asked, ‘Do you mind?’ I responded, ‘Do I mind? That’s awesome,’” said Cavolina.

​As a result of items flying off the shelves, Cavolina is extremely busy doing the job she loves. Cavolina said, “When you need to sit down and put together a 2,000 piece hat order, it’s not as easy as it sounds. It makes my head want to explode, but it’s so fun and rewarding when you get that hat in your hand.”

Over Cavolina’s twenty-one years in the golf business, Cavolina has witnessed a change that she described as, “It’s always evolving and it’s always very cyclical. When I started, it was all about cotton polos and we didn’t sell many polyester polos. Then, Tiger started wearing the mock short sleeve shirt and members began to want to buy and wear that. Then, it went all the way poly and hardly any cotton and now it’s trending back to cotton.”

​Another example would be rope hats. Cavolina said, “Those were popular in the '80s and '90s and now they’ve come back. I can’t keep them in stock.”

​Currently, Cavolina said, “The whole trend in the golf industry is leaning towards lifestyle. It’s not for just golf anymore. They’re making golf clothes that can be worn to dinner.”

“That’s why companies like Peter Millar saw what B. Draddy was doing and made their own B.Draddy shirt: The Seaside Collection, but you see what they’ve [B. Draddy] done too. They’ve added a sport line,” said Cavolina. “You have to constantly pay attention to what people are asking for and what they’re buying. I want to give you an outfit to get you out of the car, onto the course and off to dinner.”