THE TAKEAWAY GOLF

As the son of a golf professional and a collegiate golf coach, Tyler McDaniel was always surrounded by the latest and greatest golf gear. But nothing really, “sparked joy.” With that simple notion, his imagination kicked into gear and Tyler Golf Bags was brought to life from doodles in his college notebook.

In 2020, Tyler was building golf bags out of his college apartment. Then he started selling bags to his friends, then were friends of friends, and now all his customers are strangers - brand new customers that FOUND his brand. Hear about how it started and the steps he took to make it happen.

Janelle Sua, a South Bay native, learned to play the game by following her older brother along to the course like many younger sisters know all about! Throughout the milestones of Janelle’s life - 2012 / 2016 / 2020 - she’s been faced with the usual decisions in a golfer’s life: student or student-athlete / 9-5 or professional golf / podcast or no podcast? Of course, we all know the answer to that last milestone!

First, it was student-athlete - which was an amazing experience where she created the most meaningful relationships for her future. Second was professional golf but after clocking in hours in the golf workforce, Janelle decided to pivot to the PGA, PGM program and became an assistant professional at Rolling Hills Country Club. From there, her eyes opened up to many more opportunities that kept her in the golf world. And that’s where a lot of the third milestone decision came from - a golf podcast!

Sharing her experiences, Janelle wanted to shed light to the many facets of the golf industry many may not know about - to give other golf lovers the opportunity to take part in this beautiful game.

Be patient. It’s a process. Trust it.

Say yes to opportunities. Doors are there, just got to walk through them.

Hailing from Southern California, Cindy Oh graduated from Cal berkeley in 2019. Finishing as an honorable mention for the PAC-12 Team, Oh weighed the choice between professional life and work-life. Sadly, with a persistent back injury she decided to return home with an assistant professional job waiting for her.

Timing could not have been more perfect as a brand new movement swept the Los Angeles area called Urban Golf Performance (UGP) and Oh decided to apply for a position. within a year, Oh has worked her way into an Administrative Assistant position! 

With her ever changing day-to-day work schedule between taking inventory, scheduling meetings, and purchasing she is ready to ride the Urban Golf wave to new horizons!

Michelle Piyapattra grew up playing with the Takeaway Team in Southern California and after graduating from Columbia University in 2015, she threw her hat in to compete professionally. Now, five years laters, she is still swinging her way through the Symetra Tour. During her down time, Piyapattra keeps herself occupied by collecting skills including paralegalling, real estate, etc. but golf always finds its way back to her life. Even though 2020 has made life a little tougher, escaping to the first tournament of the year was her solace! With the support of her parents, boyfriend, amazing host families, and sponsors, she could not have asked of a better way to spend her years.

To the Takeaway Team, Todd Howerton has the dream job as a golf brand rep! As an individual contractor, Howerton gets to create his own hours, gets to choose which brands he represents, and everything he earns is his. Additionally, he gets to travel all over the Golden State to visit beautiful courses and match his product to the members’ needs. He’s just like a personal shopper for golf courses!!

However, when he first started his LLC, he had to grow up QUICK as the sole proprietor. On top of making his own calls, booking travel arrangements, and getting to know every course, he had to make sure to track and control all the finances that come in and go out. But even with that weighing on his mind, Howerton wakes up each morning excited to get to work, even if it starts at 6 am with emails and calls from the east coast!

Listen in to what it takes to run your own enterprise and how to be successful in the golf sales business now on our Apple Podcast.

Northern California native, Justin Suh, watched his older sister hit balls at the range with their dad closely watching. Every time the ball was hit, he got more and more excited for his turn! Finally stepping up, he swung and just like that, he fell in love with the game...

Climbing the ranks as a junior player, Suh earned a spot on the USC Men’s Golf team in 2016! During this time, he believed in two things -

1-Finishing his four years as a student. He graduated with a Business Administration Degree and knows he can always fall back on this throughout his life.

2-Developing and learning as much as he can as an athlete.

With the latter always in the back of his mind, Suh took advantage of the combined teachings of his coaches, worked hard on and off the course, and saw the positive perspective in every situation. As a result, in 2019, he transition from the #1 World Amateur Golf Ranking player to the professional circuit, debuting at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide!

April, Nancy, and Dr. Beth are talented women that make up SupHer Power Golf. Only being established for a year (2019) these ladies use their knowledge and expertise to encourage women of all ages on how to set yourself up to be your most confident for the golf course. And they do this all VIRTUALLY! If you don't have a power pose for the course, this team can help you find yours!

Derek Lane, the Director of Golf at Rolling Hills Country Club, works alongside with The Takeaway's Janelle Sua, as his Assistant Golf Professional. Derek explains why a smile goes a long way working in the golf industry.

Curiosity and the desire to be the best were Alison Curdt’ - LA’s only female PGA and LPGA Master Professional - foundation for her two self-named corporations where she aspires to develop athletes to their highest level of performance physically and mentally.

Two-time PGA Tour China winner, Kevin Techakanokboon has traveled the Asia circuit and gives us insight on what it's like as a playing professional.