FORE Magazine

Top Menu

  • About Me
  • Contact Us
  • Home

Main Menu

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

FORE Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
ProfilesSummer 2016
Home›Profiles›Straight Down: Q&A With CEO Mike Rowley

Straight Down: Q&A With CEO Mike Rowley

By Jonathan Coe
July 1, 2016
12698
0
Share:
Straight Down

Based in San Luis Obispo, Straight Down is a golf/lifestyle apparel brand founded by Mike Rowley. The company strives to stand out in the consumer’s closet, being one of the first choices off the rack. We caught up with Rowley to discuss the birth and steady growth of the Southern California-based company.

What is SStraight-Downstraight Down?

Straight Down is a fashion lifestyle clothing brand that serves to the green grass market throughout all of North America and other parts of the world. We are a lifestyle brand.

What is your professional background?

Well, you ready? I played water polo in college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and was working my way through the coaching ranks when I hosted the Junior Olympics in 1987. So, I made up a tee shirt for the event and ended up selling thousands of them during that weekend. Afterwards, I said to myself ‘I need to do something with this.’

Did you have a golf background?

I came from a golfing family. My uncle and my grandfather were really solid players in the Southern California circuit. In fact, my grandfather Fay Coleman won the SCGA Amateur Championship in 1928 and 1930. He used to play a lot of his practice rounds with Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and all of those guys.

How does your brand differentiate itself from the rest of the competition?

We try to do it with product. We have a couple of trailer events that we started about 10 years ago now and you’re starting to see other companies now using the same concept. Our whole team is always looking out of the windshield and never the rear view mirror.

Does the brand reflect your SoCal roots?

Yeah, that’s my DNA. If we were playing a football game, our brand only operates within the 40-yard lines. We don’t like to get too crazy with new ideas because the wheel has already been made, we just need to get out ahead of the game with things like colors and stitching.

Mike-RowleyBiggest hurdle faced up to this point?

There are different levels of hurdles. In the early days, the biggest issue was capital and trying to figure out how to do it all. When capital was no longer an issue during these past 15 years, the hurdle was trying to get the right people employed here that have the same vision as the company. Companies are built on people, not product.

What’s been the most rewarding moment?

I love when we find a product that people love. When people get dressed in the morning, we want to be one of their ‘go-to’ picks. In an individual’s closet, only about 20 percent of the clothes in there are ever worn and it’s rewarding to be considered in that percentage.

What does the future hold for Straight Down?

I would love to stay at the pace we are going now. We’re growing at a pace that’s not too fast and certainly not too slow. In the next five or ten years, we’re going to have tremendous growth through good economy and bad. We have to stay very innovative in our styling and our relationships with the customers. It’ll be important to be good listeners and watchers of the market. We will continue to build this company one product at a time.

Check out the Straight Down product at straightdown.com.

Previous Article

Golf’s Little Leagues: PGA Junior League is ...

Next Article

Balance Power

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Jonathan Coe

Related articles More from author

  • ProfilesWinter 2021

    Farewell to Arms

    January 15, 2021
    By Jill Painter Lopez
  • Profiles

    Mike Trout: From the Batting Cages to the Links

    May 30, 2017
    By Jill Painter Lopez
  • Cobra- Rickies Rise
    ProfilesSummer 2015

    Rickie’s Rise: Good for Cobra Puma, Good for Golf

    July 1, 2015
    By Corey Ross
  • Callaway CEO
    Fall 2015Profiles

    The Comeback at Callaway: How new President and CEO Chip Brewer is reviving a Legacy

    October 1, 2015
    By Corey Ross
  • Profiles

    ‘Iron Man’ Bob Roth Plays 10,000th Round

    May 23, 2018
    By Bob Buttitta
  • PGA Little League
    NewsSummer 2016

    Golf’s Little Leagues: PGA Junior League is Exposing Kids to a New Form of Team Golf

    July 1, 2016
    By Tod Leonard

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • FeaturedTravelWinter 2023

    Cactus Makes Perfect: Travelin’ Joe’s Top Six 36-Hole Arizona Desert Courses you can Play

  • FeaturedThe PodiumWinter 2023

    Changing of the Guard: New Galleri Classic Set to Debut in the Desert

  • 19th HoleFeaturedWinter 2023

    Best Ball Bar & Grill: Woodley Lakes GC Gets a Big Culinary Upgrade

  • FeaturedPublic AffairsWinter 2023

    Grass by Design: Pure Research Yields New Strains of Drought-Tolerant Grass

  • FeaturedProfilesWinter 2023

    Don’t Bet Against Jesse: The Double-Amputee War Veteran has Overcome Injury and Addiction on his Way to a Winning Career in Golf

FOLLOW US

Facebook 0Fans
Twitter 0Followers
Instagram 0Followers
Youtube 0Subscriber
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Changing of the Guard: New Galleri Classic Set to Debut in the Desert

    By Judd Spicer
    February 7, 2023
  • New Year’s Daze: Looking Forward and Looking Back at your Handicap

    By Kevin O'Connor
    February 7, 2023
  • Grass by Design: Pure Research Yields New Strains of Drought-Tolerant Grass

    By Craig Kessler
    February 7, 2023
  • Best Ball Bar & Grill: Woodley Lakes GC Gets a Big Culinary Upgrade

    By David Weiss
    February 7, 2023
  • Making a Future in Golf a Reality: Skylar Graham and the Pathways Internship

    By Ken Van Vechten
    February 7, 2023
  • The Diva Golfer

    By Azucena Maldonado
    January 31, 2017
  • The USGA’s Major Proposed Changes to the Rules of Golf

    By admin
    December 14, 2017
  • Stand By Me: Temecula Native Joe Skovron On Life As Rickie Fowler’s Caddie

    By Jonathan Coe
    October 26, 2016
  • Watching the Tiger Watchers

    By Andy Brumer
    February 20, 2018
  • Remembering Jim Murray: Best of the Best

    By Bill Dwyre
    February 14, 2017
  • Julie
    on
    November 13, 2022

    The Single Life: The Simple Pleasures of Being “That Guy”

    Thanks for this. I ...
  • free proxy list
    on
    December 5, 2018

    Top 4 College Golf Names You Need To Know

    Hello,I log on to ...
  • Adela C. Garcia
    on
    November 17, 2018

    Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”

    Azucena Maldonado is a ...
  • Rose Sauceda
    on
    November 15, 2018

    Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”

    Congratulations my lovely Amiga ...
  • Judy Carls
    on
    November 15, 2018

    The Gilded One: Eldorado CC

    Excellent magazine..thank you Judy Carls LPGA ...

RECENT COMMENTS

  • Julie on The Single Life: The Simple Pleasures of Being “That Guy”
  • free proxy list on Top 4 College Golf Names You Need To Know
  • Adela C. Garcia on Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”
  • Rose Sauceda on Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”
  • Judy Carls on The Gilded One: Eldorado CC
© 2016 FORE Magazine About Us | Contact Us | Advertise