Holderness & Bourne: The Byers Duffel

One of the coolest parts of this blog has been the “you should meet” factor…

The more I’ve established myself here, the more I talk to people who say things like “you should meet so and so”.

The latest example of this was an introduction my buddy Al made to Alex Holderness and John Bourne.

The pair met at grad school in Yale, both went into finance, and last year left their positions to focus full time on their refined golf gear and apparel business Holderness & Bourne.

Immediately I could tell I was going to like the guys. We hopped on a call last week and shared stories about how we both left finance to focus on businesses that we really wanted to build.

I love those kind of stories, because I see so much of myself in them.

So great, John and Alex are cool guys, but what about their company? What’s it all about, and why would I take the time to write about them?

Because they’re exactly the type of company I’ve been looking for in the golf world.

I’m currently on the verge of turning 30, I play golf at some nice establishments, and my business is going great. However, I have yet to find a golf company that caters to me personally.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Nike gear, but many of their shirts are still not a fit for the tall, athletic guy. They’re focused on tech, not tradition.

The more traditional golf companies like Peter Millar or Cutter & Buck are squarely targeting the 40-50+ crowd. The clothes are baggy, and are better suited for my grandpa than myself.

There isn’t much middle ground that focuses on traditional style with a modern twist.  Tailored, high end products, that look good, but aren’t outrageously expensive.

This is where Holderness & Bourne come in.

Introducing the Holderness & Bourne Holiday Collection

Rather than write about their entire product line at once, I’m going to focus this article on The Byers Duffel which is part of their holiday collection.

I take a lot of short 2-3 day trips, yet I’ve never had a good weekend duffel bag. Something that looks good, is high quality, and makes me look like I’m 30 rather than 13.

I’m still lugging around a cheap Adidas workout bag for things like this.  Style points: zero.

When I got my Byers Duffel in the mail I could not have been more excited.

Why?

Because it was one of the few times I’ve ordered something online and the quality of the product actually exceeded (admittedly high) expectations.

John and Alex have spent the last year crafting this collection.

They spent weeks researching mills before deciding on Robert Noble – one of the most respected producers in the world. They obsessed over every detail of the American made product (working hand in hand with the factory in New Jersey).

The result? The finest piece of luggage I’ve ever owned.

The holiday collection features three products in three trims: a weekender duffel bag, a shoe bag, and a combo scorecard/passport holder.  I opted for the Herringbone, but each style is refined and unique. I would have been happy with any of them.

The bag sports a high end vegetable tanned leather, waxed canvas bottom, sturdy zippers and hardware, and a blue canvas strap that compliments the herringbone wool perfectly.

I think the coolest part about the bag in particular is the fact that if you put it in front of me and said “how much do you think this costs?” without hesitation I’d say $400-500. And it’d be worth that much.

But the price isn’t anywhere near that. It’s $195.

Don’t get me wrong, for a duffel bag that’s not cheap.  However, to me it’s still in the realm of what I’m willing to pay for something I’d use two dozen times over the course of the year.

Being able to get this type of quality at this price isn’t something you see everyday, and it’s part of the reason why it’s only a matter of time before Holderness & Bourne go from being a relatively unknown golf company, to one of the biggest boutique brands in the sport.

The verdict: The Byers Duffel from Holderness & Bourne is without a doubt the finest marriage of quality, price and style I’ve seen in a golf product this year.

If you’re thinking about giving a Holderness & Bourne product as a gift for this holiday season, make sure you order it by December 20th to ensure you receive it by Christmas. You can use the coupon code BREAKINGEIGHTY for 10% off between now and December 31st.