Golf Doesn’t Need To Look A Certain Way. Just Ask Paré

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever accomplished?

If we went around the room, there would be a myriad of good answers.

“I ran a marathon!”

“I taught myself the piano!”

“I overcame a crippling addiction!”

All of these answers, and many more, have one common thread. You see the second word in each sentence? That right there is a verb, or in layman’s terms, an action.

That’s the point. To climb the mountain top, you’ve got to DO something. You’ve got to start. Often, getting yourself to that point is harder than making it to the proverbial summit.

In the case of Matt Sakdalan of Paré (pronounced pah-reh), just getting started seemed insurmountable. After all, who needs another golf apparel brand? If you knew anything about Sakdalan and the Pare Golf, you wouldn’t be asking that question. Instead, you’d be asking, “Why isn’t there more of this in golf?”

Paré isn’t an apparel brand. It’s a message …. a mission cleverly disguised as pastel mockneck polos and trendy dad hats.

“Golf, growing up was so stuffy, and I stood out” Sakdalan said in our interview. “I want people to understand like, you know, just because golf looks a specific way doesn’t mean you have to look a specific way.”

Sakdalan, a Filipino, wasn’t like the other golfers. And so, of course, Paré isn’t like the other golf apparel brands.

 “I’m here to play in the space!” Sadkalan exclaimed. ” I’m here to just make a difference. I’m not here to make a, you know, a new polo for you. I’m here to just kind of change your perspective on what golf could look like, especially from a Filipino lens.”

That message has already started to resonate with golfers. Key stakeholders in the fashion world took notice as well. Paré got an invite to Paris Fashion Week, exposing this little Filipino golf brand to a global market.

No big deal. At least not for Sakdalan. Rather than boast and brag about the newfound success, the reason he (and Paré) are seeing success amidst a hyper-competitive sea of golf brands is simple: gratitude.

“It’s such a crowded market, and some of those players are very close friends, and the fact that some people are willing to choose me to take a chance at showcasing my product, I couldn’t be any more thankful,” Sakdalan said. ” I don’t ever take that for granted.”

Because after all is said and done, Sakdalan isn’t in it for money. Or fame. Or even showing off his creations at Paris Fashion Week. He’s in it for the culture.

“Filipino culture and heritage is so important, and I think it definitely has a space in this industry, and I want people to know that more than anything.”