Eastside Golf Is Changing How The Game Looks By Being Authentic

Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper founded Eastside Golf in 2019 with the goal of creating a brand that opened doors and welcomed more people into the game that hasn’t always featured a lot of folks that look like them. The two alums of the Morehouse golf team started with the mantra “Be Authentic,” looking to create a brand that could not just sell in the golf space, but would allow more people to feel comfortable being there.

The phrase “grow the game” is often overused in the world of golf, with tournaments, sponsors, tours, and brands throwing it around with little substance to back it up. But it is truly at the heart of what Eastside Golf does, and they go about it in a few ways. One is creating a brand that people who aren’t from the traditional golf backgrounds can see themselves in and want to wear, which had to start with the logo and making sure the brand’s ethos shined through in it.

“When you think about a logo, you really think about the surroundings of that logo,” Ajanaku, who serves as the Creative Director, explained. “You take into account our logo, and you think about, what’s the surroundings on a … I’d say diverse gentleman, jeans, sweatshirt, and Cuban link chain, but he’s playing golf. I bet he has a very interesting story, you know? It’s a whole new way of seeing the golf realm, and truly growing from an aspect of a different lens. Early on, when we started this, our ‘Just Do It’ is ‘Be Authentic.'”

That logo quickly stood out in the golf space and resonated with a lot of people who haven’t always seen representation in the game of golf. Among them is former Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, who became an early investor in Eastside Golf after he began his own golf journey. Cruz picked up the game as his daughter started to play it, and felt an immediate connection to Eastside when he first saw the logo.

“The first time I saw the logo, the first time I saw some of the apparel, I saw myself in it. You know, I saw myself as the logo,” Cruz said. “I saw myself like, ‘Oh, that’s cool. I want to be able to embody that logo and be part of whatever that brings.’ I want to be part of that community that’s representing that logo and that can be like us. And I was like, okay, that is what’s going to encourage people. No matter what color you were — black, white, Spanish — you saw yourself, an inner city kid looking how you dressed in the moment, swinging a golf club. That’s cool.”

The challenge in truly growing the game of golf is finding ways to break down the many barriers of entry. The biggest of those is the cost of playing golf, from buying clubs to paying for rounds to even having apparel. Investment in public golf and municipal golf, which provides spaces to play and tend to be much more budget-friendly, is vital. The increase in sim golf options and interactive ranges like TopGolf have helped create more spaces for people to play and learn the game, stripping away some of the cost of entry by providing clubs to learn with and lowering the demands of traveling out to a course for those in the city.

However, the truth is that golf is a game of investment, both in terms of time and money. That means to truly grow the game, people have to want to spend both on golf, and that can only happen if they feel comfortable and welcomed. That is where Eastside Golf’s impact is at its largest. Creating clothes, shoes, and accessories people want to wear and have with them on and off the course is legitimately important to getting more people into the game. No one wants to stay in a space where they feel they don’t belong — much less invest as much time and money as golf requires — if they feel they have to become someone different at the course.

In their latest capsule, the tagline is “Everyone’s Game,” as Eastside focused on making something that allowed people to customize their look and add their own individual flair. The two shoes they designed with Nike, a Zoom Victory Tour and an Air Max 1 ’86 OG,’ come with interchangeable Swooshes of different colors and textures that give players the ability to change up their look from round to round. It’s the latest step in what has been a detailed journey for the brand, starting with their first shoe, a blue Jordan that was emblematic of the logo, through their Red Clay collection and then 1961 Change, which Ajakanu explained represented the move from the dirt to the grass. Now, it’s about making it “Everyone’s Game,” although they understand the work in creating that is only just beginning.

“When we get on the grass, that’s where we congregate everybody, and now it’s everyone’s game. Get everybody on the grass. Get everybody feeling comfortable about the game. And it was, honestly, a work in progress to get here,” Ajakanu said. “You can’t just come out and help as many people and have as many people understand what your goal is. It’s more of a work in progress. We’re still working in progress to affect change throughout the entire sport of golf. The more that we keep beating the drum and the louder that we get, the more verticals we’ll end up getting into. And that’s, most importantly, for us to grow. But then also, I would say most importantly for change in the purists in the game and a lot of non-golfers.”

Affecting change on a more tangible level is a more difficult challenge to address broadly, but Eastside golf has started with a group that is near and dear to their hearts: the Morehouse golf team. Giving back to the program that gave them opportunities in the game and giving the young men on the team the experiences they wanted to have, but didn’t have the resources for, is their mission.

To provide that, they’ve sought out partners that are willing to make that same commitment and think long-term about how to impact the game of golf, rather than swooping in for a one-off event or capsule to hit a benchmark or capitalize on the brand being hot. To ensure that’s the case, the philanthropy element is the starting point for Eastside when they talk with potential partners.

“When we get on partnership calls, I speak first,” Ajanaku explained. “Because I’m like, so this is Eastside Golf. What we’re about here is truly revolutionizing the game, and showing that changing the game can be shown through a different lens. Now the thing is, how we got here, Olajuwon and Earl, was somebody helping us, and truly putting forth that effort to show us that golf can be for us. Now, that’s one of our most important things. That’s one of our most important missions that we do. So I would start off by saying, philanthropy-wise, what does that look like for you? And that’s how literally we would start off partnership calls.”

That’s how their partnership with Mercedes-Benz came about in 2023, as the two found a natural pairing with common ground in the game of golf and in Atlanta, where Mercedes’ U.S. headquarters are located. As they began to talk, they found themselves aligned on that long-term mission in the game of golf, and began to work out how their partnership would take shape. For Mercedes, it allowed them to branch out to a different audience than the one they typically reach in the golf world, and provide a genuine opportunity to grow the game.

“We just were really excited about the freshness of the organization and their mission, and what they wanted to do,” Erica Bolden, head of Diversity and Inclusion at Mercedes-Benz, said. “And really nudging them to think about the opportunities and what can we do with long-term impact? So really pushing that mission. The value alignment, as far as what they’re doing to push boundaries in the organization and to increase accessibility to the sport. That was really exciting, of course, with me leading DEI efforts. And that is all about what that work is, right? So that was really exciting. And Monique [Harrison] and I just carving out what those opportunities could be for the brand alignment, not only for the visibility, as far as the Mercedes and Eastside Golf brands, but what the missions are doing.

“So really, to push the increased access, thinking about equity in the sport, the visibility of the brand. It’s perfect, especially as Mercedes-Benz, we’re trying to reach into younger, more diverse audiences. So it was great alignment. And then, of course, what we’re doing just as far as the next generation is concerned. Again, that’s the other part that was really uniquely aligned, as far as what Eastside Golf is doing to get younger folks involved into golf, and what we are trying to do as a brand, as far as access to education and empowering the next generation.”

For Eastside, working with Mercedes gave them a luxury brand partner with deep ties to the game of golf, most notably as one of the four main corporate partners of the Masters. That can open doors that would otherwise be shut, like this past year when they launched their women’s line at an event in Augusta for the 2024 Masters and were able to bring the Morehouse golf team down I-20 to Augusta National — a dream experience for any golfer, but particularly those in Atlanta.

In September, they put on the second annual Eastside Golf Invitational presented by Mercedes-Benz, which brought supporters of the brand out to Liberty National Golf Course for a tournament benefitting the Morehouse team. It was a celebration of the brand, the impact they’ve been able to have already, and the excitement for what is still to come, all while staying true to their mantra of “Be Authentic.” It’s not easy to put on a golf tournament and have sponsors, celebrities, and performances that feel natural to both the brand and being at a golf tournament, but Eastside managed to do just that.

The celebrities that came through, from Cruz to CC Sabathia to Anthony Anderson, weren’t there simply to make an appearance, but were there as earnest supporters of the brand, who wear it when they play at their home course. Anderson played with the Morehouse team, as Earl and Olajuwon continue to find ways to give them the experiences they would’ve loved to have had as young golfers. Fabolous rolled through for a performance at the after-party outside the Liberty National clubhouse, with Cooper serving as his hype man. For most brands and most charity tournaments, it would’ve felt like a forced and out of place appearance, but in this instance it felt, well, authentically Eastside Golf.

As we spoke two weeks removed from the tournament, Ajanaku had just one word on his mind as he reflected on the event.

“Man, honestly, just grateful,” he said. “I mean, at the end of the day, just grateful at having the opportunity. Because me and Earl remember what it was like growing up in the game [of golf] and what we wanted to see when we were growing up. And we have the opportunity to be that. To actually model that. And that’s for so many kids that look up to us. And so many kids that want to take up the game, or don’t think it’s cool, or just are inspired by the work ethic. At the end of the day, it don’t even have to be anything geared towards golf. So having the opportunity to influence, I’m grateful.”

Part of the challenge with the concept of “grow the game” is how daunting it can feel to impact change on a global sport. There are systemic changes that need to be made to fully open the game up that can’t be tackled by a single brand, but what they can do, and what they’ve identified as their opportunity, is to make that tangible impact on a local level and scaling that up when possible. As Eastside Golf looks forward to the next chapter, they have aspirations of expanding their reach in the college golf space beyond Morehouse and HBCUs, to find more ways to open up opportunities for young golfers. They are exploring partnerships with the PGA, USGA, and LPGA to try and create some of that systemic change.

And then there is the more abstract change that is where they can have a broader impact. As a brand, creating something unique in the golf space that allows more people to be comfortable as themselves on the golf course. That’s the way golf becomes something for people from all backgrounds, by showing there is space in the golf community for everyone and that you can be your authentic self on the course.

Uproxx was invited on a hosted trip for reporting on this piece. Mercedes-Benz and Eastside Golf did not review or approve this story. You can find out more about our policy on press trips/hostings here .