Sydney Roosters halfback Chad Townsend on why he and two NRL mates decided to launch a thriving content and apparel venture based on their obsession with golf.
In three seasons at the North Queensland Cowboys, Chad Townsend helped transform the club from cellar dwellers to premiership contenders. But perhaps one of his proudest moments as an athlete, content creator and entrepreneur has been his joint role in the formation of a new business and community centred on golf – alongside two former teammates at the Cowboys: Valentine Holmes and Scott Drinkwater.
They’ve called it the Players Golf Club, where Townsend and his NRL mates have a cultivated a golf/rugby league crossover space that takes inspiration from content creators in the US, such as the wildly popular American entertainment group Bob Does Sports. The Players Golf Club website (playersgolfclub.com.au) features content such as YouTube golf matches as well as an online store selling various collections of golf and sport-related polos, jumpers, T-shirts, hats and other accessories. Townsend is now playing at the Sydney Roosters, while Holmes has moved to the St George Illawarra Dragons. Drinkwater remained with the Cowboys. Townsend caught up with Australian Golf Digest to chat about his love of golf, and the NRL trio’s venture.
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Australian Golf Digest: Tell us about the Players Golf Club.
Chad Townsend: During the past three years [before moving to the Roosters] I played with the North Queensland Cowboys with Scott and Valentine. I had moved to Townsville during COVID-19 when there wasn’t much happening. The three of us bonded in our time, during the offseason, through golf. That’s how we got to know each other, playing golf on our days off. It was a way for us to be competitive and have a bit of fun away from NRL games and away from training. One day out on the course, one of the boys said they needed a new golf polo and I said, “Why don’t we just make our own polos?” Then, one idea came to another and the next thing you know, “Val”, “Drinky” and I came up with a business plan and some ideas and a name.
I’d seen some content in America, such as Bob Does Sports [a podcast and YouTube channel founded by social media personality Robby Berger which features a former college golfer, “Fat Perez”], and I started watching them on YouTube. They would have a game together while being a few larrikins and having a bit of a laugh and it was entertaining. We had [a similar] idea to make our own brand and base it around golf because we really became good friends through the game of golf.
In America, [content creators] seem to be on the front foot with a lot of things, and I think they’re always a couple of years in front of us in Australia. That type of content has boomed during the past five years. We love the game of golf away from footy so we asked ourselves, “What can we do [as a side project] that we absolutely can we put our own personal flavour on?” The answer was golf. We found out that we could build our own little community, which is sort of what we’ve done.
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I read that your initial collections sold out in days. How has the market feedback been for the apparel?
Yeah, it’s been really positive. We created playersgolfclub.com.au as our domain once we’d come up with a name. We learned to work together with regards to our design and our schedule of dropping clothes and what works and what doesn’t and what’s our vibe. These days your social presence is quite important, especially when you run a community-based, e-commerce and content business. So, we are quite active on social media. We have to be out there a lot [playing and creating content]. And who doesn’t love playing golf a lot? We try and get out as much as we can.
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What has starting this venture taught you?
We’ve had roadblocks, things that have failed, trademark issues – a lot of the issues small business face. We’ve learned the importance of performing due diligence. I’m really passionate about the game of golf. And if you can monetise or build something from a passion and make it your work or your business, that’s not work at all. Going out and wearing a golf polo we’ve designed and filming a game of golf and promoting a product and something that I absolutely believe in, that to me is winning. I know the boys feel the same way.
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Have fans enjoyed the videos on YouTube?
They have; it’s been excellent. We’ve got a great videographer who does a tremendous job. I actually filmed a “Breaking 80” series through six courses all around Sydney. Some in the Sutherland Shire and some in the St George area. It was all strokeplay. I shot 74, which was my best round on camera. That’s going to come out soon. That was at The Ridge [Golf Course and Driving Range in the Sutherland Shire]. Valentine is an Australian and State of Origin representative NRL player who has won grand finals, but at the start he was a little shy on camera. Now he’s awesome. Once you get used to being on camera and being comfortable, it’s a lot of fun. We’ve been fortunate enough to film some awesome, hilarious moments on camera.
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Where does the Players Golf Club go from here and who is going to help you?
We’re trying to expand as much as we can. Our merchandise is a big driver of the business, but also our content as well. We’re a community-based, content and e-commerce business. Content is the number one thing for us, to be there out visible. And we’ve had TaylorMade come on board and sponsor us. We’ve been fitted for clubs including the new driver. They’ve been supportive and we want to build relationships in the industry.
We’d love to get involved in the summer of golf in Australia and the [PGA Tour of Australasia] tournaments and help grow the game of golf. We want to take the game forward. I know we’re rugby league players, but at the end of the day you’d be surprised how many athletes love golf.
At the moment in America, we’re seeing golf growing to include things like the Creator Classic, [an informal, fun tournament on the PGA Tour for content creators] and hopefully we can bring that sort of content Down Under and promote the game here.
I’ve got four kids, and my son absolutely loves golf. For me, it would be a dream to get out and play 18 holes with him one day.
Visit playersgolfclub.com.au for content and The Players Golf Club apparel.
