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Seaforth-Undercover assignment
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Lesser-known Seaforth Remains The Pga Tour’s Dominant Wet Weather Gear
By John Gordon
The rain was teeming down on Carolanne Doig as she stood by the practice green at this year’s RBC Canadian Open, and she couldn’t have been happier. The presence of precipitation is her stock in trade.
Doig is the founder, owner and sole employee of Seaforth Rain Gear, whose slogan is “When it pours, we reign.” The fact that those are not empty words nor an idle boast was verified by Sports Illustrated, which called the company’s rain hood one of the most popular products on the PGA Tour that pros are not paid to use. The magazine said 87 percent of the golfers at the Players Championship used the rain hood, which is designed to fit most golf bags on the market. Her rain gear is the standard at the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Solheim Cup and other world-class events.
That’s common knowledge to the caddies and players on just about every tour in existence, but, unfortunately, it’s news to most of the rest of the world. The reason is that Doig has never had the resources to promote her superior products, nor the finances to entice a top player to endorse them publicly. ”We have most of the players and we don’t have any competition to speak of,” she says. “Other rain hoods come and go, but with the support of the caddies and players, we just keep forging ahead. The rain hood has evolved over the years and it’s exactly like the players on Tour want it. Now the big companies like Titleist, Srixon, Callaway and Cleveland are buying it and putting their logo on it because that’s what the players want, and that’s very gratifying.”
The Doigs are the golf family nonpareil of Southwestern Ontario. Patriarch Ken and his brother Rod turned part of the family farm into Seaforth Golf Club 48 years ago. His son Ken has been a pro caddie for years when he isn’t working at the course, along with his brothers Todd, the superintendent, and Cam, the head pro. In addition to running her raingear company, Carolanne functions as the course’s GM.
The former English teacher worked for another rain accessory company a couple of decades ago but went out on her own when she saw opportunities that needed pursuing. The first priority was to develop a rain hood that was the best in existence, and that she did, with input from her brothers, caddies and pros. It was, and remains, a labour of love.
“Oh, there were times when I was battling with the bank for more funds, but then someone like Dawn Coe-Jones would call and say, ‘I used the rain hood and I played well, and I just wanted to say thank you.’ When the best players in the world come up to you and say they love your product, it makes you willing to put up with a lot of other stuff.”
Having said that, and on the hopeful cusp of making a deal to get the product into the PGA Tour Superstores in the U.S., Doig says maybe it’s time to let go.
“It’s like a person who’s got a really smart kid who deserves to go to medical school, but can’t afford to send them there. It’s such a great product, but I don’t have the resources or connections to take it to where it belongs, so if the right person came along…”
And, with that, Carolanne Doig was off, back to Seaforth to run the club and prepare for the Country Classic, a Canadian Tour event Aug. 18-21. She’s hoping it doesn’t rain that week, but if it does, needless to say, she’ll be ready.
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