About Golf Buffalo
What is Golf Buffalo?
Golf Buffalo was founded in 2019 by two friends that love golf, gear, and the City of Buffalo.
Phil grew up playing golf and developed the love of the game from his Dad and Grandpa. He spent most of his summer days playing at Tan Tara Golf Club and played competitively at St. Joe’s high school. Phil first introduced Brian to the game of golf in 2015 at Willowbrook Golf Course in Lockport. With just a simple swing tip that led Brian to a great shot, he instantly fell in love with the game. Our joint love for golf has endured ever since.
Brian worked in the Western New York economic development scene, mainly in Lockport and Niagara County, where he loved learning about and supporting local businesses. Phil was a pharmacist who had recently moved home from Arizona and was becoming a member at Brookfield Country Club. The two friends always enjoyed coming up with golf gear ideas, especially ones using local businesses. They would design and create t-shirts and other golf apparel for friends and family. After some positive feedback from friends, the two decided to establish Golf Buffalo - a golf brand that proudly represents Buffalo and Western New York through its logos, collaborations, and support of local businesses.
What are we about?
Golf Buffalo’s mantra is “Golf Local” - the idea of supporting authentic local and small businesses through golf. It takes the “Shop Local” or “Shop Small” mindset and brings it to the golf industry, which is so often dominated by global companies. Did you know that there is a golf ball company headquartered in Buffalo? Or that a company that makes high quality custom putters is located in Orchard Park? We want to do our part to promote and connect you with these local businesses that you can support through golf.
One of the best things Golf Buffalo has done is introduce us to so many awesome and innovative entrepreneurs with such great local businesses and organizations. We are so thankful for the businesses that inspired us like OnCore Golf, T Squared Putters, and North Coast Golf Co., as well as those first businesses that collaborated with us including WiseFool, Eco Tee Co., and Arctic Cool. We also want to give a huge shout out to those amazing local businesses in the golf industry such as Buffalo Golf and Social, Tee2Green, and the Links Golf and Tap that have supported, mentored, and collaborated with us over the past few years. So many others have reached out, cheered us on, and expressed interest in working together that we can't wait to see what happens next. Buffalo’s golf scene is surging, and nationally the game of golf is growing. We are so excited for what the future may hold for Golf Buffalo, and we hope you’ll come join us on our adventure.
What do we support?
The same year we created Golf Buffalo, our tight knit group of friends was devastated when one of our best friends, Ali Waclawek, died tragically during childbirth from a rare and often fatal birth complication called an Amniotic Fluid Embolism (AFE). Ali’s husband, our best friend Justin, co-founded the Alison Rose Foundation with friends and family to continue Ali’s legacy of community giving. The Alison Rose Foundation raises awareness of Amniotic Fluid Embolisms and provides support for organizations that research AFE’s, provide medical care for mothers and babies, and directly supports families affected by AFE’s and other birth complications.
Golf Buffalo is proud to support the Alison Rose Foundation as a proud sponsor of its annual golf tournament. This fantastic event takes place early August at Brookfield Country Club. We also promote Alison Rose Foundation golf gear, with proceeds from each of those sales donated to the Alison Rose Foundation. For more information about the Alison Rose Foundation or how to participate in the annual golf tournament, you can visit the following link: alisonrosefoundation.com
Additionally, we always want to support local nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to growing and supporting the game of golf. We are excited to be working on some gear that will support First Tee of WNY. The First Tee of WNY is an organization that works to “enable kids to build the strength of character by empowering them through a lifetime of new challenges and seamlessly integrating the game of golf with life skills, creating new learning experiences that builds inner strength, self-confidence, and resilience that kids can carry on.” Partnering with First Tee allows our passion for the game to help others and support something right in our backyard of WNY.
