ORLANDO, FLORIDA | Some days when Henry Rowland wakes up, he’s convinced he is a lunatic.
“I’ll sit there and think, ‘Why don’t I use my degree and get an engineering job with a steady paycheck so I could pad my 401K?’ ” he says. “But other days you get feedback from customers that warms your heart. And you remember why you are doing it.”
This is the internal warfare of an entrepreneur, especially one involved in a golf start-up who is willing to battle established brands that have exponentially more resources. Rowland, a 32-year-old who grew up in Chicago, has a 1-year-old baby in the form of Shapland Sports Company, a throwback brand focused on quality leather golf bags. Although he receives help from family members, it’s more or less Rowland running the show.
Shapland's Sunday bags are made with top-grain leather accents and antique brass hardware.
If anything can serve as a representation of how the golf industry has evolved, Shapland Sports is it. ...
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