Secondary agitation is now a promising full-time business.
Christian Cavaliere covered the cost of beer and pizza at Boston College by making and selling custom hats on campus between golf tournaments. And when the COVID-19 pandemic sent everyone home, the 24-year-old from Somers got creative.
There was more than enough time for passions and interests to mingle during the lockdown.
“I was taking down everything I ever got in a tournament as a parting gift or anything,” said Cavaliere, a former Somers High School All-State player who competed in British Columbia. and will make his second appearance in the US Amateur next time. month. “I started ordering materials and making samples with my mother’s sewing machine at home. Our living room was basically a factory in the summer of 2020.”
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The idea of adding custom headgear and other golf accessories to the headgear eventually led to the formation of Tremont Sporting Co.
“I hired a couple of my friends and we had a pretty hilarious setup – a bunch of guys cutting, sewing, gluing, embroidering,” Cavaliere added. “It was a scene, but it was so much fun, so I continued when I moved to Florida last year. It was still a side thing at first, but last fall I was like : “It’s going well, let me see if I can grow it.” We moved into a space in West Palm Beach in January of this year and bought new machines, hired a few more people and see what we can do with that, which is really, really cool.
Tremont was a logical business name.
“It’s one of Boston’s original names and means three hills,” said Cavaliere, a three-time amateur champion from Westchester. “There are some cool undertones for us since I formed the LLC with two of my Boston College teammates.”
Patrick Hallisey remains with the company while Jack Cammis has moved on to another company.
“I remember when Christian was taking headgear apart, like, ‘It can’t be that hard to make these,'” said James Nicholas, a longtime friend and now Cavaliere roommate who played at Scarsdale, won an Ivy League golf title at Yale and now has conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour. “He took polo shirts and sweatshirts and made headwear. Other people saw them and said, ‘Can you make me one?’ It was kind of word of mouth to begin with and one thing led to the next. It was pretty cool to watch, especially firsthand. I’ve seen the time and effort that goes into it. It’s not as easy as he makes it seem, but Christian has so much dedication and artistry.
The 1,400 square foot boutique is buzzing right now.
“We have four people working full time now and a few freelance seamstresses,” Cavaliere said. “We are still at the discovery stage. It’s more established than it used to be, but we still face growing pains and try to deal with them as best we can.
“It’s a very competitive market, but there’s a lot of room for new ideas, new materials, new creations. There are lots of ways to do it. We can wholesale to country clubs, direct to consumers with custom stuff, or deal with college teams. We may get into clothing at some point. I have a lot of ideas so I have to plan things out and see which direction I want to go, but it’s so exciting because we can go any direction.
Catalog: See what Tremont Sporting Co. has in place this summer
Colleges have been picking up custom loot from the start.
There are also craft apps for country clubs and businesses in the catalog. Nicholas, of course, has a first Tremont Sporting Co. headgear on his pilot.
“I’ve always been a team sport guy, looking to represent my city or my school and I was like, ‘Let’s try to incorporate some of that,'” he said. “There’s a Yale Y, a Scarsdale S, and No. 55, which is my travel hockey and youth football number.”
For now, expenses are covered and all profits go directly back into the business, according to Cavaliere.
“The growth has been amazing and it’s going so well right now,” he said.
Cavaliere was able to go out and play too. He was the Westchester Open runner-up to fellow amateur Brad Tilley at Sleepy Hollow Country Club and was in position to finish as a weak amateur at the New York State Open at Bethpage Black for the fourth year. consecutive until a double bogey at 16e hole in the final round derailed that goal.
The next big event is the US Amateur, which is played just over the state line at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey.
Cavaliere was going to use his extra year of Notre Dame eligibility, but ultimately decided to join Nicholas and Thomas LaMort (another Met Section player with Tour aspirations) in Florida to explore his options.
“I went to Palm Beach Gardens and just played and worked in the business,” he said. “I kept my amateur status but treated my time after school like I was a pro, traveling the country and playing in every tournament I could, seeing how much I loved it. At the end of 2021 I didn’t like the grind I had a taste of the touring life and really wanted to take a break The business was booming so I thought I had to take some time and work on it and I took a step back from golf I hadn’t ruled out professional golf but I needed to clear my head and get the business started because I had so much fun doing it and it was becoming a success. I’m completely happy with my decision and I’m in a much better position mentally with golf. Now I’m enjoying it again, so absolutely no regrets. I love it where I am right now.
Mike Dougherty covers golf for The Journal News and lohud.com. He can be contacted at [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @lohudgolf.
