Golf’s most famous groundskeeper is raising capital for his fledgling apparel brand.
William Murray Golf, founded by “Caddyshack” star Bill Murray and his five brothers, has raised more than $1 million from a group that includes Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, tennis champion Andy Roddick and actor Ed Norton. It’s the first investment round for the apparel company, which launched late last year with the aim of bringing a lighthearted approach to a historically stuffy industry.
The company’s designs include a polo shirt covered in whiskey cocktails, and shorts with a camouflage pattern made of golf holes. There’s also a tartan bucket hat, similar to the one Murray’s deranged Carl Spackler wore in the 1980 movie. Fans may also get a kick out of the polo covered in mums.
In spite of the golf industry’s well-documented struggles in the post-Tiger Woods era, it’s still a $70 billion industry in the U.S. and the Murrays believe there’s a place for a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
The Murray brothers — one of whom co-wrote Caddyshack — grew up playing golf in the Chicago suburbs, and Bill Murray is perhaps the Cubs’ most famous fan. The company sells a polo shirt designed to look like a Cubs jersey.
Earlier this year William Murray Golf spun off from Resignation Media, best known as the parent company of The Chive. Other investors in the brand include country singer Jake Owen, jewelry designer Kendra Scott and actors Mark Paul-Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer.
Bill Murray's golf company adds Cubs owner and celebs as investors https://t.co/8XJOJdyrgD pic.twitter.com/y5mKZrwyyB
— Bloomberg Pursuits (@luxury) September 21, 2017
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.
