The story behind Public Drip, a golf-apparel brand for the people | Gear

Like many off-again-on-again golfers, Neil Tan returned to the game during the COVID pandemic.

As a New York City resident working from home in a 400-square-foot apartment, he found that golf provided a much-needed outdoor respite. The game had changed from Tan’s youth, too. It was 2020, and Tan, who then was 34, sensed that golf had a new vibe.

“As I started picking back up my clubs, I was just like, Oh my gosh. The game is, like, kind of refreshing,” Tan said in a recent phone interview. “It’s changed a little bit. There’s all these other great brands and great communities that have been formed.

“This is not the golf that I remembered it to be.”

The progress was an encouraging sign for Tan, who, as a teenage skateboarder, designed T-shirts and sold them out of the trunk of his car. His reintroduction to golf reawakened his entrepreneurial spirit, and he decided to leverage his natural creativity into a new golf brand, which, inspired by his appreciation for public spaces around the city, he named Public Drip.

“I’ve always gained inspiration around New York City and, being around New York City,” Tan said. “To the subway, to playing tennis or pick-up basketball or pick-up pickleball or any of those types of sports. I think there’s these public spaces here in New York City where it invites people into these games that they all love.”

Tan rediscovered the game at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, the oldest public golf course in the U.S.

“I just fell back in love with the game that way, and then connecting with all the different types of people who come and play,” he said. “I really wanted to celebrate these public spaces. It made me think about Serena and Venus Williams to Tiger Woods. If they didn’t have these types of public spaces to pick up a racquet and practice with their dad, or Tiger to go to a municipal course to pick up a golf club, would we have ever witnessed the greatest of all time in both their sports?”

The “Public” in Public Drip is meant to reflect golf’s strong sense of community at the local level, as well as the sense of belonging a player can feel on the course. The “Drip” is all about authenticity — feeling good in what you’re wearing, but looking sharp, too.

“Fashion is a way of self-expression,” Tan said. “How you want to carry yourself and how you go into a space.”

Tan wanted Public Drip to appeal to golfers of all ages. Several pieces feature vintage-inspired silhouettes that are constructed with modern fabrics and details.

“Paying homage to the classics, but bringing it into new light, and bringing in some of those textures and details that fashion and really good menswear have,” Tan said. “The Harris tweeds, the knit ties, the awesome collars that you see on a suit that make you feel good whenever you get dressed up. I wanted to bring that into your everyday life, on the course and beyond.”

Tan’s brand ethos came to life with Public Drip’s first polo design in 2022: the Public Athlete Polo, which includes signature details like a cutaway knit collar and a non-rectangular placket. The polos are designed to be worn both tucked and untucked.

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When a broader brand launch gained traction on Instagram in 2023, Public Drip was off and running. The brand has been ascendant since, with a collection that includes double-pleated pants and mock necks to hats and ball markers. Last year, Public Drip created a limited-edition apparel collection for LIV Golf’s Cleeks — a team with Martin Kaymer, Richard Bland, Adrian Meronk and Victor Perez. After making its debut at the PGA Show earlier this year, Public Drip expanded its Rolodex of green-grass accounts in the U.S. and Canada, and now has distribution in Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia, with plans to enter the Korean market.

Tan has visions of pushing Public Drip into other sports and offering greater support to public athletes. But making an impact at the community level will remain essential to his business. “Building that culture and hopefully helping to influence that culture,” he said.

You can shop selections from Public Drip’s latest collection at Fairway Jockey by clicking on the links below. To view the collection in its entirety, click here.

Shop Public Drip at Fairway Jockey

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