Substance & Style: Ian Poulter – A Born Entrepreneur

But was there any substance to go along with all the style?  At the European Tour’s 2000 Italian Open Ian James Poulter would answer that question with a resounding “YES!”  His one-stroke win over Scotland’s Gordon Brand was improbable for a number of reasons. He’d tried and failed three times to qualify for the European Tour. He had one win from the Challenge Tour, and his golfing pedigree was anything but blue blood – no U.S. college scholarship, and no major amateur titles.

The Hitchen, England native, was actually a four-handicapper when, as a teen, he first applied for an assistant pro’s job at the Leighton Buzzard Golf Club near his hometown. In fact, scoring his first job required a little skullduggery, and pulling it off was pure Poulter, recalls a close friend.

With no official handicap – one of the requirements for all those working in the Leighton pro shop – Poulter was desperate and determined.  In the dark of night (okay, it was late afternoon), he slipped into the club secretary’s office and punched in a fake handicap (4) beside his name. The next day he got the job – and a story to tell his grandkids.

Poulter spent seven years at Leighton, and his work ethic created a repeatable golf swing and a buttery putting stroke. But best of all was his brassiness – an air of confidence that bordered on the outrageous.

Former tour great and TV personality Johnny Miller called him one of the most confident players he’d ever seen. Poulter said pressure is “not something I shy away from. I get turned on when I’m in the hunt.”

This talismanic self-belief would propel him to the top of the golf world, but even that wasn’t enough for this son of middle class parents. A born entrepreneur, he always dreamed of the perfect golfing double: owning his own clothing line and winning the British Open.

He nearly accomplished both. IJP Design made its debut in November 2007, and a few months later, he finished runner-up to Padraig Harrington at the British Open.

It’s late January and the Orlando Convention Centre is full to bursting with the 2011 PGA Merchandise Show. It’s the granddaddy of golfing get togethers. Soft and hard goods are on wondrous display, covering five football fields. The apparel manufacturers, however, hold special appeal.  Tangerine tops and tartan pants and golf shoes that glow in the dark go by in dizzying repetition. Image is everything. After a while, it’s hard to distinguish one clothing line from another.

Maybe that’s why IJP Design decided to set up shop in the pricey Peabody Hotel that sat kitty-corner to the Convention Centre. The Poulter suite is far from the madding crowds, but close enough to attract the biggest buyers, and the media. A special invite to the IJP Design party on Saturday night was a must-attend.

The IJP Design team (top executives, sales reps, and a Canadian connection) welcomed visitors and worked the room. A composite drawing of them would be this: young, 30-something, hip, decked out in the latest IJP wear, and eager to please.

The most eager might be Ryan Sommerfeld, president and sole owner of Shinebox Lifestyle Brands, the IJP Design distributor in Canada.

Poulter was one of five Tour players invited to compete at the Telus World Skins Game at the Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria, B.C. last summer.

IJP Design was sticking a tentative toe in the Canadian waters and invited Sommerfeld there to dine with his new boss and display some of the Poulter gear at a tiny 6-foot table on site.

Sommerfeld couldn’t believe the demand for product. The table had to be stacked and restacked. Over $10,000 worth of trousers and shirts was sold in two days.

“It was clear right from the beginning that Ian was really hands on with IJP Design,” said Sommerfeld. “He was getting a charge out of the spectators buying and wearing his product at the event.”

Some of the biggest private clubs in Canada (Royal Montreal, The National Golf Club, Glencoe Club, Weston, Eagles Nest, and host of this year’s RBC Canadian Open, Shaughnessy) are pushing its lines, 60 in all – double last year’s total.

The original line drew the interest of those who looked like Poulter: young, hip, and thin.   The company has now expanded its demographic reach – from 16 to 65 – and reduced its price points.

Golf Town tested IJP in 10 stores across Canada last year and for spring 2011 it will be in 15 locations. It is really hard to gauge the success at this point because this is the first real test, the Spring 2011 Collection. IJP Design is also introducing a kids’ line of clothing next year, and a women’s line in 2013.

The logistical problems of shipping goods to foreign locales is a huge  challenge as Poulter-wear is now sold in 35 countries. But, hey, this isn’t 1962. A goodly portion (50 per cent) of sales are done online – appropriate since Poulter is a social media star, perhaps the most engaged tweeter on the planet.

He represents a funky, tech-savvy new style of businessman/tour player, and his staff members mirror that image.

Niki Perry, managing director, is a 30-something mother of two who met her future boss when calling the marketing shots in the UK for another company, Tag Heuer, the high end Swiss watchmaker. Tag is best known for its pricey magazine ads featuring some of the world’s coolest celebrities, including Brad Pitt, Maria Sharapova, and, you guessed it, Tiger Woods. The London office was always on the look out for other big-name representatives.  Poulter was off its radar, ranked No. 130 in the world. Besides, they already had the most high profile golfer and male athlete on the planet. Still, she agreed to discuss a possible partnership. Perry was mildly interested, but mostly puzzled. Ian Who? she asked.

That quickly changed when she met the flamboyant up-and-comer. He literally crackled with energy, like a downed power line. His signing paid huge dividends. He led a shocking European sweep (18.5 versus 9.5) at the ‘04 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in Michigan. Poulter dismantled Chris Riley 3 & 2 in the singles final, and scored the winning points. It followed only weeks after his win at the season ending Volvo Masters on the European Tour. He finished fourth in the Order of Merit.

He was quickly becoming a brand unto himself. He gained fame and plenty of airtime with his sartorial look. He set tongues a-wagging when he showed up at the 2003 Irish Open with a red and yellow haircut, in honour of Arsenal FC, his beloved English football club. His infamous Union Jack trousers made their debut at the ‘04 Open Championship at Troon, and a year later he unveiled his ‘Claret Jug’ pants at St. Andrews.

The Ryder Cup was an obsession from childhood. At 17, he joined some mates and travelled to The Belfry, in Sutton Coldfield, host of the Ryder Cup. The golfing vagabonds slept in a tent three miles from the course and walked there each day. Even as a kid, and when he wasn’t a particularly good player, he vowed he would play in a Ryder Cup. “Focus is his 15th club,” said Perry.

The “Poulter look” became unique, and sellable. The obvious next step was a line of Poulter clothing wear. Few thought the player would actually invest his own money into the start up. Poulter pored over his game plan, and set out to hire the best people available – mostly friends. It was a unique business model that was subject to second-guessing. But he never wavered. His first phone call was to Perry at Tag Heuer. She was reluctant at first (she had a husband and two young children), but loved Poulter’s unbreakable belief in himself. She believed it was easily transferable to the business world.

Still, there was real danger here, and Poulter knew it.

The company still hasn’t made a dime for its owner/chief investor, and the golf business is still in the doldrums, although this year’s Merchandise Show seemed to reflect a spirit of renewal. IJP Design is very much dependent on Poulter’s performances for its popularity and its continued growth. The more times he wins, the more airtime for his line of products.

Still, Poulter revels in pressure situations. He sees the need to win as just another motivating force. In his 4 & 2 win over fellow Brit Paul Casey in the ‘10 Accenture match play final, the press was more impressed with Poulter’s outfit than his dominating win. He was resplendent in pink, summoning up 1960s icon Doug Sanders who used to dye his underwear and socks pink to feel completely coordinated.

The list of tour peacocks began with Walter Hagen and ran through to Payne Stewart. He went from plain Payne to the most talked about dresser in the 1990s, resplendent in plus fours. Poulter goes them one better: he owns his clothing line.

IJP Design’s philosophy is to “lead with the legs,” and then coordinate the rest of the outfit. The company produces two collections each year, and has something for everyone. See IJP.com for a viewing. The numbers also suggest that the Poulter look is catching on quickly. Sales doubled from five per cent to 10 per cent from ’09 to ‘10.

There’s a strange duality about Poulter: the likeable rogue and the match play assassin. His ability to perform in big moments, can at times, unnerve opponents. That duality also drives his business.

Why build a clothing line during the worst economic downturn in a generation? Poulter ponders the question while sitting on the side of a bed in a hotel room during a tour stop earlier this year. “I guess I’ve learned to apply myself properly. As a kid I thought anything was possible.”

Poulter didn’t muck about as a 12 year old. He quickly learned his likes and dislikes. Likes: clothes, athletics, competing against his older brother Danny on the golf course, and dreaming about owning racy cars. Dislikes: school.

He’d cry like a five-year-old if he didn’t like the clothes he was wearing. Every Saturday, the 12-year-old would work the market stores so he could make enough money to buy his own shoes. His mother Teresa was a manager for the Dorothy Perkins fashion chain. Young Ian seemed to acquire her love of style by osmosis – or maybe it was just part of his DNA.

Even his first win at the Italian Open proved prophetic. It secured him the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award, named after the great English player, and three-time British Open champion (1934, ‘37 and ‘48), Henry Cotton. Cotton starred during the dark ages of tournament competition when pros dressed like archdeacons. But he was his own man – a dapper dresser with champagne tastes. Poulter is, in many ways, Cotton’s heir apparent – sans the three Open titles.

It irks him that he hasn’t made that final step to stardom, and said: “I just have to put four good rounds together at one of them, and that’s something I’ve failed to do.”

Poulter operates in a postmodern world of mass suggestibility, in which image is almost as important as accomplishments. Today, he is a brand, a poster boy, a must interview, and head of his own clothing company. His rise resonates more with the average fan because he wasn’t destined for greatness.

Poulter is the ultimate team player and one of the tour’s most unique individuals. He’s got a swagger that’s endearing, and a love for dressing up that began in baby clothes.

His business model might still be a work in progress, but he isn’t.