Can you find your soulmate on the golf course? When we first heard about LA-based Bunker Club, we instantly felt a spark.
A community and social club for women, queers and underrepresented voices in golf, Bunker Club is set on transforming experiences, fashion and culture and organizing in numbers to build something that isn’t your daddy’s club.
“Golf is an expression of so many life lessons,” says Bunker Club founder Hilary Lassoff, who’s loved the game since she first swung a club in her parents’ backyard at the age of 15. She enrolled in Hank Haney’s golf academy in Hilton Head and then played four years as a scholarship-athlete at the Florida Institute of Technology majoring in business marketing.
That’s where a glaring gap really hit her. “I was in Dick’s Sporting Goods trying to find something cool and edgy to wear to practice, and I didn’t see myself in the pink, black and white cut-off polos. That’s when I knew I wanted to make streetwear for women and queers.”
Tasked with coming up with a business incubator concept in one of her classes, she drew on her passion and founded the LOAG (life of a golfer) women’s apparel line. It was an initiative in which her athlete community had played a tremendous role. “When I left home to play collegiate golf, I was finally able to be myself. For the first time, I had a supportive and like-minded group of women and queers.”
A few years and a move to LA later, Hilary and her crew of chosen loved ones started booking weekly tee times and eventually grew into the Bush League (rebranded the Sophia Bush League, wink-wink). “Bunker Club was born from that concept: we aim to give a unique community access to golf. The ultimate goal is to build a physical golf and social club for us.”
“It’s been exciting to see the game evolve with new concepts, streetwear and different formats. There’s still a huge sector of people that remain misrepresented or entirely unrepresented in golf,” she says. “For us, golf doesn’t exist without community. The mission is to establish the new era of golf and wellness on our own terms. We’re pushing a classic sport to reimagine itself. Golf has long been a secretive club accessed with certain credentials. For underserved golfers, the barriers to entry often feel unattainable and scary.”
In July, Bunker Club hosted its inaugural open to officially launch the initiative, build community and create a safe space for golfers of all interests and skill levels. There was a nine-hole best ball scramble (with prizes!), a once-in-a-lifetime clinic hosted by Jimmy, aka Curb Caddie, putting competitions, weed rolling and cigar stations, a gin bar and tasty grazing options.
“Significant others and friends followed in groups to hit and watch, so foursomes turned into ninesomes. It truly was a redefinition of the golf social experience,” says Hilary, who happily handed out TaylorMade clubs to winners, copious merch and carry bags by Quiet Golf.
And the fashion? Anti-country club inspo, for sure. Sapphic tones, streetwear, custom designs...Out on the Roosevelt Golf Course, heads turned. Overheard on the ninth hole: “This is the hottest assembly of golfers I’ve ever seen.”
Their Bunker Newsletter is coming in September… Stay tuned!
