Akbar Chisti Started Seamus Golf Out of His Garage

PORTLAND, Oregon - Seamus Golf started when founder Akbar Chisti had a head cover from his dad from Royal Portrush that was wearing out in 2011.

“The head cover started wearing out, and my wife, Megan would make things out of remnants from Pendleton Woolen Mills where she worked,” Chisti said. “The headcover was the only form of expression at that time because everyone was wearing kakis and polos.”

Chisti has been a lifelong golfer since age 11. He went to the U.S. Amateur in 1996 at Pumpkin Ridge and caddied there along with caddying for some other tours like the Hooters Tour, Nike Tour and at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort during college.

“Bandon Dunes Golf Resort worked with us to get this off the ground, it was in a recession, we were working a lot, this was fun, and we wanted to make a go at it,” Chisti said. “She would make headcovers and ship them out, I had income, I worked with Jones as a controller for year when we were working on this.”

After a few years of building his product line and creative collaborations, Chisti had the opportunity to present to the USGA for their US Open at Chambers Bay. It was a connection that has continued to today.

“When the buying team for the US Open at Chambers Bay in 2015, came, they said show us what we got,” Chisti said. “We showed them the custom ball marks, the head covers, they brought us in to Chambers Bay, within a few months they asked us to come back, for Oakmont in 2016, for other events. All of sudden we did every USGA Championship and their shops and I’ve always had an appreciation for the USGA as I thought they were golf authority.”

The materials story was always important to Chisti and the Seamus Golf brand where the connection has always run deep with their customers.

“The tartan head covers and no one was using Pendelton,” Chisti said. “We were storytelling with that. We discovered a blacksmith in Portland, he was making cool knives, and asked him if he can make a divot tool. He said, I’m a golfer, he took us on as a client, within two or three years. 90 percent of his business is with us, he has had great success and he is probably the most capable artist I’ve worked with.”

“Its evolved into perpetual trophies, Tiger Woods, the Masters, the aesthetic of it, the hickory, reminiscing with the old part of golf, the really successful thing. It started at 45 shops, now were at 700 shops, mostly domestically, but we have shops in Japan, the UK, Australia, and mainly in private clubs.”

Collaborations with various golf organizations and tournaments has helped grow the business and tradition of Seamus Golf.

“My wife and I, own 100 percent of the business, we went to Oakmont in 2016, and got to go back a couple weeks ago, that’s more than the 5 years that your business is supposed to live, and to go back to our 10^th US Open, was special,” Chisti said. “It’s long days, hammering ball markers, I learn to much about people like and what there doing. Women, families, diversity, what I felt were lacking in golf, that don’t represent the typical demographic in golf, and people who want to be part of the game.”

Seamus Golf as a small business has faced challenges at making large orders at scale and has partnered with local sewers and makers in the area to maintain their opportunities.

One thing that hasn’t changed at Seamus is evolving to create what their customers want.

“We had two committed customers, Bandon Dunes, (Dream Golf, the Keiser’s) and the USGA,” Chisti said. “There are a lot of companies who draw inspiration from us or outright copy it, trying to encroach the space, going into a moment, and the value of what we make will always be higher than what they make, because we connect with the golfers, and the commitment to quality is a lot higher. By virtue of the opportunities we get, we evolve to work with our customers to get what they want.”

Seamus started making the PGA Tour cards, stamping the 25 cards for the newly minted professionals.

“Scottie Scheffler still looks at his PGA Tour, a guy who has green jackets still looks at his PGA Tour card,” Chisti said. “I love what I do, 14 years into it, you start that path not knowing the outcome, we have seen so many things, and experienced stuff that I would have never imagined.”

But the support in Oregon for Seamus Golf, has been unmatched.

“There is a relentless support of our brand, here in Oregon with the courses. Still to this day, its our biggest state. We always want to be big on our own turf, we want to support youth golf, it has this great opportunity to position people for a better life, who they meet through the game, and what they learn about life.”

Chisti joined the Oregon Junior Golf Foundation board, where he hopes to push the game forward for junior golf initiatives. With the recent OGA license plate that went into production, that supports the OJGF, it has doubled the support for the Youth on Course initiative.

“Create programing to help kids get into golf, the Evans Scholarship, the First Tee,” Chisti said. “The Oregon license plate, to help fund the Oregon Junior Golf Foundation, you can get a custom plate. Hopefully the impact we bring will be seen by many golfers, I’m able to leverage my brand to support the things we care about, which they care about too.”

Seamus Golf may have started in a garage, but it has undeniably made its mark across the golf landscape with its designs, products, partnerships, and collaborations to push the game forward.