Golf used to come with an unspoken warning: if you couldn’t afford four-figure equipment or steep country club dues, you simply weren’t invited.
That mentality never felt right to Kenneth Duncan (BBA ’16), who grew up learning how to read the green as part of First Tee at the City of Atlanta’s John White Golf Course.
Duncan, who graduated with a degree in real estate and a certificate in legal studies, launched Renegade Golf with a fellow Terry alumnus, Drew McLeod (BBA ’15), as a brand for golfers who are just getting started.
“We want to focus on being relatable and authentic,” Duncan says. “When you look at the demographics of golf, it’s shifting from where it was 50 years ago. You have more women, more minority players and more players from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
“I think our brand speaks authentically to those people. We can relate to being that person on the golf course.”
Duncan speaks passionately about ending gatekeeping in the sport he grew up with, but bringing that message to a wider audience meant clearing a lot of hurdles in the golf equipment industry. Today, Renegade is sold at the PGA Tour Superstore and Walmart, and Duncan has been featured in Forbes, Atlanta magazine, Golf Digest and Golf Channel.
Early days
Duncan started playing golf at age 10. Playing on his high school’s team, he started to notice the divide between the older golfers on the course and the younger players.
“I never noticed it until I was older, and then I realized that there was a segmentation of people who were traditionalists in the game and people who were new to the game,” he says. “I belonged more to this new crop of golfers versus people who were very connected to the old idea of what golf had to be.”
He wasn’t alone: over the last two decades, the percentage of golfers who are women has grown by 28%, according to the National Golf Foundation. About 25% of golfers are Black, Asian or of Hispanic origin. More than half of all golfers are under 50.
Duncan knew there was a market made up of golfers like him who wanted something more than the one or two brands focusing on older generations.
He and McLeod launched Renegade as a passion project while they spent their days working at corporate 9-to-5s. During evenings and weekends, they were busy developing plans, building an online community and talking with suppliers around the world.
Teeing up for big retail
They eventually put $40,000 into developing their first run of 2,500 golf balls, made, tested and approved for professional use by the United States Golf Association.
They started as an online-only storefront, but that doesn’t work as well with golf balls, Duncan says.
“Golf balls are a product that people tend to pick up when they need them,” he says. “The problem with only being online is the shipping time. Many people need the balls for the weekend. If they order the balls on Thursday, they’re not getting them until Monday when they’re back at work.”
But getting into large stores and even pro shops was difficult. Their first big break came from Carl’s Golfland, one the largest golf superstores in the Midwest.
“They are all really looking for proof that your product will sell through,” he says. “We reached out to their CFO directly. He said, ‘I’ve never really heard of you guys. How are you going to move balls?’”
Duncan rallied the community and fans they had been building online, and the store sold out of Renegade balls in a week.
Once Carl’s started stocking Renegade, that caught the notice of merchandise managers at PGA Tour Superstores. Then Walmart took notice and added the balls to their stock.
“It started with this fear-of-missing-out effect on these retailers where they didn’t want to miss a brand that was emerging and growing,” Duncan says. “That’s how we’ve been able to continue to grow our retail footprint and grow where our customers are.”
The game ahead
Renegade now has two lines of balls. The original, Mbu, means first in the Nigerian language, Igbo. The second line, Blueprint, was launched in 2024 as a more affordable ball for younger players. Renegade was the first ball brand to feature a Black, female golfer, American Junior Golf Association champion Taylor Miller.
It’s players like Miller and other young stars who Duncan believes will fuel the growth of Renegade moving forward.
They sponsor junior golfers in Atlanta through First Tee scholarships and support young competitive players through their Team Renegade sponsorship program.
“We want to be a company that actually lives the mission and vision we set out with — to make more space on the golf course,” Duncan says. “We’ve been in Forbes and Golf Digest, but probably the biggest accomplishment is living our mission. We’ve said we were the brand for millennials, moms and minorities for years now, and now we’re backing it up.
“These are the fastest-growing groups in golf. We’re speaking directly to them and speaking up for them.”