How the Hess family transformed a living room operation into a national brand
Photographs by Charles Cherney
This article appeared in the April 2026 edition of Chicago District Golfer.
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Chicago resident Susan Hess couldn't find women's golf clothing she liked, so she began designing outfits for herself. Other women noticed and she founded Golftini.
Long before Golftini became a recognizable name in golf apparel, it started with a simple frustration: nothing in Susan Hess’ closet felt designed for her. She learned the game as a girl from her grandparents, but didn’t pick up a club again until years later while living in New Jersey and raising three boys.
“Golf wasn’t cool back then,” the CDGA member said.
When she returned to the game at a public municipal course, she kept it to herself.
“I just went at night and played in secret,” Hess said. “I’d be out there at 10 o’clock at night in this ugly golf outfit. It wasn’t short, it wasn’t frumpy, it wasn’t long. It just didn’t feel good, and I could never find what I wanted.”
Unable to find something athletic, tailored and modern, Susan went to New York City, found a sample maker and designed her own skort: black, athletic-cut, with black-and-white trim.
She wore it to the course. Women noticed immediately.
“They’d ask, ‘Where did you get that?’” Susan said. “I’d say, ‘I had it made.’ Then they’d ask, ‘Will you make me one?’”
Orders moved through suburban channels: trunk shows, parking lots and word of mouth. Susan carried rolling racks and filled requests between carpools and practices. The operation was informal — until it wasn’t.
“One day, a golf professional’s wife knocked on my door,” Susan said. “She asked, ‘Can I sell these in my golf shop?’”
Suddenly, Susan’s personal craft became a business, and the skorts needed a name.
One night at a martini bar, Susan sketched a martini glass on a napkin and the Golftini name and logo were born. The pink martini-glass logo, she said, was always intentional — and its color non-negotiable.
“The martini is always pink for breast cancer awareness,” Susan said. “My mom passed away from it when I was young.”
For several years, Golftini operated at a manageable scale. Then came the 2005 PGA Show.
“We were in the very back with a 10’ x 10’ booth,” Susan said. “Nobody goes back there unless they’re going to the bathroom.”
One buyer did: PGA Tour Superstore placed a $70,000 order.
“We had no idea how we could fill an order that big,” she said. “I started to panic.”
The solution arrived unexpectedly.
“I ran into a woman in the bathroom,” Susan said. “She said her husband was a manufacturer in New York City who could help manage such a large order.”
By Monday morning, Susan was in his office. The order was completed on time, and Golftini was no longer a side project.
At home, the shift was impossible to miss.
“Who are these strangers in my house?” Parker Hess, the youngest of three boys, remembers thinking as a child.
Now 28 and vice president of sales and business development, Parker watched the family’s living space convert into company headquarters.
“Our sunroom became her office,” he said. “Then bedrooms became warehouses. The basement. The attic. The house stayed the same size. The inventory didn’t.”
Ryan Hess, the oldest at 33 and now chief marketing officer, remembers how childhood chores became fulfillment logistics. As orders rolled in, Susan recruited her boys to pack boxes. “You work, you get paid,” Ryan said. “That was the deal.”
Friends were quickly recruited.
“We’d have buddies over helping fill orders,” said Keegan Hess, 31. “Everyone we knew was packing skirts.”
Despite growing up inside the business, none of the sons joined immediately after college. Susan encouraged them to gain experience elsewhere before returning. Keegan was the last of the three to join the company, stepping in as Golftini’s director of operations this February.
When each of the sons signed on with their mother’s company, the adjustment required new boundaries. “I started calling her Susan,” Ryan said. “You can’t run a business on family dynamics. You need systems.”
Golftini now operates with 10 in-house employees supported by a national sales network. The company’s trajectory shifted again with a relocation to Chicago’s West Loop.
“Moving to Chicago changed everything,” Susan said. She relocated to the area in 2019, currently lives in the city and is a member of Conway Farms Golf Club. For Parker, the change was immediate.
“It stopped feeling like a startup in a house. It became a real headquarters.”
Golftini’s design philosophy evolved alongside its operations. The brand built its early identity on printed skirts paired with solid tops. “When I started, it was the party on the bottom,” Susan said.
Susan once insisted she would “never, ever” design printed tops. In 2020, she introduced one.
“Everyone bought it,” she said.
While many companies slowed production during the pandemic, Susan expanded product lines and maintained an active sales force.
Golftini’s next expansion ran counter to traditional sequencing. Rather than moving from men’s to women’s, the brand expanded from women’s to men’s, driven largely by her sons’ persistent requests.
“They always asked, ‘What are you going to make for me?’” Susan said.
Susan initially designed pieces for her sons. What began as limited offerings has grown into a full men’s collection, with Parker now deeply involved in product development.
“I used to think you could draw something and turn it into a shirt in a week,” Parker said. “Understanding production timelines has been huge.”
Design details link the collections, including a subtle signature tied to the brand’s breast cancer awareness pink.
“The top button on every polo has light pink stitching,” Parker said. “If you know, you know.”
For Ryan, Golftini’s growth is most visible at the PGA Show — the same event that once triggered panic now serves as a benchmark and reminder of how far the family-run business has come.
“It always reminds us why we do what we do,” Ryan said. “It’s perspective.”
With all three sons now working alongside her and her team, Susan plans to remain deeply involved in the company’s day-to-day operations.
But priorities are shifting.
“My goal now is to do more of the fun stuff,” she said. “Including more time on Chicago golf courses.”
Lauren Withrow is a play-by-play host, reporter and content creator for the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour on ESPN and Golf Channel.
Susan Hess Golftini Martini
Step 1: Rinse the glass with vermouth.
Step 2: Shake it super, super hard.
Step 3: Add two blue cheese olives.
Step 4: Serve ice on the side — keeps it cold and still a little juicy.
Susan’s Pro Tip: “It’s all about the shake!”