For Sam Goulden, eliminating clutter and filling his life with only the essentials is top priority. Goulden’s commitment to the planet and the golf community shines through all facets of his work life, personal life and philanthropic efforts.
Back in 2020, the MNML Golf Co. founder was looking for ways to encourage customers to be more mindful of their consumption – in his case, the life cycle of golf bags.
“I wanted to offer our customers the option of trading their current bags forward to golfers who would really benefit from something like that,” Goulden said.
What resulted is MNML’s Trade-It-Forward program.
When purchasing a new MNML bag, customers receive a discount by trading in their current golf bag. In turn, those bags are donated to the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation and the kids it serves.
Over 600 bags have been donated to date, only 10 months into offering the program.
“A free golf bag allows parents to spend that $200 elsewhere. Junior golf and especially tournament golf is exceedingly costly, and we are hopeful that our contribution will help lessen that burden.”
With a passion to raise more awareness of the Foundation, Goulden hosted a fundraising event at the MNML shop.
“So few people are aware of the depth of the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation’s efforts, and we want to help support any way we can,” Goulden emphasized.
The night brought together juniors, families and the greater golf community for raffle prizes, a closest-to-the-pin contest on the simulator, food and drinks and a DJ performance by longtime SCGA Junior member Atticus.
“I’m connected for life with some of the juniors from the program. It’s really cool to be able to support these kids’ dreams, even if they aren’t 100% golf-related,” Goulden said, illustrating the Foundation’s mission of helping kids thrive on and beyond the course.
With MNML a newly minted SCGA Club, Sam is most looking forward to leveraging the platform for two things: encouraging a more planet-friendly and sustainable golf space while also continuing to support the Foundation in an even greater way, opening more doors for the next generation of SoCal golf.
If you are interested in getting your club involved with the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation, please reach out to Jennifer Seislove at [email protected].