The Alberta Golfers Collective - Tanner Thompson
Let’s paint a picture to get the juices flowing as we introduce our next AGC member.
You’re waking up to a 6 am alarm with a tee time booked for 7:15. It’s the first tee time of the day and you’re ready to hit the course with your best pals. Nothing can take the wind out of your sails, there’s no one playing behind you for at least four or five holes, probably a sign that the group is playing well. This allows you all a chance to capture the day with a few pictures, perhaps a video of a crazy shot that your pal went for, while still finishing the round sub 4 hours. After the round you grab some lunch at a local pub only to fuel up for the day’s second round at twilight. The cherry on top? These rounds are the first of a golf trip in Scotland.
Hang that pitcure in golf’s version of the Louvre. The artist? Tanner Thompson, a guy that obviously knows how to plan one hell of a buddies golf trip. Even if it is compleetly fictional at this point…
And while I don’t believe Tanner has Golf Trip Travel Agent listed on his resume (I’d love to hire him if he can guarantee what was described above!), he definitely has a lot of other noteworthy experience around the game of golf. Not to mention a lot of creativity and passion when it comes to social media and marketing that is definitely developing into some promising opportunities.
Tanner would describe himself as a golf nomad. He isn’t a member of a club but his “home" course is Madge Lake GC in Saskatchewan. He makes sure to find a way back to play every summer when he visits his cabin.
He recently made the move from Calgary to Vancouver this fall but there’s definitely still a love for the Alberta and the place he used to call home.
RO: So, you’re out on the west coast right now after a move from Calgary. Any noticeable differences between golf out in Vancouver versus Calgary? BC vs Alberta?
TT: Yes, we moved out here in October. The biggest difference I would say is it's a lot wetter out here! Another big difference is the landscape and trees. Back in Alberta you get a lot of spruce and poplar trees and it's relatively flat at most courses. From the few I’ve played so far here; the trees are humongous and nothing is flat!
RO: What do you miss about golf in Alberta?
TT: I miss how accessible courses were to me. I used to live 5-6 minutes from a couple courses and now the closest one is about 18-ish minutes away. Depending on the time of day you can hit rush hour and a half hour trip can easily turn closer to an hour. Don't take that for granted ever again Albertans!
Even with a move to the beautiful coasts of Vancouver, it’s hard to beat the views of the Alberta Rockies.
RO: Let’s chat about the projects and fun stuff that you got on the go. Seems that there’s a few!
TT: I've worked in social media/marketing for the past 4 -5 years but am currently transitioning into the e-commerce world. I’ve bene involved with Par 6 Golf Media on some side projects, check out the Starter Shack for your not-so-typical golf newsletter and I also run a side business of my own at Brouhaha Lid Co. where we design some cool lids and are hoping to perhaps make some golf style ones for 2022.
RO: I love your hats already so I am excited by the prospect of a “golf style” hat coming from Brouhaha Lid Co. Are you putting your own stamp on golf course apparel or what can we look forward to?
TT: Potentially. I'm really trying to narrow down what I want to do versus what I'm capable of doing. I've always been into creating brands and designs but I'm just not sure what that would look like at the moment and I want it to be aligned with my YouTube channel in some way as I also like doing this on the side as well as course photography.
He does it all! Photography, hat designer, social media and marketing, Youtube channels. Add them all with Golf Trip Travel Agent and he’s going to overtake the industry in one fowl swoop!
TT: You can see I like to bite off a lot more than I can possibly chew some times. But I think the most realistic option at the moment would be a line of golf hats under the Brouhaha Lid Co brand so I'll be working on some designs this winter for that.
Visit Brouhaha Lid Co to get your hands on the perfect hat to capture your love for our province!
RO: Given your experience and obvious love for creating and I’d be remiss to get you insight to this standing AGC question - What would you like to see more of from #GolfLifeAB?
TT: I think what you guys are doing is great! Showcasing Alberta courses, companies, creators, is all on brand. I think one thing that could be really cool is taking a deep dive into some of the history of courses. For some reason I want to really know more about Dinosaur Trail in Drumheller. I feel like there’s really cool story to tell there.
RO: Why do you love golf?
TT: One big reason is that it was something I could do with my dad. His love for the game and the fun times/stories he had with his friends was always something I wanted for myself as well as creating special memories together between the two of us.
RO: Why do you not love golf?
TT: I don't really like the stuffiness that surrounds the sport of golf. You know what I mean - those rich country club snobby stereotypes - not my jam. I'm also not a big "gear guy" I like the visuals + the landscapes + history more so than if this new Taylormade driver is going to increase my distance by 20 yds. I'm more than happy to just get out with some "old technology" and some good company.
RO: You’re preaching the choir a little bit when you mention golf being too stuffy or the equipment side of things doesn’t get you fired up. So where does The Starter Shack fit in with this mentality?
TT: The Starter Shack isn't of my doing but a couple of my friends out here that started it at the beginning of the year. I was doing the social. But totally, the Starter Shack is just a funny, witty newsletter that pokes fun at some of that old school golf mentality while delivering the "what's happening" each week in a super digestible format. There are some super funny personalities behind it and I recommend checking it out.
RO: It’s easy to see that you don’t take golf too seriously but there’s usually something we can all take away from this silly game. What’s that for you?
TT: Taking things day by day or task by task is how I take each shot. On the course you pick a club, pick a line and execute. You're forced to deal with the outcome of those decisions and they could turn out great or shitty. However, you always get another opportunity to execute again. I like to take that mentally into my daily life in decision making and moving forward. You can't go backwards so the less time you think about what you should've done the quicker you can more forward and try to execute again. And if it's not your day - hey you can always play another round tomorrow.
Look, I think Tanner is incredible. Super passionate, incredibly creative, throw golf or anything else into that formula and the content that is going to come out of it is going to be must watch. I’m hoping somehow, we can find a way to collaborate because after getting to chat with him over the last couple of months he’s someone you’d absolutely love to have as a teammate, partner, heck even a hype man! So, Tanner... what do you think?
As always, if you’re interested to learn more about Tanner or give him some support by following all of his endeavours, we have them linked below. Who will be next to join the Collective?
Follow Tanner here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tannnercole/
Brouhaha Lid Co: https://www.instagram.com/brouhahalidco/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs06ha5kUyIzMwG0Zi_J0Mg
