The brand started on one of the worst days of our lives. That's not the pitch — it's just the truth.
It started on a Saturday morning.
We were in the backyard. Trent had been tinkering with a prototype (he just got all these random parts from Amazon). The goal was a cup holder that would clip to a golf bag and actually keep a drink upright while you walked the course. Grace discovered a lump that same day.
Everything stopped. And then, in the strange way life forces you to recalibrate, everything slowed down. On purpose.
The diagnosis was breast cancer. Treatment was hard in all the ways treatment is hard — the appointments, the waiting rooms, the particular exhaustion of not knowing. We needed something to pour ourselves into. Something that had nothing to do with cancer. So we got to work building ParWalker and it gave us something to think about, argue about (ha), and get excited about. It was an outlet. A distraction with a purpose during Chemo and Radiation. And somewhere in the middle of it all, we made a decision — we were going to slow down and actually enjoy our lives. Not someday. Now.
For us, that looked a lot like walking golf courses.
What the Walk Gave Us
Walking 18 holes does something to your head that riding in a cart simply doesn't. You cover the same ground, yes. But you feel it differently. The pace changes. The conversation changes. You notice the morning light on the fairway at hole 6. You catch your breath on the climb to 14. Deeper conversation - and you burn calories (which helps when drinking)!
During Grace's treatment, the walk became a kind of ritual. A place to be outside, to move, to not think about everything we couldn't control. Golf is a lot like life — you plan your shot, take your swing, and then you deal with where the ball lands (hopefully not in the rough!). The walk between shots is where you actually live the round.
That's the idea ParWalker was built on. Not the golf swing. The walk.
The Product Was Earned, Not Rushed
The original problem was simple: if you're walking and carrying or pushing a cart, there's nowhere good to put your drink. Cart-first brands solved for the cart. Nobody was solving for the walker.
So Trent started prototyping.
Early versions were rough in the way first attempts always are — basket-style holders with screw clamps and clunky attachment mechanisms. LOTS OF FAILS. Shoutout to my friend Shaun who got beer all over his leg on hole 1. One prototype had a soccer-ball patterned lid. (Grace vetoed it immediately. She was right.) The clamp system went through multiple iterations (my son and I measuring bags at Dick's was a highlight). A spring-loaded lever. A threaded collar. A ball-joint pivot that finally let the holder angle and position the way it needed to. A collapsible silicone base so it could fit any cup size.
Six prototypes deep, the design finally looked like what it had always been trying to become: clean, considered, intentional. Not a gadget. A piece of gear.
The Dangler was born. Packable, and functional.
What This Brand Is Actually About
Grace beat cancer.
We launched ParWalker.
Those two facts are connected, but not in the way a cleaner story might try to make them. This isn't a brand born from tragedy. It's a brand born from a decision to pay attention to what matters. Walking golf mattered. Good gear for walking golfers mattered. Slowing down and enjoying the round — the whole round, not just the good shots — mattered.
ParWalker exists for golfers who already know this. Walkers who have been carrying their own bag or pushing their own cart for years because they prefer it. Golfers who know what it feels like to crest a hill on hole 11 and genuinely love where they are. The ones who measure a great round not just in score but in steps.
Good things come to those who walk.
If you're a walking golfer — whether you carry, push, or pull — The Dangler was designed for you. Six prototypes, a few years, and one very clear mission later, we think we got it right.
