Chris Duff Archivos - MyGolfWay - Plataforma Online del Sector del Golf

February 3, 2015 – For a senior executive of a major company of the global golf industry to come to Spain and accept the request to talk in person with us is, for MyGolfWay, something extraordinary. As a result of our appointment with Raymond K. S. Yee, Managing Director of Crest Link, the official brand of the Spanish Open and Asian market leader in the manufacture of golf apparel, we offer this interesting interview where we find out about the origins of the brand, the virtues of its microfibre products – its great strength – and its arrival in Europe in 2014, where step by step it is growing thanks to its commercial agent, Chris Duffy (both in the picture above), starting with… Spain.

MYGOLFWAY: We know that Crest Link comes from a family business based in Malaysia. But what are the origins of the brand?

RAYMOND K. S. YEE: I was in my factory producing for other brands (OEM). As brands were coming and going, I thought it would be better to start my own brand. And what made me start with Crest Link? We specialize in microfibre, which is our strength. So eight years ago we started developing Crest Link based on microfibre fabrics.

MGW: The brand image is closely linked to the concept of ‘The Future in Apparel’. What does this mean?

RY: The tag line refers to how we started, how we design apparel, and how we market the brand. We always follow the tag of the future in clothing. That’s how we start with the brand and the product. We found that in the golf market the products were everywhere, but they were very boring in terms of design and colour. Most of the countries and brands have cotton polo shirts. So we went into the niche market of microfibre. We started in Malaysia and the Asian countries, before jumping to Europe and other continents.

MGW: What is Crest Link’s success based on up to now?

RY: At first, when we started in Malaysia we were surprised by people’s good acceptance of our product. We were accepted even though we were a new brand. Then we began to sponsor the Asian Tour players. From there we found that foreign players liked the shirts. So we started sponsoring them too. They started wearing them and started winning tournaments… So we started to succeed.

Then we became the official brand of Barclays Singapore Open, and then the Maybank Malaysian Open. So we became better known, and many people came to see us because they wanted to distribute the brand in their countries.

MGW: How has Crest Link grown year by year?

RY: The beginnings were hard. We were competing against big players like Adidas, Nike… But as we kept progressing, we keep on improving our products and designs. As we evolve our people have new ideas, and every year we grow and produce more new designs.

MGW: Is Europe the next challenge for the company?

RY: Well, we started in Europe last year thanks to our agent, Chris Duffy. Europe is a tough market where competition is strong, but our product is good, so we are trying. We are our own brand, we have our own factories, so we find it much easier to try.

MGW: But the markets of Europe and Spain have different tastes in fashion, designs and colours than Asia, don’t they?

CHRIS DUFFY: We spent three months analysing the European market in 2014, and we have observed that the Spanish market is very traditional. It is very difficult to accept new fabrics or changes in habits. The shops accept our products to a limited extent, and there are membership clubs that only offer classic brands such as Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren… because the piqué shirt is the traditional Spanish and Southern Mediterranean look on those courses.

That said, there are high level courses with a clientele more based on tourism, which are more interested in our customized polo shirts with the club logo. This is where we have our potential market, and where Crest Link can expand.

RAYMOND K. S. YEE: For example, in China the market was 100% cotton. But as we progress we manage to change the mindset of the golfer. Then, despite being a challenging market, in China we have already been accepted.

CD: Time will tell. For the Spanish Open, Lacoste was the official brand in recent years, yet in 2014 it was Crest Link. Now the volunteers and the organization staff have worn our polo shirts with a more modern look and, in fact, they liked our product very much.

MGW: As the official clothing of Singapore Open and Malaysia Open –which is played this week- in the Asian Tour, and the PGA of Australia, and then to be presented in Europe as the official apparel of the Spanish Open in the European Tour, what impact has had for Crest Link?

CD: The broadcasts on TV of the Singapore and Malaysia Open are ideal in Asia, but they are played at night for Europe. Instead, the timing of the Spanish Open is broadcast in prime time in Europe, and from 8pm to 12pm in Malaysia or Australia, which is fantastic.