FULTON — A Fulton-based golf apparel company is establishing itself as a go-to brand for stylish, affordable fashion on and off the golf course.
Fore Horsemen, founded in 2021 by Northeast Mississippi natives Bubba Mendoza, Braxton West and Will Faulkner, offers a range of polo shirts, quarter-zip pullovers and hats.
The company’s origins can be traced to the Fulton Country Club, said Mendoza, a 32-year-old Fulton native. It was during a four-man golf tournament there in 2019, an event in which teams tend to wear matching outfits, that Mendoza and West’s team of four made and wore shirts featuring the silhouettes of four golfers on the back — three swinging clubs and one drinking a beer.
Fellow golfers found the shirts hilarious. They were a hit.
The shirts’ reception inspired Mendoza and West to start a company, but they tabled the idea as they started families. In 2021, they picked it back up and designed shirts and hats but lacked the funds to produce them. Mendoza called a friend, Faulkner, to see if he’d be interested in joining as a third founding partner, and Fore Horsemen got its start.
Abiding the motto, “Anything worth doing is worth doing right,” they sampled fabrics for months to ensure they had the right material and the shirts would be a good fit for a range of body types.
Of the shirts and quarter-zips offered, some are simple with solid colors and only the Fore Horsemen logo while others feature loud, flashy patterns like flower blossoms or decorative skulls.
Mendoza said the company plans to expand to offer Fore Horsemen-branded golf accessories like tees, towels and ball markers in 2025.
Growing the brand
Last year was Fore Horsemen’s second full year of operation, and they’ve already reached more than $100,000 in sales, a milestone they initially thought could take five years.
“When we first started, I was selling these hats that we have out of the trunk of my car,” Mendoza said. “We didn’t have a website. We had everything legally done but we didn’t have anywhere to sell it.”
They set up at local tournaments across Northeast Mississippi throughout 2024 and sold products to golfers.
Alongside selling at tournaments, Fore Horsemen apparel is available online at www.officialforehorsemen.com and in retail locations including Gaither Mercantile and the Itawamba Community College bookstore in Fulton, Willow at Merle Norman and the River Birch Golf Club in Amory, Happy Hollow Outdoors in Red Bay, Alabama, and a couple of stores in the Jackson area. They hope to partner with a Tupelo retailer in the near future.
Running Fore Horsemen is still a part-time gig for Mendoza, West and Faulkner, but they hope to make it a full-time career in the future, bringing others on board over time. They plan to hire a videographer and a couple of models this year to showcase Fore Horsemen gear as they continue to expand to other retailers across Mississippi and the South.
Though Fore Horsemen is a golf brand, the clothes are also perfect for everyday wear.
“It’s something that you can wear in the office, something that you can wear to church, something that you can wear to a wedding shower, but also something that looks really sleek and cool on the golf course,” Mendoza said.
‘More rewarding than money’
Hearing positive feedback and seeing people donning Fore Horsemen gear in public is a constant reminder of why the company started.
“It’s hard to find the time to do something that isn’t money rewarding, but it’s easy to find the time to do something that is more rewarding than money,” Mendoza said. “And that is seeing people wearing your stuff out and about.”
“We designed something that they liked enough to wear out in public,” he added.
Mendoza said people who don’t golf may not understand the element of fashion on the course during tournaments.
“When I go play in a golf tournament, I lay my stuff out the night before like it’s the first day of school,” Mendoza said. “And I’ve talked to people that still do that. I’m 32 years old, and when I get ready to go play in these high-dollar golf tournaments, I’m laying my stuff out and I’m visualizing what I’m going to look like, what I’m going to play like.”
He cited a famous Deion Sanders quote: “If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good.”
Mendoza takes great pride in helping other people look good.
“That’s one of the things that I love most about it,” Mendoza said. “People are wearing our stuff to look and feel their best.”
Check out the Fore Horsemen website at www.officialforehorsemen.com and keep up with the latest at Fore Horsemen Golf on Facebook or on Instagram and TikTok at @officialforehorsemen.
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