THE COMPANY STORY

AHEAD is a designer and marketer of branded headwear, apparel and accessories. Headquartered in New Bedford, Mass., the company operates four distinct business units: the AHEAD men’s apparel line; AHEAD Headgear, AHEAD "Heavy Metal™" line of golf accessories and the Kate Lord™ Collection of ladies hats, ladies apparel and ladies accessories.

AHEAD was founded in 1995 by Mr. Ken Shwartz. Over the past 15 years, the company has been able to capitalize on the golfing industry’s desire for specialized high-quality graphics on headwear and garments and the brand-conscious nature of those who frequent golf shops.  AHEAD (then as “Ahead Headgear”) was founded and conceived in response to the lack of a dominant brand in the golf headwear segment. Prior to the company’s founding, this segment was characterized by uniformity and featured little creativity or excitement. Most of the golf hats created prior to 1996 consisted of a logo and a few other graphics. AHEAD’s success has not gone unnoticed, as the company is proud to have been recognized recently by ING as the recipient of their first place award for Product Ingenuity for Emerging Companies, and by Inc. Magazine as the #1 Inner City Company in the United States.

LEGENDS WEAR AHEAD

Golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer both wear AHEAD headwear exclusively while on the golf course.

THE GOOSE WEARS AHEAD

Retief Goosen, a top ranked player in the world exclusively wears AHEAD apparel and headwear.

PGA TOUR STARS WEAR AHEAD

Jim Furyk, Aaron Baddeley, Ryan Palmer, Tim Clark, Robert Allenby and numerous other professionals all wear AHEAD headwear while playing on TOUR.

AHEAD LICENSES

AHEAD is a supporting partner of PGA Golf Retirement Plus, a licensee of the USGA, PGA of America, PGA TOUR and the official headwear of the AJGA.  Please realize that some licensed products are not available directly from Ahead.