Switching from a duck to a dog.

We’d like to think it made the difference.

When Proud 90 – a brand name known to golfers – first entered the competitive golf polo market, its logo was a duck. The fun loving guy who started the company loved hitting the links with his mates, and for them, it was about having a good time and some laughs – not qualifying for the PGA.

Somewhere along the line, one of those friends, Rick Versace Jr., noticed that there wasn’t a golf brand for a weekend hacker swinging and putting for fun, so he created one, himself. Proud 90 was born, a hat tip to the 90 percent of amateur golfers who never break 90, and the average score of someone in high school just learning to play.

Perhaps, too, the brand behind mirthful golf shirts featuring pineapples, bomb pops, flamingos and floaties was signaling a subliminal message to the shopper: Just go out and have fun on the greens!

As for that duck, Versace Jr., saw the light and switched from a quack-quack to a Great Dane. His Great Dane, in fact.  The stately “Tank” is immortalized in the brand via the company logo which shows Tank’s silhouette standing guard on a green with a flagstick in the background. Tank was on hand for Proud 90’s first shirt called, “Tropic Thunder,” a Hawaiian-style shirt in golf polo form.

Versace is the first to say that he got inspiration for the shirts from professional golfer, Rickie Fowler (Fowler’s fashion, not his game) and created a playful vibe for all Proud 90 shirts. It found a market! In a little over three years, Proud 90 has sold some 100,000 shirts. The brand now includes hoodies, women’s apparel, hats and more, but after this, we won’t be surprised to find the goods on Great Dane owners! Find Proud 90 on-line or in golf stores across the country, and if you do purchase something, be sure to tell them it’s because of the dog! And us. Don’t forget us.