Signing a hockey player known more for his viral headshot than his golf game is an interesting choice for a footwear brand trying to climb out of the bottom third of the industry. TRUE Linkswear's latest United By Golf feature centers on Brandon Tanev, the journeyman NHL forward heading to Utah's newly relocated franchise, who happens to be a two-handicap lefty with a fondness for the brand's sneaker-style shoes.
The content play here is clear enough. TRUE has carved a niche connecting athletes from other sports to golf, building a lifestyle brand identity rather than competing on pure performance credentials. Tanev fits the mold: blue-collar work ethic, genuine enthusiasm for the game, and a personality that translates well to content. He talks about preferring to shoot 100 with good company over grinding for a low score alone, which is precisely the vibe TRUE wants to project.
But vibes do not move product at scale. TRUE currently sits at 63rd globally with a DORMIED Index score of 4, though a 22 percent month-over-month improvement suggests something is starting to click. The challenge remains the same as it has been for years: TRUE makes legitimately comfortable golf shoes that dedicated walkers swear by, yet the brand struggles to break through the noise dominated by FootJoy, Nike, and the growing lifestyle-performance hybrids from brands with deeper pockets.
The United By Golf series represents TRUE's bet that storytelling and athlete personality can substitute for traditional golf marketing. Instead of tour wins or launch monitors, they offer authenticity and cross-sport credibility. Tanev's connection to the brand started organically during his Seattle tenure, which gives the partnership more substance than the typical influencer arrangement. He visited their headquarters, built relationships with the team, and genuinely wears the product. That counts for something in an era when consumers have developed sharp noses for manufactured endorsements.
Whether this translates to market share gains is another question entirely. TRUE's target customer is the golfer who values comfort and versatility over cutting-edge technology, who wants shoes that work on the course and at dinner afterward. That customer exists, but reaching them requires consistent visibility that a hockey player feature alone cannot provide. The Pacific Northwest brand has always punched above its weight in product quality and below it in marketing reach. A 22 percent improvement in brand momentum is encouraging, but the gap between 63rd and relevance remains substantial. TRUE needs this kind of content to compound over time, building an identity that eventually becomes impossible to ignore. One NHL forward will not get them there, but a sustained commitment to this approach might.
