Dylan Horowitz created “the Swiss Army knife of golf training aids” during COVID.
ORLANDO – Dylan Horowitz doesn’t look old enough to shave let alone order a beer yet he’s already created his own golf training aid with famed PGA golf instructor Rick Sessinghaus.
Horowitz, 20, of Stevenson Ranch, California, is a junior psychology major and the captain of the Chapman University men’s golf team in Southern California, but in his spare time he’s invented the Kavooa Pro swing training aid, a tripod-based product that can be adjusted via a patented telescoping device with rods (golf alignment sticks) to stabilize a golfer’s head and hips during the swing.
At 16, Horowitz was taking lessons from Sessinghaus, who is best-known as the instructor to two-time major winner Collin Morikawa from a young age until late last year, at Scholl Canyon Golf Course. Horowitz’s main swing flaw was his head dipping down and forward during the swing and compensating with his arms. Sessinghaus would hold a stick to his head during lessons but once COVID struck in March 2020 they began doing FaceTime lessons and Horowitz needed someone or something to monitor his head position during this period of isolation. In MacGyver fashion, he taped a pool noodle to the top of a punching bag around his height and set it up for hitting into a net at home. When courses reopened, he realized he needed something he could take to the course.
“So, I put two Star Wars lightsabers together, poked two holes at the end of it and put it on top of a tripod,” he said.
That was the original version of the Kavooa Pro, which means stable in Hebrew. Two years and several refinements later from PVC piping to 3-D printing, he has created an adjustable training aid that can address multiple flaws in the golf swing, or as he put it, “the Swiss Army knife of golf training aids.”
“When he showed me the first prototype I knew he was on to something because of its versatility,” said Sessinghaus, who has endorsed products before but never has been involved to this extent. “Seeing it evolve was fascinating. In addition to head movement, it can help with hip movement and swing plane and even putting and chipping.”
This is Horowitz’s second time attending the PGA Show and first time with a booth. His father, mother and cousin help run the business. What’s been the biggest challenge of bringing his adjustable training aid to market?
“Figuring out how to work with my mom and dad,” he said with a laugh, noting that he’s also had to learn about tariffs, distribution, margins and the intricacies of running a business.
The unit also includes a phone clip holder, allowing users to easily take videos of their swing. Kavooa Pro, which sells for $129.99, weighs just 3.5 pounds and collapses to be stowed in the side pocket of most golf bags.
Daniel stashed inventory in his parents’ garage. Lee had to park his car outside.
ORLANDO – Tucked in a back corner of the apparel section of the Orange County Convention Center at the PGA Merchandise Show (booth No. 6738) is an upstart brand with an old-school logo.
Super Mex Golf is the creation of Daniel Trevino, son of World Golf Hall of Famer Lee Trevino, who made the sombrero logo with a golf club through it famous, beginning in 1967.
“Being Hispanic, and coming from where I came from, I’m proud of this logo because it shows that if you have perseverance, if you sacrifice, if you work hard – you can be successful. Not just in golf, in anything, you can be successful. That is what this logo’s all about,” Lee is quoted as saying in a postcard-size promotional piece describing the essence of the brand.
Nicknamed Super Mex, Lee had a style and swagger all his own. How Daniel decided to revive the logo — which was marketed by Wrangler during Lee’s heyday in the 1970s — and enter the apparel business is a story in its own right. He recalls making up a small batch of sombrero hats for himself and his dad and wearing them when he played in mini-tour events before COVID struck. He’d sweat in them during the tournament but when it was over his fellow competitors would fight over who could have them as a souvenir. (PGA Tour rookie Blaine Hale Jr. wore the logo at PGA Tour Qualifying School in December, noting he’s a big Lee Trevino fan.)
“I remember thinking there’s a business here,” Daniel said.
Super Mex Golf has a booth at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando for the first time. (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)
The family discussed licensing the logo to some apparel companies but decided they didn’t want to hand over control of the logo to a third party. Better to do it themselves. The success of pro golfer Zac Blair selling limited-run quantities of his Buck Club hats direct-to-consumer inspired Daniel’s approach. He took the money he earned playing in the 2019 PNC Championship and parlayed it into selling logoed Imperial hats and Dormie headcovers.
“I bought as much as I could with the $8,000 I had and when I sold them all I just kept re-investing what I made into making more,” he said.
Daniel made the leap into the business about 18 months ago, initially stashing his inventory in his parents’ garage to the point that it took up so much space that Lee had to park his car outside. Daniel says he’s shipped over 4,000 orders and taped every box and mailed them at the post office himself. In May 2023, he began selling in earnest and expanded into a warehouse with some additional backing from his dad.
Super Mex Golf apparel sports a retro-inspired look on display at the 2024 PGA Show. (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)
“I said, ‘How much is it going to take?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ By the time he got a warehouse full, he said, ‘I just need your signature,’ ” Lee recounted to a roomful of listeners during a fireside chat while accepting the NGCOA’s Merit Award at a luncheon at the PGA Show. “I told him, ‘What the heck, I’m almost 85, son, you’re going to get it all pretty soon anyway.’ ”
Lee is a proud member of the PGA of America, earning his Class A card in 1966 before winning 29 times on the PGA Tour, including the PGA Championship twice among his six majors. Daniel already has begun selling his retro-inspired gear at several green-grass shops in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
“His big thing is he always wanted to support the club pro,” Daniel said. “My goal is to do 70 percent green grass, 30 percent online sales. We’re flipped right now.”
Super Mex is back thanks to Daniel and has big plans and so far it’s going super.
