Charlotte’s Rachelle Wates brings high fashion and her own sense of style to women’s golf attire, as well as what to wear when the round ends. Women no longer have to settle for afterthoughts in the corner of a men’s golf shop, and Byrdie Golf Social Wear is a big reason why.
After launching Byrdie as a golfwear line in 2021 with co-founder Hayden Hendrix and expanding three years later to include social wear, Wates took over sole ownership in December. This year, she celebrates five years of Byrdie Golf Social Wear and five years of making her mark at the crossroads of two passions.
Wates knows fashion. She worked as the buying director for Capitol, the Charlotte luxury boutique named on The New York Times’ 50 Best Clothing Stores in America list. And she knows golf. Growing up, Wates followed her father—an amateur who competed in professional events—and later played on her high school team. Her family lived in Juno Beach, Fla., but she spent summers playing golf with her grandmother at High Meadows Golf and Country Club in Roaring Gap, N.C.
“We went to church every Sunday, but we sat in the last row because we were the first to leave to make our tee time,” Wates says with a smile.
Having seen firsthand how one-dimensional typical women’s golf attire is, she understands why women want more than a skort with a repurposed men’s polo.
During the pandemic, when buying trips to New York stopped, Wates started sketching golfwear ideas at the kitchen table. In essence, she hasn’t stopped.
“Women aren’t scared to wear cotton on the course anymore. They want to go back to what it was like in the 60s, 70s and 80s, where there were no synthetic blends. It’s been fun to play with fabrics and push boundaries there.”
Not only is Wates designing with the golfing woman in mind, but she’s also test-driving samples herself. Wates will try out all the latest silhouettes and fabrics on the driving range or golf course.
Byrdie has landed spreads in both Vogue and Golf Digest magazines. Her clothing is available online and in stores in Charlotte at Myers Park and Charlotte Country Clubs. She created a custom gingham print exclusively for members at InTown Golf Club.
Wives and families of some of golf’s elite players have taken notice, too. When Scottie Scheffler won the Masters in 2024, his sister Molly appeared on TV during the celebration wearing Byrdie’s Hayden dress. Scheffler’s wife, Meredith, was at a recent Byrdie trunk show in the Hamptons, NY, as was PGA pro Jordan Speith’s wife, Annie.
Byrdie celebrates femininity while remaining tasteful and modern, both for women watching golf and playing.
“I think golf is intimidating for so many women,” Wates says. “How can we make it more inviting simply through clothing?”
One way she’s found is by broadening what they make. Byrdie’s line of social wear complements what women wear on the course and transitions into cocktail and dinner hours—the same colors, patterns and materials of the sportswear, with more elevated silhouettes. It gives women the same ease of “course to cocktail” style men seem to have.
“My husband gets up, gets dressed for work and wears Peter Millar,” Wates says. “He can go have lunch, go to a boardroom and go play golf, and not change anything except for his shoes. As women, we have to change for every outing. You could still wear Byrdie to lunch or to Reid’s and feel really put together.”
While Byrdie continues to evolve, Wates says she’s sticking to her roots, both in her love of golf and in her business management. As the mother of a young son, with a second child on the way, she continues to be Byrdie’s sole investor.
“I see so many brands bring on venture capital, and there's such a pressure to grow and go into brick and mortar,” Wates says. “I really just want to see organic growth in a business that I'm really proud of, something I put my heart and soul into and just see where it goes from there.”
"You could still wear Byrdie to lunch or to Reid’s and feel really put together"