Who says you can’t go home again? Eastside Golf — the streetwear-meets-golf brand built by two Morehouse brothers — is coming home to Atlanta in a major way. On Friday, October 30, the brand opens its first-ever flagship store at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead, and two days later, on Sunday, November 1, they’re throwing their famous Community Day at Charlie Yates Golf Course — free golf, free lessons, music and food, open to everybody. Golfers, non-golfers, kids picking up a club for the very first time — all of y’all.
If you know the story, you know why Atlanta had to be first. Founders Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper met at Morehouse College back in 2008 and won a national golf championship together in 2010. Ajanaku, an Atlanta native raised right in East Atlanta — that’s where the name comes from — went on to chase pro golf out of his own pocket. When the money ran short, he built something instead: a brand with a logo he drew himself, the Swingman — a golfer mid-swing wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and a gold chain. That image said what the founders believe: you don’t have to look a certain way, dress a certain way or come from a country club to belong in this game.
The culture heard them loud and clear. The Swingman has been rocked by Chris Paul, Jayson Tatum, Patrick Mahomes, Victor Cruz, DJ Khaled and President Barack Obama. The Jordan Brand collaboration that started with an Air Jordan golf shoe in 2021 grew into a full line. And this summer, Centric Brands came in with a joint venture to take the brand bigger — with retail at the top of the list. The Phipps Plaza flagship, on the second floor, turns the pop-up Eastside ran in the mall last month into a permanent home. Cooper calls it a full-circle moment: a modern clubhouse where the story began, built to bring the community together and put more people on the course.
And they’re not waiting long to prove it. Community Day is Eastside’s signature move: the brand takes over a public course for the day so that money is never the reason somebody doesn’t try golf. November 1 at Charlie Yates — the public course over in East Lake — means golf instruction, interactive activities, music and food, with Ajanaku and Cooper, community leaders and local organizations all on the grounds. Never swung a club? Perfect. That’s literally who it’s for.
If last year’s Atlanta Community Day at the same course is any indication, come ready: registration sold out within one hour, the day stretched from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and coaches — including Morehouse’s own golf coach — gave lessons to everybody from toddlers to grandparents, while the day supported the Charles R. Drew Charter School golf program. Eastside hasn’t posted the November 1 sign-up details yet, so watch eastsidegolf.com and @eastsidegolf on Instagram — when registration opens, it will not stay open long.
This is bigger than a store opening. For generations, golf locked our people out — private clubs, membership money, dress codes designed to keep the game looking one way. Two Morehouse men who won together in 2010 are now opening doors in Buckhead’s most luxurious mall AND giving the game away free in East Lake in the same weekend. That’s the whole mission in one frame: excellence and access, style and substance, home and history.
So mark it down: October 30, Phipps Plaza for the flagship, and November 1, Charlie Yates Golf Course for Community Day. Pull up, bring the kids, bring somebody who’s never touched a club. Atlanta, this one’s ours.
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