Some brands are born in boardrooms – Links & Kings was born from passion. Adam Heindorff’s journey from renewable energy entrepreneur to luxury golf goods pioneer began in a St Andrews car park. With a bold vision and a love for the game, he built one of golf’s most prestigious brands.
What started as a way to support his addiction to the game quickly evolved into one of the most prestigious luxury leather goods brands in the sport, culminating in a partnership with industry giant Acushnet. After selling a renewable energy business, Adam was excited to create something driven by his love for the game, not just business.
Links & Kings founder Adam Heindorff
Great ideas in golf rarely come from boardrooms, they’re sparked by passion, vision, and the courage to take risks. That’s how Links & Kings was born. Adam Heindorff, a golf-obsessed entrepreneur, didn’t just want to play in Scotland; he wanted to build a business that would fund his golfing habit. What started as a way to support his addiction to the game quickly evolved into one of the most prestigious luxury leather goods brands in the sport, culminating in a partnership with industry giant Acushnet. After selling a renewable energy business, Adam was excited to create something driven by his love for the game, not just business.
The inspiration for the name ‘Links & Kings’ struck during a round at Valderrama. Heindorff was walking through the private antique collection of Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, the club’s late owner, when he spotted a centuries-old book documenting golf’s earliest history. The opening chapter was titled ‘Kings of Scotland.’ The moment resonated with him. “I thought, damn, that’s a cool name, Kings of Scotland,” he recalls. “Then I thought, no, a little too regional. And then it hit me, Links and Kings.”
Realising he had found the perfect name, he sprinted to the car park, where he could finally get a phone signal. “I called my wife at the time and said, ‘Log into GoDaddy.com right now and check LinksandKings.com.’ She looked it up and said it was available. I told her, ‘Buy it, right now!’” And just like that, the brand name was secured before he had even left the course.
However, the journey first began in a car park at St Andrews. With his children waiting in the car, Heindorff walked into a meeting with the head buyer of the legendary venue, armed without any samples but a concept and passion. That meeting changed everything. The buyer placed an order on the spot, and just like that, Links & Kings was born. Of course, there was one small problem, Heindorff had to figure out how to actually produce the goods he had pitched. It was a classic case of putting the cart before the horse, but it set the stage for what would become a remarkable rise in the industry.
“I had no idea how I was going to make the products, but I knew I had to make it happen,” Heindorff recalls. “I was determined to create something special, something that didn’t exist in the golf world at the time. There were leather goods out there, sure, but nothing at the luxury level I envisioned.”
From the outset, Heindorff was uncompromising in his vision. He saw a gap in the market for truly high-end golf leather goods, products that embodied tradition, craftsmanship, and a genuine connection to the game. Determined to meet his own exacting standards, he rejected early prototypes, sourced his own leathers from around the world, and took personal control over quality. This hands-on approach helped establish the brand’s reputation for excellence.
“I travelled everywhere searching for the right leather,” he says. “I couldn’t just rely on someone else’s supply chain. I had to touch it, feel it, smell it—know that it was the absolute best before putting my name on it.”
Rather than chasing mass production, Heindorff focused on slow, steady growth. He targeted the top 20 UK accounts and major golf events like The Open Championship, building relationships with the best courses in the world. It wasn’t long before the American market took notice, and the biggest names in golf started reaching out. Seven years ago, the ultimate validation arrived, Acushnet, the powerhouse behind Titleist and FootJoy, came knocking. In January 2018, at the PGA Show, Heindorff signed the deal that brought Links & Kings into the Acushnet family, marking a pivotal moment in the company’s history.
David Maher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acushnet Holdings Corp, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership: “We’re thrilled to begin this new partnership with Links & Kings as we continue in our unwavering commitment to best serve the needs of dedicated golfers. Links & Kings has been built on a foundation of creating golf products of the absolute highest quality, a mission that is shared by all of our brands and associates. We look forward to working with Adam and his team in their commitment to creating the finest leather products in the game.”
For Heindorff, the partnership was a dream come true. “We could not be happier to join the Acushnet family,” he said. “There isn’t another game that captures your soul and becomes part of you like golf. It’s that feeling which inspires us to make every Links & Kings product feel more like an experience, a connection to everything that is great about the game. It’s that same feeling I get as a golfer when it comes to the Titleist and FootJoy brands. That we are now part of the same team is an extraordinary testament to the work we have put in.”
The brand’s evolution has been remarkable. What started with a single stainless steel belt buckle soon transformed into a full-scale luxury leather goods company. “I never set out to make leather goods,” Heindorff admits. “It all started with a polished stainless steel buckle, but once I had it, I realised I needed a belt to go with it. That was the beginning of something much bigger.”
Today, Links & Kings offers a diverse range of products, from high-end golf bags and headcovers to belts, travel accessories, and duffel bags. Every item is crafted from the finest leathers sourced from the best tanneries in the world. The company’s ethos is simple: quality above all else. As Heindorff puts it, the brand is ‘unapologetically expensive’, not for the sake of exclusivity, but because no corners are cut in the pursuit of excellence.
“We refuse to compromise,” he says. “Our products cost more because we spend more on materials and craftsmanship than anyone else in the industry. If something isn’t perfect, we don’t sell it, simple as that.”
Looking ahead, Links & Kings is far from reaching its peak. Expansion into international markets continues, with a particular focus on golf-rich regions like the United Arab Emirates, where passion for the game and an appreciation for the finer things in life go hand in hand. While Heindorff has yet to play golf in Dubai, he knows the region presents a perfect fit for the brand’s next chapter.
“I’ve only been to Dubai’s airport, but I’ve watched the tournaments on TV, and I know the region is filled with golfers who value quality,” he says. “I need to make that trip soon.”
What began as a passion to fund a golfing habbit has become an elite premium brand for those that demand the very best. With Acushnet’s backing and Heindorff’s relentless pursuit of perfection, Links & Kings is just getting started.
