From Newsletter Author to Boutique Putter Craftsmen

When Jared Doerfler launched a free golf newsletter in 2021, he didn’t think it would change his life. He was just finishing an MBA elective on entrepreneurship, and the instructor said writing online would teach discipline, feedback, and how to think clearly. So Jared started Perfect Putt.

His wife was subscriber #1. His best friend was #2.

It took three months to reach 100 readers. Today, he’s got 11,000.

But writing about the golf industry eventually led him to a harder question:

“What if I didn’t just write about it? What if I built something in it?”

He didn’t want to be a content creator. He wanted to be a founder. And he had two criteria: the business had to be in the golf world, and he had to be able to make the product himself.

That ruled out a lot of things. But it left one intriguing possibility: custom putters.

So Jared dove headfirst into a world he knew nothing about. He literally bought Machining for Dummies, took CAD/CAM courses online, and binge-watched YouTube tutorials about CNC milling. Eventually, he bought a CNC machine and parked it in his garage. He had never touched one before.

He failed. A lot.

“I look back at some of the stuff I did in the first few months, and I’m shocked the machine didn’t explode,” he jokes. But each failure gave him a new problem to solve. And each problem made him a better craftsman.

Fast forward to 2025, and Jared runs Hanna Golf, a boutique putter company that makes sleek, high-performance products out of 1018 carbon steel. He’s got a machinist intern, a marketing assistant, and a growing fanbase. And while the shop is still small, the ambition is not.

He does everything himself—design, manufacturing, branding, website—and he’s proud of that. “I don’t like help,” he says. “I want to understand every part of this thing.”

He’s building slow. Deliberate. One putter at a time. No VCs, no hype drops, no artificial scarcity. Just thoughtful design and deep respect for the craft.

The irony? Jared doesn’t even get to play much golf. Three kids under five and 60-hour workweeks will do that. But his connection to the game has only grown. Customers stop by the shop to try putters. One guy came in with duct tape on the grip, just looking for a better connection with his father-in-law via the game of golf.

Jared gets that. Golf is emotional. Golf is personal.

So is building something from scratch.

Want to hear more stories about founders like you? Subscribe to our newsletter