Page 11 - Demo

BeaufortLifestyle.com | June 2026 11restaurant management platform company. They understood how to grow other people%u2019s businesses, but launching their own brickand-mortar venture wasn%u2019t anywhere on their vision board. Chad, born in Charleston and raised across the Carolinas and Alabama, had been introduced to golf in fourth grade by his father through a summer program at Winthrop University. %u201cI learned the skills, but also the etiquette of golf,%u201d he recalls. He followed the PGA Tour, became an avid Tiger Woods fan, and played on his high school team before adult life and career demands pushed the clubs to the back of the closet. Armed with degrees in public relations, journalism, and an MBA from the University of Alabama, he built a career in %u201cdemand generation%u201d %u2014 essentially identifying market problems and creating solutions that people actually want to buy. Andrea, the youngest of four girls from Yarmouth, Maine, developed her competitive edge playing field hockey through high school and college. Golf was mostly background noise %u2014 %u201cI knew enough about golf to be dangerous,%u201d she laughs %u2014 though she occasionally caddied and understood the culture. With degrees in psychology and business administration plus a master%u2019s in management, she launched her career in energy management and automation industry before transitioning to tech marketing, where she and Chad first crossed paths. Their professional relationship evolved into something deeper, built on the solid foundation of knowing how each other operates under pressure %u2014 a crucial advantage, as it turned out, for what lay ahead.FINDING HOME Chad returned to Charleston in 2019, drawn back to his roots. Andrea followed a few years later, connected to the area by multiple vacations in her youth, a grandfather who was raised in the town during his formative years, and a best friend who attended the College of Charleston. For a while, Charleston felt right. Then its small-town character and sense of community started to fade. %u201cCharleston had changed a lot from the version I grew up loving,%u201d Chad says. %u201cWe had never even visited Beaufort before, but we kept hearing great things about it, so we came down on a whim for a staycation. One of the first things I said to Andrea was, %u2018This feels like how Charleston used to feel.%u2019 It immediately felt familiar to both of us %u2014 a smaller coastal town with real community and personality. We looked at each other and said, %u2018We could live here.%u2019%u201d More importantly, as Chad puts it, %u201cIt would be nice to have a place where %u2018we%u2019 started%u201d %u2014 a city that would belong to both of them equally, without the weight of either person%u2019s individual history already embedded in every street corner. They moved quickly, closing on a home in Battery Point in July 2024. The sense of belonging was immediate and undeniably rare in its intensity. %u201cInstantly knew we were in the right spot,%u201d Chad says. %u201cThe feeling started with our neighborhood and then grew. Beaufort is the most connected to a community I%u2019ve ever felt in my life. It hits the same emotional nerve as smelling pluff mud when you cross back into the Lowcountry.%u201dREADING BETWEEN THE LINES Settling into their new community meant paying close attention to what Beaufort offered %u2014 and what it was missing. Despite the Hilton Head area%u2019s international reputation as a golf destination, Chad quickly noticed that north of the Broad River, the reality was starkly different: a handful of private or limited-access courses, two public courses, and not much in between. More troubling was the broader entertainment landscape. Beaufort had recently lost its bowling alley and movie theater, leaving families with limited options for indoor, all-weather activities that weren%u2019t restaurants or bars. %u201cThere%u2019s a ton of great outdoor stuff here %u2014 Hunting Island, Port Royal %u2014 but not a lot of options that aren%u2019t private that offer a community gathering spot with inside entertainment for the family,%u201d Chad observed. This is where their years of marketing expertise began speaking a different language. The methodology Chad had spent his career applying was suddenly pointing at something much closer to home. %u201cMy whole career was %u2018What%u2019s the problem? What%u2019s the product fit? Will someone buy it?%u2019%u201d he explains. %u201cWe started looking at Beaufort through that lens.%u201d Andrea%u2019s perspective proved equally crucial in shaping their thinking. %u201cFrom a business standpoint, we could see the gap,%u201d she says. %u201cBut from a community standpoint, we could see the opportunity to create something that would genuinely serve people %u2014 not just golfers, but families, beginners, people looking for a comfortable place to connect.%u201d An indoor golf simulator began emerging as the solution that could address multiple needs simultaneously: affordable access to golf regardless of weather, a welcoming community space, and year-round entertainment suitable for all ages and skill levels. They chose the name Egret & Iron to tell the story about the venture%u2019s place and purpose. The egret %u2014 graceful, patient, perfectly adapted to Lowcountry marshes %u2014 represents the natural beauty and unhurried pace that drew them to Beaufort. The iron is one of golf%u2019s essential tools but also suggests the enduring strength and craftsmanship Chad fine-tunes the settings before a new round in the golf simulator.