GEOFF CUNNINGHAM

I come from a long line of golfers– my Dad, my uncles, my grandparents, and many before.

A lot of my earliest memories involve golf. My grandfather converted his garage into a workshop, and every night after dinner I would sit intently and watch as he repaired wooden clubs... melting the lead and pouring it into the head with great delicacy, sanding the surface, repainting the lacquered finish... he was a wizard.

I started in the golf industry when I was 14, folding clothes in the warehouse at Ashworth Clothing Company. After college I became the art director for FIDRA, the golf division of Quiksilver, and after that I returned to Ashworth as a creative consultant. Now I am the cofounder and Art Director of Linksoul with my uncle, John Ashworth, and our family and friends. 

Over the years I have met people and places that have shown me so many more layers to this game.

I've found that the origins of golf are not bound by geography. Yes, it goes back to Scotland on dunes mowed by rabbits and kept green by the constant fifteen minute rotation of sun and rain. It goes back to the Netherlands, where it was played on ice. It goes back to China, thousands of years ago... all of this recorded in artwork and text.  

But the essence of golf finds its origins in a universal principle– we are all seeking to return to the center. The place where self resonates with Self. 

On the surface, golf is a sport, replete with the ego and industry, heroism and failure that come with sports. But moreover, golf is a practice along the lines martial arts, yoga, surfing and painting. It is something we can do to find the limits of our Selves, in order to understand and grow.  

The Industry of Golf would have people believe in order to play we must have the latest technologies, a lot of money, and a cart in order to compete and finish quickly.

None of this matters. Golf, like all other practices, has only ever progressed through the souls of people like my Grandfather... people who loved it. 

I paint the people and places that reflect the essential principles of golf in order to reconnect people to the soul of the game.   

Geoff Cunningham currently lives and works in Oceanside, CA. He is the cofounder of LINKSOUL, with his uncles, John and Hank Ashworth.  LINKSOUL is a golf company dedicated to reconnecting people to the soul of the game (linksoul.com). He is also a practicing studio artist  (geoffreycunningham.com).