Patrick and Carey Schwerin
The Inventors of BeachGoff
story by JEANNE REYNOLDS photos by SUSAN DELOACH
Big, blended families have fascinated generations of Americans. From the six kids of the fictional Brady Bunch to the real-life 12 siblings of Cheaper by the Dozen and 18 kids (yes, 18!) of Yours, Mine and Ours, there’s something magical and heartwarming about large, loving families.
Carey and Patrick Schwerin are living proof. When the Beaufort couple decided to combine forces five years ago — a second marriage for each of them — they created a family that now includes two 22-year-old daughters, two 20-year-old sons, a daughter and son both age 17, and another son age 16. None of them are twins. And if you need help counting, that’s seven children… as newlyweds to boot.
Which has a lot to do with why the Schwerins are about a year into their first venture as small business owners of BeachGoff, a game combining bocce and corn hole played on the beach using colorful golf-sized balls. The idea first emerged not long after Patrick, then a high school teacher in Savannah, and Carey, an attorney in Beaufort, were introduced by mutual friends and started dating.
“We were dating long distance and had to entertain seven kids, and visiting the beach was an affordable option, so we did that a lot,” Carey says.
“I always bring a ball of some kind with me,” Patrick adds. “I had just come back from a golf tournament and had golf balls in the car, so I made up a game.”
The concept is simple: Two players, or teams of players, take turns trying to toss, roll, or bounce golf-sized balls into rings nestled into the sand about 20 feet away. The first iteration of the game involved digging holes in the sand, but after a few tosses, the holes would collapse. The Schwerins then designed plastic rings — the size of a regulation golf hole — that hold the hole’s shape in the sand and can also be used as tools to create the BeachGoff course.
Soon, other beachgoers began stopping by and asking what they were doing. That led the Schwerins to think they might have a marketable game others would enjoy too. By this time, Patrick and Carey were married and living with their children in Beaufort. So Patrick drew on his background, teaching business classes at the Savannah Arts Academy to design a logo and a website, and the family set up shop in the living room to assemble the BeachGoff kits: two rings, seven brightly colored golf-sized balls, and instructions in a reusable mesh storage bag.
They found the name “BeachGolf” wasn’t eligible for trademarking because those two words are too generic, so they tweaked it to BeachGoff and launched their company in May 2021, by announcing it on their personal Facebook pages and Instagram accounts.
“We thought we might sell 100 or 150 to friends and family members,” Carey recalls.
Try ten times that many. After a little more than a year in business, they’ve sold about 1,200 games. At first, sales were only online, but now the game is available in 11 stores from Beaufort to Savannah to Edisto and as far away as New York and Baton Rouge.
“They sell best at small boutique stores,” Carey says. “They look cute, so I think women buy them for their husbands.”
Besides its simplicity, Carey thinks BeachGoff appeals to a wide audience and families of all ages because it’s flexible. As the BeachGoff website points out, the game is always different based on wind, water, shells, dogs, and young children.
“It’s a family game. It’s supposed to be fun — make it your own,” she says. “We like the idea of people making up their own rules. We’d love to get people to send in how they play and send pictures. We’ll put it on the website and credit them.”
The couple is focusing on building up their inventory and expanding their retail locations this summer. They’re also refining their product, offering the balls in packs of college-themed colors designed to appeal to fans of regional teams: think Georgia Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks, and Clemson Tigers.
And while Carey is still practicing law and Patrick is still teaching at Beaufort High School, now that some of their offspring are beginning to fly out of the nest, the couple can envision a future where fun and games are a full-time business.
“We’re starting to think of future businesses and more games,” Patrick says. “We could spin the BeachGoff idea for pools and lawns, for instance.”
“Patrick is the kind of guy who can come up with a game using anything,” Carey smiles.
HOW TO PLAY BEACHGOFF
• Set up your course.
• Place the two rings in the sand about 20 feet apart
(about 10 or 11 steps).
• Mark the spot where the hole will go.
• Use the rings to dig a backstop behind and downhill
from the hole. This helps stop runaway balls.
• Using the ring as a shovel, dig a hole, and place
the ring inside. Dig out the sand inside the ring.
• Start playing.
• Play in teams or individually, using two balls per
team or person. Teammates play from opposite
holes, like corn hole.
• The green ball is the Money Ball. The person or
team with the Money Ball goes first, then play
alternates back and forth and through each player.
• Players stand behind one ring and toss their ball
toward the opposite ring.
• Each ball that goes into the ring (and stays there)
scores 1 point. If the Money Ball goes into the ring,
it scores 2 points.
• The first team to 5 points wins.
• Repeat!
WHERE TO BUY BEACHGOFF
• Scout Southern Market — Beaufort
• Grayco — Lady’s Island
• Edisto Surf Shop — Edisto Beach
• Beaufort Belle — Tanger Outlets in Bluffton
• The Fripp Ship — Fripp Island
• Marsh & Co — Wilmington Island, Savannah
• Locally Made Savannah — Savannah
• Changing Colors, LLC — Chester, NJ
• Olly-Olly — Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• The Plantation Course pro shop —
The Wyndham, Edisto Island
• Karmic Grind — Locust Valley, Long Island, NY
• www.beachgoff.com
