Richmond, Va.-based Dynamic Brands, which makes Bagboy pushcarts along with other golf products, brought Spiranac, who has more than 8 million followers on Instagram and other platforms, to play in the pro-am at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, as another step in raising its products’ profiles. The company’s relationship with Spiranac, a decorated college golfer who then played briefly as a pro, began after she publicly scorned the use of pushcarts before then being encouraged to give them a try.

Leighton Klevana admits that his Richmond, Va.-based company, Dynamic Brands, has always flown a bit below the radar in how it promotes itself, Richmond BizSense reported.

Now, in a bid to come further out of its shell, the golf gear maker has teamed with golfer-turned-social-media celebrity Paige Spiranac as it ups its online profile, Richmond BizSense reported.

Dynamic Brands’ relationship with Spiranac has the potential to take it reach to new places, RichmondBizSense reported. She’s been crowned in recent news reports as the most followed golfer on Instagram, outpacing the likes of Tiger Woods. She has more than 8 million followers across the big social-media platforms.

Aligning with Spiranac is a first step for the company in stepping outside its more traditional marketing efforts, Klevana told Richmond BizSense.

“She’s a social-media guru,” Klevana said. “She knows her audience extremely well and can tell you what her followers like and what they don’t. We’re not social-media experts and she’s teaching us that on the fly.”

Spiranac, 28, was a decorated college golfer who played briefly as a pro before parlaying that early success into fame on social media.

Her focus on golf and golf products in her postings has helped her build a niche representing various golf products. In addition to her work with Dynamic Brands, she has affiliations with head-cover brand Swag Golf, golf simulator company X-Golf, and club fitting retailer Club Champion.

“I never intended to be Instagram famous,” Spiranac told Richmond BizSense. “There’s been no blueprint or clear path. No one’s really done this before in the golf industry.”

Dynamic Brands was formed by Klevana and a business partner in 1997 as an independent spinout, after the Bagboy brand had been owned by the Ben Hogan Co. and sold to Spalding, Richmond BizSense reported.

Dynamic Brands’ relationship with Spiranac was born about a year ago when she was publicly dissing the use of pushcarts, Richmond BizSense reported. One of Dynamic Brands’ biggest products is its Bagboy brand of pushcarts.

“She was down on pushcarts; she thought it was an old man’s product,” Klevana said. “That started some chatter [on social media]. She kind of got pushed into trying it, and that’s where we connected with her and it grew from there.”

The fortuitous social-media collision has since evolved beyond pushcarts into the two sides jointly developing a line of golf towels, Richmond BizSense reported. The latest is a Ryder Cup-themed towel featuring Spiranac in a provocative pose.

More than 10,000 of the towels have been sold since the promotion began over the last year, Klevana told Richmond BizSense. The deal with Spiranac, he added, is set up so that both the company and Spiranac benefit if the towels sell well, as opposed to the more traditional celebrity endorsement deal.

“It’s not ‘Hey, we’re going to pay you X and you’re going to go out and say how great we are,’” Klevana said.

The two sides are now working on a new golf club bag, the details of which they are still keeping somewhat under wraps, Richmond BizSense reported. But Spiranac said they will be eye-catching.

“I think people will be shocked by the technology and innovation we’ve put into a golf bag,” she said.

Dynamic Brands has even flown under the radar in its home base, Klevana admitted. “That’s probably my fault in that we don’t like talking about ourselves,” he said. “We have distribution not only in the U.S. and Canada, but in 40 countries around the world.”

But the company took advantage of this year’s Dominion Energy Charity Classic, an annual PGA Tour Champions tournament that was held October 22-24 at The Country Club of Virginia’s James River course, to try to change that and get some extra exposure locally, Richmond BizSense reported. The company brought Spiranac to Richmond to play in the tournament’s pro-am.

That was another step chance in showing the local community a bit more about Dynamic Brands’ reach, which in total includes well-known brands of pushcarts, golf towels, umbrellas, ball retrievers and other products, Klevana told Richmond BizSense. The towels, for example, are customized and sold to the Ryder Cup, PGA Championship and U.S. Open., as well as local clubs like The Country Club of Virginia and Kinloch Golf Club.