As an institution that allows no female members, Augusta National, home to golf’s Masters tournament, is not exactly renowned for embracing innovation. Yet as Tiger Woods and the world’s other leading golfers take to the course on Thursday for the first of this year’s four majors, it will be apparent that, in one aspect at least, deepest Georgia no longer reflects dated country club convention. Thanks to Adidas, Puma and fashion brands such as Dunhill and J Lindeberg, the argyle sweater of golfing cliché has been consigned to the sandtrap.
It’s about time. As is shown by the HBO series Entourage, in which a gang of hip young New Yorkers intent on making it in Hollywood knock golf balls from their rooftop into the gardens of stars, the game is no longer just for the middle-aged. Richard Finch, 30, a tournament professional for four years, has witnessed first hand the evolution of golfing wardrobes shaped in part by Golf Punk. Alongside Woods, the magazine features celebrity golfers such as Samuel L Jackson, Justin Timberlake and the actor Dougray Scott, Dunhill’s new face of golf.
“The change began with fabrics,” say Finch, winner of December’s New Zealand Open. “With the old golf wear, you could end up with salt marks from sweating, and creasing. Now manufacturers have learnt from tennis and use high-performance material, which means it isn’t even always necessary to change after playing.” Twelve years after triple Masters champion and famed jumper-wearer Nick Faldo last won at Augusta, golf’s new generation demands an altogether better finish to clothes, says Finch, who favours outfits by Nike.
“The days of the standard, baggy polo shirt for golf are over,” he says. “Golf shoes are also evolving towards trainers to the point where soon you will be able to wear them wherever you are. Overall, golf increasingly reflects broader fashions away from the game itself.”
Just look at the rules of golf, says Owen Blackhurst, 29, editor of Golf Punk. “There is little in there that says what you can and cannot wear.”
James Day, 27, who founded the metropolitan golfing range Urban Golf in central London, says golf styles now reflect contemporary life, as these days most new golfers play at suburban driving ranges, city venues such as Day’s, or even on computer simulators, which allow players to take on 18 holes using real clubs and balls but in half the normal time.
“Golfers today do not always have the four hours you need for a round outdoors,” says Day. “For them, life is broken up into two-hour segments, which they spend at the driving range or with us. There also isn’t time to change in and out of golf gear. They might spend time at the golf range, then head straight out for a drink and dinner.” Many visitors to Urban Golf also travel on public transport, so are unlikely to commute in plus fours and baggy cap, Day adds.
“Golf wear has to fit in with the rest of a player’s wardrobe now,” says Carlos de Freitas, general manager of Dunhill, which sponsors the Dunhill Links Championship and other tournaments. “Our range has become more of an extension of our London collection. If you chose to use the clothes for golf, that is fine, but you can wear them casually as well.”
Colouring and detail are both ways in which Dunhill has responded to the demand for greater flexibility from golf wear, says De Freitas. “Dark chocolate, petrol blue, ox blood; these are not traditional golf shades,” he explains.
“Similarly, our golf knitwear has design features such as contrast piping, while polo shirts have a tailored finish to the inside of the neck, distinct from standard designs. It is no longer the case that high-quality clothes are ‘too good’ for golf.”
Owen Blackhurst maintains that today’s brighter, sharper colours hark back to a golden age. “In the 1970s, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller and others looked great in strong shades,” says Blackhurst, who also believes that boldness among golfers today and the growing cross-over with mainstream fashion is a reflection of a renewed pride in the game.
“Appearance matters,” says Blackhurst. “That has not always been the case. But today those taking up golf see pictures of Seve Ballesteros in a plain navy blue Slazenger V-neck jumper and think, ‘How cool does he look? I want to look like that.’” Both Blackhurst and Day agree that the US-based golfer is a little behind European counterparts, style-wise, with Blackhurst blaming Woods’ dominance of the sport (Woods not being widely known for his impeccable sense of fashion). Still, Blackhurst does admit the champion has opened the eyes of the more conservative American golfer to the significance of colour. Woods always wears a red top on his final day in a tournament – on the way, usually, to victory – and thus growing numbers of amateurs pay attention to what shades they wear. “Players buy into his mentality,” Blackhurst says.
Finch adds: “These days, packing for tournaments I think, ‘What will I wear with those shoes?’. I mean, they might be black/white or brown/black two-tone: would they go with blue trousers or not?”
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Driving forces
www.adidas.com
www.puma.com
www.nike.com
www.dunhill.com
www.jlindeberg.com
www.urbangolf.co.uk