Arnold Palmer once noted that “people had told me that I was a well-dressed golfer. I guess that has something to do with the fact that a lot of people who play golf don’t dress very well.”
In his knitted polo shirts and pressed slacks, Palmer certainly looked more classy than what had come before. But by ushering in an era of conservatism, he played to the image golf has, more or less, self-consciously maintained ever since: defiantly middle-class, monied, white and elitist. This is underscored by clubhouse rules that determine what one can and can’t wear on course grounds and which seem to serve no other purpose than to exclude a certain ‘wrong type’.
That’s not an image golf—and that other elitist sport, tennis—can afford to maintain if it wants to attract young players.
In Palmer’s time, there was a parallel world in which golf style was loud and proud. Men could make the kind of bold sartorial statement they were less able to off the course, and likely wouldn’t want to. Those 18 holes were a free pass to dress in a big way, led by the likes of golf fanatic Dean Martin, in his checked trousers and pastel argyle knitwear, and Frank Sinatra—the epitome of black tie elegance on stage—in his bright orange alpaca cardigan. The latter would rack up a $30,000 annual bill at the Palm Springs Canyon Club on such gems alone.
Arnold Palmer
As Tiger Woods once joked, “hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps.” Thankfully, there’s a hint of this making a comeback, meaning the pros known for their flamboyant style – Ian Poulter, with his patterned plus-fours, reversed flat cap and Union Jack knitted waistcoat, or Shingo Katayama, with his western shirts and broad-brimmed, leopard print hat, or John ‘psychedelic trousers’ Daly – may no longer be the exceptions that prove the rule.
Over recent years, the golf world has tried to kid itself that it’s not a board game played on grass but a ‘proper’ sport on par with football or badminton: something that requires actual exertion and will make you sweaty. To this end, sportswear giants like Nike have clad golfers in a modern-day Palmer uniform: pared back but highly technical with lots of stretchy and breathable cloths in streamlined cuts. It makes players look like they’re about to go fell-running, not on a gentle, electrically assisted amble over five miles.
Eastside Golf
The latest clutch of golfwear brands keep the best of this performance aspect—after all, it’s genuinely useful to have water repellency and fast-drying fabrics if you get caught in a downpour—but they’re also bringing back some of the fun, showmanship and casual vibes that Frank and Dino might have appreciated.
As Jojo Regan, the co-founder of one such young label, Manors, notes, there is a young generation of golfers who see the ‘sport’ as a pastime rather than an obsession, with the focus on spending time with their golf buddies, not worrying too much about their handicap. Indeed, the biggest handicap has been what they’ve been expected to wear.
Manors Golf
Enter the likes of Bogey Bros, which specialises in – by its own description – ‘funny’ golf polos with brightly-coloured small motif prints. You can expect similar, though more toned-down designs, from On Par. On the contemporary end of the scale, Shank It offers polos in camo and tiger stripes and graphic T-shirts, beanies and baseball caps more typically associated with skatewear brands, while Bunker Mentality mixes golf shorts in electric blue with a technical gilet over a ‘Let the Golf Times Roll’ long-sleeved T-shirt.
One of the better new names is Malbon, which offers the full golfing wardrobe—headwear, outerwear and footwear included—and has already grown big enough to collaborate with Adidas, Beams, the Keith Haring estate and Cola-Cola.
Malbon x Adidas Samba golf shoe
Then there’s Fore All, with its big hoodies and quarter-zip logo top, as well as a range of fitted chevron print tops and matching skirts, sweatpants, sweaters and bombers for women. One of its clothing graphics has ‘Golfing Optional’ – a recognition that this new swathe of golf brands is as much for fashion as the fairway.
Perhaps even the establishment golfwear companies are picking up on this ethos: Glenmuir, makers of golf sweaters since 1891, for example, has recently collaborated with J. Lindeberg, a Scandi design brand and progressive golfwear maker, on a decidedly more striking capsule range. As J. Lindeberg’s creative director Neil Lewty notes, it’s the more upbeat, more interesting vision for golfwear that chimes with the way golf is expanding its horizons as an activity, too.
Glenmuir x J. Lindeberg
“There’s so much around golf now, and I find it interesting to see what people are wearing on the driving ranges, at indoor golf and simulator venues,” says Lewty. “It’s really opened up to a new younger audience as well as widening the type of garments that you wear for these ‘new’ golfing occasions.”
Or, as Poulter has put it more directly, “[golfwear] needs to be cool. Yes, it needs to feel right in more practical terms – the buttons have to be in the right position, for example, because just a button can get in the way of a swing. But I don’t understand why golfwear can’t look great, too.” It seems that more and more brands are now answering that question.
