Fashion on the fairway: How did golf clothes suddenly become cool?

Golf fans may have noticed a change at the 19th hole: players are dressing less like middle-aged middle managers and more like they’ve stepped out of a lookbook. There’s a bit more fashion on the fairway lately, a touch of flair on the putting green.

It’s the result of a growing crop of golfwear brands launched over the past five years, catering to a younger – or at least more style-conscious – generation of golfers keen to bring personality to the course.

They might, for instance, be wearing Malbon, the Los Angeles label that’s built a cult following for its loose-fit T-shirts, bucket-knit sweaters and pleated skirts; or Swedish brand Macade, which is “on a mission to push the boundaries of traditional golf apparel… for a new generation of golfers”.

From bold prints to basic hoodies, today’s golfers are moving away from traditional, buttoned-up looks. Photo: Manors

Others may prefer the irreverent edge of Shank It – “golf gear that refuses to blend in”, as the company puts it – or the preppy, collegiate polish of Fore All. Even the UAE has entered the scene, with its home-grown, graphics-led brand Sandie.

Some of the pros are in on the action too: Sun Day Red line by Tiger Woods offers relaxed sweatshirts and sweatpants – a far cry from the starched polos of old.

Indeed, golf looks are undergoing a full-blown style revolution. Jojo Regan, co-founder of Manors Golf says: “You can’t raise money as a brand like ours unless you’re addressing a specific market. Ten years ago, investors wouldn’t have considered it. Golfwear was all vanilla and there was no demand for anything different.

“But there’s been a change of image,” Regan adds. “Golf was perceived as an elitist, white, middle-class, rich man’s sport. Now, the sport is more open to anyone. As more people play, golf, for want of a better word, has become cooler.”

Even heritage brands are feeling the shift. Glenmuir, the world’s oldest golfwear label, founded in 1891, has also moved with the times. Photo: Glenmuir

That shift, he argues, is also linked to renewed investment in the sport – and the emergence of new, more dynamic formats such as LIV Golf, which has been played at events in countries including Saudi Arabia, bringing the game to new audiences.

The influx of money and media has energised the sport and helped draw in a younger crowd, one that expects to express itself through what it wears as much as how it swings.

Of course, golf has been here before. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, it enjoyed a stylish heyday – unapologetically loud in contrast to the conservative conventions of menswear at the time. “Orange is the happiest colour,” Frank Sinatra once said.