What’s the difference between golf-specific performance apparel and everything else?
Activity or sport-specific performance gear is not a new concept. Golf is no exception. While it was much later to the party than other mainstream sports, golf has caught up quickly, offering features and benefits that promise to improve your game in some way.
But that begs the question: Do you really need to buy golf-specific performance apparel to optimize your game? As we explored in a previous article, Performance Apparel 101: The Big Three, there are some fundamental needs in the core of your foundational golf wardrobe – by “core wardrobe,” we mean polos and bottoms — the table stakes of performance apparel.
A (Very) Brief History of Golf Apparel
To summarize the early days of golf apparel: there was wool, a lot of wool. Jackets, trousers, hats, ties, all made of wool and its favorite compatriot of the era, cotton canvas. While this glosses over a tremendous amount of wardrobe history, the main takeaway is simple: these garments, their fabrics and underlying construction were simply the clothes that golfers wore in all the other avenues of their daily lives.
Jump in the MGS DeLorean and floor it for 88 mph to move us forward a few hundred years into the 20th Century. As golf gained more popularity as personal recreation and entertainment, we quickly landed on the previously outlined foundational golf wardrobe – the polo collared shirt and trousers.
The polo collared shirt (he polo) was borrowed from golf’s country club cousin, tennis. Fun fact: The same person who invented steel tennis racquets also invented the polo shirt, French professional tennis player Rene Lacoste. If that name sounds familiar, it should. Lacoste went on to commercialize his creation under the same brand name featuring a crocodile logo based on his on-court nickname. But I digress. Back to fairway fashion.
Throughout most of the 20th Century, cotton dominated the construction of polos as wool did in trousers. At the time they were, in fact, the highest-performing fabrics available for sport of any kind. Unlike the heavier wool constructions like tweed during the earliest days of the game, newer worsted wool made for a lighter and naturally breathable version of the timeless fiber.
The Same. But Different
Aesthetically, the uniform of golf hasn’t really strayed far from this formula even up to today. While there were stylistic detours like the short-sleeved mock-neck shirt, which by the way pre-dated Tiger by three or so decades, the real changes began to take shape as we reach the swinging ’70s.
That’s when synthetic fibers began making their way into the wardrobes of the world’s most famous golfers. We saw Jack, Arnie, Johnny Miller and nearly everyone in the pro ranks wearing plaid or tartan trousers. (Not an aesthetic worth revisiting. See Ian Poulter circa the late 1990s and subsequent 15 or so years.)
These early incarnations of synthetic polos and trousers were predominantly polyester and were wildly different from modern versions of poly and other underlying yarns we use today. Textile manufacturing limitations of the time meant the construction of these fabrics was often heavy and couldn’t approximate the softness of cotton. They were, however, much more durable than cotton but breathability was a tradeoff.
As with all technology, iteration and evolution happened exponentially faster in the years that followed. By the 1990s, performance fabrics began to dominate sports apparel at every level. Golf was slow to the party but we eventually got there fashionably late – late like hours after the proverbial party had started and everyone was having way more fun than you.
Why Does It Matter?
The trip through sartorial space and time should make it pretty clear: You don’t need golf-specific performance apparel to play golf. Technically speaking, you can play any sport in just about anything you want to wear but that doesn’t really get to the spirit of what we’re exploring.
The real question is to determine whether golf-specific apparel is any better at optimizing on-course performance versus the same silhouettes offered by a non-golf-specific brand. To answer the question, we need to take a broader look at the apparel industry and current fashion and fabric trends at a macro level.
The A-word: Athleisure
“Athleisure” is exactly what it sounds like and has dominated the fashion market for most of the last decade. The athleisure market has introduced us to brands which walk a stylistic tightrope between sport performance and everyday life.
So much of the current generation of apparel promises us the versatility we need to do just about anything in our modern world including wearing apparel designed for the course anywhere and vice versa. That promise is largely delivered by many modern apparel makers.
Personal Style
Personal style and, by extension, our own sense of identity as golfers plays a very big part in this conversation. Many of us are proud to convey our hobby (addiction) to the world. The difference between golf and other sport-specific apparel, however, is the silhouettes.
A golf-specific polo or trouser offered by any of the myriad of brands in the golf industry can often double as the uniform of the corporate office or casual dinner garb in much of the world. The same cannot be said of your Thursday night softball league custom jerseys.
Once you’ve checked the boxes for the fundamental needs covered in Performance Golf Apparel 101, your personal golf wardrobe decision-making really brings us to a fork in the road. The first leads down the path of versatility. Do you want or need your apparel to serve the needs of golf and other aspects of your life? If the answer is yes, no problem.
The alternative path focuses on how important pinnacle performance is to you specifically as golfer. Apparel technology is advancing constantly and the benefits can easily translate to on-course performance, at least in small incremental ways. Vehicles are a great analogue for this example: You can buy the base model version of a vehicle from any automaker or you can opt for every imaginable option.
Fundamentally, the base model and the super-deluxe limited-edition do the same exact thing by effectively getting you from point A to point B. One does it with more features and benefits than the other. That’s where you need to determine just how much those features and benefits matter to you and your game.
What to Look For in Golf Apparel
There is an ever-growing list of apparel technology for golfers to consider. Factors range from the environmental conditions of where you play to the athleticism of your swing and its needs and a whole host of things in between.
We’ve already talked about the non-negotiables but to quickly summarize, they are:
- Breathability: Breathable fabrics or construction that allow for better airflow.
- Moisture Wicking: Fabrics that draw sweat away from the body to help keep you drier and more comfortable.
- Stretch: Fabrics that provide flexibility and help promote full range of motion during your swing.
The Next-Level Apparel Tech
Sun Protection
Built-in UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) to keep harmful UV rays at bay. These fabrics may include tightly woven synthetic fibers or fabrics treated with UV-absorbing chemicals. They will break down over time.
As golfers, we spend extended periods of time outdoors and want to reduce our risk of skin damage and skin cancer so this should be at the top of the list immediately after the basics outlined. Our favorite shirts from Rhoback have UPF, high-performance features and a fun print.
Anti-Odor Properties
Technology to minimize the buildup of sweat-induced odors during a round starts with great breathability/ventilation. But there are treatments that can take this further. Like UPF, there are multiple ways anti-odor, sometimes referred to as anti-microbial, features.
Those include finishes applied to fabric before it’s sewn but, like any finish, that will diminish over time. The better, albeit more expensive, option is manufactured into the fabric itself to inhibit bacterial growth that ultimately creates the stank you’re looking to avoid.
Advanced Construction and Fit
Premium performance golf apparel should generally be lightweight to help in supporting the three non-negotiables above. But other elements like zonal ventilation, seamless construction, body mapping, strategic seam placement, bonded seam construction, variations of sleeve lengths, drop tails and silicone elements for keeping polo shirts tucked into bottoms and more all fall into this broader category.
Practical Pockets
Most often seen in bottoms, golf-specific pockets can be found across the industry and enable golfers to safely stash tees or divot tools in hidden pockets or even a small pocket within a pocket. Some brands have back pockets that are built to accommodate scorecards and yardage books, with some even incorporating a gripping element to keep your glove safely stowed in a back pocket.
Weather Resistance
Polos and bottoms on the market today may include levels of weather resistance. Sometimes offered as “easy care” features, these include water and wind repellency which more often than not also happen to resist wrinkling and prevent your ketchup-lathered hot dog at the turn from staining.
To be clear, these are not built to stand up to much more than mild conditions and, as above, are generally applied as treatments or coatings whose effects will wear off after repeated laundering.
There are many, many more we have not mentioned. That list of features will only continue to grow, not unlike the technology packed into a modern driver one release cycle after the next.
Look Good, Play Good
Like drivers and every other club in our bags, our apparel should support our own specific needs and desires for the game. Does style trump function? Will cutting-edge apparel technology benefit your game? Every golfer needs to answer these questions for themselves.
Having had the privilege of working with some of the best athletes in golf as well as others across a variety of sports, one sentiment was consistent: Look good, play good. Confidence enhances performance in any endeavor. Golf is no exception.
Bobby Jones suggested “you swing best when you have the fewest things to think about.” Whether you begin with comfort, performance or style as your primary apparel requirement, the best polo or bottom for you is the one that enables you to forget it’s even there.
Davide Mattucci
8 months ago
Love this question! I have another piece I’m working on talking about the level of sustainability in the golf apparel industry. It’s becoming a much more important product question as a new generation of golfers discovers the game.