By ROBERT LOHRER
Contributing Writer
Purchasing a gift for a golfer is not easy, especially if you don’t play the game. Store aisles and Web sites produced the three C’s of gift-giving dreck when we set out to do a little window shopping: collectibles, coffee mugs and calendars.
The giver of golf gifts is best advised to keep it simple. Because personal taste and fitting have come so far so fast in recent years, it’s best to steer clear of such items as golf clubs or sportswear.
Golf sportswear and lifestyle brands, foremost
Bobby Jones and
Peter Millar, in recent seasons have been rounding out apparel collections with accessories and gift items that are both golf-specific and applicable to general usage. And
Fairway & Greene is about to make a big push in this category.
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Peter Millar, the North Carolina-based sportswear brand that is gaining wider traction in better pro shops and men’s specialty stores, has an assortment of golf-specific accessories in leather and canvas. Though it would be a matter of personal taste whether it gets used, Peter Millar’s scorecard holder in leather or canvas carries a suggested retail price of $39.50, and the leather can be embroidered.
While golfers can debate the merits and utility of a scorecard holder, a small utility bag for valuables is the ideal place to stow a wallet, watch and cell phone. Millar offers one in canvas or leather, with a hidden zip pocket lined with jeweler’s cloth, for $49.50.
Another gift item that appears golf-specific, but really has wider applications, is a shoe bag. Millar’s, in canvas, is $139.50, while Bobby Jones markets a $75 canvas shoe bag.
• For the golfer with a Boy Scout’s appreciation for preparation,
Sun Mountain, the outerwear and bag company, offers a “shoe bag kit” in a high-grade imitation leather. This comes with, among other things, a shoe horn, brush, spike wrench, additional Softspikes, a cleaning cloth and waxed golf-specific shoelaces. Short of counting a cobbler among your foursome, this would seem to cover most short-term footwear needs. Sun Mountain’s more straightforward options for toting footwear, sans accoutrements, are priced at $24 and $19.
• Although they are not new for this season,
Bobby Jones wristwatches are available in an assortment of faces, bands and functionalities. The sport-inspired XH20 chronograph is $295. One gift option includes a watch and three interchangeable bands, priced at $350.
For the golfer who enjoys a cigar or two, Bobby Jones markets a leather cigar holder, with golf accessories (divot tool and ball mark) for $245. It’s not a humidor and small enough to stash in a locker.
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Fairway & Greene, mainstay of on-course golf shops, is making an aggressive move this spring into golf- and lifestyle-related accessories with the introduction of crocodile belts, luxury leather goods, neckties and socks.
In some ways, Fairway & Greene’s entrance is overdue. Although only 12 years old, the company has set benchmarks for quality, consistency and good taste.
Fairway & Greene’s leather weekend duffel ($600) and travel kit ($150) are made in the U.S. with Argentine leather and bronze hardware. Socks, peds and calf length, are made with Peruvian pima cotton with Lycra for performance. The dress socks ($15) are offered in kiwi, sky, banana and pink as well as more traditional colors of navy, khaki, charcoal and black. Women’s peds are $8.
The three-fold silk neckties carry a suggested retail of $70, and, as we’ve come to expect from Fairway & Greene, include designs that will wear well in any club dining room in the country.
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ON THE WEB: Bobby Jones (www.bobbyjonesshop.com), Peter Millar (www.petermillar.com), Fairway & Greene (www.fairwayandgreene.com), Sun Mountain (www.sunmountain.com).• • •
Robert Lohrer is Golfweek's contributing fashion writer.
Posted: 12/18/2007
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