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Golf is hot right now, as a younger, more diverse demographic embraces the sport as a lifestyle, and perhaps the sport has gained a fashion following through on the unexpected cultural shift that has affected just about everyone during the pandemic.
A February report from the National Golf Foundation found that active participation in golf on and off the course surpassed 40 million Americans for the first time in 2022, then grew to more than 45 million Americans. The 2024 report also showed record diversity, with Asian, Black and Hispanic golfers making up 23% of the total, or more than 6 million.
Interest in golf is also skewed younger: The PGA Tour reported last year that nearly half (48%) of golf participants are between the ages of 6 and 34. Another NGF report from last year said that between 2020 and 2022, 26% of all U.S. golfers will be women.
Golf as a lifestyle
Golf apparel brands say they are seeing crossover popularity between customers who play golf and those who simply love the look, which may indicate that golf is becoming more accepted as a mainstream lifestyle and the trend is expanding. Demographic changes have led to more functional fashion being designed by independent brands, as well as well-known brands such as Nike, Adidas and Under Armour.
Model is wearing Under Armour Storm Daytona Full Zip Jacket.
Provided by Under Armour
“The key to making golf fashion ‘mainstream cool’ is balancing performance and style,” Jocelyn Santiago, director of golf apparel at Under Armour, said in an email to Fashion Dive. “Today, we’re seeing more brands embracing elements of lifestyle-driven golf apparel, emphasizing fashion-forward design while maintaining functionality. If brands can do this in line with evolving dress codes on the course, a wider demographic will continue to adopt this style, regardless of whether there’s a tee time that day.”
According to the NGF, golf participation had been gradually increasing even before the pandemic, but the past few years of staying at home have brought a new wave of enthusiasts to golf courses and outdoor entertainment venues.
“Interactions off the golf course and social media play a key role in golf’s popularity and coolness, with celebrities, athletes and content creators with large followings helping to make the sport more desirable, especially among non-golfers,” the NGF said in its 2024 report.
Matt Daniels, co-founder of clothing brand Blackbold Golf, said the COVID-19 pandemic has created a “new wave” in the golf world.
Baseball player Mookie Betts will be wearing Blackbald Golf apparel at the 2022 Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Courtesy of Blackbold Golf
“When we started the company, fashion was just starting to take off in golf, and that really drew a lot of fans,” Daniels says. “Some golfers are black, some are other races. Our main goal is to give young people a platform to grow and improve themselves through golf and express themselves in a way that they want to.”
Golf’s “aha moment”
It often takes an unexpected cultural moment for a particular style or garment to emerge as iconic, says Derek Guy, menswear writer and author of the website Die Workwear.
Guy gave the example of the Adidas Samba, which was first launched in 1951 and has transcended the world of football to become a cool, fashionable lifestyle item worn by a wide range of celebrities and style-conscious consumers.
“Someone wearing these shoes today isn’t necessarily saying, ‘I play soccer,'” Guy says. “They might be referencing a breakdancer they saw. They might be referencing a streetwear style. These shoes represent more than soccer. They represent a cultural group that has worn these shoes and imbued them with their own unique meaning.”
Guy said the “aha moment” for any trend happens when someone with a lot of cultural capital introduces an idea or aesthetic that’s been around for a long time, and it can suddenly become something big.
“With golf equipment, that’s absolutely possible,” Guy says, “but it’s not something that can be achieved just within the sport of golf. But if you think about clothing as a sociological language, it’s absolutely possible in golf.”
Find a new audience
Many golf fashion brands that incorporate golf into their storytelling are promoting the sport, and ultimately their brand, by reaching a new demographic of customers who may not have initially thought golf was for them.
“At the end of the day, our logo is me,” said Olajuwon Ajanaku, co-founder of Eastside Golf, an Atlanta-based golf apparel brand driven by diversity and youth inclusion. “If you look at the logo, you see a black man in jeans and a sweatshirt with a Cuban link chain swinging his club this way and that, and the chain is going the other way. He’s literally saying in real life that I’m just being myself because I love golf.”
Ajanak and co-founder Earl Cooper played golf at Morehouse College and were on the team that won the PGA Minority College Golf Championship in 2010. Eastside Golf was launched to support Ajanak’s desire to turn professional, the founders said. A decade later, the brand has evolved into a standalone golf-inspired fashion line that has collaborated on a shoe with Jordan Brand and is a favorite outfit for NBA star Stephen Curry and former President Barack Obama.
Eastside Golf x Jordan Men’s Retro 1961 Golf Shoes.
Courtesy of East Side Golf
The brand’s “1961” footwear collaboration with Jordan Brand celebrates the year the PGA lifted its “whites only” clause and pays tribute to black players such as Lee Elder and Charlie Sifford.
“The idea is to highlight their careers,” Ajanak said. “The game has a history.”
Golf-inspired collaborations with brands are becoming more commonplace and are garnering more attention on fashion runways.
Musician Tyler, the Creator has collaborated with Louis Vuitton, Converse and Lacoste, and owns streetwear brands Golf One and Golf Le Fleur. Other brands that straddle the line between golf and streetwear include Seattle-based brand Bogey Boys, founded by musician Macklemore, which blends nostalgia with modern silhouettes and vibrant colors. Metalwood is a California-based company that describes itself as a “rebellious, vintage-inspired golf brand.”
A Sac Golf mini crossbody bag adorned with a pink leather flower charm, designed by menswear creative director Pharrell Williams and Tyler, the Creator for LVMH.
Courtesy of LVMH
Founded in 2017 by Steven and Erica Malbon, Malbon Golf has grown into a casual golf brand in Los Angeles selling to both serious golfers and fashion customers. The company is known for its numerous capsule collaborations with companies such as Nike, Adidas, Vilebrequin, Kanata Knits, and most recently TAG Heuer.
Golfer Tiger Woods has also had a cultural and fashion impact on the golfing world. Woods, who reportedly made $500 million during his 27-year partnership with Nike, announced a new partnership with TaylorMade in February to launch a golf-inspired apparel brand called Sunday Red.
Golfer Tiger Woods wears apparel from his own clothing line, Sunday Red.
Courtesy of Ethan Gallie for Sunday Red
Entertainment golf venues like Topgolf, Drive Shack and Popstroke have also been a driving force in making golf more accessible, broadening the concept of golf to audiences who may never have set foot on a physical course. Topgolf recently launched a marketing campaign aimed at people of a wide range of backgrounds as a way to communicate that hitting golf balls while partying with friends is a great activity that everyone can enjoy and relate to. The campaign, called Come Play Around, includes a 60-second spot from Topgolf featuring participants from a variety of walks of life.
“We want to make the sport of golf more inclusive and fun for everyone,” Topgolf chief brand officer Jeff Cotrill said in an online release, “and this campaign celebrates the diverse people and personalities from all over the world coming together to enjoy a little golf.”
Echoing a similar line of thinking, Daniels said the idea behind his Blackbold Golf brand was to make the game he loves more accessible to a diverse range of people who might want to play in the future.
“If you think about what the sport has been like historically,” Daniels says, “there is a tendency to alienate people who don’t fit the mold, and that can easily be determined by what you wear and how you look,” Daniels says, “so for us, Blackbald Golf was founded on a simple premise: to revolutionize golf apparel by infusing it with style, quality and a real commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
