ORLANDO, Florida — Wrapping up our reviews with a few more snippets of what was seen combing the aisles at this year’s PGA Show and what we expect to see worn at courses around the country throughout the year.
Under Armour had several vignettes around its booth. The Drive Pro footwear features lockdown lacing, dual-foam cushioning and smarter traction in a good-looking, athletic-style shoe. Also garnering attention was its Iso-Chill technology in apparel that’s temperature regulating. Overall, the tops and bottoms are what is expected from UA, just keep an eye out for the continued technical fabric enhancements. … Eastside Golf featured some new graphic tees for summer, as well as new fabrics for fall with jacquard knits, a polar fleece cardigan and zip-front hoodies. A noteworthy standout piece is a three-snap placket, short sleeve top with side-zip pockets. Sort of like if a polo shirt and a wind shirt had a baby, this would be it.
RELATED: PGA Show Apparel Review — Part I
Sun Mountain’s outerwear has ramped up its style detail while maintaining all the technologies and protection from the elements expect from the company. Under president Grant Knudson’s guidance, details such as making sure jacket sleeves were playable and not cumbersome to wear, a long sleeve with nice colors that break from the normal black outerwear is refreshing. One example is an alabaster off-white jacket for women that comes with matching pants in waterproof fabric that isn’t as stiff, and feels softer andmore comfortable. Another takeaway with the new collection is how easy it is to merchandise the colors together, making pro shop displays a no brainer.
Shade Headwear, started by former long-time Pukka director of marketing James Thompson, sees new trends in hats being driven by a younger consumer. For instance, the profile of hats have gone from traditional low crowns to high trucker style, and now more of a mid-high front panel is the preference. Also new trends in mixing corduroys with performance fabrics, plus depth in logos with embroidered stitching. … Varley’s new women’s styles for spring start shipping in March, and the variety of pieces are designed to go from court and course to everyday life, plus they easily mix and match together. Performance fabrics and its signature double-soft pieces, where you find the same softness on the inside of the garment as the outside, continue to be a home run in its collections. … Puma is offering two favorite colors this season — a steel blue and cream beige, which happen to go beautifully together and show up in a quilted front hybrid jacket in a collection called Comfortably Bold. But the big show debut was the new Ignite Elevate X spikeless golf shoe that combines responsive cushioning and breathable waterproofing for all day comfort, along with Floatplate technology for stability.
Amble's men’s collection introduces new colors such as sea salt, and patterns like undertow print for spring. The lightweight Offshore hoodie is a great piece for sun protection, white a new Offshore tipped polo shirt arrives for summer. Comfortable recycled nylon is used throughout the collection, and digestible pricing makes the line easy on the wallet as well as easy to wear. … Jondo Sunglasses showed its latest design that comes with extra grip on the side frame, and are super lightweight. The company representatives were quick to point out that Ernie Els wore this specific model at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii recently and won the tournament. The lens technology using light and color allows for reading greens so no more taking off sunglasses to read putts - these will adjust with you to varied conditions. … Redvanly continues to shake up the bottoms game with its bread and butter Hanover pull on short and offer it in two inseam lengths plus 13 different colors. It also has chino pants and jeans that are completely pull on, but a faux fly, faux button closure, real belt loops and pockets make them look like a trouser so they’re fine to wear at the office and clubhouse.
