Writing about the best golf apparel brands in 2021 is a far more heartfelt and fun endeavor than it would have been a decade ago, for example, when the industry was still dominated by sportswear giants and conservative pro-shop brands. Those icons are still big, and many for good reason (sometimes you just want a damn good golf shoe), but they include a slew of new brands that bring streetwear, nostalgia, and humor to their designs and inclusiveness to their designs, branding ethos around the revolutionize conservative and elitist codes of sport. Instead of a sea of shiny boxy polo shirts, there are now bucket hats, rugby-inspired polos and workwear-inspired golf pants. They have knitwear that fit and t-shirts that will help spread the Gulf gospel when you’re not on the links. Mix and match to create your most nimble, most functional golf wardrobe ever. (And if you need styling inspiration, check out these three.)
If you want a nod to the ’90s Golf Dad aesthetic without actually buying striped performance polos and pleated khakis from the pro shop, Adidas Golf will send you in the right direction. The shoes are chunky, the shorts are knee-length, and there are box-shaped polos and sweaters with half-zips up to the arm circumference.
Adidas Golf adicross ZX Spikeless golf shoes
Adidas Golf Ultimate365 Core 8.5 inch golf shorts
Macklemore fell in love with golf a few years ago, and because he’s a Grammy-winning rapper and loves to dress up (his biggest hit remains “Thrift Store”) he naturally started his own line of golf apparel. The aesthetic is sleek, bright, and retro in a way that’s hard to find, let alone fun, in an industry dominated by nondescript light brown pants.
Bonobos specializes in polo shirts, slim but comfortable chinos, and dresses every man in America, so golf is a natural category for the brand. There are tons of wild prints in the collection, but we have a penchant for the solid colors that can be tonally combined to create a very stylish, very modern effect on the limbs and beyond.
Bonobos Jetsetter Performance Polo
Bonobos Highland Tour golf pants
With Eastside Golf, Detroit-based founder Olajuwon Ajanaku wants to make the sport not only more stylish, but also more integrative. The line of t-shirts, hoodies and accessories features Ajanaku, a black man wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and a gold chain in the middle back swing. “There has never been a brand like us that speaks authentically and knowledgeably with both sides – golf and urban culture,” Ajanaku told GQ earlier this year.
Eastside Golf be your canvas tea
Eastside Golf Basic Sweatshirt
If you’re wearing polo shirts and need pants that keep you comfortable from holes 1st through 18th, try Greyson, founded by Ralph Lauren design veteran Charlie Schaefer. The brand’s pants and shorts have all the performance details you need on the links while looking good enough for the clubhouse and come in a dozen colors.
Greyson Armon 5-pocket trousers
Founded in the early hours of the morning by Norwegian Olympic skier Lasse Kjus and Swiss entrepreneur Didi Serena, Kjus will make you feel like the Daniel Craig of your golf club, ski club and any other club you are staking out. Think: simple, clear silhouettes, luxurious fabrics, lots of navy and black.
Kjus Golf Klum sweater with half zip
We know what you’re thinking: but Lacoste is a tennis brand. Sure, but since when has an anti-UV polo shirt or a breathable half-zip been unsuitable for the links or the clubhouse? Not only are most parts of the brand’s Sports line being golf-friendly, but Lacoste is making some golf-specific purchases, including bespoke golf trousers and a raglan sleeve golf polo shirt.
Lacoste Sport breathable anti-UV polo
Lacoste Sport breathable golf sweater with zip
You have to give it to Lululemon, which, despite its legacy as a women’s yoga pants brand, really brings up the heat when it comes to stylish, high-performance men’s sportswear. While Lululemon doesn’t refer to golf-only pieces, it’s pretty easy to see that the brand’s iconic ABC pants and airy mesh polo shirts are geared for the green.
Lululemon short sleeve polo shirt
With Nike and Champion collaborations and drops often sold out, Malbon Golf, launched by Stephen and Erica Malbon in 2017, feels like the independent golf brand most poised to become a future mainstay. This is also helped by the fact that the brand offers a complete collection of performance golf apparel, from socks and headgear to bags and technical pants.
Malbon golf carpenter’s trousers
Bad Golf Hawk Long Sleeve Polo
Metalwood’s’ 90s-inspired collection of t-shirts, sweatshirts, and technical shorts twist more golf merch than performance apparel, but that’s a good thing. Especially if you love to watch golf so much, think about it and evangelize it the way you actually like it, or when you just can’t get into preppy clubhouse attire.
Metalwood golf tips t-shirt
Metalwood Lodge logo shorts with belt
Golf isn’t the most fashionable sport in the game – after all, there aren’t any paparazzi-lined tunnels or GQ fashion awards – but Nike is set to transform your perception of what it can do with its sleek, futuristic line of golf apparel that does the most Impressively, it includes some excellent link-friendly sneakers.
Nike Golf Storm-Fit ADV quick fit jacket
Peter Millar is a North Carolina-based brand that hit the market early in the morning. It sells heavily in resorts, which makes sense given that it revolves around cashmere sweaters, polo shirts, and performance golf apparel. But also e-commerce and an unbeatable price-performance ratio. (Peter Millar also owns G / Fore, another popular Mr. Porter-run, US-based golf line.)
Peter Millar Lyons long sleeve performance polo
Peter Millar eb66 performance 5-pocket trousers
Nobody likes the pros, the pro shop newbies and the menswear bosses as much as Ralph Lauren. That’s why the brand is the official supplier of the US Olympic team and countless major sporting events and professionals, including Tom Watson and other great golfers. Wearing Ralph Lauren on any field, course, or course is basically like wearing an American flag around your body (and sometimes that’s not even a figurative statement).
Polo Golf Custom Fit Mesh Polo
Polo golf polo bear golf sweater made from a cotton blend
If you have a Nike taste but have a Ralph Lauren golf club, Mr. Lauren’s more technical RLX golf line is for you. It’s sleek, modern, and performance-oriented, but with that preppy taste that comes through with a quilted vest here and a contrasting polo collar there, and lots of navy.
RLX golf sweater made of stretch jersey
RLX Golf stretch long-sleeved T-shirt
Radda Golf’s polo shirts look more like rugby shirts than your typical pro shop polo (think ultra-thin stripes and slippery fabric), which means you’ll want to wear them off the court and outside the clubhouse as well. Pair one with the brand’s headgear or light-colored golf pants and you’ve really changed the game.
Radda Golf x Beams Uniform Hat
The goal of the Random Golf Club is to make golf more fun and inclusive through educational content, local get-togethers across the country, and of course, sick merch. The brand’s themed collections include accessories such as putter covers and towels, as well as t-shirts, hats and sweatshirts that spread the RGC gospel.
Random Golf Club does not match the bucket hat
Random Golf Club Adventure Tee
You can see a UA Golf polo shirt a mile away – with its big stripes, snuggly fabric, and logo with contrasting stitching – but the sports brand also offers lots of high-tech, low-profile performance clothing, from gloves to half-zip sweaters, which are suitable for golfers of all ages, abilities and personal tastes.
UA Golf Storm SweaterFleece half-zip
UA Golf infrared golf gloves
Uniqlo may not have a fully realized golf apparel collection, but the Japanese retailer’s investment in performance fabrics, not to mention its obsession with polo shirts, makes it a solid place to shop for new gear. The Dry-Ex collection, for example, wicks away moisture, neutralizes odors and has a weightless feel that you will be grateful for during a midsummer round.
Uniqlo + Dry-Ex polo shirt
Uniqlo + Dry-Ex short-sleeved T-shirt by Chrisophe Lemaire
Whim’s collared sweaters, suede shoes and t-shirts could easily be confused with nice everyday clothes, which makes sense given the brand’s slogan: “for people who like golf”. This is not technical, usual country club attire. And thank the golf gods for that.
Whim crew neck with golf collar
