Spring has sprung with all its glorious colours and you know what that means. Golfers will be checking out the greens-along with the blues, blacks, reds, yellows and so many other colours under the rainbow.
Spring is when golf apparel companies introduce the latest in what may not make you a better golfer but you will certainly look good while teeing up a provisional.
Antigua, which got its start in Arizona in 1979, is rolling out its collection. The company has been dressing golfers on both sides of the border since the early 90’s.
“Canadians play a lot of golf and there’s a lot of fine facilities and we just felt like extending our brand into Canada was an important thing to do, “said Ron McPherson, President and CEO of Antigua.
Antigua, as a company, could easily sit back and collect revenue from all the major sports league in North America which they licence but they are seeing a growth in the product they offer outside of those leagues.
Choices of what women can wear have been expanded due largely in part to the increased presence of the brand on the LPGA tour, said McPherson.
At least ten ladies are sporting Antigua gear including Canadian Alena Sharp and American Stacy Lewis as well as some players involved in the Solheim Cup competition.
In recent years we have seen the so called “highlighter” colours dotting the fairways which have been very popular. McPherson says this year consumers will notice a change in the colours of the apparel in different shops.
“This year is the normal cycle in apparel. Colours are toning down a little bit,” he said. “More jewel tones. True reds, true royals, true greens. That type of thing.”
Staying fresh is the challenge Antigua faces when going toe to toe against the large golf apparel companies out there and he feels his product development team has done a great job in that respect.
“They don’t just look at the golf side of the business. They look at a wide variety of things to try to see what colours trends might be, what directions things are going in collars, in fabrics.”
Fifteen years ago Antigua was one of the leaders in adopting clothes termed as performance fabrics which managed moisture.
“We’re now blending synthetics with polyester and spandex just to give the product a softer hand and even more drape and a more stretchibility which obviously is great for golf because it allows that stretch and that turn when you’re playing the game,” he said.
Of course this side of the border when we have cooler temps for early spring and late fall golf outerwear is of interest and Antigua has you covered with the addition of a new jacket.
“For many years golfers didn’t want to play in a jacket. They would golf in a quarter zip wind shorter a quarter zip pullover type piece but a jacket was deemed to be a little confining to play golf in,” he said. “So what our team did is they developed a product appropriately named the “golf jacket” that has fantastic stretchibility to it so that a person doesn’t have to take the product over their head. It can be a standard jacket.”
There is also a selection of mid-weight to lightweight layering pieces which come in quarter zip and full zip styles have been popular as well, he said.
So the million dollar question is how does Antigua’s staff determine what colours will be on the rack each spring? This is far from sitting around a table and tossing darts at a colour board.
About 15 years ago many companies used resources which provided prognostications on what colour would be the hit trend in spring and fall. Now, with all the information which can be gathered through the internet, the information being sought arrives in their hands a lot quicker and can tap into many sources, said McPherson.
“Our product development team is not looking specifically at the golf business but they’re looking at housewares, they’re looking at furniture, they’re looking at shoes, they’re looking at extreme sports.”
So at some point you might be able to find a shirt which matches your blender or your sofa. McPherson says that’s not too far off the mark because all those colours tend to tie together as people look for what is fashionable.
“It’s an ongoing study of what’s going on out there and hopefully you make good decisions,” he said.
Now the ball is in your court as you decide what colour and style is going to make you look and feel your best out on the links.
