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EXPENSIVE BOTH TO PREPARE
for
and to play, golf can seem overly
complicated with its drivers,
clubs, shoes and tee times. Plus,
it’s a hard game to learn, which
can prevent amateurs from giv-
ing it a try, and it takes hours to
play. “Even what loyalists would
say are strengths—its simplicity,
its traditionalism—can seem
overly austere in an age of fitness
classes, extreme races and iPhone
games,” says writer Drew
Harwell in a recent article in
The
Washington Post
titled “Why
America Fell Out of Love With
Golf.”
But though golf ’s popularity
has waned in recent years, in
2014 there were still 25 million
golfers in the U.S. who reported
playing an 18-hole round in the
past 12 months. That’s 25 million
people who could be wearing
branded apparel on the course—
and in the course clubhouse
afterward. Given that the average
income of a golfer is $95,000,
and those golfers take part in the
approximately 800,000 charity
golf tournaments held in the U.S.
each year, this is a group that
companies are extremely interest-
ed in marketing to.
And who knows, now that
Millennial golfer Jordan Spieth
sits on top of the leaderboard,
perhaps a new generation of
golfers will soon join the game.
The golf industry certainly hopes
so. In the meantime, U.S. golfers
are primarily over age 50, male,
married, college-educated and
relatively wealthy. And they—
and the rest of the golfers in the
U.S.—need performance wear
that is as at home in the board-
room or cubicle as it is on the
putting green.
IF YOU’VE NEVER PLAYED GOLF, you’re right in there with the
majority of Americans. It’s no secret that the golf industry is struggling to
attract new players.
GOLF HANDICAP NOTWITHSTANDING, ANYONE CAN LOOK LIKE A SEASONED PRO
ON THE LINKS THIS SUMMER
By Julie Richie
16 •
PPB
• MARCH 2016
INNOVATE
EYE ON
APPAREL
DRESS FOR
SUCCESS