Golf Gear Report: March 2024

Presented by Fubo

Prime golf season for most of the country is fast approaching.

The time to shop is now to get the equipment and the clothing you need to play and look your best on the golf course. Our monthly GolfPass Gear Report has partnered with PGA Tour Superstore to bring you the best products from their inventory. Plus, you'll still get proper product reviews from our editorial team. We test all sorts of big-name and lesser-known brands in the field (i.e. golf course) to bring back honest feedback.

These monthly reports will be packed with more information than ever before, so make sure you check in on each one. Here goes:

If you've been watching any professional golf lately, you've noticed that more and more players are flighting their short shots lower for better control and predictability. Titleist’s new Vokey Design SM10 wedges is following this trend. They are engineered to produce a lower, more controlled flight with improved feel and maximum spin. Six different tour-proven sole grinds (F, S, M, K, T, and D) – with a total of 25 unique loft, bounce, and grind combinations – will fit anybody's optimal wedge setup. Vokey Design’s patented Spin Milled process has been refined to deliver higher, more consistent spin, with each TX9 groove individually cut and treated with frequency heat to maximize durability. Cost: $189.99-$199.99 - Jason Scott Deegan

Chervó is one of the few high-end golf apparel brands worth the splurge, in my opinion. There's no getting around it - their shirts and shorts will set you back about as much as a brand-new wedge. But if you take care of them (i.e. don't tumble-dry), they will last longer than most of your golf wardrobe while remaining lightweight, comfortable and perfectly stretchy. If you like keeping your golf clothes for a long time, investing up front in something fine like Chervó could actually save you a few bucks in the long run. The secret: they use more expensive and higher-quality polyamide for their items than the cheaper and less durable polyesters that most brands lean on. Chervó is a proud Italian-owned company; their 2024 "Med" Resort Collection is out now. In the polos, make sure to go up a size from your usual if you prefer a less-snug fit. Cost: $207 (Abrigo polo) / $230 (Grass shorts) - Tim Gavrich

Articles

Winner's wear, reviewed: Kurt Kitayama captures Arnold Palmer Invitational in Italian golf apparel brand Chervò

I've been gaming Odyssey's most popular putter of all time - the old-school Rossie II - so maybe it's time for a refresh. The Odyssey Ai-ONE Cruiser line of putters offers three distinct configurations for three different styles of putting – Cruiser, Arm Lock, and Broomstick. Designed using AI, each one comes with an Ai-ONE White Hot insert to deliver more consistent ball speeds, even from off-center hits. Heavier shafts and interchangeable weights allow golfers to tweak the feel to dial in their preferences. Cost: $349.99 - JSD

Ben Sherman, a men's brand from overseas, has launched its first foray into the game with its Golf SS24 collection. Traditionally Ben Sherman takes its inspiration from music, fashion, and culture. Up close, the pattern on the Radui Stack Tech Jersey Sports Fit Polo ($79) reveals a mix of Union Jack flags, boom boxes and cassette tapes: the perfect nod to my generation of music. The Vertical Stripes Polo ($79) mixes four shades of blue to perfection. The polos' quick-drying, anti-odor, moisture wicking fabrics make them not only comfortable but able to perform in the sun, wind or rain. The collection includes tech jersey sport fit polos to quarter-zip performance fleeces, waterproof short sleeve wind shirts and 4-way stretch tech pants and shorts. Denny McCarthy, known as one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, has signed on as ambassador. - JSD

Callaway's new lineup of golf balls - Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X, and Chrome Soft Golf Balls - all feature new technologies, including the new Hyper Fast Soft Core, new Tour Seamless Aero package, and updated mantle designs. The Chrome Tour X is designed for the best players who seek length and spin control. Chrome Tour is engineered for better players hoping for the right mix of distance and feel. Meanwhile, the Chrome Soft best suits the rest of us. Regardless of the technology, Callaway's Triple Track and Tru Track covers are among the most popular and stylish in golf. All retail for $54.99 a dozen. - JSD

While countless golf apparel brands supply golfers with increasingly bold prints and patterns, Collars & Co. runs the other way, with shirts inspired by looks that could work just as easily in the boardroom as on the first tee, but on polos rather than button-downs. True to their name, a rigid, structured collar - available in Oxford and spread styles - also sets them apart from the pack. Cost: $74-79

Steph Curry's love of golf is strong. The four-time NBA champion and two-time MVP won the 2023 American Century Championship in dramatic fashion last summer and has been incredibly philanthropic towards minority golfers. He launched the Underrated Golf Tour in 2019 and sponsored the 2020 revival of the men's and women's college golf programs at Howard University. Now Curry is breaking down barriers again ... as a black owner in the competitive world of spirits companies. He has blessed golfers who love whiskey with Gentleman's Cut Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, his new line of fine bourbon distilled in partnership with Boone County Distilling Company. Curry was involved in every step in creating a smooth bourbon with aromas of honey, butterscotch, dried orange peel, hazelnut, toffee and spice box. I keep a flask of the stuff in my golf bag to celebrate birdies with my crew. - JSD

If you're like us, you're appalled at the images of football-field-sized piles of plastics and garbage floating around our oceans. Thankfully, companies like Radmor Golf are helping to address the issue. Radmor, a leading sustainable golf apparel brand, has introduced new materials made from ocean plastics: The RadCycled Repreve Recycled Polyester (made from 90% recycled plastic bottles and 10% stretch material) and the RadCycled Repreve Recycled Polyester, Organic Pima Cotton and Stretch (a blend of 65% Organic Pima Cotton, 30% RadCycled Repreve Recycled Polyester, and 5% stretch material). Wearing recycled plastics might sound bizarre, but wearing Radmor's Taylor Recycled Tetris Polo ($98), you'd never know the difference. It's flexible, soft and breathable, the perfect combination for golf. We also love the Radmor logo, the "RadBob" golf ball with eyes peeking out of the hole. May your golf ball find the bottom of the cup, not float in the ocean current like so many other everyday plastics. - JSD

Warm weather is on the way, but in the meantime, staving off any last wintry chills on the golf course is made easier with a quality base layer under your golf shirt. Enter Nuyarn, a textile made from Merino wool that wicks away moisture while keeping the wearer comfortable. I swear by wool golf socks so extending this proposition to the upper body makes sense to me. A handful of brands produce these sorts of garments that can be as useful to a golfer as to a skier or hiker. Ibex's Woolies ($115) are upmarket but made well enough to help a golfer get years of wear out of them during cold rounds.

Hughes Norton and George Pepper's book, published by Simon and Schuster, couldn't be more timely. Norton, who worked as an agent for Tiger Woods and Greg Norman, pulls back the curtain in this memoir on what it was like to be golf's "super agent." All the stories about working with Woods and Norman - two key figures in the rift in the professional game between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf - shed a light on two of golf's most interesting characters. Cost: $28.99 - JSD