Malbon Makes Golf Gear You’ll Want to Wear On and Off the Green

Golf has a long history of gatekeeping. You’ve got to fit a certain mold to be allowed onto the courses — having a ton of money isn’t enough in many cases. Take Augusta National, the historic private golf club that hosts The Masters, one of the PGA’s four annual grand slams. It didn’t have a Black man as a member until 1990 and its first female members weren’t admitted until 2012. Even now, in The Year of our Lord 2022, the club won’t disclose the statistics regarding the diversity of its members.

While there aren’t any quick fixes to the game’s ingrained prejudices, some brands have set their sights on democratizing the game from the inside out. Founded in 2017 by culture and golf enthusiasts Stephen and Erica Malbon, Malbon Golf is one brand aiming to appeal to a non-traditional golfer while emphasizing personal expression, community and inclusivity.

Don’t be fooled — they know their stuff. The brand has already collaborated with some of the most storied brands in the game, including Nike, Callaway and purveyors of the perennial golf go-to trousers, Dockers. The brand has also worked with Ralph Lauren, New Balance and Spyder, just to name a few. Do a little digging and its not hard to see the community spirit there; no brands are off limits, whether you could consider them a “competitor” or not. To put it briefly, Malbon is making golf cool — and communal.

Malbon

Malbon

By eschewing the strict focus on performance apparel that we’ve seen across the past 20 years (think brands like Under Armour, Adidas and Nike) and calling back to some of the actual cool garments folks wore on the golf course, Malbon is making it exciting to dress for the sport again. Once maligned sweater vests are back on the docket. Cable-knit cashmere makes an appearance. All of this next to golf course no-no’s like sweat shorts, hoodies and trucker caps. The thing is, there are no no-no’s anymore. Feel like wearing a tee to the muni today? Do it. Want to rock some sweats on the range? Knock your socks off.

Malbon

Malbon

Style has always been part of the game of golf, though historically that’s meant a polo and some slacks. Just 25 years ago, pros like Payne Stewart were still wearing argyle sweaters and knickers on the golf course. We have seen some players push the limits, though — think Rickie Fowler’s flat-brimmed hats and all-orange outfits or Jesper Parnevik’s upturned cap. Those might just be considered quirks; they’re not really fashionable by any stretch of the imagination.

Blending aspects of streetwear, prep and sportswear, Malbon’s robust lineup of apparel and accessories is gear you can wear anywhere. I’d probably never wear a modern golf polo off the course, but I would rock Malbon just as readily in a fit pic as I would on the first tee. The techy gear the brand has made has a more generous fit and old-school aesthetic that is more in line with the gorpy gear we see in the fashion world, while the knit polos could be pulled straight from a Todd Snyder lookbook (save for the Malbon logos). Silhouettes like the Cliff Pant, made with stretch cotton, could be thrown on for a 7am tee time and worn through the whole day — nobody would know you’re wearing golf gear.

That’s not to say Malbon’s clothes don’t perform — the idea is simply that you don’t need performance gear to feel good on the links. Malbon makes mesh polos and collaborative rain gear with Spyder. The brand is aware that it’s making gear for an outdoor activity, it just doesn’t rely on an overly-sportsy aesthetic. Similar to the way Black Ivy flipped Ivy League style on its head, Malbon is reclaiming the preppiness of golf and making it new again — without the suffocation.

Malbon

Malbon

As someone who grew up playing the shabbiest of munis and practicing at the dingiest of driving ranges, the gatekeeping attitude is troubling to me. Sometimes, I’m ashamed to say that I love golf. But lately I’ve been encouraged by the efforts to introduce the sport to the masses, making it more fun, accessible and, not to mention, stylish. Golf has been stuffy, and stuffiness is the antithesis of fun. If golf isn’t fun, why play?

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