Here are some surefire holiday golf gift ideas for any budget
In Alabama, sometimes the only way to fit in a round of golf is to get it in early. The same goes for holiday golf gift shopping.
With all the supply chain and shipping delays, we urge you to to speed up the pace of play and get started now on your online shopping experience. How about starting with these helpful holiday golf ideas? You can thank us later.
Now on the tee …
Pinehurst Resort Donald Ross Package
If couples give each other new vehicles for Christmas – Does anyone really do that? – is it crazy to think a golf package, at only around a one-twentieth of the price, would be an over-the-top gift?
Pinehurst Resort’s Donald Ross Package is an absolute bargain in the “off-season,” offering golfers a chance to experience the Cradle of American Golf at over 50 percent off peak spring and fall rates. Packages include two nights’ accommodations in any of the resort’s three hotels, villas or condos and three rounds of golf on any of its nine courses.
And because all that golf makes for a hungry group, Pinehurst also throws in its famous Southern-style breakfast each morning and a three-course dinner every evening of your stay. The Donald Ross Package starts at $692 per player from Nov. 28 to Feb. 28. (The Carolina Inn is closed Dec. 19-Jan.5.)
PeakVision sunglasses
The sun doesn’t always shine in Alabama, but it does quite often. Dual Zone lenses by PeakVision give golfers something they simply don’t get with any other eyewear: an upper zone for blocking harmful UV rays and a lower zone that elucidates green topography. If Neo and Trinity from “The Matrix” played golf, they’d wear “Peaks.” For the holidays and into 2022, the company is discounting its GX6 ($127.50 on sale) and SL9 ($118.99 on sale) models.
TRUE Linkswear
TRUE Linkswear principals Jason and Ryan Moore founded their company to make comfortable shoes for walkers like Ryan, a PGA Tour player.
Recently, TRUE debuted the limited-edition Queen of Clubs Foray X True Knit II ($175), its first collaboration with the women’s golf apparel brand Foray Golf. The shoes come wrapped in a Foray-designed carry bag perfect for travel or just storing the shoes at home. Foray has also added several unique finishes to the shoe, including a translucent sole under which sits the Queen of Clubs artwork.
The Moore brothers are all about comfort and performance, and TRUE’s Sport Series was just unveiled in November to rave reviews. Engineered for the grinders and early risers, as the TRUE crew likes to say, the Sport’s adaptive upper is both breathable and waterproof, a one-two punch any diehard golfer would relish. It’s offered in two models, OG ($165) and Lux ($175).
Sun Mountain rain gear
Let’s face it, even in Alabama there will be times this winter when the weather says “no” to golf. With Sun Mountain’s new Cirque rain gear, golfers are now free to say “no” right back. Cirque is the company’s top-of-the-line waterproof lineup and is its most breathable rain suit to date. The jacket and pants are extremely lightweight, waterproof, and breathable due to their three-layer construction.
The breathable waterproof membrane has a 20k waterproof rating and an elite 50k breathability rating. Key is the four-way stretch fabric that makes this rain suit ultimately playable – a must for golfers who want to be able to perform at their best in the elements. Cirque is available in Men’s Full-Zip Jacket at $299.99 and Pants at $259.99.
OnCore Golf’s VERO X1 ball
Buffalo, N.Y.-based OnCore Golf says the VERO X1 ($39.99) is nothing short of a technological marvel, replete with a metal-infused mantle and enhanced perimeter-weighting that produces the highest allowable velocity off the clubface. According to independent testing recently conducted by Golf EQ, OnCore Golf’s VERO X1 bested Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x in distance and delivered 60% less sidespin. Professional golfer Erik Compton just switched to the VERO X1 after rigorous testing and says it is the longest, straightest ball he’s ever played. All OnCore balls can be personalized by users online.
Radmor Golf’s fall and winter collection
Saving the planet one piece of golf apparel at a time is an ambitious resolution. But that’s just what Radmor Golf has set out to do. The Seattle-based golf apparel company is the only brand in the golf industry to eliminate the use of “virgin” polyester at the garment level – a harmful material used in the vast majority of “stretch” and “moisture wicking” fabrics.
In doing so, Radmor Golf has reduced the amount of recycled ocean polyester and recycled nylon to just 10 percent, almost unheard of in the apparel business. Instead, founders Scott Morrison and Bob Conrad rely primarily on BCI organic and extra-long-staple Pima cotton, two of the softest, most durable cottons available.
Southern Tide golf apparel
Not to be confused with the University of Alabama’s ‘Roll Tide’ battle cry, Greenville, S.C.-based Southern Tide knows exactly how to stay in its lane. After all, when your logo is a Skipjack (fish), you can’t exactly start cranking out heavy wool hoodies and joggers. Instead, this unapologetically preppy brand is sticking with long-sleeve polos and quarter zips this winter, perfect for golfers in tropical or temperate climates seeking a little shelter from the 50s and 60s.
Peter Millar golf hoodies
Golf’s leading bespoke – that’s apparel speak for luxury – brand is getting into the hoodie game, and early indications are that Raleigh, N.C.-based Peter Millar has come to play. At the top of the line is the cozy Excursionist Flex Popover Hoodie ($378), crafted in Europe with Italian Merino wool. It features a tailored fit with a dash of performance yarn to give it just enough stretch for playability.
The DownUnder board
For most of golf’s storied history, training aides have focused almost entirely on the upper body, whether it’s swing plane, path or impact. The DownUnder Board is eschewing tradition by helping golfers active their lower bodies. More than 100 Tour pros are using the “DUB,” including Brendon Todd, Harold Varner III, Luke Donald and Christina Kim.
Using the board is a cinch: just set the width and rotation, apply pressure to the board with the inside of the feet and make a golf swing. The company recommends taking several swings without a ball, first, to get a feel for it. The DUB 2.0 Tour Edition was available on sale for $99.50 as of this writing, including an instructional video. It’s regularly $109.
Arccos Golf Caddie
The Arccos Caddie operates via Smart Sensors screwed into the ends of club grips, or via Smart Grips and provides golfers with shot tracking, smart distances for clubs, a range finder, strokes gained analytics and more. Users simply download the app, pair their clubs via Bluetooth connection, download the course they’re playing and away they go.
And now with Arccos Caddie Link, golfers can leave their phones in their bags, golf cart or pushcart and still enjoy the full suite of Arccos features. Link is a wearable clip that attaches to a player’s belt or waistband. It records shots and transfers the data via Bluetooth connection to the base smartphone. Because it frees up the phone’s microphone, golfers can listen to music, sporting events or take videos on the course.
Link retails for $129, and it can be bundled with Smart Sensors (14, one for each club including a putter sensor) for $279.99 for a 10 percent savings.
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Featured image: Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort
