Golf fashion is moving forward; relaxing dress codes and blurring lines between coursewear and leisurewear. As the industry’s leading brands unveil their latest innovations in golf apparel, this new versatile concept is apparent as tradition merges with the latest fashion trends and modern performance engineering. Here, we take a look at five new items arriving in the Foremost Golf Ladies Shop for autumn/winter 2019.

Daily Sports Grace Long Sleeve Polo Shirt

Floral is the new fashion for the golf course, and Daily Sports are leading the way with the flower-patterned Grace Long Sleeve Polo Shirt. In your choice of white (pictured, left) or aubergine colour, this polo features a zippered closure with a faux-crystal puller and subtle decorative rhinestones across the chest. This is a genuine head-turner.

Swing Out Sister Beatrice Heritage Check Trousers

From new fashions to the classics; the Heritage Check pattern in the Swing Out Sister’s new Beatrice Golf Trousers (pictured, right) offers a modernised edition of a classic golf look. Swing Out Sister's lined construction and soft stretch fabric pairs warmth with freedom of movement for performance on the golf course whatever the weather. Meanwhile, the Heritage Check styling looks great from course to clubhouse.

Under Armour Twist Half-Zip Sweater

As athletic clothing becomes increasingly popular as day-to-day wear, the Under Armour Twist Sweater (pictured, left) builds a bridge between the golf course and the streets. Under Armour’s engineering combines a sporty look with athletic performance thanks to UA Tech fabric, so you’ll both look and feel at your best. 

Swing Out Sister Eloise 2 in 1 Puffer Jacket/Gilet 

With easily-detachable sleeves, the Swing Out Sister Eloise Puffer Jacket (pictured, right) seamlessly transforms into a gilet to cater to all your needs. Continuing the theme of versatility, Swing Out Sister have engineered a jacket that is stylish and practical both on and off the golf course.

Galvin Green Leslie INTERFACE Jacket

In the new Leslie Jacket (pictured, left), Galvin Green continues their innovative approach to year-round golf clothing, with INTERFACE-1 technology and a GORE-TEX INFINIUM membrane in this Leslie Jacket. The INTERFACE-1 technology repels water and blocks out wind, whilst GORE-TEX is a world-renowned winter sports performance technology.

The athletic fit and sharp-looking style makes this another perfect golf jacket for the fashion-conscious lady.

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

Staggering

New year, new format for the PGA Tour finale. Following his first win of the season at last week’s BMW Championship, Justin Thomas moved to the top of the rankings and will begin the Tour Championship on -10. The rest of the Top-5 are last week’s runner-up Patrick Cantlay (-8), World No. 1 Brooks Koepka (-7), Northern Trust Champion Patrick Reed (-6) & PLAYERS Champion Rory McIlroy (-5).

Jon Rahm, Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson & Abraham Ancer all sit on -4, whilst the likes of Dustin Johnson (-3), Justin Rose (-2) & Tommy Fleetwood (-1) also start in the red.

Criticisms

The new format has received mixed reactions from fans & players alike, with the main criticism being the amount of winless players qualifying for the 30-man field ahead of those with titles due to a somewhat skew-whiff points system. This sentiment has been echoed by Justin Thomas’ lone victory of an underwhelming season suddenly propelling him to the top of the FedEx Cup rankings. Second-placed Cantlay also has one victory to No. 3 Koepka’s three- including a Major & WGC- due in large part to a runner-up last week… But yeah, that makes total sense. This is in large part a result of far, far too much emphasis on the playoff events and not enough on the Majors.

The Positives

Moan as we might (and we are mighty moaners!), the standings have actually shaped up pretty perfectly in terms of entertainment. We know McIlroy can burn through a five-stroke deficit in the blink of an eye, where if he’d been five strokes clear… Well, that’s a different story. He’s joined by fellow aggressive, electric golfers like Koepka (three back), Rahm, Schauffele & Simpson (all six back) with a chance to blow the tournament wide open before the weekend. There are a lot of golfers (the aforementioned DJ, Rose & Fleetwood topping the list) who will have to produce incredible weeks but are more than capable of doing so.

With all that said, nobody broke 65 last year. Tiger struck that number twice en route to his famous comeback, as did Rickie Fowler (starting the week on -2), whilst Patrick Cantlay (starting -8) & Hideki Matsuyama (starting -3) each did so once. The Par-70 East Lake is not a course that’s quite as up-for-grabs as many on the PGA Tour; making a large starting deficit all the more difficult.

Ultimately, though, this setup lends itself to exciting golf. The world’s best must be offensive in their pursuit of the most lucrative prize in golf; attacking the course and taking risks. My advice: Strip back all the surrounding factors and enjoy the world’s best playing for the highest stakes.

Noteworthy

Justin Thomas won the 2017 FedEx Cup, finishing runner-up to Xander Schauffele at East Lake. The current leader has gone T6-2-T7 in three appearances here, but nothing short of the summit will do this week. Rory McIlroy won the tournament at the FedEx Cup in 2016, shooting 64 on Sunday to force a playoff which he won.

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

The FedEx Cup Playoffs are nothing new, with Tiger Woods (who else?) winning the inaugural event in 2007. But the FedEx Cup has become more lucrative year-on-year, and yet the powers that be are restless in their pursuit of a perfect season finale. Let’s take a look at a few of the changes for 2019.

Money on Their Mind

I’m not really sure I see the point of raising the prize money, if I’m honest. From a strictly financial perspective, if they felt a top prize of $10 million wasn’t enough of a motive last year then do they really think $15 mill this year is a game-changer?
Add to that the new Wyndham Rewards setup- $10 million dished out to the Top-10 players of the regular season- and you have $60 million total up for grabs. Brooks Kopeka, with three victories including a Major & WGC, won $2 mill for topping the charts, whilst Jon Rahm’s tenth spot was worth $500,000.

I would’ve thought there were better investment opportunities, but hey- it’s not my money!

And Then There Were Three…

This is smart. The playoffs will be three events rather than four. Sure, it’s less golf and that’s not (on paper, at least) a good thing, but I’ll take quality over quantity every time. The powers that be will always make decisions with the best interest of their bank accounts in mind, but fortunately that will often coincide with the best interests of golf fans.

The more condensed playoff schedule starts this week with The Northern Trust, followed by the BMW Championship before Tiger inevitably wins a second consecutive Tour Championship at East Lake. All joking aside, this schedule is more intense and, therefore, more exciting.  If anybody is to overtake Brooks Koepka, they’ll need to be full throttle; there’s no room for methodically grinding out results here.

Staggered Start

This is a tough one. I think (think!) I like it, but I have my reservations as I will explain shortly. Amidst the fairytale of Tiger’s return at last year’s showpiece, Justin Rose’s FedEx Cup win was almost totally overlooked.

In 2017, Justin Thomas claimed the season-long prize whilst Xander Schauffele won the tournament. Well… No more! The Tour Championship winner will be the FedEx Cup winner within the new system.

The 30 players in the Tour Championship field will start with staggered scores based on their season rankings entering the event as follows:

•          No. 1: 10-under
•          No. 2: 8-under
•          No. 3: 7-under
•          No. 4: 6-under
•          No. 5: 5-under
•          Nos. 6-10: 4-under
•          Nos. 11-15: 3-under
•          Nos. 16-20: 2-under
•          Nos. 21-25: 1-under
•          Nos. 26-30: level-par

This will likely reward season-long achievements slightly less than in previous years, hence my reservations. That said, it will probably make for a far more exciting finale. Overall, I think it’s for the best but every time you make changes there will teething problems. Yes, these changes are needed, but it will never be perfect and the whole concept won’t move forward or catch on if they are constantly tinkering so the sooner the PGA Tour can settle on a format the better.

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com