Rick Martin is a well-known veteran of the golf apparel business and has started a new venture that is aptly named Martin Golf Apparel. His philosophy and style in clothing will definitely appeal to a more traditional consumer base and that’s a fact he’s very proud of. Martin Golf Apparel sent a couple samples of their 2012 line to THP for review and I was the lucky person chosen to give them a thorough test.
Message from Rick Martin
I thought it would be best to let Mr. Martin explain the inspiration behind his new line of clothing. In a recent press release he said, “My idea of golf fashion is rooted in watching legends like Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan – gentlemen who always looked well put together, but never contrived. To that end, my goal is to create elegant, stylish but versatile garments that are related, but can be worn with anything. This, in addition to my commitment to using only natural fibers – no synthetics, no pieced-together garments – is one of the cornerstones of what Martin Golf Apparel is all about.”
The press release goes on to say, “Martin Golf Apparel’s Fall 2012 collections embody the philosophy that led Martin to launch the company. The Essentials Collection makes use of the company’s entire color palette, bringing to the golf apparel marketplace a variety of knits and sweaters that truly live up to the Martin Golf Apparel philosophy, “as Timeless as the Game.” The Timeless Elements Collection offers items in a more specialized, yet still broad, range of colors.”
Looks and Thoughts on the Fabric
It’s pretty evident that Martin sent these shirts with spring in mind. The primary color for both of them was a soft lavender, with one shirt using black as a highlight color. Keep in mind that Martin Golf Apparel does offer a wide palette of color options, so most people could find something in the line that suits their tastes. These shirts are all constructed of high-quality Pima cotton that really exudes a luxurious feeling. It was soft, airy, and definitely rivaled any high-end cotton shirt that I’ve owned when it came to comfort. This is a line of shirts that could be worn anywhere from work, dinner at the clubhouse, and obviously the golf course.
However, I did find a limit as to when I felt comfortable playing golf in this line of shirts. Unfortunately, high temperatures and cotton shirts haven’t ever been a good match for me. I just sweat a little too much for this combination to work for me in the humid Midwest summers. That being said, I thought the Martin Golf Apparel shirts were perfect for me up to the low 70’s. Once the thermometer crept up into the high 70’s and above, I did notice some dampness that wasn’t very comfortable. Honestly, that’s an issue that I expected and wasn’t disappointed by. I typically switch to synthetic fabrics when the weather gets that warm and save cotton shirts for spring and fall.
One thing that was a bit of a disappointment to me was the collar on the solid lavender shirt. I’m typically very careful with the way I launder my clothing, which prevent wrinkled collars, among other things. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really do anything to keep this shirt’s collar in good shape. I’ve included a picture to show you what I experienced. Please note that the lighting in this picture makes the color of the shirt look less vibrant, but that really is not the case in person. This is not an issue that I saw with the lavender/black shirt, so I’m not sure exactly what the cause was. Nonetheless, it was a little inconvenient that I needed to use an iron on the collar to make the solid lavender shirt suitable to wear.
Closing Thoughts
I think there’s a strong market for high-quality, cotton-based golf shirts, and those of you looking for something of that variety will likely be pleased with what Martin Golf Apparel has to offer. I’m normally more comfortable in a synthetic fabric in hot temperatures, but the mild weather in my area during the spring season has been perfect for these shirts. This is a line of clothing that will be found exclusively in the pro shops of golf clubs, so it may be worth talking to your club pro if you are interested in seeing it in person. For more information on the Martin Golf Apparel brand, I’d invite you to head over to their website at www.martingolfapparel.com. As always, thank you for reading.
Ryan H.
cotton and humidity is a big turnoff this time of year
early spring late fall id love to have those shirts
great review!
Bacon collar is never a good look on a high end shirt. I saw this shirt on you at the outing dinner and it had a comfortable look but that should be maintained through out the life of the shirt.
Thanks for sharing Hawk
Nice review Hawk, living in Georgia I perfer the synthetic wicking fabrics to all cotton shirts because of comfort in the summer. However I do wear some all cotton shirts in the winter and will keep the Martin line in mind when purchasing shirts this fall. Thank you for the info.
Great review Hawk. I like what you say about the Pima Cotton being so soft there’s nothing quite like it to wear. This will be good to wear early Spring and late Fall. Thanks for the Link to their website
Agree with Freddie. Bacon collar is never a good look. Good job as always with the review Hawk. I love reading reviews where not everything is a Pro. It is okay to have Cons when reviewing things. THP reviewers are always open and honest about that type of stuff. Love it.
Solid review Hawk, definitely a classic looking line. I definitely agree with you that with the vast majority of shirts I own I am able to launder them in a way where no pressing is needed, it is something I now take for granted and don’t want to waste my time with this worry.
Curious to know if after pressing the one time, did the collar do this again after being laundered? If not, then a one-time pressing to fix an issue with packaging or something is not a deal breaker to me.
Nice review hawk and great looking shirt for sure. I bet these are first rate for anything you want to do other than golf in warm weather. Thanks for taking the time to bring these to us.
Thanks for the review Hawk. Even living in mild spring and fall conditions here in the Midwest I still opt for a synthetic performance fabric over cotton anytime I can. That and the dreaded bacon collar are huge turn offs for me. Purely looks though the shirts look nice but I think they need to work on their fabrics and that collar! Great work!
Yep, that fabric would never work for me in this NC weather. I don’t ever by Cotton shirts any more because the collar is done after three washes. Thanks for the review Hawk!
The collar alarms me a bit, on a shirt of this price. I think they look great though, and I am a huge fan of Pima Cotton.
Good review Hawk! too bad about that collar…that’s a black eye on an otherwise great looking shirt.
Nice job hawk. The shirt is very nice looking but the collar issue is a problem. I have 2 shirts in the closet that do the same thing, and they usually stay there. The is def an issue for me.
Interesting article. I think I will stick to my Fairway & Greene shirts though.
As always – thank you Hawk; what did the manufacturer have to say?
I have had only good luck with Martin Golf shirts. You say Martin Golf Apparel does offer a wide palette of color options, but the two shirts you have in your picture are 21L100 Lilac and 21l200 Lilac/Black. I am looking at there catalogs now and in the 21L200, there are 18 differant color options. The 21L100 has 20 differant color options available. So that part of your review sounds odd to me. I have worn 10+ shirts from Martin now and have not had a single collar issue. I recently switched to Martin shirts from Fairway & Greene. Fairway & Greene has lost a lot of the quality that they used to have in there shirts. Shirts seem thin and seem to be made cheaper then prior years and i couldnt be any happier to switch to Martin shirts.
Steve
Steve – I’m glad you are liking the shirts. Not really sure what you find odd regarding the comment about color options. I had the same catalog and said there were quite a few colors (which there are), just like you did.
Glad you haven’t had any collar issues. Only one of the two shirts I reviewed had the issue, but I have to report it like anything else.
“Martin Golf is all about quality golf apparel and superior customer service and stands behind all of its apparel. In the event that there is a quality issue or flaw we encourage the consumer to contact our customer service department and the product will be replaced at no charge to the consumer.”
Good quality shirts, what i like about them is natural “feel” and made. For sure, they wont last as long as the synthetic ones but that’s a matter what u like