We are in full swing with the start of the 2019 PGA Tour season, players coming out with their new sponsorships, and new equipment releases coming at breakneck speed. With all of this excitement, I’m all in on dreaming of golf, the PGA Tour, and impatiently waiting for the first major. Just in time to get ready for the start of the PGA Tour, we have some officially licensed PGA Tour Apparel in for review.
One of the many brands owned by Perry Ellis International, PGA Tour Apparel aims to provide the same high performance and commitment to excellence that you see on the Tour every weekend. As the company says, “[t]he line offers superior quality, performance and comfort for men and women, golfers and non-golfers alike.” I tried to test those claims.
Polos
The staple of golf apparel starts and ends with the polo shirt, so we start there. The PGA Tour Apparel polos bring the features you expect in a design that blends the classic with a little touch of modern.
PGA Tour Apparel provided a style called “Ensign Blue,” which is generally a navy color with a fairly subtle design that becomes more noticeable and prominent the more you look at it. It is both easy to ignore from a distance (or if you aren’t paying much attention) but with enough of a design to give your apparel some style. As I said, a bit of the classic with a bit of a modern twist.
The 100% polyester fabric features what PGA Tour Apparel calls DRIFLUX (moisture wicking), SUNFLUX (sun protection), and MOTIONFLUX (stretch in the seams). While we are in the middle of winter and testing the DRIFLUX and SUNFLUX features was difficult, I can say that the MOTIONFLUX allows the shirt to move with your swing and, as a result, it is very comfortable.
Rounding out the design, there is a nice ornamental PGA Tour logo on the sleeve, PGA Tour stamped buttons, and a cloth collar. In sum, the PGA Tour Apparel shirts will perform as advertised and could provide great value.
Pants
The golf pants continued the theme of blending some classic with a bit of modern to result in a quality piece of clothing. The “Quiet Shade” style pants in for review look like a classic light grey pant but with some additional comfort and forgiveness in the waistband. The 98% polyester, 2% elastane material has the same DRIFLUX, SUNFLUX, and MOTIONFLUX 360 stretch features as the polos and they function the same.
The MOTIONFLUX 360 gives some forgiveness in the waistband, which makes it comfortable. Best of all, the pants went unnoticed when I was wearing them and they never diverted my attention due to sizing, pinching, or bunching issues. Being completely out of mind is what I expect from my golf pants – the minute pants become a distraction on the course is the minute they fall out of rotation. The only omission that I would have liked to see was some type of gripper in the waistband to keep your shirt tucked in.
My main reservation with the PGA Tour Apparel pants is that they felt like they ran about ½ to 1 inch small in the waist so you will want to try them on before you buy if you are between standard sizes.
Rain Pullover
Finally, the new PGA Tour Apparel line features a rain resistant pullover that completes the theme of blending classic and modern. The design is unlike most modern designs I commonly see, and in my opinion, it looks more like a wind breaker from the 1990s than a modern rain jacket. Although the design is classic, the REPELFLUX rain repellant works exactly as advertised and is packaged in a very lightweight pullover.
I tested the water repellant under a direct flow of water and indirect sprays. The results were positive. When water hits the fabric, it quickly beads and runs off without absorption. When I forced the water to pool on the fabric for nearly a minute (more than you should see on the course) the water stayed on the surface of the fabric and immediately ran off when it could. And to my surprise, very little moisture got into the fabric.
My main reservation about the rain pullover is the fit at the bottom, which is larger than necessary and without any ability to taper the opening. This could present some opportunities for the water to creep in and bypass the fabric entirely in a driving rain. It won’t be a substitute for heavy rain gear but the pullover with REPELFLUX is a good, lightweight way to keep you dry in quick showers.
You can learn more about the PGA Tour Apparel line at its website: http://www.tourapparel.com.
