Golf is a game of opposites: hit down to get the ball up, swing left to make the ball go right, swing hard to dribble the ball 15 yards in front of the tee. This contradiction extends all the way to a golfer’s wardrobe. We’ve all made tee times at new courses and received the gentle reminder: “Proper golf attire, please.” Spelled out, that means shirts with collars and bermuda shorts or slacks. I’ve heard of but never seen courses that go so far as to regulate the length of gentlemen’s socks! I don’t think I’d enjoy playing in those conditions, but I do dress better to play golf than I do to go to work, and the de facto dress code in my office would be unacceptable at even a relaxed golf course (although one local course states clearly in their dress code: “Sleeves required.”)
And yet golf is played outside. Outside is where the heat and the humidity and the sun and the bugs are. In North Carolina in August the temperature routinely runs into the 90s and the humidity on the high side of 75%. With a round of golf taking four hours or so golfers are virtually guaranteed to be on the course during the hottest part of the day. It’s enough to make it tempting to hit one into the trees on purpose, just to get a little shade!
So now as a golfer you’re faced with having to look presentable while toiling under the summer sun for four or more hours, playing a game that requires a delicate balance of precision, power, and control. Non-golfers frequently claim that isn’t a “real” sport, but under these conditions I think it’s a pretty good bet that golfers have benefited more than any other athletes from advances in performance athletic clothing.
Companies like Nike, Addidas, and Puma are all familiar to fans and amateur athletes in all sports, but golfers are spoiled for choice. Not only do we get to choose from these offerings, but from many more companies whose roots in golf run deep and are paired with modern designs, materials, and construction to create high tech apparel for modern golfers.
That description fits Antigua to a tee. Leveraging 35 years of experience in the golf clothing business Antigua has branched out to create clothing for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and a host of collegiate and minor league sports, and in turn has applied the lessons learned from other sports to design good-looking clothing for today’s more athletic golfers.
Before we go any farther, I think I should confess that I am not what you would call “fashion forward.” In fact my teenage daughter has frequently implied that I am fashion backward, but all of my best-looking clothes are golf duds and I’m sure I’m not alone. I’m normally a pretty understated dresser – I learned early that pretty much everything goes with khaki, and I didn’t branch out very far after that – but on the golf course I like for my outfits to be as colorful as my language, and the Performance-72 gear that Antigua provided for this review is right up my alley.
All of the shirts in this review are made with Antigua’s proprietary Desert Dry moisture-wicking material, but you might not know it if you didn’t read the tags, as each shirt has a different design and a different finish. What they all have in common is admirable hot-weather performance. Legend has it that North Carolina’s famous barbeque is inspired by the Dog Days of August. Hot, humid, and slow. Great for turning a cheap cut of pig into some of the finest eats anywhere, but less appetizing for 10am tee time. I was lucky enough to get these conditions for three weeks in a row, putting each of the Antigua shirts to a torture test, and I’m happy to report that they passed with flying (and brilliant) colors.
Despite each having a different cut, all of the shirts fit me as expected, so I would say that they’re sized for the “mature” man. I often have trouble finding shirts that fit my shoulders without being too tight across the midsection, but each of the offerings from Antigua fit well. This might not work for those who prefer a more tailored look, but I think that given the generous length of these shirts it should be possible for slimmer builds to go down a size for a closer fit without looking like a sausage.
The lime green “Oasis” style pictured above was particularly generous, with shoulders sewn for maximum freedom of movement. Wicking and breathability are impeccable, as they are for all of the shirts sampled. I might have been able to get away with a small in this style, but the cut didn’t look baggy and it was extremely comfortable for 18 holes on a hot, muggy day, followed by wings at the bar and a movie with my kids. The starter at my home course asked me if it needed batteries, but he might want to invest in some new sunglasses because he’s going to be seeing this shirt on a regular basis.
The “Highlight” style featured a great finish in alternating bright and dull stripes and a polished finish that looked very sharp. The first time out of the gate I wore it with the matching “Lead” hat in grey with magenta undersides. The Highlight is cut a bit slimmer than the Oasis and gave a more tailored look. It still runs a bit on the large side – if you have any doubts about sizing I think you can safely go down one. On another muggy day it was cool and comfortable.
The “Axiom” has a heathered finish that feels more like pima cotton than a polyester wicking fabric, the finish is very soft to the touch and I was really looking forward to playing in this shirt. Unfortunately the soft finish comes at a price – this is the only shirt of the three that I found myself needing the “tour pro pick”, the little hitch where you pluck your left shoulder as you address the ball to make sure that your shirt will be out of the way when you swing. If you don’t care for the slicker finishes of the other two styles then it’s a small price to pay, and the Desert Dry fabric really outshines even a performance cotton shirt.
All of the styles feature the Antigua detail on the sleeves, which I thought was just the right touch – classy and not overbearing. You might find Antigua shirts with other branding and details as well. Antigua offers a comprehensive customer service department that features a specialized event services group. These departments offer a comprehensive list of services including embroidery and event customization. This flexibility, combined with Antigua’s “in-stock” program that keeps inventory on-hand and ready to be customized, has made Antigua golf wear the choice of a great many pro shops.
With or without custom embroidery the Antigua Performance-72 line offers a wide selection of solid performers that work as well for Casual Friday as they do for Tournament Sunday. If I can get my fashion consultant to stop rolling her eyes every time she hears the word “golf” I think I’ll turn her loose with the Antigua catalog. Billy Crystal once said that “It is more important to look mahvelous than it is to feel mahvelous” but thanks to Antigua I don’t have to choose.
Shop more on the Antiqua website
One of my new sayings since starting Three Guys Golf is “everything is better with a logo”. Seriously, anything you have, whether it be a headcover, golf bag, shirt, or hat is just a little cooler when it is has your logo on it. Every day we wear gear that has some company’s name on it so when you get the opportunity to put your own stamp down, the “it” factor goes up a notch.
For the past year or so, we have been looking for a great hat to put our stamp on and while I have seen a few that were ok, I never really found a brand I loved. When Antigua reached out to us about their new hat line it seemed like a perfect chance for us to test run our plan to overtake the world of golf hats.
As a prelude to this story, let me say that we have gotten many hats from various companies as part of our review process. I am always stunned when I get a hat that is so awkward I can only hope it came from the “not suitable for sale” bin. Seriously, who wears hats that rise 3 inches above your head or one with a seemingly 8″ brim?
Fan of the team and the man but the hat, not so much
The tough thing about choosing hats is that they all look very similar, so until you actually see them in person and put them on the old noggin, it is difficult to draw much of an opinion. Therefore, we punted on picking out one style and went with the “variety pack”.
Antiqua has about 20 new versions of their hats which can all incorporate a logo. In general, I would classify them as classic fit meaning they are not flat-brimmed or any of the other “alt” styles. Nope, these are styled like the ones we grew up with, a bill that can be bent and a cap that fits snug on the head.
So without boring you with every detail of every hat, I will summarize that the Antiqua hats come with your basic fitting options, i.e. fitted or adjustable. In terms of material, they come in mesh, cotton and polyester.
Of the 8 versions we received, the two that are our favorites and get nearly daily wear are the black Par hat with green over-stiching (the one I wear) and the red Phase (Matt’s cap of choice).
In terms of quality and construction, I am very impressed with the embroidery as it is stitched clean and tight for easy reading. They also did a great job with matching colors to the existing trim of the hat.
I will resist bashing the flat-brimmed hats so loved by Hunter Mahan and use my age as an excuse for believing they look dumb on everyone (oh, did I just bash them?). Anyhoo, for each his own, but if you are like me and rightly think hats should fit snugly on your head, has a brim that is in proportion and can be bent to personal liking, and comes with basically zero branding that is not of your choosing, then Antigua may be in your future.
One note on the Antigua website. When checking out the styles be aware that they come in a ton of color choices so while the featured image may not be your cup of tea, dig a little deeper and you may find it was just the color you did not love and not the style.
For example, the Carolina blue Motion cap is a non-starter for me, but ta-da!, click it in white and I am all over it. So whether you need to outfit you golf team, baseball team, drinking club, whatever, I would definitely recommend the Antigua hat collection.
You can find all styles on the Antigua website.
PS: You can win one of these hats in our December give away- it’s easy and free
Antiqua Golf Shirts: Just before I embarked on my summer vacation to the outer banks of North Carolina, Three Guys Golf (hey, what about the girl?) received a package from Antigua. Antigua is a designer and marketer of men’s, women’s and children’s lifestyle apparel and sportswear. As usual, my first thought was “ok, it just a shirt with a collar, buttons and needs to be tucked in. How can these shirts be different or better than any other?” Well, it was my duty to give it a try and see what I think.
Antigua Women’s Golf Shirts
In Georgia, every summer day feels as if global warming is beating down your door, and no type of shirt on the golf course is going to make a huge difference . . . we all wear some type of quick drying material to combat the heat as best we can. I set out for the course with my new Antigua golf shirt and hardly any expectations. How different can it be? Oh how little I knew. It was a relatively cool 93 degrees on that Friday with the humidity at about 70 percent. I do not profess to be an expert in the textile industry but I do know what I like and what I don’t.
Being a mother of two very active kids, I am well versed in the moisture wicking materials and I can absoluetly say the Antigua shirts are top notch in that regard. It was an extremely busy day on the course and slow play is an understatement – I spent more than my fair share of time waiting at each tee box baking like a Georgia peach pie. However, the best way I can describe this shirt is tissue paper. If you could wear tissue paper without it ripping and getting soaking wet, this shirt would be it. Seriously, at times, I felt as if I didn’t even have anything on. I was truly impressed.
Fast forward to my vacation on the tiny island of Ocracoke, NC. I went into a shop one day with my sister and ran into another vacationer in a golf shirt. The shirt had an LGPA logo on the front and the Antigua brand on the sleeve. Well, there isn’t a golf course within a two hour drive of this island where tanks and tees rule so this lady stood out. I approached her and started talking about her shirt. She was a golfer, and it was her favorite and coolest shirt, so she brought it with her to this island hot spot. There you go, it wasn’t just me that thought so much of this shirt, she too had high praise for the brand.
On the men’s side the styling is also very pleasing. Like the women’s, some of the Antigua golf shirts have sleeves that are longer than usual but we found it to be a nice change from the euro cut. Additionally, we dug the heavy contrasting over stitch on the shoulder and sleeve which is prominent on the Antigua Journey shirt.
Mens Antiqua Journey
Mens Antiqua Journey
The Antigua men’s golf shirts also feature the Desert Dry technology. While the Journey material was a bit thicker, the Antiqua Relay was extremly light which of course is wonderful for those burning hot days. In short, we were very impressed with both the styling and material of all the samples we received. Moreover, the Antigua product line has a huge offering with many color combinations in each style so that you will have little fear of ever running into someone with the exact shirt as you (am I the only one who worries about this?)
Mens Antigua Replay
Mens Antigua Replay
Antigua started out as company with roots firmly in the golf market. It has since moved into the growing corporate market as well as other sports leagues. They currently hold licenses with the NBA, MLB, and NHL among others. Antigua clearly wouldn’t be where it is if were not a good product. My endorsement might not be much, but having lived my entire life in the south and now almost half of it in “Hotlanta,” I do know that beating the heat is never going to happen. But I also know I can do my best to try, and now Antigua is at the top of that list.
You can find the whole line of Antigua shirts on their website.
