Golf Is For The Cool Kids Now

Plus, known hooper Adam Sandler.

November 06, 2024

…then Paul Pogba arrived. A dance-off ensued. Not bad for a Tuesday.

Streetwear giant Supreme released some extremely fresh collegiate gear with Mitchell & Ness. Glad it’s finally fall so we can really start dressing.

Vince Carter, now enshrined in Raptors history, has one more great basketball act in him: saving the dunk contest. The key? Getting the players to buy back in. Sure someone has to lose, but as long as you put on a show, no one will care about the final score.

Real Madrid is in the midst of a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week. How do you fix one of the most expensive teams in sports while the plane is in the air? 

In an era of fashion merging with sports, women’s hoops, soccer and tennis are leading the way as the world’s most stylish sports. Sheena Butler-Young, Brian Baskin, and Daniel-Yaw Miller from The Business of Fashion discussed the ongoing trends and one thing emerged: not every sport is a natural fit for fashion—and that’s fine. For partnerships to be authentic and truly resonate, they must be relevant to audiences on both sides. The more niche the crossover is, the better.

@lexmadee

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Golf is experiencing a cultural renaissance. While wound-up country clubs, with exclusive courses and exorbitant entrance fees to play them once defined the game (and still do to an extent), a new generation of younger, more diverse players and fans are revamping the sport’s appeal before our eyes.

Atlanta streetwear label Eastside Golf is a great example of the phenomenon. Founded by Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper, former national championship winning teammates at Morehouse College, the upstart brand is revamping the sport’s age old aesthetic, blending staples like polo tees with more relaxed fits like hoodies and bucket hats. Eastside has served as an entry point to larger players, like Nike’s Jordan Brand, with whom it released a collection of golf-inspired lifestyle gear.

Now, it’s seizing the momentum with more big name partnerships—including hosting a pro-am tournament with the help of Rolling Loud music festival. They’re not the only unlikely crossover to decide it’s time to throw a golf tournament—Complex and Michelob Ultra are hosting the first-ever Complex Golf Pro-Am in Las Vegas later this month.

Other brands are on the same wavelength, bringing together the seemingly disparate worlds of golf and streetwear. Off-White™ is getting into the space, teaming up with pro Paris Hilinski to debut their new gear, and Malbon—the golf inspired lifestyle brand run by LA couple Stephen and Erica Malbon—has been shaking up the sport for a minute, snagging major brand collabs from Tag Heuer to Jimmy Choo. What better way to establish some clout than getting kicked off Augusta National?

Creators like Good Good Golf are also leading the way. While the professional tours across the world host the best players on the planet, social channels like Good Good emphasize the natural camaraderie that the sport encourages.

The sport can no longer ignore the trend. The PGA Tour embraced the creator side of golf like never before earlier this year at the Creator Classic, where some of the biggest stars from the online golf community competed in an exhibition. The livestream peaked at more than 110,000 viewers. The latest ads in the golfing space show a similar message: this sport is open to the next generation.

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Beyond his status as a movie star and streetwear legend, Adam Sandler holds another title proudly on his resume: certified hooper. Stories of Sandler’s pick-up prowess were recently collected by ESPN’s Anthony Gharib.

Opponents say that Sandler would use his persona to lull them into a false sense of security, before absolutely dunking on them. Showing up to the court in oversized tees and gym shorts, fellow comedian Patrick Quinn said "you don't think he's gonna absolutely dominate on the court." But he does.

One throughline dominated the narrative—Sandler was always going to look to deliver an assist. "He was playing point, calling out the plays, he was calling shots out. He was doing no-look passes," said Quinn. "He was creating shots and he was going up and down the court. He was back and forth sweating, putting in some work. ... I was very impressed."

Sandler is always looking for games, and has become a fixture of the street ball scene. According to Gharib, when scouting out film locations, Sandler also has his people scout out courts nearby where he might be able to get some run in. Stars, they’re just like us! 

Keep dishing out those passes Adam. Hats off to you. We got next.