Sometimes you can feel that change is coming, sometimes you just get a sense that revolution is in the air. In golf right now many can feel that. One of the themes we’re seeing is the growth of the surfer/skater golfer.
This is a group that is staking its claim in the golf world and stamping their style all over it. Imagine the disapproving tuts that would be aimed at these people from the country club stalwarts who have issues with socks that don’t reach the ankle never mind hoodies!
Step forward Chris Collick, a guy who has become the poster boy and people’s champion of this revolution. His story is fairly common in golf, started playing as a kid, was part of the junior scene at his club, then drifted away and got into something cooler.
Anyone who played golf in school has been in Chris’ shoes, people telling you that it’s an old man’s game. Tiger Woods maybe made golf a little cooler for us in those years but it was hard to convince people why golf was great. Like many, his clubs gathered dust.
Jump forward to 2018, the Open Championship was coming to Carnoustie and Chris, working for Oakley at the time, was given the chance to go to the event. This was a turning point, he could see that golf had changed, it had a new vibe.
Chris was fascinated by what gear and brands people were wearing. This one week got him hooked on golf again and he dusted off the clubs. There remained a big issue though, whilst he was loving being out playing again, he wasn’t comfortable in the committee-approved dress code that golf courses so fervently clung to.
You see, Collick is a self-confessed skater boy and as you try to get that Avril Lavigne song out of your head, think about how that look would go down in your club. He is comfortable in streetwear and wanted to bring that style to his game.
Having a love for photography and podcasting, Chris decided he was going to use these skills to challenge the status quo. He was excited about the growing movement of surfer-types in the US getting into golf.