Way back when the idea — "scripting," that is — was first conceived, this was how it was supposed to work. Some of the best golfers in the world, including a few who are a good bet to make the weekend leaderboard at the PGA Championship that begins Thursday at Oakland Hills, would wear the clothes that were on sale in the stores that very weekend.
An astute golf shop operator might have the big screen going in the back of the shop and the actual shirt the player on television was wearing in the front. (A less astute retailer would do it the other way, but that’s a lesson for another day.) All the golfer with $58 in his pocket had to do was connect the dots.
Yes, that shirt that KJ Choi/Anthony Kim/Justin Leonard/Trevor Immelman/Stewart Cink/Stephen Ames is wearing this weekend can, theoretically at least, be bought this weekend because, according to Nike, the shirts were selected a year ago and shipped to retail accounts as part of the Aug. 1 delivery.
The two "technologies" inherent in the Nike golfers apparel are Nike Sphere Dry and DriFIT UV, which simply are the proprietary names for moisture management, cooling and UV protection.
Timing is everything and Nike, leaving so little to chance and playing the meteorological odds, is trumpeting both technologies again because the PGA Championship’s August dates seemingly build in the story line that players will be confronting the Four Horseman of late-summer golf: heat, haze, humidity and higher rough. Oakland Hills is outside of Detroit, so it’s already a step ahead of some of the Sunbelt venues of past PGAs, but if it’s the PGA, you can pretty much bank on high temps.
DriFIT UV technology wicks perspiration from the skin to the outside of the shirts and pants to expedite evaporation, thereby keeping players cooler and dryer. Sphere dry allows air to flow to skin and reduces cling from perspiration.
Immelman and Cink plan to wear Nike’s new shoulder graphic polo with Nike Sphere Dry technology and a unique graphic across the shoulders. Kim will wear a new style in the Sphere React family, as well. Ames will wear the UV core stripe polo Thursday, a new style.
Styledtoatee.com will be watching. Nike is betting customers will as well.
