When the four codgers agreed to meet on a Tuesday afternoon at a south suburban golf course, they thought they had it made: perfect weather and a day off from work-a rare chance to play without fighting the crowds.
As soon as they reached the parking lot, however, the codgers realized their mistake. Cars-most of them new and expensive-filled all but the most remote stalls. And when they went to register for their round, they learned their wait would last more than an hour.
”The yuppies have invaded our game,” one of the codgers muttered as he killed time on the practice putting green. ”I never thought they`d get into it. I assumed they`d think our pants are too ugly.” All the other codgers looked down self-consciously at their own trousers, a satorial cacophony of purple plaids and ice-blue stripes.
Surprisingly, those intrusive young rivals for course time seemed to know what they were doing. Their tastefully clad bodies arched gracefully as they sent drives soaring off the first tee. They murmured about loft angles, spin factors and trajectories with the same intensity as they discussed first-quarter earnings, pretax proceeds, subordinated debentures and the bouquet of a fine Cotes du Rhone.
An `old man`s game`?
Not that the codgers were terribly old. No one in the group had yet reached 50. But because all of them had been playing golf since their teens, they felt like wizened veterans.
The codgers had always assumed that the young, fast-track careerists they were hearing so much about would never darken their fairways. At the cocktail parties, after all, the sleek ones had always dismissed golf as an ”old man`s game,” a time-wasting, anaerobic, nonathletic activity for beer-gutted ciphers.
On that otherwise-brilliant Tuesday, however, the codgers were forced to concede that the fast-trackers had indeed descended-bringing with them all their quick-study perseverance, Evian-soaked clean living and obscene bank accounts.
This trend has been showing signs of not going away. Unlike the recent yuppie bowling craze-an activity kids enjoyed mainly for the shirts-golf seems to have serious legs.
According to the Jupiter, Fla.-based National Golf Foundation, a business association for the golf industry, the golfing population in the United States has lately been growing by more than a million a year, from 17 million in 1984 to 24.7 million in 1989. Seventy-four percent of those golfers are between the ages of 20 and 59.
$7 billion industry
The National Sporting Goods Association reports that golf pumps $17 billion a year into the national economy and that 34 percent of all golfers have household incomes of at least $50,000 a year.
They spent $3 billion on golf equipment and clothing in 1988, the association says. The other $14 billion went for greens fees, club
memberships, golf carts, caddies, food and beverages, new course construction, course maintenance and prizes on the pro golf tour.
Apparently, those free-spending hordes expect to play the game with a certain elan-unlike the codgers, who had picked up their satorial style from Arnold Palmer. Palmer in his prime tucked in his colorless shirt after almost every shot and hitched up his pants by tugging on a somber brown belt.
Now prosperous golfers hear mating calls from the house of Ralph Lauren, which has been sprinkling the men`s magazines and golf periodicals with ads depicting young, soigne sportsmen and women in expensive sweater vests, dress shirts, tailored trousers and even neckties-a la Walter Hagen.
”Ralph Lauren golfwear reflects a return to an era of fine fabrics and individuality in a sport that has always been known for its style and grace,” the ad copy croons.
Sanctified by Lauren
A Lauren spokeswoman said inspiration for the new line showed up unexpectedly, like a sudden squall over St. Andrews. ”It was just his
(Lauren`s) instinct and intuition,” she explained. ”We really don`t do market research. I guess he talked to a couple of people who were playing golf and saw an opportunity there.”
At J.C. Penney Co. Inc., strategists approached the situation more aggressively. ”It`s estimated that golfers will spend $225 million this year on fashions alone,” declared Carol Edwards, Penneys` Dallas-based menswear promoter. ”It`s a big business.”
Penneys has responded by installing Par Four boutiques in 300 of its menswear departments. Each Par Four features Penneys and Stanley Blacker slacks, shorts and shirts in a ”jewel-tone color palette” with black accents. ”We see this as a niche we can fill for the middle-income and upper- middle-income consumer,” Edwards said.
Of course, modern men-and women-have been preening since the Flower Power era, but only recently have great crowds of them found it necessary to do that on the greens and fairways.
Like Butch Cassidy, a codger might wonder, ”Who are those guys?” and try to figure out why tee times are becoming harder to get than a Saturday night reservation at Ambria.
The answer, naturally, is the same one that applies to almost any question touching upon upscale demographics: Baby Boomers. All those people born in the heady days after World War II now want to arm themselves with putters and 4-irons.
