Equipment
Maide’s new apparel collection excels from top to bottom
When Maide launched just over a year ago, the rookie golf apparel label had a very simple, but audacious goal in mind — design a great-looking pair of pants that will fit better than any other trousers in your closet.
If Bonobos, Maide’s parent company, does one thing really well, it’s pants. The company has at least 45 varieties of cotton twill, corduroy and wool trousers that aspire to achieve a made-to-measure fit at ready-to-wear prices. Branching out into golf seemed like a no-brainer, especially considering many of the company’s executives are avid golfers, including Ian Velardi. As the Director of Design at Bonobos and head designer for Maide, Velardi is responsible for fabric and trim sourcing, garment development and color direction for both brands.
“We built such a healthy business with Bonobos and we have this built-in customer base,” Velardi says. “I think a lot of our Bonobos customers are golfers and it just made sense to cater to them (especially since we’re known for our pants). Plus, we didn’t see anything out there in the market that was indicative of being the ideal golf pant.”
The new Fall 2014 collection from Maide is what software engineers would affectionately describe as being fully baked. The Spring collection of past years had pieces that played well together, but the colorful light sweaters and golf shirts always seemed like a secondary consideration. The new collection is thoughtful and all grown up. Pants continue to be the strength of the line, but the new sweaters and outerwear pieces designed by Velardi haven’t missed a detail, blending a sophisticated style with all the performance and fit a Maide customer has come to expect from the brand.
Vintage golf inspirations are the brand’s DNA. The brand is designed to appeal to a customer who cares about what he wears to the course, but doesn’t want anyone to think he has a team stylists consulting him. If you want to identify with a style icon, think of a young Arnold Palmer. Or a Davis Love III. Or an Adam Scott.
“Our idea of the customer is based on a person who lives in the city and is fashion-conscious, but is also active,” Velardi says. “He wants to look good and be comfortable, but doesn’t want to look like their dad on the golf course. He wants to wear something that has more attention to detail and especially attention to fit. It’s still rooted in classic American feel, but is modernized.”
The best-selling Highland pant ($108) which combines superior fit with standout performance thanks to a breathable poly fabric has been updated for the season with a new button enclosure, more subtle branding and new colors that include khaki, black, navy, grey, white, stone, sapphire, deep pine and toasted coconut.
The pant comes in two fits: slim and standard. The slim fit is a little narrower overall, noticeably tapered through the leg. The standard fit is far from boxy; it’s actually a little trimmer than the Polo RLX line and features a slit zipper on the bottom of each leg, allowing you to adjust the drape as needed. Both editions of the Highland pant feature a curved waistband that promotes a snug, but comfortable fit. A silicone strip sewn into the waist keeps your shirt from riding up and out of your pants as you’re swinging a club. The pockets, which tend to be a forgotten-about feature for most golf apparel brands, are also well thought out. There’s ample room in both the front and back pockets for stashing scorecards, tees, balls and yardage books.
As good as the pants look (and they look great), they perform even better. The poly stretch fabric allows complete freedom of movement and there’s never any bunching or sagging. They’re the kind of pants you can wash repeatedly, never bother to iron and yet depend on retaining a fresh-off-the-hanger look.
Not to be outdone, Maide also offers a trouser made from premium Italian cotton with a hint of stretch. The Palmetto ($138) is a step up the style ladder. The pants are classically tailored and feature adjustable tabs at the waist in place of belt loops. These pants are more than capable of handling a round of golf. Pair them up with one of Maide’s new fall sweaters that are designed to keep you warm without adding bulk. The Duke of Argyle cotton v-neck ($88) takes an age-old fashion trope and reinterprets it into an understated diamond knit pattern. Maide also offers a slightly more performance-oriented crew-neck they affectionally call the Dew Sweeper ($98) made from a blend of Woolmark Coolmax and extra-fine merino wool.
Velardi loves the challenge of designing active apparel that doesn’t scream golf clothing.
“We have this idea that we like to call stealth tech,” Velardi says. “Our clothing is not overly technical like say the stuff from Puma. Ours are in the fibers — the stuff you can’t see. This way you can still perform but you’re not going to look like you’re wearing really technical clothes.”
Within the new collection, the lifestyle influence is unmistakably imprinted on outerwear. The brand strikes a bold move introducing a navy blazer ($298). It’s a stylish two-button jacket made from 100 percent premium Italian cotton knit piqué that can survive being unceremoniously rolled up in a ball and shoved into a golf bag. It’s a great accessory to have on hand and slip into at a country club or an upscale golfing event.
Maide’s other outerwear piece, a golf vest, is wearable on and off the course. The Wescoe ($168) is Velardi’s favorite item from the new collection and that isn’t surprising. The outside of the vest is a poly shell that is water-resistant and wind-proof. The inner lining is 100 percent cotton. It’s actually pretty warm for a light-weight jacket.
The vest features a packable hood and snap pockets, plus a hidden storage pocket in the back. It’s versatile enough to handle just about anything Mother Nature throws at you this season apart from a good, old-fashioned downpour. From a performance standpoint, The Wescoe is extremely comfortable to wear and swing in a club in. It’s going to make believers out of many golfers who tend to struggle to find a jacket that mimics the comfort of a golf shirt.
“We paid a lot of attention to the shape of the arm-hole so that it gives you a lot of good arm movement and mobility,” Velardi says. “The shoulder point-to-point is pretty narrow so that it doesn’t overhang and get in the way of your swing.”
Maide’s fall collection is available for purchase directly through the Bonobos website. The parent company launched in 2007 as an e-commerce-driven retailer focused on delivering a world-class fit and superior customer service. In 2011, Bonobos expanded its services offline, opening a handful of showrooms called Guideshops where customers could work one-on-one with a stylist to experience the brand in person.
In keeping with the company’s expansion opportunities, Maide can also be purchased on the web at Trendy Golf and Trunk Club. The brand has also developed relationships with New York Golf Center, PGA Tour Superstore and a growing list of exclusive green grass shops including but not limited to Shinnecock Hills, Medalist and Aronimink golf clubs.
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Whats in the Bag
Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)
- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.
On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.
Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?
Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’
So that’s why I went back.
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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?
It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.
Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.
It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.
Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.
Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.
So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?
Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?
Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.
There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.
It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.
Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.
And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?
Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’
If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’
My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’
I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”
And you’re going with it this week?
Hundred percent.
Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.
Thanks, man.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
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Sean P
Nov 17, 2014 at 8:24 am
Wish we could get this in the UK, looks good.
nikkyd
Nov 14, 2014 at 11:37 pm
Wow! My $20 izods shorts from the mens department at jcpenny have green rubbery silicone stuff on the inside of the waistband too! I want to know what brand the big boys like els, mickelson, weekly, dejong wear. That skinny slack look looks terrible on guys like me. And uncomfortable too!
nikkyd
Nov 14, 2014 at 11:40 pm
I may add also, the best golf outfit i ever did see, was worn by kevin costner in Tin Cup. In the scene where he qualifies for the open. With a 7 iron. Now thats an outfit. Not loud, but nice looking and probably better yet…comfortable
Pat
Nov 14, 2014 at 5:53 pm
100+dollars for a pair of trousers??? I’m not rich by any stretch of the imagination but I’m not dirt poor either. Even if I had the money to throw away on this brand I would rather spend it on golf lessons. This proves that golf is definitely for the wealthy and is becoming more out of reach for the “common” man.
Arnold P.
Nov 14, 2014 at 3:01 pm
The fit looks a little too much like skinny jeans for me. I’ll stick with my tailor.
Tip o'kneel
Nov 14, 2014 at 2:33 pm
A silicone strip SOWN into the waist keeps your shirt from riding up and out of your pants as YOUR swinging a club.
Ron R.
Nov 14, 2014 at 3:00 pm
You’re. Smartipants.
Tip
Nov 14, 2014 at 3:53 pm
Look, if I’m going to be subjected to product pushing, then the least you can do is proof your work. If I put this in front of a client, I’d get laughed out of the room.
Btw…the pants are a nice pick up if you have an opportunity…
Drew R.
Nov 14, 2014 at 2:11 pm
I love the Highland pants and maide sweaters. I would prefer if they created some shirts with moisture wicking materials.
Jamie Eck
Nov 14, 2014 at 1:12 pm
I just got a pair of these pants and they are great. My favorite part is the material they have around the inside of the waistband. It keeps your shirt tucked in at all times without feeling like it is pulling it down.
AZ Golfman
Nov 14, 2014 at 11:41 am
Being 6’5″, its always been hard to find good golf pants that fit well. Once i found out that bonobos sold 36″ inseam, my prayers were answered! i have several pairs of bonobos pants that i wear for work and golf and the fit is very tailored. I get compliments on them all the time.
Peter Kratsios
Nov 14, 2014 at 10:36 am
I have been playing golf for 10 years and have never been loyal to a clothing brand before this year. However, that changed when I bought a pair of the Highland pants at the beginning of golf season, and realized how much a quality pair of pants influenced the golf swing. I have several pants and even a few golf shirts from Maide.
Love what you guys are doing over there, keep it up!