Todd Snyder and FootJoy's Collaboration Is Proof That Golf Style Is Better Than Ever

Golf is old. Like, old old. We're talkin' 15th century. It wasn't until a few hundred years later that the 18-hole format was even invented. And in the (many) years since then, golf style has seen its fair share of iterations—none more impressive than the sartorial renaissance taking place in the sport today. Thanks to the pandemic, more people are finally playing golf, seeing that the sport is inherently socially distanced (especially if you're walking the course). And thanks to the convergence of emerging and established brands dipping their toes into the golf world, there's a veritable tidal wave of smart golf clothing options on the market right now. Really, there's never been a better time to be a golfer who cares about personal style.

Few designers steep themselves in the marriage of heritage, history, and progressive style more than New York City's Todd Snyder. In fact, history is more or less a prerequisite for collaborating with Snyder. "I didn't do this intentionally, but every brand that I've ever partnered with has been around for over 100 years," he told me this week when discussing the latest—a team-up with 150-year-old golf mainstay FootJoy. "When I started digging into it, and realized that they had been around for over 150 years, I was like, Bingo. That's what nailed it for me. Having that heritage and authenticity really just nailed it."

And so Snyder got to work. His mission: Maintaining a classic sensibility, but adding a twist. The result is a collection of golf course essentials that don't sacrifice on style or performance. The collab features standbys like polos, hats, pants, shorts, and outer layers like a sweater vest and a quarter-zip (of course). But Snyder was clearly thinking summer when it came to what that twist would be, because many of the pieces—hats included–feature a stretch seersucker that offers a spin on the classic fabric, choosing solids over the usual stripe, but maintaining the lightweight benefits.

At the nucleus of the collection is the shoe. Snyder and I agree: For the longest time, FootJoy was the only golf shoe brand we knew. "I remembered myself growing up with my dad and my grandpa, and they used to wear FootJoy," he says. These days, sneaker culture has made its aggressive migration into the golf world. Iconic silhouettes like Nike's Air Max and Adidas's Superstar have been given the spiked treatment. But Snyder, wanting to stay true to FootJoy's heritage, went with more traditional silhouette in the brand's Packard. "Everything about that shoe spoke to me," he says. "It has all the technology [and] the beauty of a classic shoe—a proper golf shoe." Snyder's personal touch comes in the form of a faux-croc saddle in his signature colors of olive and navy.

Nods to tradition aside, Snyder and FootJoy have punched their ticket to golf's big style dance, where the ill-fitting uniform of eras past no longer rules. Back then, the standard issue golf fit wasn't made up of items you'd wear anywhere but the course. Now? Thanks to a surge of new faces—and their respect for the OGs—golf style is just...style. Check our our picks from the new Todd Snyder and FootJoy collection below. You'll see what I mean.