On The Fringe

Bleached-blond surfers rip golf balls after ripping through the waves; skateboarders grind through rounds after grinding trucks; punk rockers knock in putts before knocking heads in mosh pits.

An environment once thought reserved for doctors, lawyers and CEOs is undergoing a demographic shift that is changing the look of the sport and spurring a rapidly growing offshoot industry: grunge golf.

A new wave of apparel manufacturers hawking hip golf garb, several based in Orange County, is creeping into golf shops. Fledgling magazines--try Maximum Golf (and its Cart Girl of the Month display) or Schwing!--and websites targeted at grunge golfers (like fringegolf.com) are catering to this growing audience by intentionally clashing with the stodgy image of traditional golf.

“We’ve known since Tiger [Woods] came out that golf is changing and getting younger and younger,” said Michael Caruso, 39, editor of Maximum Golf, which launched in June. “Golf for decades had a reputation as elitist, uptight and very poorly dressed. It was the most uncool sport on the planet. But now actors are playing, musicians are playing, and athletes from other sports are crossing over. I realized that there was a market out there that wasn’t being served, and it included me and my friends.”

Indeed, top athletes from other sports such as surfer Kelly Slater, extreme skier Johnny Mosley and, of course, Michael Jordan, are playing golf and attracting legions of new golf fans.

Members of popular rock bands No Doubt, Social Distortion, The Offspring, Sugar Ray and Bad Religion are also avid golfers, according to Peter Harper of Timebomb Recordings, a Laguna Beach-based record label.

“Who would have thought that Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog would be golfing?” said James Cusick, director of advertising for Schwing! magazine. “But they have their clubs on tour with them right now. We’re showing that golf is not just for the elite white country club-bred mentality. It’s for the guy who wants to squeeze in nine after work, guys who are playing munis and drinking beer on the course and guys who come from all walks of life.”

The premise of the alternative golf movement is that today’s golfer leads a different lifestyle than those of the past. They are younger and hipper, frequent night clubs and rave parties, have tattoos and want to whisk the image of the game into the new millennium.

A study released this year by the National Golf Foundation found that 56% of U.S. golfers are between the ages of 12-39, the target of the grunge golf industry. The same study reported that 70.5% of beginning golfers are in the same age group.

These are golfers, researchers say, who quote Happy Gilmore rather than Caddyshack, watch “The Real World” rather than “60 Minutes” and click through web pages rather than flip through newspapers.

They are also disinterested in traditional golf staples such as Golf Digest, polo-style shirts and khaki pants.

“I hate those,” said Chris Kamps, 34, of Irvine. “That stuff is so boring.”

Kamps remembers getting kicked off a course in Georgia in 1990 because his Quiksilver shirt was “too loud” and his shorts were “too long.” He continues to wear surf-based clothing while playing, but no longer at the risk of expulsion.

“It’s not like that anymore,” he said.

Jerry Ramirez, the assistant general manager at Tijeras Creek, agreed that even the more upscale courses with strict dress codes have eased up as a result of this new wave of golfer.

“Most golf shops are being more lax with dress codes,” Ramirez said. “If someone comes in with a T-shirt, basically we just ask that next time they remember we do have a dress code. Five years ago it would have been if you didn’t have a collared shirt, you wouldn’t be allowed to play.”

Clothing designers have noticed. In the most recent issue of Schwing!, there are 10 advertisements for non-traditional golf clothing. Another dozen or so pop up on a quick Internet search.

Brands such as Gangsta Golf, Pirategolf, Golf or Die and Righteous Golf Gear leave little doubt that these are not grandpa’s shirts. They use zippers and button-up fronts and make shirts out of just about anything except cotton mesh.

But they haven’t been able to convince conventional golf retailers to buy their lines.

“People say it’s way too edgy,” said Eric Spivey, owner of Irvine-based Spy V. Style clothing.

Spivey has managed to get his line in the pro shop at Anaheim Hills Golf Course and Sport Chalet, but has been most successful on the Internet.

“It depends on who you deal with,” he said. “Usually it’s the older people or the people who have an older boss [that balk].” C.J. Wynkoop, founder of Planet Golf Clothing, says the unwillingness to take the risk hurts the consumer.

“The customer is getting the shaft,” Wynkoop said. “You walk into a golf shop and see the same thing in every one. There are thousands of guys who want something other than the cookie-cutter shirt. If you see someone wearing our clothes, you go, ‘Is that a surfer? Is it a snowboarder? Is it a golfer? What’s his deal?’ ”

Wynkoop started his company after some of his surfing buddies showed up for a golf outing wearing traditional golf clothes.

“They showed up and I laughed at them,” Wynkoop said. “They were sacrificing who they were just so they could play a sport.”

Spivey, tired of trying to convince retailers to buy his product, marketed directly to teenagers. He pitched his line to golf teams at several local high schools and the boys’ teams from Woodbridge and University jumped at the chance.

The white ribbed shirts made out of a rayon-polyester blend are at the conservative end of Spivey’s line, but Woodbridge Coach Tracy Roberts said they were just different enough to satisfy the appetite for something other than traditional.

“The kids loved them,” Roberts said. “They wanted something more cutting edge and it was a very popular look with our guys. It was cutting edge, but not too cutting edge to [get the golf courses mad].”

The traditional golf world has had a surprisingly subdued reaction to the grunge golf movement.

Mike Lichty, general manager at Tustin Ranch, points out that the golfer who pays high-end green fees wants to be sure that they will be playing with those who have a degree of respect and taste. He said the new styles have not been a deterrent, however.

“There’s no fashion trends that I would deem distasteful,” Lichty said. “Nothing off the wall, nothing bizarre. I think companies are intentionally staying acceptable.”

Most are. Mossimo Giannulli, designer of the mock turtleneck worn by PGA Tour star David Duval, said the shirt is not designed to uproot the tradition of golf and points out that Gary Player wore a similar shirt during the 1960s.

“[Player] looked the best of everybody, so I used it as an inspiration,” Giannulli said. “It is meant as no disrespect against tradition. I was very cognizant of not trying to be too young and hip. There are a lot of companies out there just going for shock value, but David will look very respectable at any course.”

The shirt will hit stores for public purchase in January, and its arrival has the potential to change the “collared shirt” dress codes at many upscale courses.

“If it’s a nice, clean, solid shirt, I don’t think it will be an issue,” said Southern California PGA spokesman Greg Flores. “As long as it looks OK, I think it will fall into the category of appropriate.”

Magazine and website editors who preach about changing the face of golf say they respect the game’s tradition and are not trying to dismantle it. But that hasn’t stopped them from running stories on pin-up golf girls, golf gambling tricks and taking pokes at the established traditions of golf.

Peter Gillette, vice president of marketing for fringegolf.com, was part of group that wore artificial turf hats and drove around in a recreational vehicle with a Playboy model trying to promote its site at the U.S. Open in June. Still, he said, they stayed within the boundaries of good taste and were well received, even by U.S. Golf Assn. officials.

“There is a very strict traditional element to golf and we don’t want to undermine that,” Gillette said.

“We don’t promote blue jeans and T-shirts. We understand the grand old game. We just emphasize the fun elements of the game and taking some of the seriousness out of it. That’s what we’re about.”

By contrast, Caruso, editor of Maximum Golf, boasts about the in-your-face approach of his magazine.

“There are certainly old-timers who think we’re too irreverent or too wild and are treating golf in a disrespectful way, and we are,” he said. “We are not about worshiping the shrine of Bobby Jones.”

There seems to be an enthusiastic audience. Maximum Golf, which has the backing of Rupert Murdoch and his powerful Fox Sports machine, reported a circulation of 300,000 for its latest issue.

In March, 209,000 people visited fringegolf.com, making it the second-most visited golf website, according to a PC Data Online survey. It went offline in April, came back on two weeks ago and had 67,000 people visit in its first week.

Schwing!, published by the same company that publishes skateboard magazine giant Thrasher, reports a circulation of 68,000, up 18,000 since launching in February 1999.

Caruso, formerly the editor of Vanity Fair, Details and Los Angeles magazines, thinks he understands the appeal.

“If you go back to the original roots of golf, you’ll see it was a working-class game,” he said. “It got hijacked by country clubs and stiff necks in the 1950s and what we’re doing is reclaiming the game for the people.”

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Golf’s stodgy image is under fire: David Duval played Augusta National in April wearing an all black--and collarless--Mossimo shirt, while two new magazines, Maximum Golf and Schwing!, lampoon the games tradition.