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Sunday 21 February 1999 01:02 GMT
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Golf can seriously damage your image - especially if you're one of the new breed of young players following in the wake of Tiger Woods, the Beastie Boys or Chris Evans. The standard nerdish Argyle sweaters and sad slacks of Jimmy Tarbuck and the establishment golfing community are unlikely to be to your taste.

Now the Tee Generation is designing its own ranges of chic golf clobber, with new US labels such as Subpar and Sweetspot and new Brit brand Refugees offering a more left-field take on kit for the course, but also appealing to those dressing less for the green than the urban grey of the street. Expect to see the terrorist golfer look not just at home on the driving range but on the terraces and in clubs. Think fleeces and hooded tops, technical jackets, combat-style trousers with special pockets for tees, glove and your mid-round can of lager. Ffashion takes on the Argyle with polo-shirts with heraldic arms that, seen close up, naughtily parody the clubhouse crest. Even the equipment has been given a youthful make-over, from Refugee's black golf-balls, to Sweetspot's marketing line: "Everything starts with your balls".

This is fine for the US or Europe (where golf is not beset by the elitism common to the British game) or for the local municipal. For the better and more staid courses, wearing these brands means the young swingers must quick-change behind a bush after the first hole - and risk being thrown off the course for breaking the club rules. That's no fair way to play at all. JS

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