Swede Kicks
After nearly 30 years of designing some of the game’s most flamboyant clothes, J. Lindeberg has finally created its first shoe.
By Tony Dear
The golf world was always undecided on Jesper Parnevik’s distinctive look.
Many thought the Swedish pro’s drainpipe trousers, baseball caps with upturned bill, pork pie hats, skinny ties, and tight, colorful shirts were cutting edge, daring, and dapper in a satisfyingly-eccentric way. Others thought it all a bit wackadoodle.
Dan Jenkins once wrote Parnevik looked like the “last person to get out of the clown car.”
For much of his 15 pro-win, three-Ryder Cup appearance career Parnevik’s style was created by clothing company J. Lindeberg, founded in Stockholm in 1996 by the former marketing manager of Italian jeans brand Diesel, Johan Lindeberg.
Parnevik put J. Lindeberg on the map at the 2000 Byron Nelson Classic by wearing a pink pair of the company’s slacks in a playoff victory over Phil Mickelson and Davis Love III.
Lindeberg threads are now worn by England’s Matt Wallace, Sweden’s Jonas Blixt, the resurgent Camilo Villegas, and recently-crowned FedEx Cup champion and Ryder Cup star Viktor Hovland. The Norwegian’s bold and often shocking tops and t-shirts generate the polarizing opinions Lindeberg’s golf clothes always have. Love them or hate them, though, they always catch one’s attention.
The same is true of the company’s first ever golf shoe – the Vent 500. It may not come in pink, acid green, or some other outlandish color scheme, but the design is certainly eye-catching (especially the Black pair which isn’t really black but does have some black sections). Like so many other golf shoes available today, it is able to be worn on and off the golf course.
The Vent 500 is a golf shoe born of a running show and, thanks to taped seams, is 100% waterproof. The Ortholite insoles provide a comfy base, the uppers are made of nylon, and the JL Bridge logo sole nubs are designed to make the Vent 500 reliable even in wet conditions.
More color schemes are due to be released next spring.
Price – $250
Colors – White or Black
Sizes – 40-46 (European sizes, roughly the equivalent of 9-13 US)
jlindebergusa.com
Other Gear News
A number of new drivers were recently added to the USGA’s conforming list including the TaylorMade Qi10 LS which Rory McIlroy used at last week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. PXG’s 0311 Black Ops, Black Ops Tour-1, and Black Ops Tour-3 also made it to the list of drivers that are legal in competitive play along with Cobra’s Darkspeed Max, Darkspeed X, and Darkspeed LS, and Ping’s G430 Max 10K which joins the already available G430 Max, G430 LST and G430 SFT. There are no details yet on when these drivers will be available, but early 2024 looks likely.
TaylorMade’s Spider Tour X Proto putter which Scottie Scheffler used in the second half of the season to combat his less-than-stellar putting stats has been made available as a limited edition.
Titleist recently announced the release of its 60-degree Vokey Design SM9 A Grind through its WedgeWorks program. Designed by Aaron Dill, Titleist’s PGA Tour rep for Vokey wedges, along with 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy from Melbourne, the A Grind features just 4˚ of bounce making it ideal for lofted shots from the tight fairways you typically find in Australia.
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