The Loop

Are these the best socks for golf?

March 16, 2015

First, a weather update. Here's what the my patio looked like on March 2:

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad7c22b01eefe207f70e54_blogs-the-loop-assets_c-2015-03-tablesnowloaf3-2-thumb-518x256-156412.jpg

And here's what it looked like two weeks later:

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad7c22b01eefe207f70e58_blogs-the-loop-assets_c-2015-03-tablesnowloaf3-16-thumb-518x283-156414.jpg

Note that the enormous tabletop "snow loaf" in the first photo has virtually disappeared, revealing the handle of a barbecue utensil I forgot to bring indoors before the weather went to hell. You can also make out almost all of my charcoal grill, which, somewhat surprisingly, I remembered to cover up the last time I used it. Meanwhile, Pelham Bay Golf Course, in the Bronx, has announced that it will reopen on Thursday, and, if it really does, the Sunday Morning Group's winter competition, the Jagermeister Kup, will resume there this weekend. (I'll be traveling, alas.)

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad7c22b01eefe207f70e57_blogs-the-loop-assets_c-2015-03-whitetailedrat-thumb-518x332-156418.jpg

During the lousy weather, I've been testing (during dog walks) some socks I learned about from guys who hang out with PGA Tour players. They're made by a company called Kentwool, which is the official game-day sock provider of Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar, among others. Charles Barkley -- whose feet are so big (size 16) that he may need to wear two on each foot -- says, "Even though my golf game is terrible, my feet always feel great in my Kentwool socks." Here's what the quarter-height golf socks look like:

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad7c22b01eefe207f70e4f_blogs-the-loop-assets_c-2015-03-kentwool-thumb-518x499-156421.jpg

And here's what the tall golf socks look like:

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad7c22add713143b42c108_blogs-the-loop-assets_c-2015-03-kentwooltall-thumb-518x569-156426.jpg

Both kinds are 75 percent wool, and they're padded and hinged in all the right places, and they really do feel great, with shoes or without. A word of caution: the short socks are 20 bucks a pair, and the tall ones are 25, so you probably shouldn't place an order without first talking to your financial adviser. Another word of caution: a person who works in the clothing industry told me recently that two of the next big trends in golf socks are going to be "big" and "colorful." On one of my first reporting assignments, more than 30 years ago, I traveled to England with a large group of American Beatles fanatics, among them Charles F. Rosenay!!!, who had had three exclamation points legally added to his last name. Here's a picture of Rosenay!!! at a rest stop near the birthplace of William Shakespeare:

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad7c22b01eefe207f70e5f_blogs-the-loop-assets_c-2015-03-Rosenay!!!-001-thumb-515x800-156429.jpg

He was ahead of the curve on both the Converse All Stars and the man purse, so don't automatically assume that he was wrong about the socks.