31 year-old Justin Rose now mature enough for Ashworth

As of this week's European Tour BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth news comes that there will be no more of sporty adidas Golf wear for 31 year-old Justin Rose as he moves across the adidas TaylorMade house of brands to Ashworth.

Justin Rose is Ashworth's newest brand ambassador.

From the press release, here's what Rose had to say about the move:

 “I am really excited about partnering with Ashworth going forward; I think that it comes at the right time for me”, says Rose, “I am now into my thirties; my sense of style has evolved over the last couple years and I am certainly a lot more clear about what I want to achieve going forward and how I want to look doing it.”

This is dear reader, may be what target demographics are all about, but here at CNG we are of the belief that style is more a state of mind than it is of brand, or of age.

As incongruent as the notion of Rose in Ashworth may initially be for some, take comfort as you watch Rose in an adidas Golf jumper describe his more mature style preferences while looking forward to pairing a sweet new Ashworth polo with a pair of jeans for a night out at the pub.

Pure ad lib or or scripted lifestyle tie in? You decide...

Editors Note

A comforting sign that the golf apparel apocalypse is not upon us at time of publication, as no announcement of Fred Couples as the new brand ambassador for adidas Golf Fashion Performance line has been issued.

Old-timey golf videos from The British Pathé Film Archive an excellent way to procrastinate

Are you like me? Are you trying to avoid that which needs to be done? Or, are you trying to avoid the elephant in the room, the one that's trying to tell you that you have no prospects?

Click to visit The British Pathé Film Archive.Whatever your motivation, or lack thereof, let us all revel in the seemingly endless array of black and white moving pictures of golfing enthusiasts from The British Pathé Film Archive. The British Pathé Film Archive touts itself as the world's finest digital news archive (of course it does, it's British!), with over 90,000 clips featuring footage from 1894-1977.

CNG's favorite so far among the golf set has to be the 1923 Boys Golf Championships at Dunbar, the club where my grandfather was once a member.

As you watch these clips, do remind yourself that the great majority of those featured within are long since dead -- a stirring reminder for each of us to get on with it.

But for now, consider your morning, afternoon, or evening, completely shot.

Quagmire opens store in Canadian cottage country

Here's something worth musing about, news of the golf / lifestyle brand Quagmire opening a 750 square foot brick and mortar storefront in Ontario's Muskoka region, aka cottage country.

Quagmire's new retail store in Port Carling, Ontario.

The location of the new Quagmire store lies at the center of Canada's most affluent summer time getaway spot, as deep pocketed Southern Ontarians migrate north to spend time in their 'cottages'. Consider the target market captive, and officially acquired.

The Port Carling, Ontario location features a broad range of Quagmire clothing and accessories for men, women and children that embody the line’s ‘Not Fit for the Fairway’ motto. These include reversible shorts and shirts that provide a crazy two-for-one value, striped sweatshirts, color-dipped items, hip polos, skirts, pants and heat-sensitive ColorFusion tops.

“This has been an absolutely insane year in which we’ve partnered with Arnold Palmer to launch the Arnie apparel line and continued to grow the legions of Quagmire fans worldwide,” says Co-Founder and Creative Director Geoff Tait. “Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, the opportunity arose to open our first store and it was too good to pass up!”

Nestled amongst the region’s historic lakes and famous golf courses that draw countless vacationers each summer, the Quagmire store hours are 10am-5pm Monday through Friday, 10am-6pm Saturday and 11am-5pm Sunday. It will also remain open each long weekend throughout the season.

“As our brand continues to grow, the logical step in our evolution was to create a unique retail environment with a broad range of our pieces on display,” says Co-Founder and Sales Director Bobby Pasternak. “It’s a great location mixed amongst some other outstanding shops and in an area that gets a ton of foot traffic.”    

Quagmire is worn by a bevy of star athletes and A-listers worldwide, including Wayne Gretzky, Joe Carter, Devon White, Jeremy Roenick, Gerry Dee, Daniel Negraneau and Tour players Tiffany Joh, Gerina Piller, Kirby Dreher, Joe Affrunti, and Aron Price. The company also serves as official apparel supplier to the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy and the International Junior Golf Tour.

For more info, check out www.quagmiregolf.com or call 800.652.9839. To reach the Quagmire store call 705.765.0464.

CNG big in Japan?

Inboxed to CNG this morning we present golfwear.jp, a rather familiar looking site concept and design.

The banner image is a rendering very similar to that of an earlier image used by CNG, utilizing a pork pie hat mark that we still employ in our branding. We won't quibble over the layout too much, but the column placement and dimensions are eerily similar.

Pork Pie Bros. in Japan seem to have similar design sensibilities to that of CNG. Hmm.

Seems CNG would be big in Japan, if the Pork Pie Bros. hadn't decided it was cool to jack the concept and make it their own. Oh well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, is it not? At least golfwear.jp seems to create their own original content -- though we here at CNG don't read Japanese and can't be 100 percent sure.

At minimum, it's nice to know that someone thought highly enough of CNG to make it their own. Carry on.

TaylorMade-adidas Golf pink out at The Players Championship

In support of THE PLAYERS Championship’s “Pink Out” on Sunday, May 13, TaylorMade-adidas Golf ambassadors will be wearing in custom pink apparel and footwear and will have with pink TaylorMade accessories on display in celebration of Mother’s Day and to draw awareness to breast cancer research via the 26.2 with Donna Foundation.

2008 Players champion Sergio Garcia and PGA Tour star Jason Day will wear pink adidas Golf TOUR360 ATV footwear and a Fashion Performance pink pique polo, while Justin Rose will pair a pink Fashion Performance polo with a unique pair of pink adicross footwear.

Martin Kaymer, Jim Furyk and Retief Goosen will sport custom adiPure footwear and a Fashion Performance pink pique polo, while Sean O’Hair’s Ashworth Cardiff shoe will be highlighted in pink accents while wearing an Ashworth pink polo.

All TaylorMade athletes will carry a pink TaylorMade headcover, pink TaylorMade towel and wear custom pink TaylorMade headwear.

Canada's Sligo gaining serious momentum

Brian Gay has traditionally lead the way on the PGA Tour for Canada's fashion forward golf apparel brand Sligo, but he has some company alongside for 2012.

Canadian Graham Delaet, playing on a medical exemption due to back surgery in early 2011, and Scotsman Russell Knox both made some noise wearing Sligo at last week's Zurich Classic in New Orleans, where Delaet finished T4 and Knox tied the course record with a second round 64.

CNG has always been a fan of Sligo for the great fit and feel of their trend setting polos, and now comes a new fave -- the Preston pant, as worn on Sunday at the Zurich by Delaet.

The Preston comes in a variety of colors, including black, yellow, reef blue, and orange. $100.

On the polo front, CNG always leans toward the understated, those highlighted with detail, such as the Sligo Hudson with its satin pocket, placket, and collar detailing. Top notch.

Color coordinate Chance Manning's Swing Blind with your golfing outfit

Chance Manning's Swing Blind might just be our favorite new training aid for 2012.

As you know, CNG only showcases products we would actually use, and what puts Chance Manning's Swing Blind over the top for us is the 'flair pack', a glorious bonus set of six tour colors, hand picked by Chance himself! You'll not only be more focused on the golf course than ever before, but you'll look great too.

Take it to the next max, with Chance Manning's Swing Blind.

Versatility makes ECCO Golf Street Junior a viable option

Check out the ECCO Golf Street Junior, a collection of hybrid golf sneakers for boys and girls. Inspired by Golf Street Premier – the shoe that started the hybrid revolution – Golf Street Junior is available in a variety of colors to appeal to the junior golfer in your family.

CNG has never been big on golf shoes for his kids, primarily because of the short shelf life shoes tend to have with the younger set -- for some reason kids feet are constantly growing.

ECCO isn't able to help us out with that, but what we love about the ECCO Golf Street Junior is exactly what we love about the adult version -- and that is, their versatility. Junior can wear their Golf Streets for more than just golf, making the purchase that much more attractive to parents over soft spiked rivals.

Golf Street Junior retails for $100 at www.eccousa.com, and comes in black, sepia, white, silver and white base colors with corresponding lime green, fanta orange, royal blue, purple and candy outsoles, respectively.