country club

Classic '70s Country Club Polos by Boast Reborn

Filed under: Apparel, Sports, Men's Style

Boast, the iconic, exclusive polo shirt brand founded in 1973 by Bill St. John, the tennis pro at Greenwich, Connecticut's famed Field Club, is being relaunched this month with a modern spin. Boast polos, featuring the notorious Japanese Maple leaf logo which many assumed to be a pot leaf, were originally sold only by Saint John from the back of his station wagon at country clubs across the Northeast. He designed the shirts in homage to the rebellious tennis stars of the day like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, the intentional pot leaf confusion adding a subversive touch.

Now John Dowling and Alexander Tiger, major racquet sports devotees and longtime fans of Boast, have revived the brand and updated the fabric and fit of the shirts, and are making them available outside country club pro shops for the first time. Dowling and Tiger have brought in Jack Spade designer Andy Spade's creative studio Partners & Spade to help breathe new life into the brand. The super soft and durable Boast pique cotton polo, offered in a range of colors in a classic ﬁt, is now available for $68 via BoastUSA.com. There's also a beautifully hand-tailored navy blazer with eye-catching details for $1,200.

Gallery: Boast Reborn

Tags: Andy Spade, Connecticut, country club, Field Club, Greenwich, Jack Spade, John McEnroe, mens style, Partners Spade, polo, polo shirt, shirts, sports, tennis

British Polo Players to Take Breathalyzer Tests - Prince Harry, This Means You

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Sports

Champagne is the perfect accompaniment to the aristocratic sport of polo, but if you're playing rather than merely watching it at Britain's most prestigious fields you'll have to do your quaffing after the match. The game's regulatory body in the UK, the Hurlingham Polo Association, is introducing random alcohol testing for players in a bid to promote professionalism. Yes, that includes polo and party-loving royal Prince Harry (above). The limit will be set at half the amount considered unsafe for driving a car. Failing a breathalyzer test will not get a player banned for the season, the Guardian notes, but they will be prevented in playing in the day's match.

Many polo pros have welcomed the move, pointing out that a "good lunch", i.e. one accompanied by plenty of bubbly, never improves performance or safety. "It's always been in our regulations that alcohol and drugs aren't acceptable," notes HPA's chief executive David Woodd, "but now we have the machines which we didn't have before and a doctor or official on hand to use them....At the country club I wouldn't argue that there are players who will have a decent lunch and play afterward. But at the top end of the sport, most of them won't even eat, never mind drink, before they play."

Tags: alcohol, Champagne, country club, drinking, equestrian, horses, polo, Prince Harry, royalty, spirits, sporting, sports, UK

Country Club Style from LINCS by David Chu

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Men's Style

LINCS, the recently-launched sportswear label from Nautica founder David Chu, has come out with a stylish new collection for spring. Images for the new line from LINCS, which Chu describes as "a modern expression of style inspired by a life in and out of the country club - of travel, of sport, of classic chic", were shot at the prestigious Hudson National golf club in Westchester, NY. The spring collection, influenced by the sporty style of both the Hamptons and resorts in Arizona, is divided into two categories – Southampton, which features cool shades of blue and pearl gray enlivened with nautical accents, and Scottsdale, featuring a desert palette of sand tones spiced with brilliant color. Keys looks from the Southampton pieces include this well-cut cerulean heathered linen hacking jacket, and a navy performance nylon blazer vest with bridle leather detailing. Standouts from Scottsdale include unlined khaki pea coat in ultra-light nylon and a coral heathered linen blazer.

Tags: country club, David Chu, LINCS, mens style, Nautica, Westchester

Cigars, Golf and Happy Hour in Pennsylvania

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

What are you doing on April 24? If you're a golfer, you're about to get a new answer to that question. That's the first day of the Famous 2009 Golf Tour, sponsored by Famous Smoke Shop and ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley. So, clean your clubs and get ready to head out to the Riverview Golf & Country Club in Easton, PA in a few weeks.

The golf tour itself stretches all the way to the Championship Round on October 9, so if you have a decent swing, you could spend close to six months chasing a little white ball around a carefully manicured lawn.

"Each match will be a two-man 'Best Ball Scramble,'" according to Famous Smoke Shop store manager, Tim Carr. "If a player doesn't have a partner, we will assign them one. Players' handicaps will also be used as a guide for creating the foursomes and pairing-up singles, but not for scoring of the rounds, which will be based on a points system," he added.

If, like me, you don't play golf, Famous Smoke Shop has a few other events planned for the summer, so you'll have no shortage of reasons to light up a cigar (as if you need one).

Golf Round 1, April 25: Classic Car Show
Golf Round 2, May 29: Motorcycle Show
Golf Round 3, June 27: Cigar Expo 2009
Golf Round 4, July 25: Classic Car Show
Golf Round 5, August 29: Motorcycle Show
Golf Round 6, September 19: TBD

The events will be held at the Famous Smoke Shop store in Easton, PA.

If you're planning to enter the tournament, the cost is $89.99 per round, and there are pro-rated discounts available for volume. A Happy Hour follows each event, where food and drinks will be served ... with featured cigars from event sponsors Drew Estate (ACID), CAO, Camacho, Cusano, Rocky Patel and Los Blancos.

Tags: camacho, cao, cigar, cigars, country club, country clubs, CountryClub, CountryClubs, easton, easton pennsylvania, eastonpennsylvania, golf, golf tour, golf tournament, golf tours, golfer, golfing, GolfTour, GolfTournament, GolfTours, lehigh, lehigh-valley, pennsylvania, rocky patel, RockyPatel

The Fall of 'New Money' Country Clubs

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

It has certainly happened before and as much as it stinks to draw another comparison to the Great Depression it seems country clubs made of 'new money' may follow the same path as one-third of the clubs did back then. Across the U.S. clubs are shutting their gates and greens one after another from the Gold Creek Golf Club in Dawsonville, Georgia to Golf Club of California in San Diego. Even Sea Island in coastal Georgia, which once ranked near the top in golf courses of the nation, recently laid off 400 employees.

As quickly as individuals came into fresh cash it disappeared on Wall Street and the like. $85,000 entrance fees once meant to keep the unworthy out have been reduced to free! I guess the 'old' clubs will continue to hang on -- that's how they earned the term 'old'.

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Tags: country club, CountryClub, dawsonville georgia, DawsonvilleGeorgia, gold creek golf club, GoldCreekGolfClub, golf club of california, GolfClubOfCalifornia, san diego, SanDiego, sea island, SeaIsland

Isleworth Estate, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

The community of Isleworth in Florida is a country club community offering the toughest and longest golf course in Florida as voted by the Florida State Golf Association. The country club has a Mediterranean clubhouse with a 7,000 square foot grill area that includes an indoor basketball court, golf simulator and putting green, surrounded by plasma screen televisions. Tiger Woods has a home in Isleworth, which he may be keeping even though he bought a massive spread on Jupiter Island because the golf course is so challenging.

This water front five-bedroom home has 8,481 square feet of space that includes a butler's pantry, formal living and dining areas, a foyer with hand-painted ceilings, and a lakeside master suite with a two-story closet. The home was built in 2003 and also has a theater suite with a concession area. Exterior features include a pool with a heated spa, four-car garage and a boat dock. It is listed at $7 million. After the jump, views of the brown-on-brown interior.

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Tags: country club, estate of the day, florida, golf, isleworth, real estate, tiger woods

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