As with most things modern in golf, Arnold Palmer played a part in the evolution of golf headwear. His win at the 1954 U.S. Amateur wasn’t just the King’s first step to the throne; photographs from his quarterfinal win are among the earliest of an elite golfer wearing a ball cap.
Flip your lid a decade-plus later: Another King — Lou, senior vice president of marketing at Amana Refrigeration — is watching Julius Boros outduel Arnie to victory at the 1968 PGA Championship in Texas. History has it that at one point in the television broadcast, Boros pulled an Amana-branded promotional hat from his golf bag to protect against the blazing San Antonio sun.
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By: Evan Rothman
Was it a bucket hat, as some accounts suggest? Coulda been. A ball cap? Possibly. A visor? Existing pics of Boros at that PGA event point to a bucket hat — bearing a Lacoste logo. Well, print the legend, as they like to say.
In any event, tuning in that day Lou King had his light bulb moment and would forever play a starring role in the reign of logoed golf headwear. Quickly, he devised a plan to pay pros $50 a tourney to wear an Amana-logoed lid, correctly figuring that the marketing exposure was worth far more.
Billy Casper and Lee Trevino soon popularized the ball cap version, and the bucket hat now sits in the USGA Experience museum at Pinehurst.
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Of course, today hat sponsorships for top pros can run well into seven figures — with no apparent spending cap in sight.
The post Can’t find a hat without a logo? Blame a refrigerator salesman appeared first on Golf.
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