Greg Norman has had a heck of a year, from getting married to contending in the British Open. Add that to what is surely the highlight of his year, meeting me. To make Greg’s year a complete home run, I’m doing a review on my first piece of Greg Norman apparel, the Play Dry ML50.
Play Dry
Staying cool and dry is important on the golf course. There’s nothing worse than being hot, sweaty and uncomfortable when you’re trying to drain a knee-knocker “dagger in the heart” three foot putt to win $2.00 from your golf buddies. Enter Play Dry.
Play Dry is a multi-layer fabric system which pulls away moisture from the skin and transports it to the outer layer. The moisture evaporates from the outer layer, leaving the happy wearer of the garment dry and free to make his winning putts.
Polyester isn’t just for grandpa anymore
The ML50 is made of 100% microfiber polyester. Yes, polyester used to be uncool, but now it is one of the hippest fabrics in golf. I’ve gotten to like my high quality polyester golf shirts so much I cringe when thinking about wearing 100% cotton anymore.
The microfiber polyester is super soft and smooth. It practically feels like silk but is about 4 billion times as durable. One other big advantage over cotton, is that this shirt doesn’t want to wrinkle. I pull it out of the dryer (low heat) and it looks like I just ironed it.
Finally, the microfiber polyester provides 50+ UV protection. This is one of the reasons I wore my ML50 yesterday in a 27 hole tournament which lasted all day. I was cool, dry and not sunburned.
Looks
Greg Norman’s apparel lines are well known for being the highest quality and sharpest looking in golf. The ML50 continues that tradition with super sharp lines, vibrant colors and a hip cut.
Inside the placard (where you button the three front buttons) there’s a cool M shaped stitching which you can only see if the top two buttons are undone. GN (short for “Greg Norman”… You have to read his book and you’ll realize Greg loves abbreviations) calls this M shaped stitching “tonal teeth.” Whatever you want to name it, it is a unique and cool aesthetic feature.
Vent
If you just missed that three-footer and you are a little hot under the collar, you’d be happy to have the ML50. There’s a variation in the stitching in the back of the collar. There are small ventilation holes so that the heat which rises up your back has a place to escape. Yesterday I was testing out that vent in a big way after missing two easy putts.
I tried my best to photograph the vent but it is very difficult to get a good shot of a backlit piece of fabric with ventilation holes in it. That being said, the blurry picture to the right should give you the vent concept.
On the course
I have no doubt that I’ve got the nicest looking golf shirt on the course when I’m wearing my Greg Norman Signature Series polo.
The ML50 is super silky and comfortable. I really love wearing it and I’m often asking my golf pals to pet my arm and see how soft and smooth the fabric is. They reluctantly oblige and confirm that not only am I a nut, I’m right.
From a convenience standpoint, this shirt is low to no maintenance. As I mentioned before, this shirt is highly wrinkle resistant. Even after a 7 hour day on the course yesterday and throwing the shirt in the laundry basket it still had no wrinkles.
Sizes and colors
The Signature Series ML50 polo is available in S M L XL and XXL. My XL fits nice and comfortably and hasn’t shrunk in several washings (the joy of polyester).
Colors for this two tone striped golf polo are “Chalk” (white & black), “Inverness” (green & black, pictured in this article), “Heron” (blue & black) and “Damson” (red & black).
Critiques
None.
Conclusion
There are a few requirements for me when evaluating apparel. I need hip and handsome looks, comfort, fit and durability. The Greg Norman Signature ML50 polo rates off the chart in all of those categories. The style, looks and comfort are a pure joy, on and off the course.
I should be reviewing more GN apparel items soon so stay tuned. I also need to work out reviewing some Greg Norman wines for the new lifestyle category. It’s a tough gig, but someone has to do it.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
