Channeling the Masters Spirit, Here Are ‘Season’s First Major’-Inspired Items

From shirts to shoes and bags to books, Masters fever is in high gear.

Lila Shokr/Sports Illustrated

The excitement of the year’s first major expands to every corner of the golf gear, apparel and accessory world. While only ticket-holding Masters patrons can visit the on-course gift shops for prized official merch, many brands put a “season’s first major” spin on items that anyone can buy.

Splashed with green, yellow and/or familiar seasonal patterns like azaleas and peaches, here are a few items that caught our eye now that we’re in glorious April. There’s even some light reading to help pass the time until the that first shot on April 9.

Season’s First Major

1. Apparel
2. Footwear
3. Gear
4. For the bookshelf 

Apparel

Johnnie-O

Courtesy of Johnnie-O

The new ”Azalea Collection” from Johnnie-O is nearly three times the size of last year’s, with men’s and women’s apparel and accessories. Printed polos from the men’s collection are favorites, with pimento cheese sandwiches and, of course, azaleas among the offerings.

TravisMathew

Courtesy of TravisMathew

In conjunction with PGA Tour champion and Masters competitor Akshay Bhatia, TravisMathew’s “Our Favorite Time of Year Collection” includes polos, outerwear, tees, pants, hats and more. Select styles include the phrase “Louder Please,” words that you probably wouldn’t hear at the season’s first major but TravisMathew says speaks to the confidence of the collection.

Good Good

Courtesy Good Good

The media company that began on YouTube has become a popular apparel brand, just count the number of Good hats in the galleries at any tournaments. The “Sunday Green Collection” offers plenty of hats and apparel for men and women, all priced under $100.

Lululemon

Courtesy of lululemon

Athleisure brand lululemon is getting into the spring spirit with its logo sport polo in an azalea floral print, which Min Woo Lee will wear during the Masters. Coming April 6 to lululemon.com.

Footwear

Skechers

Courtesy of Skechers

Skechers’s slip-in and waterproof Blade Tour SI and Prestige SL golf shoes have new, appropriate colorways for the season, and if you watch Masters broadcasts closely you can see Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Greyserman in the Blade Tour SIs (pictured).

Reebok

Courtesy of Reebok

Another timely colorway arrived for the Reebok Nano golf shoe, the “Azalea” with vivid pink hues and floral touches. Bryson DeChambeau will be wearing them in the Masters, and golfers can buy them on April 6 at reebok.com.

Gear

Vessel

Courtesy of Vessel

The limited-edition “Season Opener Collection” has some of Vessel’s best golf bags—including the Prime 2.0 Staff, Player V Pro and Lux Stand (pictured), plus the PrimeX 2.0 Backpack—finished in a seasonal signature green with refined gold accents and the company's unique crosshatch texture.

SuperStroke

Courtesy of SuperStroke

Peaches and azaleas are the themes of the season and SuperStroke puts them together in a limited-edition putter grip, available in Tour 2.0, Pistol Tour and Pistol 2.0 sizes from its Zenergy grip line and dropping April 6 at SuperStrokeUSA.com. 

Stitch

Courtesy of Stitch

Stitch Golf’s “Azalea Collection” includes its popular bags, a polo and our favorite “Spring Tradition Dancing Headcover,” which includes several icons from the Masters including its famous food. Two peach ice cream sandwiches? Yes, please.

For the bookshelf 

All Carry

Courtesy of Crown

Props to the designers at Crown for a book cover that looks like it would have come out of the Masters merch shop, especially with the familiar font of the title. And Gene Wojciechowski’s fictional tale appropriately reaches its climax at Augusta National, with a laid-off golf reporter trying to do the impossible with a magical set of old clubs intended for Jack Nicklaus.

“Rory: The Heartache and Triumph of Golf’s Most Human Superstar”

Courtesy of Simon and Schuster

Former SI senior writer Alan Shipnuck already had a Rory McIlroy bio in the works when the Northern Irishman completed his Grand Slam. “The Masters victory animated the whole project and gave it an unforgettable crescendo,” the author told SI. The win also moved Shipnuck’s deadline way up, so the book can be bought before McIlroy begins his title defense. 

Tiger v. Jack: Golf’s Great Debate

Courtesy of St. Martin's Press

The Masters is a flashpoint in the GOAT debate—Jack Nicklaus won six green jackets and Tiger won five, but Tiger won at age 21, in a then-record 18 under. Then again, Jack won from out of nowhere at 46 and … you get the idea of the challenge that SI senior writer Bob Harig takes on in trying to determine the all-time best. So what is the answer? Pre-order the book and find out soon.