KAKO | WOKE GOLF — A JOURNEY INSIDE “THE RINGER” FOR GOLF DIGEST

February 19, 2021    Kako

Amazing new series by #lcmartist KAKO for Golf Digest on hipster golfers – yup you heard me correctly! The article is called “A Journey Inside The Ringer: I infiltrated one of golf’s hippest gatherings.” Anyone ever heard of the “The Ringer” — if your are up for some woke golf, here goes…as Derek Duncan wrote about in his article, “The Ringer” is a multi-day golf bacchanal of exceedingly hip and tuned-in players, something like Coachella for golf fundamentalists. Participants came with custom-made, single-strap MacKenzie or Jones golf bags and hit balls with hickory clubs or vintage persimmon drivers. Further recon indicated a subculture of hyper-aware millennials trading in a visual currency, namely Instagram postings of themselves, their travels and their gear: club hats, logoed headcovers, forged blades and golf bags, always golf bags, leaning against iconography such as a ragged bunker edge, signage of a desirable course, a split-rail fence or resting on trestle sticks. (Trestle sticks are wood poles attached at the center to form an “X” brace for propping up a MacKenzie bag.)

“In early January, shortly after the magazine landed with my story, “My journey into the Ringer,” PGA Tour player Zac Blair texted me to convey confusion and, with some reading between the lines, displeasure with the story.

The feature was an exploration of a (mostly) young, (mostly) male subculture of avid golfers who possess a common love for boutique expressions of golf, from travel excursions (including commonly shared beliefs about good vs. bad golf courses and where to play) to equipment and paraphernalia (custom golf bags, leather and embroidered head covers, hickory or persimmon golf clubs, etc.). Perhaps more importantly, they share a common belief in Zac Blair.”
An enormous thanks to one of our favorite A/D’s David Schlow for commissioning Kako for such a fun piece – forever grateful for your support – you’re such a rockstar!