That was in the late 1920s, when Pringle had its own concession in Selfridges, and well-heeled punters were measured for a cashmere sweater just as they were measured for suits on Savile Row. Pringle was an elite brand, and in those days golf was an elite sport. Once the Prince of Wales had asked them to design him some golfing knitwear, a flourishing relationship with golf was established.
Until 2000, that is. For this was when Hong Kong's Fang brothers bought the market leading Pringle of Scotland from the Dawson Group and decided to return the brand to its luxurious roots. They bucked the trend of how golf apparel was catering to a mass audience and closed down Pringle overnight. So began a five-year golfing hiatus for Pringle, the industry instantly robbed of one its most famous brands.
But now, after something of a false start, Pringle Golf is back. In 2005 they brought out a pricey, poorly marketed range of fashion-led garments that seemed to leave golf behind. Polo shirts retailed from £49 to £90. The trade was either unimpressed or unaware, and the range bombed. By 2007 the Fangs had admitted defeat and decided to license Pringle Golf.
Step forward Orange Brands, a new division of Blue Associates, designers of high-performance sportswear for blue-chip brands like Berghaus and North Face. Indeed, it was Blue Associates who were behind Pringle's spectacularly successful 1998 Faldo range. Managing and creative director Stuart Brooke could not wait to get his hands back on the Pringle brand.
"Our first collection was Autumn Winter 2008," starts Brooke. "It was relatively small, [but] we needed to understand the market and where Pringle was as a brand. That collection was general golf attire, more ‘golfy' and more commercial [than before], and the price points were more competitive."
A photo shoot at the Grove was moody and subtle and a million miles from the bold shapes and colours of yesteryear and Faldo.
"We wanted to paint the range as luxurious fashion lifestyle; that‘s why the models were not on the course," adds Brooke. "You could take Pringle away from the golf and still see it as a fashion brand. The brand was pitched somewhere between the likes of Hugo Boss or J Lindeberg and Ping; a slightly higher price point than Ping."
The new Autumn Winter 2009 range, which began selling into the trade in February, is a simple evolution from the comeback range. New styles have been introduced; the Fraser, for example, is a mercerised version of the basic polo, but the main change is an expansion of the colour palettes, and a greater stock holding to improve retail re-orders.
Whereas in 2008 lambs wool sweaters came in 6 colours, it's 21 for 2009. In essence, Autumn Winter 2009 caters for the now-familiar Pringle dichotomy of the older, traditional golfer as well as the younger fashion hunter.
"We have an older customer, say 55 and above, who has been buying Pringle for years, and pretty much wants the same jumper in the same size and colour every three years," says Brooke, "so our Golf collection offers core items such as lambs wool jumpers in Forest Green, Burgundy or Navy.
"But our Fashion collection is for the younger customer, say 20-35. He is aware of Pringle on the high street and wants the funkier stuff; he wants more detail, stronger colours, more luxurious fabrics. The price point is not such an issue as he is prepared to spend the money."
Overall, the collection makes a pretty good fist of being both exclusive and accessible. The standard Pique polos will retail at £29.99 while the high-end, high-fashion double mercerised patterned polos, Calder, Mack and Todd, go up to £69. Somewhere in-between are the £49 performance polos, which include wicking fibres like the eco-friendly Cocona and snug, flexible shirts featuring up to 7% Lycra.
As for the knitwear, again there are more colour options in Argyle, Merino, Geelong, and a very soft, luxurious lambs wool, this year with more of a fashion cut. The collection includes a Merino cardigan, while the plated V-neck Boyd features two colours - the inside being different from the outside - which is a feature pulled from the fashion collection.
The Fashion collection displays more than a hint of inspiration from the high-end catwalk designs of the Fangs' central Pringle of Scotland brand. "Pringle Golf needs to tie in with Pringle of Scotland," Brooke confirms. "I go to Pringle's head office in Sloane Street every two months to see where they are going. They have a massive design team, and I'll tap into the collections that will be shown on Milan catwalks. Their palettes, fabrics, print patterns; I take it all in and interpret it for a golfing market."
This shows up well in Autumn Winter 2009's mercerised Merino wool products, the yarns for which have been passed over flame for a silkier sheen. Other fashion touches include antique sliver embroidery, detailing around the neck and armholes and a fashion fit borrowed from Pringle of Scotland.
"This fashion story helps the sales team too," Brooke adds. "Selling garments inspired by the catwalks helps to sell something no other golf brand is doing."
Elsewhere, trousers have become more fashion-focused, while two popular waterproofs, the Angus and Alisdair, have been retained. Added to the outerwear stable are the Albert, a wind top with zip-off sleeves, and the Andrew - a lightweight, packable waterproof jacket which comes in a sack, and which was part of Blue Associates' Pringle range 12 years ago. Both retail at £69.
Things aren't quite so straightforward in the Ladies' Collection, which has seen colour options rise but styles condensed.
"It's been a tricky one," Brooke admits. "Not so many women play in winter, so the range isn't as big; but also we tend to find that the pro shops that stock ladies' attire are usually run by a male pro, who rarely knows how to dress women. He might know what his wife likes, but is often unsure what to buy.
"Also they tend to stock outfits, one colour in a size 12 and another in a 16 and so on, because they find that if a lady member buys a size 14 in pale blue, no one else will buy the same outfit in that colour. You end up only selling one of each hue. So you need colour options.
"Above all though, I'm not convinced ladies like buying clothes in the pro shop. It's the wrong environment."
Many pros might take issue with this point of view, but nonetheless, autumn pre-orders suggest the trade has been waiting for the re-emergence of a brand that has always provided a strong and reliable sell-though.
Autumn Winter 2009 represents Pringle Golf's most confident offering for more than a decade, while plans to expand into a third, more performance-based collection for Spring Summer 2010, are taking shape.
"I think the trade has seen now that Orange Brands is sticking with Pringle and investing heavily in the brand," says Brooke. "We've delivered twice, now. The service is good and the product is getting better."
