Men's Journal

Seven PGA-Tour rookies show off the classic spring staples every man should own.

Text By Josh Sens

Photographs By Michael Dwornik

Fashion By Patti O’Brien

Officially, they’re rookies, but the golfers featured here are more like battered pledges, survivors of a years-long hazing ritual whose reward is an opportunity to square off against the world’s best on the PGA Tour. Every year, more than a thousand aspirants attempt this rite of passage. Some grind their way through qualifying school, a four-stage tournament that drags on for three months. Others earn their stripes on the Nationwide Tour, the PGA’s farm system, playing no-name events in locales like Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Moscow, Pennsylvania, with no guarantees that their fortunes will change. Along the way, the pressure is intense and the paychecks often meager, if they come at all. Only the top 25 from Q-school and the top 25 of the Nationwide attain the holy grail: an Amex-size piece of plastic known as a PGA card. The seven men in these pages have made it to the promised land.

Their next challenge: proving they belong in the tee box with Tiger, Phil, and Vijay. Dressed here in new twists on traditional spring essentials, they’ll at least fit in at Augusta’s 19th hole.

Seersucker
Don a three-piece seersucker suit and you’ll look like you just came from a polo match, but wear the pieces separately and you can class up an otherwise simple outfit. Because the classic pattern functions like a neutral color, it pairs well with everything in your closet: jeans or khakis, polos or button-downs, sneakers or deck shoes.

Derek Lamely, left, wears a vest by Nautica, $475 (sold as a suit); shirt by Gant, $98; tie by Eagle Shirt Makers, $60; jeans by Citizens of Humanity, $154; watch by Citizen; shoes by Florsheim by Duckie Brown, $295. Teater, sitting, wears a jacket by Perry Ellis, $165; shirt by Gap, $40; jeans by Levi’s, $70; sunglasses by Salt Optics, $340; watch by DKNY, $175; shoes by Converse by John Varvatos, $110. Alex Prugh wears a jacket by Fred Perry x Raf Simons, price upon request; polo by Gap, $30; shorts by Bobby Jones, $98; watch by Nautica, $100; shoes by Sperry, $75.

Checks
They’re the new vertical stripes — less businessman, but still smart-looking. Pair a checked shirt with a knit tie and a jacket if you need to take the swankiness up a notch.

Adams, on the ground, wears a shirt by Polo Ralph Lauren, $145. Cameron Tringale wears a shirt by J. Crew, $60; pants by Tommy Hilfiger, $78; watch by Timex for J. Crew, $150; belt by Tallia, $65; shoes by Florsheim
by Duckie Brown, $295.

Navy
Call it the “spring black,” because this color goes with damn near everything. Mix it with white for a genteel look on-course and off, or assemble an all-navy outfit for sleek, night-on-the-town style.

Clockwise from top: Prugh wears a jacket by Joseph Abboud, $198; polo, $88, and jeans, $188, both by Marc by Marc Jacobs; shoes by Florsheim by Duckie Brown, $295. Matt Every wears a pullover by K-Swiss, $60; shirt by J. Crew, $70; pants by L.L. Bean Signature, $95; sneakers by K-Swiss, $70. Teater wears a shirt by Ralph Lauren Purple Label, $425; tie by Tommy Hilfiger, $58; jeans by J. Crew, $98; hat by Dockers, $20; watch by Timex for j. crew, $150; shoes by florsheim by duckie brown, $295. Jerod Turner wears a zip-front sweater by hickey freeman, $295; polo by L.L. Bean Signature, $35; pants by Gant, $125; sneakers by K-Swiss, $55. Adams wears a sweater by L.L. Bean Signature, $185; shirt by Nautica, $60; tie, $50, and pants, $128, both by J. Crew; watch by Fossil,$75; shoes by Frye, $198.

Khakis
There is but one rule when buying a pair: The fit should be slim and tailored. Cuffs — and socks — are optional.

Alex Prugh, 25
This past winter, Prugh took his girlfriend skiing, waited until sunset, then got down on one knee. “I had sweaty palms and serious jitters,” he says. “In golf, there’s always another round. But with what I was doing, you only get one chance to do it right.” She said yes, putting a charming end on a stellar 2009 that included Prugh’s first career tournament win (the Michael Hill New Zealand Open). Now the newly engaged Prugh worries about a different union: “Getting paired with Phil Mickelson would be daunting,” he says. “But I hear he’s a nice guy and can chat your ear off.”

Prugh wears a shirt, $40, and belt, $30, both by Gap; khaki pants by Gant, $125; hat by Banana Republic, $40; watch by Timex, $80; shoes by Florsheim by Duckie Brown, $395.

Blake Adams, 34
He drives a pickup, spends his off days in a deer stand, and lives in tiny Nunez, Georgia (population: 131), where no one cares that he finished third in prize money on the Nationwide Tour last year. “That’s how I like it,” Adams says. “I’m not one of those lookylooky- here types.” No surprise, then, that his list of PGA fears includes the first tee at Augusta, home of the Masters. Adams played a casual round there a few years ago, and his hands shook so badly he nearly dropped his driver. “I can only imagine what the actual tournament would be like,” he says.

Adams wears a sweater by Calvin Klein, $78.

Pastels
Don’t be scared of lilac, mint, lemon, and the rest of the pastel food group. It adds a muted pop of color to a pair of white pants.

Josh Teater, 30
“I’m just a mellow kid who mumbles a lot,” says the Kentuckian. “People say that my heart beats no more than twice a month.” Even when a win at the Utah Championship — his first ever — helped secure his Tour card, he still didn’t muster much excitement for the post-round press conference. “I don’t have a lot of clever answers,” he says. “I need to work on that.” But bring up the Kentucky Wildcats and the quiet Teater turns into Dick Vitale, minus the liver spots. “I could tell you anything you want to know about the basketball team.”

Teater wears a shirt, $98, and pants, $115, both by Gant; hat by Scala, $30.

Jerod Turner, 34
While toiling for years on the mini-tours of Texas, Turner worked as a general contractor. “Electrical, plumbing — I did it all.” Though his pay scale has improved (his jump in 2009 from 150th place to 17th on the Nationwide Tour money list was the largest in history), he’s still thrifty: To celebrate his maiden win last fall, Turner took his caddie to Jack in the Box. With the PGA Tour come both posher treatment and more pressure, but to him, the latter is a matter of perspective: “I don’t have to be the number one player. I just want to make a living.”

Turner wears sunglasses by banana republic, $68.

Cameron Tringale, 22
Growing up in Southern California, Tringale was a grade-school prankster and part-time surf bum. But he was such a natural at golf that he landed a full ride to golf powerhouse Georgia Tech. Four stellar college seasons earned him a spot in last year’s Walker Cup, which pits the best U.S. amateurs against counterparts from Ireland and the U.K. “Playing for your country — there’s no pressure I can think of that compares to that,” Tringale says. Impressive, considering he qualified for last year’s U.S. Open (but missed the cut after shooting a first round 70).

Tringale, right, wears a jacket by Marc by Marc Jacobs, $328; polo by L.L. Bean signature, $59; jeans by Gap, $55; sneakers by Tommy Hilfiger, $49.

Madras
Plaid shorts are more polished than your cargos. Top them off with a buttondown and head over to the neighbors’ barbecue.

Matt Every, 26
As a brash teenager, Every turned down a smallschool scholarship to walk on at bigger, badder University of Florida. The result: The swaggering no-name became a three-time All-American and the 2006 collegiate player of the year. Unlike the media-savvy automatons of the PGA Tour, he doesn’t keep his rage bottled up: “I’ve probably set records for clubthrowing.” Last year, Every scorched the field in the Nationwide Tour
Championship, then put the $180,000 payday toward two new toys: a Cadillac for himself and a Mercedes for his wife. “I got black rims for mine,” he says. “Not ghettolooking. Fresh.”

Derek Lamely, 29
Back in 2004, Lamely got his first taste of life on the PGA Tour when he qualified for the Western Open. The two things he remembers most: Tiger Woods and the omelet station. He crossed paths with the world’s best
player in the clubhouse. “He shot the breeze with a couple of guys next to me,” Lamely says, “but I was too awestruck to speak.” As for the omelets: “It’s not every day that someone custom makes your eggs.” Thanks to a stretch of sparkling play last year that included a win and five top 10s on the Nationwide Tour, Lamely
has a full season of made-to-order omelets in his future.

Prugh, left, wears a shirt by Van Heusen, $40; tie by Tommy Hilfiger, $60; shorts by DKNY, $95; belt by Tallia, $65; watch by Timex, $80; hat by Scala, $55. Adams wears a sweater by Brooks Brothers, $348; shirt by Nautica, $60; pants by Tommy Bahama, $98; watch by Fossil, $75; sneakers by Converse Jack Purcell, $50.

Associate fashion editor: Brynn Carhart.
Grooming by Kristan Serafino for L’oreal Professionals.
Production by Kevin Lenk.
All photographs taken at the PGA National Resort and Spa, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Special thanks to the PGATour.

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This article originally appeared in the March 2010 issue of Men’s Journal.