Golf has never felt like this before.
Forget the country club clichès. At The Ranch at Laguna Beach, I walked into a world reimagined by women: golfers, creators, pros and designers carving out the version of golf I’ve been dying to see.
I’ll call it like it is. “Brand trips”? Usually glossy events, staged smiles, a rack of product and a handshake with a hope and a prayer you say something fabulous about their newest, most innovative, groundbreaking, undeniably earth-shattering product yet. Color me skeptical but that was what I expected boarding the plane to California.
What I found was something much different.
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Let’s be real.
Women’s golf apparel hasn’t exactly had an outstanding track record. For decades, “options” meant polos cut like your brother’s, skorts designed more for dress code compliance than performance, and pastel dresses that looked like lazy copy-and-paste versions lifted from a tennis pro shop.
Ask any woman who’s played the game long enough and she’ll tell you horror stories about trying to find something “appropriate” for the course that didn’t make her feel like she raided her great-aunt Martha’s closet.
Fashion-forward? Not even close. Performance-minded? Try again.
However, it feels like the tide is shifting. Brands are starting to catch on that women are up to “you know where” with thoughtless products that ultimately don’t lead to better scores or give us that green-to-clubhouse confidence we’re looking for.
Leading that tide? adidas.
The “Three Stripes Retreat” at The Ranch wasn’t just a brand trip. It was a collaboration of athletes, designers, creators and voices that usually don’t share the same table. It was a chance to test product, sure, but more importantly to pressure-test the idea that women in golf deserve gear that, for once, doesn’t feel like an afterthought.
And if you think that doesn’t affect you? Buckle up.
Fit check
The retreat started with an exercise that broke every expectation I had. No awkward icebreakers, no staged photo ops.
Instead, adidas split us into teams and threw us into what felt like a design research project disguised as a game. Each group was handed a blank mannequin, racks of brand-new Ultimate365 apparel, shoes, socks and, yes, bucket hats. The prompt? Dress your girl for a real-world scenario. Nine holes followed by your best friend’s toddler’s birthday party? There’s an outfit for that. Brunch after a couples’ round? There’s an outfit for that.
Ten minutes. Head to toe. Go!
Before I lose you, this wasn’t just for fun. It was revealing. You saw right away just how versatile their lineup was. Skorts weren’t boxed into “country club only.” Joggers weren’t just thrown into the “athleisure” category. Pleats are most definitely making a comeback (in doses) and one look quickly transformed into two others with the swap of a hat or a sweater over the shoulders.
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The next day, we took to the course. The Ranch’s nine-hole track takes you through the ebbs and flows of some of Laguna’s steepest caverns with energizing salt air wafting from just across the street. The course is home to a group called the Barefoot League, and they mean that literally. It’s golf in a surf town, no doubt. Laid-back, sun-washed and never too serious. We rolled out in our new gear, sank more putts than we expected and (not to be corny) built friendships that don’t usually last much past the handshake on 18.
They’re onto something
Here’s the thing: The Ultimate365 lineup didn’t just look good on the racks. It felt like it was designed by people who had finally listened to all of us who have been calling the women’s golf apparel help line for years.
Let’s give you a quick overview.
- Ultimate365 Gingham Skort: Lightweight, moisture-wicking fabric with four-way stretch that moved without clinging. The gingham print was trend-forward without pushing the “traditional club” envelope. Sporty without being too skimpy.
- Ultimate365 Joggers: I’ve been waiting for someone to get this right. I wasn’t expecting much with a poly blend but these are breathable with a waistband that actually stays put. Tapered but roomy enough without feeling sloppy. They’re not adapted from the men’s line. They’re built for women.
- Go-To Pleated Shorts: Clean pleats. Mid-rise. Modern fit. These tackled that “oversized” look without swallowing your silhouette. Just a sharp pair of shorts that gave you structure without restriction.
- Go-To Layer Sweatshirt: Feather-light. Need I say more? Layer it and forget it. Until someone asks you where it’s from.
- MC Zoysia Shoes: Spikeless outsole with grip like no other. adidas’s lineups have long been my Bible for golf shoes. A spikeless outsole and an upper made from recycled microfiber give it a premium look and feel. Wingtip feel without the bloody heels. My No. 1 in rotation.
- Retrocross 25s: My surprise MVP. The true crossover shoe. Sneaker looks, solid performance (just maybe not in the rain). From the course to downtown. Easy.
Down to business
The real weight of the Three Stripes Retreat came in the conversation. adidas didn’t just parade their developers out to talk about the latest and greatest. They opened the floor and let us, the women wearing the product, give live feedback, ask questions and get to know the product deeper than just a catalog run-through.
“We used to put women in knee-length skirts because that’s what the industry did. But women wanted sporty. They wanted feminine. They wanted to feel strong and still look good. So we pushed. Hems, silhouettes, options.” Jennie Ko (Design Director | adidas Golf)
That word, “options”, kept surfacing. Not in a marketing-deck way but in a real “we’ve been waiting for this” way. Because the truth is that golf hasn’t always been a place of options for us. Too long, too boxy, too cookie-cutter.
Now? Skorts that don’t ride up after the first hole, joggers than don’t squeeze you in the wrong places and do in the right ones, and shoes that don’t put you in a box of traditional versus modern or comfort versus performance.
“We’re not building leisurewear. These are athletes. You are athletes. You need performance, but that takes confidence. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do here.”
Two-time LPGA winner Rhose Zhang didn’t mince her words, either.
“Confidence is everything. I don’t want frill for the sake of being a girl. I want sporty that feels like me. I was a tomboy when I first starting playing, simply because there was no other option. I want clothes that are simple, but strong. No one had signed with adidas yet, and this was my opportunity to finally get what I needed and wanted for so long. When I look good, I play better.”
That last line stuck: When I look good, I play better.
This wasn’t just an apparel showcase. This was women in golf being asked exactly what they needed and adidas was serving it up on a silver platter.
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The new bar
Heading back to the airport, what stuck with me wasn’t just the impact of finding clothes that actually fit. It wasn’t a shoe that worked on an otherwise “barefoot” track. It was the sense that women in golf finally have a seat at the table. Not as an afterthought, not as a siloed “pink it and shrink it” category, but as athletes, designers, creators and leaders driving product from the inside out.
adidas isn’t perfect. No brand is. But in this very moment, they’re listening. Listening and acting. They’re shortening hems because we asked for it. They’re designing clothes that can live a double life because we needed them. They’re willing to say that golf has been too conservative, to a fault. They’re willing to prove you can keep tradition without staying stagnate.
The Three Stripes Retreat wasn’t just about clothes. It was about connection. Shoulder to shoulder with Hope Barnett, Cailyn Henderson, Sara Winter, Carlee Shoemaker, Amaya Athill, Tania Tare and Rose Zhang, it hit me: this is what growing the game looks like. Women who don’t all dress the same, don’t play the same, but who share a common thread.
Demanding better and knowing the game deserves it.
That’s exactly why this story lives on MyGolfSpy. Because when the industry takes women seriously, when they start designing with integrity and intent, it’s not just a win for adidas.
It’s a win for the game.
Special thanks to Taylor Tiner and Karli McGillis for putting together every detail on this trip.
No crumbs left behind.
The post The Change In Golf No One Saw Coming appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
