Walking into the LIV Golf merchandise store at JCB Golf and Country Club wearing a £50 Open Championship hoodie I purchased at Royal Portrush last week, it’s clear to see that I know a good bargain when I see one.
After scouring the merch store to see if incoming spectators were set to get bang for their buck, I came away aghast at some of the prices.
You might need to go the old fashioned Irish route and drive a JCB into an ATM. Unless a JCB machine keyring takes your fancy at £3, I’m afraid you’re going to have to splash the cash this week at LIV UK.
It’s golf but louder but they seem to be charging you per decibel.
The merch store offers everything, hoodies, jackets, jumpers, waterproofs, polos, caps, bucket hats and all the various golfing knick knacks like ball markers, mugs, bottles, flags, towels etc – and some of the branding is really cool.
It is clear that LIV are targeting a younger audience as you’ll find all the colours of the rainbow when you visit the merch store with bucket hats to beat the band.
One member of staff mistakenly asked me was I working at the JCB stand such was my apparent fascination with all of the toys on show in the front corner of the shop.
I mean, I can’t be the only one to have enjoyed flinging toy trucks and tractors across the playroom back in my heady days of youth, right?
Depending on how much you love your children you will be hard pushed to fork out £60 for a toy loader.
JCB/LIV Golf had their own collaborative merchandise with prices as high as £50 for a driver head cover, £35 for a golf cap and a staggering £100 for a branded hoodie or gilet.
Considering I was wearing a hoodie for half the price I gave that shelf a swerve.
That being said, the gear in the merch store is of great quality and the designs are eye catching, it’s just a little out of many people’s price range one would imagine.
Whether this was by design or not, the prices were left off the majority of the LIV team gear, maybe the staff get paid commission per person who loses their breath when the price is revealed.
However, the Legion XIII – Greyson Clothier gear – worn by Tom McKibbin and co – is the best in store, but they let slip the price at a whopping $168 for a black light fitting hoodie, which I am sure will tempt many given how slick it looks.
Even though a downpour of rain kept me inside longer than I would have wanted as if the LIV gods were saying ‘if you want sunshine you must pay’ I kept my wallet in my pocket.
As for the Fireballs GC team merchandise…. NEXT
Anthony Kim exists
Anthony Kim is in the field this week in the not so marquee group alongside Danny Lee and Frederik Kjettrup.
Back in the day this man was Rory McIlroy before Rory McIlroy came along. The iconic Nike branding, the SQ driver and the shiny belt buckle, if he had joined LIV under normal circumstances he would have been a sponsor’s dream.
Now he looks a shell of the man that set the record for most birdies at the Masters with eleven in the second round and took down Sergio Garcia in the 2008 Ryder Cup.
Given that he was wearing clothes as close to pyjamas as you can get and practicing in the bays reserved for the amateurs taking part in the Thursday pro-am, it took a double take to recognise him.
It does seem like he is close to Pat Perez. Perez lost his place on LIV but has rejoined the circuit as an on-course television reporter, but, he appears to have a good standing in the equipment market. He advised Joaquin Niemann to come to him for something otherwise whoever was initially going to carry out the job would “f**k it up.”
Does Dean Burmester have friends?
The Stingers GC man burst into the media centre looking for someone to talk to…
Dean Burmester: “Where are my crew? Stingers are nowhere to be found as usual.”
