Ducks and other birdies

A Ducks Unlimited vanity license plate or decal on an SUV’s back window in a Cape Region golf course parking lot is a common sight.

Folks around here are known for their love of the outdoors, especially if there’s something more to the experience than just walking around.

It makes perfect sense, therefore, for a clothing company called Duck Head to also have a presence among local golfers, hunters and the folks who enjoy both sports.

At the 2026 PGA Show, I had a pleasant chat about Duck Head apparel with Cory Crelan, a former club pro who works for the clothing company. We discussed the brand, known for more than 160 years as an originator of canvas-based clothing for harsh environments such as your friendly neighborhood national wildlife refuge.

The founders took Civil War-era duck cloth and converted it into overalls and denim jackets. In the late 1970s, the company found success with marketing cotton khaki as a relaxed form of dress pants, especially among southern university fraternity bros and other preppy-oriented college students. 

The brand’s iconic duck logo had a significant following for several years – until it didn’t, which is what happens to fashion styles.

After serial ownership changes, the brand was eventually acquired by Oxford Industries, owners of other familiar brands such as Southern Tide and Tommy Bahama. 

Duck Head returned to the PGA Show a year or so ago. Crelan says the logo and its golf lines are enjoying a resurgence in popularity.

“It’s a super-easy brand to root for,” he said, recognizing its appeal among what he called the social sportsmen demographic.

Duck Head sells lots of khaki in shorts and pants, all with the yellow tag with the duck head image. The shirt options include performance fabric and cotton pique designs. There are merino wool long-sleeved sweater polos for chillier days.

Prices are in a comfortable range for its target market. Shirts retail for $98, shorts at $88 and pants around $118. The sweaters, which feel great to the touch, carry a $138 price tag.

The company sells at its online store, at men’s specialty stores and in a growing number of green grass shops.

SuperStroke

SuperStroke is known for its colorful and large-size putter grips, in part because professional tour golfers win many tournaments with them. 

In May 2024, the Michigan-based company acquired Lamkin, a family-owned grip company in existence for over a century. The purchase included Lamkin’s intellectual property, and proprietary designs and materials, giving SuperStroke an opportunity to use those resources for new products.

At Demo Day for the 2026 PGA Show, I met SuperStroke Marketing Manager Kelly Hurst, who showed me some of the resulting grips to come from the Lamkin deal.

“We’re sunsetting the original Lamkin lines. If you see them in a pro shop or elsewhere, they’re just using up the old inventory,” she said.

Genesis is the name of a Lamkin-derived rubber compound which is featured in three new full-swing grips called REVL. 

The Element ($9.99) blends a tacky cord material on the top half of the grip with the Genesis material on the bottom half, which gives a softer feel. An X-shaped slit pattern, called Ultra-Tac, is intended to provide increased surface contact and stability. It is considered an all-weather design to better handle wet conditions. The grips come in grey/blue and black/grey.

The Comfort line ($8.99) uses a wrap format and is all Genesis material. Hurst pointed out that this design also includes a larger diameter for its “bottom 40%. It’s the equivalent of four wraps of tape under a normal grip,” she said. “People are tinkering with grip dimensions. The trend is to go with larger grips.” The grip comes in either black or white.

The Player line ($7.99) uses all Genesis material and more of the Ultra-Tac pattern than the other two models. It is intended to be more durable, with three color options – white/black, grey/blue and black/grey.

Hurst said the REVL line will eventually offer a full range of grip sizes, from undersized for juniors up through jumbo. The company will assess golfers’ response to the standard and midsize versions now entering the market.

The grips are available online at the SuperStroke website and at the pro shops that carry them.

The company’s new putter grips include models designed to fit zero or low-torque putters which encourage a forward press, such as the LAB types. The new line debuted Feb. 10.

In essence, the shaft space within the grip is set at an angle, instead of being centered. When the player grips the club with a neutral stance, the putter is thus pre-set to the desired forward press. 

Creating the desired angle with this construction detail reduces the guesswork in figuring out how much forward press the golfer must create when preparing to putt.

This also means that when deciding which of the new grips to buy, the choice includes right- or left-handed versions. I believe that is a first in this industry.