We are in the doggiest of the dog days of summer right now, which means depending on where you live, it either feels like a steam room or a sauna. Forget the pre-round warm up. Simply walking from the air conditioned confines of the clubhouse to the first tee is usually enough to work up a fairly good lather. Thankfully, Swedish label, Galvin Green, just dropped its Ventil8 Collection on the golf world that is designed to take on the three Hs — hazy, hot and humid.
The technical brilliance of the Ventil8 Collection lies in its unique high performance polyester fibers that are designed to quickly move moisture away from the body. While most technical polyester fibers possess a round profile, the profile of the Ventil8 fibers is a lot like my golf swing — irregular. While a swing with an irregular shape isn’t conducive to low scores, fibers with an irregular shape are quite conducive to moisture management. The irregular shape gives the Ventil8 fibers a larger surface area compared to round fibers. This allows moisture to spread out over a larger surface of the garment, which prevents it from feeling sticky in hot and humid conditions and gives it the ability to dry faster. In fact, Galvin Green says that a VENTIL8™ shirt transports moisture and excess heat away from the body twice as quickly as a conventional polyester golf shirt.
(Consider the science portion of this post over.)
After an introduction to Galvin Green’s renowned outerwear last year, I recently had the opportunity to experience the goodness that is the Ventil8 Collection with the Mason Polo and the Nate Trousers.
The Mason is a highly versatile and functional polo that can form the foundation of every serious golfer’s wardrobe. It is available in nine colors this season — everything from traditional black, white and navy to a vibrant green, purple, orange and blue. The solid colors bring balance to any outfit, especially when paired with bolder bottoms, like prints and plaids.
The contrast stitching on the Mason Polo not only creates clean lines and adds an interesting aesthetic, but it also highlights how designers at Galvin Green have moved seams and created panels to improve the playability of the shirt. The Mason has a shorter and narrower sleeve compared to many polos produced by American brands. Not only does the shorter and narrower sleeve create a very sleek and modern look, but it also improves range of motion. You can forget the dreaded sleeve tug when wearing the Mason, as the shoulder panel and the sleeve of the shirt sit perfectly on the body.
In addition to the Nate Polo, Galvin Green’s Ventil8 range includes four other shirts. The Maddox and Manning are two very athletic-looking polos with strong color blocking. The Marvin and the Maverick bring a fun and funky retro vibe to the collection with ‘80s-inspired geometric prints in vibrant eye-catching colors.
As great as the style and performance of the Mason Polo is, the Nate Pants are even better. In fact, they are among the finest technical trousers that I’ve worn on the course. Most of this is attributed to the 100% polyester stretch fabric that is exceptionally lightweight and effortlessly moves with the body.
Besides the obvious performance benefit of the fabric, the stretchiness actually contributes to the clean lines and contemporary fit of the Nate Pants. Thanks to this fabric, Galvin Green is able to provide a modern fit with a sleek taper through the lower leg. With the tapered leg, it is best to get the Nate Pants tailored with a short break so that the pant legs just brush the tops your shoes and don’t gather around your ankles
The Nate Pants are well appointed with subtle, yet stylish details. Case in point, Galvin Green has taken boring elements like rear pocket flaps and belt loops, and made them interesting with unique shapes and contrast stitching. The inner waistband features gripper tape to keep that Mason Polo tucked in when you are trying to reach that par five in two shots. The front and rear pockets offer great stretch and are constructed from a performance fabric to prevent them from sticking to the leg in hot conditions.
Rounding out the collection of Ventil8 bottoms is a range of pants and shorts. The Ned brings color to the equation with high octane reds, blues, greens and purples, while the Northam adds a colorful plaid to the collection. If you are looking to beat the heat even more, check out the Phil Short (a shorter version of the Ned Pants) and the Powell (a shorter version of the plaid Northam Pant).
From a sizing standpoint, I’d recommend sizing up on the polos, but ordering your normal size on the pants.
If you don’t fancy yourself an amateur meteorologist and you don’t know when to turn to Galvin Green’s Ventil8 Collection, don’t worry. There’s even an app for that. Galvin Green recently released its ‘Dress for the Weather’ app, which combines course-specific forecasts with advice on the best Galvin Green gear to wear for the playing conditions. As someone who lives in a climate where temperatures can rise by 20 to 30 degrees during a round of golf, I check the Galvin Green app frequently to get recommendations on layering. The ‘Dress for the Weather’ app is free and you can download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play.