CADDY CHIC
AS THE PGA TOURNEY RETURNS TO AUSTIN, THE CO-FOUNDERS OF CRIQUET SHIRTS ARE IN THEIR ELEMENT.
While most golf apparel is designed for the links, Austin-based Criquet Shirts is made for the clubhouse. “A lot of our guys don’t even wear our golf shirts on the course,” explains Billy Nachman, who co-founded the brand of vintage-style polo and golf shirts with lifelong pal Hobson Brown six years ago. “It’s more about the 19th Hole as opposed to being a performance golf brand.”
The 19th Hole is golf parlance for “the bar,” but for Criquet, it’s an ethos. “It could be a swimming hole,” explains Brown. “It’s wherever you’re most at ease, having fun with friends.” And thus the spirit behind their annual 19th Hole Party fundraiser, which coincides with the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play as it returns to Austin (March 22–26; pgatour.com).
The cause: Saving the Lions Municipal Golf Course (savemuny.com) from development. “It’s an important green space, which is something Austin is losing at a rapid rate,” says Brown. The history: “Lions was the first integrated municipal golf course in the South,” says Nachman. Legends Ben Crenshaw and Harvey Penick learned to swing a club here.
The party: Music from Ramsay Midwood and
Kevin Russell, a silent auction, and of course, plenty of cocktails. The 19th Hole Party is on March 25, 6–10 PM at the American Legion, 404 Atlanta St.; criquetshirts.com