Golf Fashion at the Blustery British Open

As we swelter here in New England, wearing as little as possible on the links, the gentlemen over at Royal Birkdale are treating us to a fall fashion show, thanks to the wind, rain and chilly temperatures.

Like the winter runway shows that take place in early spring, or the back to school styles beginning to flood our malls, the wintery wardrobes on display over in Lancashire look ... quite refreshing. Isn't it amazing how quickly we tire of the very pastels and sunny brights that seem so seductive in March?

Of course we're all glued to the leaderboards... and following the live coverage... so we know about Gregg Norman's continuing comeback, Camillo Villegas's eight birdie round and Sergio Garcia's monster putt on number 4. Rocco Mediate is right up there too, making a lot of golf fans happy. But we're talking about fashion here. What are the latest looks... and which guys are making the style statements?

The Looks

Awesome Argyles - I know... there are some out there who hate Argyle, and I'll admit argyle abuse can be problematic, but the diagonal diamonds appearing at Royal Birkdale are awesome. Camillo added a dash down the left side of his sweater, Prayad Markaseng and Scott Verplank went classic and Singapore's Lam Chih-Bing wore unique his argyle across his arms.






















Black on Black - Black is the color of authority. It makes anyone look edgier...and thinner. It can also be somewhat overpowering and make the wearer seem aloof and evil. I guess that's a pretty good way to look when you're contesting the British Open. Defending champion Padraig Harrington, two time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen and everyman golfer Rocco Mediate we three of many who wore this elegant look. John Daly did too, perhaps inspired by the thinness theory.












Cantaloupe is the New Pink - There are almost no pastels to be seen on the grounds of Royal Birkdale, but one did stand out. Pink's cousin cantaloupe was on the scene and looking quite stellar I might add. Notably, a certain female golfer known as the pink panther has been shifting towards melon tones lately. My favorite look of the tournament so far was the dreamy cantaloupe sweater worn by China's Wen-Chong Liang and of course one can always count on Johan Edfors to be on the cutting edge of a trend.








Beanies are Back - There are those players who'll never give up their visors and others who don't wear any kind of hat at all... ever. The woolen ski hat is not an easy look to pull off, but cool weather on the course always brings with it a band of brave beanie boys, as it did these last couple of days at the British Open. Jim Furyk Davis Love III, Justin Leonard and Adrian Dennis are four of those brave boys.






















Amazing Umbrellas - The rain and drizzle brought out some very impressive umbrella power and... I don't know what this says about me...but I love a fierce umbrella (ella, ella, eh, eh, eh - as Rihanna would add - but that's irrelevent here). Australian Andrew Tampion and Englishman Steve Webster take cover under some beautiful brellies.










I'm going to be updating my British Open Look Book throughout the weekend so check back here over the next couple of days, and (if I'm not playing golf myself on Sunday) I'll be live blogging The Open Championship final with other golf bloggers and fans on Twitter, follow me at Golf Girl.

All photos c/o Getty Images