Golfers Gift Guide

As Bryson DeChambeau went about launching his colossal drives and wielding his feathery short-game touch around Pinehurst No. 2 to win the 2024 U.S. Open, many spectators and television viewers noted the logo on the back of his shirt — a round circle with an orange “S” in the center. DeChambeau had developed a friendship with the partners of Stitch Golf, a Morrisville-based purveyor of quality golf apparel, bags and accessories and, in exchange for some product, wore the company logo on his shirt. Those “Major Polos” that DeChambeau wore at Pinehurst are available from Stitch, including the Victory Stripe he adorned in the final round.

Another U.S. Open champion at Pinehurst is celebrated as well in the Golf Shop at Pinehurst Resort — Payne Stewart and his victory in 1999. The 2024 Open marked the 25-year anniversary of Stewart’s 20-foot putt to win the title over Phil Mickelson — certainly one of the most famous moments in all of championship golf history. Pinehurst produced a limited run of headcovers from Swag Golf with Stewart’s image, paying tribute to the win that preceded Stewart’s death in an airplane crash by three months. The headcover is made of cream-colored leather with images in the blue and red colors Stewart wore on the final day of the championship.

Bob Hansen and Mike Daniels opened The Old Golf Shop in the Village of Pinehurst in 2014. The two have nearly a century of combined passion and experience in the world of golf antiques, artwork, vintage clubs and collectibles. One niche that works well for the holidays is Hansen having made a limited number of reproductions from his vast personal collection of paintings and offering them at a fraction of the cost of the original — a watercolor of the ninth tee at Hoylake, Old Tom Morris in front of his golf shop at St. Andrews, golfers enjoying the game on a rudimentary course beneath Edinburgh Castle. “I love helping people enjoy the game,” Hansen says. “Nothing beats artwork for the holidays. You open that package and see an image — a painting you thought you could never own.”

Robert’s Golf Shop in Aberdeen is one of the last of the throwback golf shops built around offering not only new merchandise but specializing in used clubs and a consignment program. The online sale of golf clubs exploded in the 2000s, but as Robert Barrett, the shop owner since 1980, likes to say, “People still like to hold clubs, feel them, hit them, make sure they’re not counterfeit. They can still do that here.” On any given day, Robert’s is likely to have a set of quality clubs from manufacturers like Ping, Callaway, TaylorMade and Titleist as well as bins full of drivers, fairway woods and hybrids.

Following the “pre-owned” theme are the riches of golf books available at the Given Tufts Bookshop in the Village of Pinehurst. Located in the building that once housed the Pinehurst Post Office, the shop features thousands of books across every spectrum donated by the community as well as a coffee and bake shop called The Roast Office. There’s no telling what you might find: coffee-table books such as artist LeRoy Neiman’s famous golf paintings in Big Time Golf or Mike Klemme’s photography in Grand Slam Golf; instruction buffs you might stumble upon pearls like Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book or Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible. And more often than not, one of the great short-story tellers in golf, P.G. Wodehouse, will be presented with a copy of his Golf Omnibus or Golf Without Tears.

Golf Pride was founded in 1949 in Cleveland when an industrialist named Thomas Fawick thought that rubber would be a better material for golf grips than the leather used on clubs dating back to the 1800s. Today the company is the top golf grip manufacturer in the world and in 2022 opened its Global Innovation Center and Retail Lab just inside the entrance to Pinehurst No. 8 golf course. “Grips matter,” the company likes to say, which is why it offers a variety of textures and technologies to ensure the connection between a golfer’s hands and the club are as strong as possible — and one of the most interesting ideas the Reverse Taper Putter Grip.

The Sandhills has become a mecca not only for golf but the production of spirits. A fifth of bourbon or six-pack of ale will look great under the Christmas tree of the golfer on your shopping list. For the former you can visit BHAWK American Whiskey for a bottle of Sergeant’s Valor Christmas Blend, a two-barrel small-batch release with a Christmas aroma of cinnamon, baking spice and light heat. And for the latter how about visiting Southern Pines Brewing Company for Duck Hook blonde ale, a brew that combines malty sweetness with crisp Czech hops.