Colorful, crazy designs growing on fans

The course gets funky when golf fan Luke Donnan struts around in his outrageous garb.

Donnan’s multicolored argyle shorts with a blue, Australian-theme sport coat turned heads at Augusta Na­tional Golf Club on Friday. His brightly colored shorts added flair that gave patrons one more reason to crack a smile at the Masters.

“Golf’s a stuffy game,” said Donnan, of Sydney. “I come out here, and it’s a conversation starter.”

Golf apparel with colorful, crazy designs has emerged as a growing fashion trend at tournaments, partly because of professional golfer John Daly’s endorsement of the Loudmouth Golf brand.

Loudmouth was created by golf fan Scott Woodworth, who tired of ubiquitous khaki pant golf uniforms. He wanted to bring back fun fashion statements from golf in the 1970s.

Chris Bowman, of Aus­tralia, sported Loudmouth clothes Friday, pairing a red shirt and shorts with a design that mimicked splashes of multicolored paint.

“I like a bit of color,” he said. “I got sick and tired of the boring, old black and blues. It makes me happy.”

His wife, Shelley Bowman, wore green capris with large green and yellow flowers. The Loudmouth-designed pants are named “Augusta Magic.”

Although Chris Bowman admitted he gets some flak when he wears Loudmouth gear in Australia, he said Masters patrons were complimentary of his outfit.

Brian Phillips, who wore Loudmouth paint-splashed pants with a sunny yellow shirt, said his clothes can be so blinding that he finds himself wearing sunglasses before he leaves the house. That’s not the only problem.

“Occasionally, you’ll get a giant bee or wasp that thinks you’re a bright flower,” said Phillips, of Phuket, Thailand.