Golfers are the worst people to shop for, and it’s not close.
Ask what they want and you’ll get a mumble about “a new driver shaft” or “honestly, nothing.” Buy them a gadget and it goes in the garage next to the alignment sticks they used twice. Buy them a dozen balls and you’ve spent $50 to tell them you don’t know their game.
Here’s the fix: buy them clothes. Not logo-heavy tournament merch actual clothes. The kind he wears to the office, to the holiday party, and to the course on a 48-degree Saturday morning. Apparel is the one golf-adjacent gift that gets used every week, and it’s the one category where you can’t really miss on size if you do ten minutes of homework.
That’s what this guide is. Perry Ellis has put together a holiday gift guide for men organized by the kind of guy you’re shopping for the outdoor guy, the office guy, the guy with four weddings in December — and it happens to map almost perfectly onto the golfers in your life. Below: the picks, why they work for golfers specifically, and the deadlines you can’t ignore.
The short version
| If he’s… | Buy him | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Always cold on the first tee | Tech Knit Mockneck Sweater | Layers under a quarter-zip without adding bulk |
| Plays through November | Lightweight Puffer Vest | Blocks wind, keeps the swing free |
| A range rat in winter | Beanie & Scarf Set | Packable, and it lives in the golf bag |
| Desk-to-clubhouse | Slim Fit Total Stretch Dress Shirt | Stretch and moisture-wicking, not stiff |
| The holiday-party guy | Louis Suit or a Tuxedo | One good suit beats a closet of almost-good ones |
| Genuinely impossible | E-gift card | Arrives instantly, fits perfectly |
1. Stocking stuffers that survive a golf bag
The site’s best-selling gift list is basically a list of things men destroy: reversible leather belts, slim wallets, Tech Knit sweaters and signature fragrance and the brand notes many of them come in under $50, which makes them the easiest win on your list.
The golf case for each:
- Reversible leather belt. Two colors, one gift, and it fixes the single most common golf-adjacent style crime: the brown belt with black shoes at a club dinner. It also takes a beating in a cart bag without looking like it.
- Slim wallet. Golfers sit in carts, walk 18 and jam a wallet in a back pocket for four hours. A slimmer wallet is a small, genuinely appreciated upgrade and it’s the kind of thing nobody buys himself.
- Fragrance. He spends the morning at the range and the evening at a holiday party. This bridges the gap.
If you’re building a $100-ish gift, pair a belt with a sweater and you’re done in two clicks.
2. For the golfer who doesn’t stop when the weather turns
This is the strongest section of the whole guide for our audience: cold-weather layering.
Perry Ellis’s picks are the Tech Knit Mockneck Sweater, the Lightweight Puffer Vest and a matching Beanie & Scarf Set described as soft, packable warmth built for someone who steps into the chill without checking the forecast. If you know a golfer, you know that guy.
Why this works on the course:
- The mockneck is the layering piece golf has been missing. It sits flat under a vest or jacket, doesn’t bunch at the collar like a hoodie, and reads as “put-together” in the clubhouse afterward.
- The puffer vest is the closest thing to a free swing. Sleeveless warmth means nothing pulling across the shoulders at the top of the backswing which is exactly why vests are standard issue on tour in cold months.
- The beanie and scarf set is for the practice green in December. Buy it for the guy who insists he’s “just going to hit a few putts.”
Fit note: size the vest to layer over a polo or sweater, not to wear over a t-shirt. If he’s between sizes and plans to wear it in winter, go up.
3. The shirt that goes from the 8 a.m. call to the 4 p.m. tee time
The Slim Fit Total Stretch Dress Shirt is the sleeper pick for the golfer with a job. Perry Ellis built it with moisture-wicking fabric and an expandable collar the two features that matter when your day starts with a video call and ends with nine holes.
Translation for golfers: it doesn’t feel like a dress shirt. It moves when you turn through the ball, and it doesn’t look like you came straight from the course when you didn’t. Pair it with dress pants and a tie, or keep it open-collar with jeans and call it the holiday dinner outfit.
This is also the safest gift on the list. If you know his collar size and his build, you’re done and Perry Ellis publishes a size guide for shirts, pants and suiting so you don’t have to guess.
4. For the guy with four holiday parties and a club championship dinner
December golf is mostly off-course: banquets, weddings, the awards dinner where someone reads out the net scores. That’s the Louis Suit or, if the invite says black tie, a Tuxedo finished with a pair of dress shoes.
The argument for giving tailoring instead of another gadget: he’ll wear it four times in six weeks, and every time he does, he’ll remember who gave it to him. No rangefinder does that.
Fit note: suiting is the one thing worth getting right on the first try. Check the size guide, and if he’s between two sizes, take the smaller one tailoring can let out a jacket, but a suit that’s too big never looks right.
5. For the one who says he doesn’t need anything
There’s always one. He has every training aid, he’s picky about shafts, and he returned the last three gifts you bought him.
Buy the e-gift card. It arrives instantly, it fits, and it lets him buy the exact colorway he’s been watching. It’s also the only gift on this list that works after the shipping cutoff which brings us to the part everybody gets wrong.
The deals and deadlines (the important part)
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Black Friday early access | 40–60% off sitewide, running through 11:59 p.m. PT on Nov. 12 — the widest discount window of the season, so this is the week to buy the big-ticket items |
| Extra clearance markdown | An extra 25% off clearance, applied automatically in cart (online only) |
| Free shipping | Perry Perks members get a lower free-shipping threshold on qualifying orders |
| Ground shipping cutoff | Order by Dec. 17 for guaranteed ground delivery in time for the holiday; expedited and overnight are available at checkout if you’re late |
| Returns | Orders placed Nov. 1 – Dec. 31 can be returned through Jan. 31. Exchanges are always free; final-sale items are exchange-only |
Two things worth saying out loud about that table:
- Buy during the early-access window, not the week before Christmas. The discount is deepest now, and the sizes you want on the mockneck and the vest will be the first to go. Sale terms exclude combining offers, so you’re not going to do better by waiting for a coupon.
- Dec. 17 is a real cutoff, not a suggestion. If you’re shopping on the 20th, you’re paying for expedited shipping or you’re buying a gift card. Plan backwards from the 17th, not from the 24th.
Always confirm the live offer terms at checkout holiday promos change, and the price you see marked is the price that applies.
Three questions we get every year
What if I don’t know his size? Go with the accessories first belt, wallet, fragrance, beanie and scarf set. All of those are effectively one-size. For anything fitted, use the site’s size guide and buy from a retailer with free exchanges (Perry Ellis does).
Is clothing really a good golf gift? It’s the best one, because it works in two places. A mockneck and a puffer vest get worn on the course in December and to dinner in January. Golf balls get lost; sweaters don’t.
What’s the single best pick on this list? The Tech Knit Mockneck Sweater. It’s the piece he’ll wear most often, it layers under everything he already owns, and it doesn’t look like golf apparel when he’s not at the course.
Shop the full Perry Ellis holiday gift guide →
Have a golfer who’s genuinely impossible to shop for? Tell us in the comments — we’ll try to solve it.