Today's Highlights

• The Eyes Have It
• Fashionably Fit
• Appealing To Women

NEWS

Troon Golf approves Callaway's eyewear licensee

Callaway Golf Eyewear, a licensee of Callaway Golf, announces the approval by Troon Golf to be added as a merchandise supplier, effective immediately.

Etonic Announces New Logo Ball Marker System

Etonic Worldwide is offering a patented magnetic logo ball marker retention system as part of their custom G>SOK golf glove program.

ACCESSORIES

The Eyes Have It

By Janice Ferguson
GPA Fashion Correspondent

Certainly sometime during the summer you sauntered by the sunglass counter in a major department store, and observed a large slice of the female population trying on trendy oversized eyewear.

There you probably found Chanel, Gucci, Armani, Dior, Prada - mostly Chanel, though, priced at upwards of $250 or more per pair, with the famously recognizable double "C" logo on the rims.

But what does not come with those big, movie star lenses -- other than looking in vogue -- is the performance and fit we need to play golf and other sports. Until now.

Canadian-based Sundog Eyewear launched its new Paula Creamer collection of super functional and fashionable sunglasses at this weekend's Samsung World Championship in Palm Desert, Calif.

Here's how the Sundog/Creamer relationship got started:

Mike Boyles, vice president of sales and marketing at Sundog, and his team of fellow executives actually hit the road and talked to retailers who told them over and over how much women's golf is growing. They even observed more floor space in some shops being dedicated to women's golf apparel and accessories.

Sundog is a 23-year-old company and has product in 6,500 golf shops, so it is not new to this game of market share. And, Sundog is savvy enough to realize that with the right product, spokesperson and merchandising, it could fill a void in the sports eyewear industry, developing a specific line of sunglasses for women. Not unisex like most of its competitors, but something just for the girls that function as well in a sports environment as they do going out on the town.

Brilliant.

But the challenge was making lenses 100 percent distortion free is very difficult to do on the big, fashion frames. So, being the smart company it is, Sundog went looking for a solution and found it in a new technology called Toric, which has a bigger lens circumference -- a 10-base curve versus the normal 8 or 4.

Voila.

Then it became time to start putting the concept to the test.

"We wanted to add an iconic personality to the brand," Boyles said, "someone from the LPGA that would appeal to women in, and outside of, golf."

Creamer immediately came to mind, having made quite the fashion statement wearing her pink golf clothes and hair ribbons, looking very feminine on the golf course. She influenced the industry at the young age of 19 -- and by the way, she plays the game rather well, so it seemed like the perfect fit.

But, like many golfers, Creamer did not wear sunglasses while playing. Sundog had to convince her that she could, and needed to, protect her eyes with functional eyewear and still look fashionable.

Creamer wore prototypes on tour all summer and gave feedback to Sundog along the way. Tweaks were made here and there, and eight months later from concept to delivery, three styles of the Sundog Eyewear Paula Creamer Collection have made their debut.

Fierce is a sport wrap model, Mysterious is a one-piece rimless, and Kharisma is an aviator style. All come in six different colors, including pink for the Fierce.

The trio also features TR-90 ultra-flex frames. What's that? All you need to know about TR-90 is that it acts to maintain the shape of the frame and eliminate pressure points. Translation: You can move the glasses from your face to your head and the rims won't stretch out.

Sweet.

But wait, there's more. What about when you're on the green, bent over with your head down putting -- won't the big sunglass frames slide right off your face? Not with Sundog's addition of an adjustable nose bridge that also happens to be hypoallergenic. If they stay on Creamer's face during her fluid and powerful backswing, no worries, they'll definitely stay on ours.

All of this new technology blended with high fashion, and sporting the name of a professional LPGA player is starting to sound as expensive as a round at Pebble Beach. Not true.

In fact, Sundog's mission all along has been to garner and access all the features and benefits we find on high-end sports sunglasses, combined with ultra-chic, fashionable styling, and offer them at price points the average person can afford.

Drum roll please, and make sure you're sitting down. Suggested retail is $60-$70. Yes, we said retail.

If you're a merchandise buyer, and still sitting down, wait until you see the eye-catching display case that is included with your order. And, each pair of glasses comes with either a black/white or pink/white case that is so unique and feminine looking.

Sundog made sure to include all the bells and whistles with this little gift with purchase as well. Sundog conducted focus groups at member/guest golf events, and along with input from Creamer, created a mini, Louis Vuitton-inspired handbag to hold the sunglasses in the top pouch, and other essentials in the bottom zipped compartment.

Wow, they really listened.

For information and to see additional products for women and men, visit www.sundogeyewear.com.