For most company golf shirts, the safe choice is a pique shirt with the logo embroidered on the left chest. Go for dry-fit instead if the shirts will be worn in the heat, on a golf day or at sport, and add long sleeves if your team works outside through winter. After that it comes down to two things: getting everyone's size right before you order, and giving the logo a size and position that still looks right after a year of washing.
Pique or dry-fit: which fabric should you choose?
Pique is the textured knit most people picture when they hear "golf shirt". The small raised pattern, sometimes called birdseye, gives the shirt a bit of structure, so the collar and placket hold their shape and the shirt looks tidy at a desk or behind a counter. It is also the easiest base for embroidery, because the fabric is stable enough to take a dense stitch without puckering.
Dry-fit is a technical polyester, knitted in a pique pattern too but lighter and smoother. It pulls sweat away from the skin and dries quickly, which is what you want for golf days, school and club sport, and staff who work outdoors. Chest logos are still best embroidered on it. Keep that logo reasonably light, though, because a big solid block of stitching can drag on thin polyester in a way it won't on pique.
| Pique | Dry-fit | |
|---|---|---|
| Feel | Textured, structured | Light, smooth, quick to dry |
| Suits | Office, reception, sales and service staff | Golf days, sport, outdoor and warm work |
| Chest logo | Embroidery | Embroidery, keep the design light |
| Full-colour artwork | DTF print | DTF print |
| Colours we stock | 26 | 15 |
If you can't decide, think about where the shirt spends its working day. Eight hours in an air-conditioned office points to pique. A Saturday on a sports field points to dry-fit.
Do you need long sleeves?
Only if people work outside or in cold buildings through winter. Our long sleeve golf shirt keeps the same collar and three-button placket as the short sleeve version and adds ribbed cuffs, so a team wearing both still looks like one team.
The long sleeve range is smaller, though. It comes in black, white, navy and grey melange, so check your colour is on that list before you plan a year-round uniform around it.
Which colour works best for staff golf shirts?
Choose for the job first and the brand second. Navy and black hide marks and fading far better than light colours. White looks sharp on day one and shows every mark after that. Light grey melange can show sweat patches when it's hot, which matters more for a delivery driver than for someone at a front desk.
Then check the logo still stands out on the shirt. A navy logo on a navy shirt disappears. Most brands end up with two versions of the mark, a full-colour one for light shirts and a white or single-colour one for dark shirts, and it is worth sorting that out before the mock-up stage rather than during it.
One more thing if the shirts will be worn side by side. Dye can vary slightly between production batches, so where possible order the whole team in one run instead of topping up a few shirts at a time over months.
How do you get sizes right for a team?
Ask people. Guessing sizes for a team, or ordering "mostly mediums and larges", is one of the most common reasons branded shirts end up in a cupboard. Collect sizes in writing before you order (a shared spreadsheet is enough) and add a couple of spares in your most common sizes for new starters.
Check the size chart rather than going by the label, because sizing varies between styles. Our dry-fit golf shirt is cut a little narrower in the smaller sizes than our pique golf shirt: a small dry-fit measures about 50cm across the chest laid flat, against about 52cm for pique. If someone sits between two sizes in dry-fit, size up. For reference, the model in our pique photos is 1.84m and 84kg and wears a large.
Our adult golf shirts run from S to 3XL. For schools and clubs, the kids golf shirt goes from 2-3 years up to 14-15 years.
If fit or colour is still a question mark, buy a single blank shirt from the store first and try it on. That costs far less than a team order in the wrong size. There is no minimum on branded orders either, so you can also have one shirt branded as a sample before the whole team orders.
Where should the logo go on a golf shirt?
The left chest (the wearer's left) is the standard, and it's where people look. Most left chest logos look right at around 7 to 10cm wide. Go much bigger and it starts to look like a promotional print; go much smaller and fine detail disappears into the thread.
You don't need to measure the position yourself. We place the logo on a mock-up, centred between the placket and the side seam, and you approve it before anything is stitched.
Other placements are common on team and club shirts:
- A small second mark or a sponsor on the sleeve.
- Names, a website or event details printed across the back.
- A small logo on the back just below the collar.
Each placement is quoted separately, so decide what the shirt actually needs instead of filling every available space.
Should the logo be embroidered or printed?
For a staff chest logo, embroider it. Stitched logos hold up to years of washing and look right on a work shirt. Printing, which we do with DTF, is the better choice for full-colour artwork, gradients, photos and big back designs. Plenty of team shirts use both: an embroidered logo on the chest and a printed sponsor block on the back. Our embroidery vs DTF comparison covers the trade-offs in more depth.
Embroidery has a one-off setup cost per logo, called digitising. We keep the stitch file, so a reorder carries no setup at all, and if you ever want the file itself, ask and we will send it to you.
Watch out for very small text. Lettering under about 5mm tall tends to blur in thread, so tiny taglines and phone numbers usually need to come off the embroidered version of the logo, or move to a printed placement.
Can you brand golf shirts we already have?
Yes. If your company already has plain golf shirts, bring or courier them to us and we will embroider or print on those. Most companies buy the shirts and the branding together, though, because it means one supplier, one quote and shirts that arrive already sorted by size and branded.
What should you send to get a quote?
An accurate quote needs:
- Your logo, ideally as a vector file (.ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg). A large, sharp PNG works if that's all you have.
- The shirt style and colour, or a shortlist if you're still deciding.
- A rough headcount, and the size split if you have it.
- Where the logo goes, plus any extra placements.
You get a written quote back, usually the same day, along with a mock-up. Nothing goes into production until you have approved it, and once you have, the order is dispatched within 48 hours and delivered anywhere in South Africa. If you want a feel for the numbers first, what it costs to brand company clothing explains what drives the price.
Quick answers
Is a golf shirt the same as a polo shirt? Yes. It's the same garment. South Africans mostly say golf shirt or golfer, while polo shirt is more common elsewhere.
Is there a minimum order? No. You can order a single branded shirt, which is also the easiest way to check the logo size and colour before ordering for everyone.
How long does a team order take? We dispatch within 48 hours of you approving the mock-up.
Can we mix pique and dry-fit in one order? Yes. The same logo sometimes needs a small adjustment to its stitch file for the lighter fabric, and we will tell you if it does before you approve anything.
Can we add staff names? Yes, usually printed on the back or embroidered small on the chest under the logo. Each name placement is quoted along with the rest of the order.
Request a golf shirt quote, or browse all our golf shirts.