The SOCIETY Newsletter #80

The Other King of Golf

The Cap That Changed the Game: How the Amana Golf Hat Transformed Professional Golf Forever

In the late 1960s, the world of professional golf was still rooted in tradition. Players wore what they liked, television coverage was expanding but still modest, and corporate sponsorship was a novelty rather than the norm. But thanks to a former college quarterback named Lou King and a humble white hat bearing the Amana logo, that would all change—forever.

A Revolutionary Idea in a Traditional Game

Lou King, a marketing executive at Amana Refrigeration, wasn’t a golf insider. He took up the game at age 30 to entertain clients. But what he lacked in pedigree, he made up for with vision. In 1967, while planning the now-legendary Amana VIP Pro-Am in Iowa, King had an idea that would alter the landscape of golf sponsorship: pay professional golfers $50 per tournament to wear a hat with the Amana logo.

At the time, this was unheard of.

There were no multi-million-dollar endorsement deals. There were no logos on shirts, bags, belts, or hats. Golfers were individuals, not walking billboards. King’s Amana hat was the first significant branding move in professional golf attire.

The Resistance and the Breakthrough

The idea seemed too bold for the game’s old guard. Television director Frank Chirkinian of CBS Sports was reportedly so annoyed by the hats that he intentionally avoided showing close-ups of players wearing them. He didn’t want commercial logos cluttering up the purity of the broadcast.

But Lou King wouldn’t budge. He famously told players:

“If you’re going to take your hat off, why am I paying you?”

The players kept the hats on, the coverage inevitably followed, and the seed was planted.

Over the next few years, the Amana hat became a staple on tour—worn by dozens of professionals. Fans noticed. So did other brands.

The Ripple Effect

That simple Amana logo, perched atop a player’s head, did three things that changed golf—and sports marketing—forever:

1. Validated Athletes as Advertising Platforms. For the first time, athletes on the PGA Tour were paid not just for their performance, but for their visibility. The Amana hat was proof that brand exposure on a player’s gear could move the needle for a company’s recognition and sales.

2. Normalized Corporate Sponsorship in Golf

What began with $50 per event turned into the blueprint for modern sponsorship. Today, players earn hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars annually from apparel deals. Hats are now prime real estate, often the first place a sponsor logo appears.

3. Changed How Golfers Think About Their Brand. Players today carefully manage their image—what they wear, how they appear, who they endorse. That mindset began with the Amana cap. Golfers became more than athletes—they became marketable brands.

A Legacy Sewn Into Every Cap

Lou King never intended to revolutionize professional golf. He simply wanted to promote his company. But his instincts as a marketer—and his belief in the visibility of the game—ushered in a commercial era that has helped fuel the PGA Tour’s rise to global prominence.

Today, when you see players sporting logos from banks, apparel brands, watchmakers, and insurance companies on their caps, you’re witnessing the ripple effect of King’s pioneering move.

Every logoed hat on the PGA Tour carries a little piece of Amana’s legacy—and Lou King’s bold idea.

Final Thought

The Amana hat wasn’t just a piece of apparel. It was a catalyst.

It didn’t just sit on heads—it opened minds. It made room for Nike, Titleist, Rolex, and hundreds of others to enter the fold. It redefined how professional golfers made a living. And it all started with a white cap and a $50 check.

If there was ever a Mount Rushmore of golf marketing innovations, the Amana hat would be front and center—brim forward.

Listen to the latest episode of the TalkinGolf History Podcast to hear the story of how the Amana VIP Cap Changed the Game of Golf.

The Gutta Percha Ball from the 1899 Vardon-Park Match: A Symbol of Golf’s Changing Guard

In the annals of golf history, few objects carry the weight of symbolism quite like the gutta percha ball used in the 1899 match between Willie Park Jr. and Harry Vardon. More than just a relic of a bygone era, this ball represents a moment of profound transition—where the traditions of the past met the momentum of the modern game.

The match was born from a moment of regret. In the 1898 Open Championship at Prestwick, Willie Park Jr.—a two-time Open Champion and son of the first ever Open winner—missed a short putt that would have forced a playoff with Harry Vardon. The sting of that near miss compelled Park to issue a bold challenge: a 72 hole head-to-head match against Vardon, the reigning champion and emblem of golf’s future over North Berwick and Ganton.

Held in 1899, the match carried more than competitive pride. It was a duel between eras. Park, a master of the old game and an innovator in golf club technology and course design, was facing Vardon, the stylish shotmaker whose popularity was helping to propel golf into the 20th century. The ball they played—the gutta percha—was already nearing the end of its reign. Within a few years, the wound rubber Haskell ball would render it obsolete, just as Vardon’s methodical brilliance would outpace the artistry of many of his predecessors.

That single gutta percha ball, preserved from the match, tells a layered story. It speaks of Park’s final grasp at greatness, of Vardon’s ascendance, and of the technological shift that would change how golf was played. It is the physical echo of a match that marked the passing of the torch—from one generation of champions to the next.

Today, this humble sphere of hardened tree sap is more than a golf ball. It is an artifact of evolution, representing the moment when the game stood on the threshold of modernity.

For the record Vardon won 11&10.

This very ball was on the auction block by the Golf Auctuon this weekend.

Thank you again for taking the time to read our newsletter. It isn’t always the easiest producing a new story a week- soooo if you have ideas for stories i would love to hear them.