Golf has often tried to do the trendy thing, but let's be honest, it's never really worked.

The closest it has come to being cool is some unneccessarily slim-fitting (golfers tend to like a drink after all) Swedish-labelled trousers, some ironically bright-coloured check prints, or seeing Samuel L. Jackson playing in a Kangol hat. Hmm.

So when French taste makers A.P.C., in collaboration with rucksack gurus Eastpak, enter this tricky domain with their first golf bag - what they call "the world’s first chic yet affordable golf bag with the true needs of the golfer upheld" - it's at least enough to get the style-minded golfer's attention.

So is this the long-awaited palm tree in the golfing desert? At first look, it's of a type not unlike the kind of bag you might find in your Grandad's attic, just without the dust. 
 

Apparently based on a bag A.P.C. founder Jean Touitou’s father inherited from a Scottish banker back in the 50s the word retro is unavoidable, but in an era of shiny nylon, over-branded bags that make you resemble a wannabe tour pro, it's a refreshingly simple bag that takes a functional approach.

The front pocket turns into a rain cover, the telescopic stand makes an effective pivot, and the materials and size are aimed at being genuinely lightweight. 

And that's important. As A.P.C. rightly pontificate on golf bag etiquette: "You carry it, or you have a caddy. A gentleman shouldn’t use a trolley, nor golf cart - both are visually disturbing." 

A.P.C.'s first foray is anything but that. Now let's hope they take on golfing sweaters.

On sale later this month at www.apc.fr