Dress Codes: Good or Bad for the Game?

[pjsnyc]

LOL, thanks for the response, I was starting to wonder if anyone had even see the question I put out there!

Heheh, farting also makes me feel relaxed

[running-8-iron]

I think dress code is good for the game.

I guess private courses can decide what rules they want to lay out for their members. Though I don't think it should be too extreme at the public courses. Definately no jeans, tank tops, swimming/sports shorts or t-shirts though. I don't think asking someone to wear a shirt with a collar, slacks or the approriate shorts is too much. I have played places where if you wear shorts you must wear knee-high socks. Also, at no point can your shirt be untucked. I think these last two rules are a bit harsh. At "pitch and putt" type courses I think anything should be allowed.

[Dub]

I used to feel way more strongly about this...believing that the dress code was vital.


I can say, though....I often find myself wearing comfortable cargo shorts and an untucked golf shirt....very casual. Just throw on a visor and head to the first tee.

I also enjoyed wearing blue jeans on a few walking rounds this winter....very comfortable.


I do get a laugh, though, at the guys you see wearing cut off shorts and muscle shirts....that's taking it to a real extreme.

There is a world of difference, in my opinion, between casual and trashy.

[Cussin hacker]

Haven't looked at many of the posts on this but, I,m a T'shirt and cargo shorts kind of guy when I can be. If there is a code I will adhear to that. It's a more casual world today and I think if it's kept respectful that's fine. It's all a matter of opinion though.

[2bGood]

Dress code all the way here. Tuck in the shirt, collar shirt(I even hate when the PGA guys wear mock turtle neck shirts) and regulation for the shirts and pants. There are some great technical golf wear out there that is everybit as comfortable as a t-shirt and cargo shorts.

[benzy2]

I don't see what a dress code helps. I don't play any more respectful wearing slacks and a tucked in polo or cargo shorts and a t-shirt. My clothing doesn't dictate my behavior. I have always been a jeans and a t-shirt kind of person. That's how we all grew up where I'm from. Some of us know how to be polite and respectful and others don't. I understand why prestigious clubs try to keep the image and enforce a dress code. Its why nicer clubs enforce a dress code. Still outside of course image it doesn't change anything.

If an idiot is playing like a fool it doesn't matter their attire, kick them out. If someone can play respectfully again it doesn't matter their attire, let them play. Society is changing. Image is changing. Fashion is changing. Sometimes rules need to change to fit the populous. I think this is a prime example.

With the economy sitting the way it is today its a bit harder to justify turning paying customers down because they have the wrong shirt on. Just be respectful and the rest is irrelevant.

[Fourputt]

I'll interject another issue into this discussion.... golf sandals. Yes or no? I have a pair of Footjoy golf sandals which I wear almost exclusively in the summer. I've yet to find a facility which doesn't allow them, but from some reading I've done, I guess that is not always the case.

Another silly restriction that some clubs place on their patrons.

[Danny Noonan]

I may have mentioned this once before, but even if I had, it is worthy of another comment.

Jean shorts. Don't wear them to to golf course.

Don't wear them, ever. If you still have a pair or pairs of jean shorts, there is a three letter "word" that comes to mind: lol.

- DN

[nownot]

I wear basketball shorts and t-shirt all the time to the golf course, it has nothing to do with my etiquette. I'm 25, kinda young compared to most golfers and always respond with "yes sir/ma'am", I let people play through when need be, hold the door open for people in the proshop when I'm entering or leaving etc..... I'm not saying this to get kudos but rather say that judging someone on what their wearing is pretty ignorant, hell if you go to my home town you'll see people wearing rags but are the nicest most thoughtful people you'll ever meet. What people wear while playing a recreational sport should be what their comfortable in, and most of important can afford. So I guess my vote is bad for the game because everyone should be able to wear what their comfortable in and shouldn't have to dress up to partake in a sport.

Looked for a thread on this and nothing hit on it exactly so here goes. What do you think, are dress codes good or bad for the game of golf.

[alomar123]

Dress codes are good but i will never wear pants unless it is cold

[captpat]

I wear basketball shorts and t-shirt all the time to the golf course, it has nothing to do with my etiquette. I'm 25, kinda young compared to most golfers and always respond with "yes sir/ma'am", I let people play through when need be, hold the door open for people in the proshop when I'm entering or leaving etc..... I'm not saying this to get kudos but rather say that judging someone on what their wearing is pretty ignorant, hell if you go to my home town you'll see people wearing rags but are the nicest most thoughtful people you'll ever meet. What people wear while playing a recreational sport should be what their comfortable in, and most of important can afford. So I guess my vote is bad for the game because everyone should be able to wear what their comfortable in and shouldn't have to dress up to partake in a sport.

My friend....with all due respect....you are a slob...a polite slob...but still.....

[Elsfan]

This is one heck of a thread and I really am at a loss for words. You have one kid who says its impossible for a guy to be good at golf if wearing jeans and another compares dressing for golf as getting dressed for a wedding. When I play golf I wear whatever I feel like. Sometimes looking better than others, but I don't care what some of the more elite golf community thinks of me. I am a better player then most I run into, including them, and my play earns me respect. Dockers will never be worn by me on or off the course. I have seriously bad foot problems, so I have to wear sneakers to the course. I think its funny that some of you would be pre-judging me without knowing my conditions. Overall playing golf is cool, caring about what men, I repeat men around you are wearing is well, weird. Would I wear jeans to a golf course, no, but I would not think any less of someone who did, unless their actions forced me to, not their clothing.

[wedge player]

My friend....with all due respect....you are a slob...a polite slob...but still.....

why because he doesnt get all dressed up for golf?judging books by covers are we?

[captpat]

why because he doesnt get all dressed up for golf?judging books by covers are we?

I'm not a book judger. But, in this day and age, I would enjoy going to a place and not be surrounded by rag pickers and gangsta wannabees. But that's just me (and maybe more)

[DriverTees]

Judging a book by it's cover is a stupid saying. Offcourse we do. If someone doesn't the time and money to dress neatly, the odds are there that they are not experienced, nice, good golfers.

Not saying that they all are. But generally good, polite players dress up at such. I for one love to dress up like a Chav, dirty the tops of my clubs and bet players on who'se going to win. I play nearly scratch on 9 holes, and because I look like a skank it's a great way for me to get the money.

[Mitch C]

Golf is golf. It is supposed to be a gentleman's game. Part of being a gentleman is dressing in a respectable manner. For golf, that merely requires a collared shirt and decent shorts or slacks. That it is.

You can buy a golf shirt made out of the the new lightweight material at Kohl's for 16$ that looks great. You can do the same with a pair of shorts. The shirt will cooler, more lightweight, and more comfortable than a T-shirt. The shorts will be much more comfortable than a pair of nut hugging Jorts or jeans. (As and aside, Jorts should never be worn anywhere.)

Often those in favor of respectable dress are called snobs, however, I perceive a "reverse snobbery" in many of those who refuse to dress properly. There really isn't any excuse for looking decent. Proper golf attire is cheap and much more comfortable than anything else someone could wear.

[Chas]

If a person is going to show up at a golf course looking like a punk (pants almost down to knees), or a derro (got kicked off the park bench at sunrise?), or just your basic garden variety slob, then yes ...... I will judge that person for what they reveal themselves to be. He could have a Ph.D. in astrophysics, be a neurosurgeon, be a candidate for the Booker Prize or have a 1.5 HI - he's still an antisocial twit. Unless of course he has an IQ consistent with not knowing what he is doing with such behavior on a golf course, that would be something else entirely. But I very rarely see what I consider inappropriate dress though, I'm not a big stickler in such things.

But some of the finer points need to be learned. I once showed up at a better class of course with business colleagues (incl. visitors from Japan). I was most respectably dressed, wearing long pants, newish golf shoes and my favorite shirt, which was long-sleeved, fairly dressy and good quality but didn't have a full collar Bit of an embarrassing discussion near the starter's box at which they explained their dress code (all shirts must have collars) but they let me play in the end, after I told them that this was my most expensive and dressy casual shirt and therefore this was very surprising. Oh well, it was early in my golfing career - lesson learned.

[zeg]

Bit of an embarrassing discussion near the starter's box at which they explained their dress code (all shirts must have collars) but they let me play in the end, after I told them that this was my most expensive and dressy casual shirt and therefore this was very surprising. Oh well, it was early in my golfing career - lesson learned.

Seems to me like a lesson in the pitfalls of blindly clinging to an arbitrary rule...