Dress Codes: Good or Bad for the Game?

[mdl]

Originally Posted by zeg

Ah yes, because your values and opinions are the "correct" ones. Anyone who doesn't play to your idea of appropriate is being disrespectful.

Tastes and styles change. It's not any more respectful to stick to old traditions than to adopt new ones. I bet you'd have the audacity to show up at a court hearing without your powdered wig, you hooligan!

Well said.  What about the tradition that only rich WASPs in expensive summer suits (or knickers of course) are allowed on the course?  Times change.

If in your experience people who dare to wear cargo shorts or t-shirts don't fix their divots or ball marks and are loud and don't keep pace, then sure, it makes sense to play at courses with dress codes that discourage some of those players from playing there.  In my experience that's not true at all, and it's the old guys and the newbie hackers who don't know any better who cause most of those problems, and I haven't found that oldster or newbie status is well correlated with how nicely that player is dressed, or at least not in the direction that would support looking down on players who don't want to wear business casual for an athletic outing.

As an aside, I play in LA where it's usually hot and sunny, so I wear lightweight, super breathable fabric attire that's all been gifts from wife, and that stuff is easiest for her to find at golf stores, so I'm pretty much always wearing clothes that would pass any dress code.  I just think it's incredibly lame to look down on or feel superior to players that don't wear collars or non-jeans or non-cargo pants.

[divot dave]

Originally Posted by Topper

I drive home each day and see......people....with their pants around their knees waddling down the sidewalk.

Holy cow does this thread stink of elitism... with traces of a couple other cleverly disguised "isms" as well.

I vote that its good for the game, so long as preserving the tradition that golf is a gentleman's game is good for the game. Lets face it, dance clubs, strip clubs, restaurants and various other paid services are known to enforce dress codes because of its knack for influencing behavior. At a minimum it sets up the expectation that conduct becoming of a Gentleman is part of the desired atmosphere within the establishment.

However I feel that it can also be used as a tool for exclusion. I could cite the "gentleman's game" reason til I'm blue in the face but lets face it, the dress code doesn't lend itself to many of the sub-cultures around the world. And the stricter the dress code, the more restrictive it becomes from opening the game of golf up to the potential talent pools hidden in these sub-cultures.

[David in FL]

And the stricter the dress code, the more restrictive it becomes from opening the game of golf up to the potential talent pools hidden in these sub-cultures.

Nah..... .......awfully tough to clear your hips with your pants down around your knees.

[teamroper60]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

Court houses are funded by public tax dollars as well but they enforce a dress code on those that serve on a jury or appear before the judge.  Someone might be dressed offensively but not breaking the law, the purpose of dress codes is to provide guidance to those that might not know any better.

Speaking as someone who has spent a large portion of the past 30 years testifying in court, I can assure you, people can and do show up in all manner of attire.    Only once have I seen a Judge admonish a defendant for their attire.   In that particular case, what she had on bordered on illegal...   A pair of daisy dukes and a tank top would have covered more...........

[BuckeyeNut]

Niiice....I read 1-2 pages since this thread was revived from the dead.   I see buttons were pushed...........LOL   I had seen enough!!  No need to read it all.....

My 2 cents on dress code:

If you don't want to play golf with shirtless guys or those "wife beater" shirt wearing dudes with saggy basketball shorts hanging waaay below the knees........don't play those courses.   LOL

It is what it is....

My 2 cents...I cringe when I see people dressing like that, but I rarely play those courses.  Why do I cringe?  It has nothing to do with social status.  When I see those guys.....I see "NON GOLFERS" ............9 out of 10 times, it means slow play.  I don't care about how people dress, but I hate slow play.

[teamroper60]

Originally Posted by The Tin Man

How do we know the Judge isn't wearing basketball shorts under that robe?

I have seen Judges wearing athletic shorts and tennis shoes under their robe...

[teamroper60]

Originally Posted by stoverny

I think one of the ways you earn respect from your fellow golfers is to show respect for the traditions and customs of the game itself.  The way you choose to dress IS an action.

And I don't think just because it is a public course, that means they have no right to enforce any codes of conduct or attire. It's not anything goes.

Some of the best people I have known over the years don't wear (or own) anything but jeans or shorts made from jeans.  Those folks had better morals and values than many I have seen in $1000 suits.   Clothes do not make the person.    Which is the point I was trying to make.

With regard to a course funded with tax dollars (primarily munis), I disagree with the second statement.   Most of those folks are taxpayers (at least the ones on a golf course anyway).  As such, they are essentially members of that course.   I see them as having as much right to play the course as any member of a private club does, regardless of what they wear (again, as long as it is legal).   So, I guess we will have to agree to disagree about this point.......

[Kapanda]

One thing that came to mind from reading earlier posts that a lot of you are missing: the correlation between dress-code and course etiquette is not perfect, but that does not mean it doesn't exist. A strong correlation more than likely exists, because such is the case in most situations. What a person wears tends to affect the behaviour. Pretty sure that is factual actually.

[newtogolf]

Maybe where you live that's the case but here in NY, the dress codes are posted all over the court house and people are sent home from jury duty if they do not conform.  I witnessed it in person about 3 weeks ago, which was the first time I learned that jurors have to conform to a dress code, which was (no shorts, no tank tops).

Originally Posted by teamroper60

Speaking as someone who has spent a large portion of the past 30 years testifying in court, I can assure you, people can and do show up in all manner of attire.    Only once have I seen a Judge admonish a defendant for their attire.   In that particular case, what she had on bordered on illegal...   A pair of daisy dukes and a tank top would have covered more...........

[walk18]

I love how so many here are trying to justify wearing denim or basketball clothing just because they fix divots. Like it has to be one or the other? Just show a little class in your attire, throw on a polo and khakis, it's not like anyone's asking you to wear a tux..

[Gresh24]

Originally Posted by walk18

I love how so many here are trying to justify wearing denim or basketball clothing just because they fix divots. Like it has to be one or the other? Just show a little class in your attire, throw on a polo and khakis, it's not like anyone's asking you to wear a tux..

Polos and khakis are like tuxes to some people.  They aren't just leaving their "nice" clothes in their closet...

[divot dave]

Originally Posted by David in FL

Nah.....

.......awfully tough to clear your hips with your pants down around your knees.

I wasn't taking it that far, and you miss my point or ur being willfully ignorant. There's more sub-cultures out there than the one described as wearing baggy pants.

[iacas]

I don't know about you, or what I've said before (except that I don't particularly care how OTHER people dress), but this is as true for me as it was years ago: I enjoy dressing a little more nicely than I do bumming around the house or going grocery shopping or whatever. I like to "dress the part," and did when I was an amateur, too. Dress for success, baby!

[jetsknicks1]

Originally Posted by divot dave

Holy cow does this thread stink of elitism... with traces of a couple other cleverly disguised "isms" as well.

I vote that its good for the game, so long as preserving the tradition that golf is a gentleman's game is good for the game. Lets face it, dance clubs, strip clubs, restaurants and various other paid services are known to enforce dress codes because of its knack for influencing behavior. At a minimum it sets up the expectation that conduct becoming of a Gentleman is part of the desired atmosphere within the establishment.

However I feel that it can also be used as a tool for exclusion. I could cite the "gentleman's game" reason til I'm blue in the face but lets face it, the dress code doesn't lend itself to many of the sub-cultures around the world. And the stricter the dress code, the more restrictive it becomes from opening the game of golf up to the potential talent pools hidden in these sub-cultures.

I don't think so. What is the dress code for most courses, especially munis? Decent shorts and a collared shirt, that's all. Regardless of where an individual is on the economic ladder, these clothes are neither expensive nor hard to find. For less than the price of a round at your average muni, a person can buy a set of golf clothes that will meet most all dress codes.

[David in FL]

I wasn't taking it that far, and you miss my point or ur being willfully ignorant. There's more sub-cultures out there than the one described as wearing baggy pants.

....and they're all welcome to play with me anytime, as long as they conduct themselves appropriately.  Dress being only one component of that conduct at many (most) courses.

If someone prefers not to abide by a dress code, they're welcome to play at any course that allows whatever type of dress they prefer.  I'll continue to play at the courses that expect a little more.  In my experience, people who dress better tend to demonstrate more respect for other aspects, traditions, and courtesies of the game as well and that's why, in response to the OP, I believe that dress codes are good for the game.  Certainly there are individual exceptions to both sides......

Honestly though, it's just not that tough to put on a decent pair of shorts and some kind of polo type shirt.  You can buy both for the price of a couple of sleeves of balls.

BTW.....I neither missed your point nor was I being willfully ignorant.  Simple golf humor.

[sean_miller]

I prefer to dress "nicely" but since most guys in my golf league are either wearing ill fitting vintage khakis (the baggy ones with vertical front pockets, pleats, and button up back pockets) or jeans, I actually feel like I'm putting on airs if I dress up and it sure doesn't help my scorecard, so I wear jeans to league play. I'd rather wear something akin to what I wear when taking lessons (they're on video so I try to look nice) and when I play somewhere else, I do. One reason I play my current course though is the quality of the people. They have a very high standard of etiquette and adherence to RCGA rules and if you can score well at our course you can score well anywhere.

[Zeph]

I don't care what others wear really, as long as they don't show up without a shirt on. I always dress nice myself and couldn't give two hoots what others think about it. I'm no fan of the strict dress codes some clubs got, but it doesn't affect me personally.

[jamo]

I don't care what others wear really, as long as they don't show up without a shirt on.

Is that really a problem in Norway? ;-)