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Shaking Hands With Your Foursome / Removing Your Hat on 18th Green?


bigoak
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82 members have voted

  1. 1. What do you do on the 18th green? (Choose all that apply, and it's anonymous, so be honest.)

    • I almost always shake hands.
      181
    • I often shake hands.
      10
    • I sometimes shake hands.
      6
    • I almost always remove my hat.
      72
    • I often remove my hat.
      23
    • I sometimes remove my hat.
      48


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Originally Posted by carpediem4300

The same reason you dont stand so your shadows on an opponents putting line,....its just etiquette

You didn't seem to read what I wrote: it's only recently become "etiquette" to do this.

Originally Posted by Stretch

I've got to disagree with you here. Doffing the hat off is a simple gesture of respect for your playing partners. Are we seriously going to argue that it's too much hassle to do that one small thing?

I'm simply pointing out that this is a fairly recent thing.

I typically remove my hat, but there have been times when I don't have the time (someone is a foot away as I take my ball out of the hole, etc.).

It's weird, because in the mid-90s people (at the very same country club - I was a junior member then so I paid close attention to what people did so I didn't offend anyone, as we juniors had to really watch things and not cause any problems):

  • never wore jeans into even the grill room let alone the dining room
  • always took off their hats inside, even in the grill room
  • almost never took their hats off outside (same goes for sunglasses)

Nowadays, the same members (in many cases) or at least the same membership at the same club:

  • wear jeans into the dining room sometimes (not jeans with holes or anything at least, but "nice jeans" are still jeans)
  • sometimes take their hats off, but not typically
  • ~60% take their hats off on the 18th (many of the 40% probably figure they're the same guys they play with every week so whatever).

Men used to doff their caps to women. That dates back a long time ago. Men with armor on used to raise the visor so they could see each other's faces when addressing people higher in rank than them, and that dates back a long time as well, but military men don't take their hats off when addressing superiors or underlings (they salute, of course). Hogan, Snead, Palmer, etc. didn't doff their caps to shake hands.

Augusta National is probably one of the most "traditional" places you'll find and except for making Rickie Fowler turn his hat AROUND, players wear their hats indoors there! They shake Billy Payne's hand on the first tee while wearing their hats, Nicklaus, Palmer, and Player. If anyone could enforce the rule of "no hats inside" or "doff when shaking hands" it'd be the folks at Augusta.

It strikes me as one of those funny things: WHY is it a sign of respect? Why would you go so far as to make a judgment on someone who DOESN'T remove his hat? You can still look him in the eyes. You're still shaking the guy's hand. What's it to you whether he's holding his hat in his other hand? Maybe he's got bad hat hair, or is embarrassed of his growing bald spot, or can't hold on to his ball, wedge, putter, and hat at the same time?

I take my hat off most of the time but not all the time (again, sometimes people are too close or the person I'm playing with is familiar enough with me that handshakes are more awkward than doing nothing).

  • Upvote 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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Might be differrent here in the UK.

Always hats off, always shake hands, never seen it not done on the 18th except at the lowest of the low muni course.

Oh, and always hats off in the clubhouse.

H/Cap- 25
West End Golf Club Halifax
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I don't want to see someone's smelly sweaty mop close up, and I don't want to shake his hand if he's just run his grimy fingers trough it. Keep your hat on Chaucy, it's just golf.

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I'm a lefty that putts with my glove on usually.  By the time I put the flag stick back in, pick up my wedge and putter, take my hat off, take my glove off, and secure the shades, we're getting yelled at by the marshall to get off the green.

Seriously, I do as others do.  If it's the first time I'm playing with someone and they appear to be traditionalists I'll follow suit, remove the hat and shake hands.  Most people I play with are friends and we don't get caught up with the formalities, we just have a good time.

Joe Paradiso

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I played once with Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. They were in town and as one of the local guys I got the chance to play with em. Except for the dirty jokes (youd think they were mostly told by Sam but Ben was quite the talker when he played casual rounds I guess). Neither of them took off their hat at the end of the round-I did not wear one back then-and I didn't think anything of it. It wasnt really done back then. Now if I was a lady they would have done it or if we went inside they would have but for me, no, a handshake and a genuine expression of good round is all we got or needed. I dont know when it started but it has nothing to do with being "polite." I don't need to see your sweaty hair any more than you need to see mine. Take your hat off and comb your hair when you go to the bar after your rouund. [quote name="namkrats" url="/t/38266/shaking-hands-with-your-foursome-removing-your-hat-on-18th-green/72#post_716454"]Always shake hands and take of my hat when I do, it's the polite thing to do [/quote]I voted for the first one and the last one in the poll.

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Well I play on my highschool golf team, and after we finish, I will shake hands, say good game, and if I did extremely well I would remove my hat.

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Originally Posted by Phil McGleno

I played once with Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. They were in town and as one of the local guys I got the chance to play with em. Except for the dirty jokes (youd think they were mostly told by Sam but Ben was quite the talker when he played casual rounds I guess). Neither of them took off their hat at the end of the round-I did not wear one back then-and I didn't think anything of it. It wasnt really done back then. Now if I was a lady they would have done it or if we went inside they would have but for me, no, a handshake and a genuine expression of good round is all we got or needed. I dont know when it started but it has nothing to do with being "polite." I don't need to see your sweaty hair any more than you need to see mine. Take your hat off and comb your hair when you go to the bar after your round.

Oh please.

Stretch.

"In the process of trial and error, our failed attempts are meant to destroy arrogance and provoke humility." -- Master Jin Kwon

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I ALWAYS shake hands after we leave the 18th green, even with the guys i play with every week.

I just don't get the hat thing. If someone thinks I'm not respecting them when I shake their hand and say, "I enjoyed playing with you," and mean it, while my hat is on, that's being pretty superficial. I think taking off your hat is something that Tiger Woods started, and because some people think he is a role model for things other than hitting a golf ball, we all have to do it.

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I play with the same group 3 weeks outs of 4 (the 4th is tourney week.) Each week everyone shakes hands once the final putt is holed, I have yet to see someone remove their hat - I just stick with what I see.

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Chris, although my friends call me Mr.L

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Originally Posted by Stretch

Oh please.

Care to elaborate?

To elaborate myself, a few people have now said they don't remove their hats. I do most of the time. Sometimes I don't. I care about a hundred times more whether a guy I play with fixes ball marks (his and maybe some others) than whether he takes his hat off.

Just sayin'. :)

I'll still remove it most of the time, but I'm perfectly aware of the fact that it's a recent trend. You didn't see it much at all in the 90s.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
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removing your hat might be a fairly recent thing in golf(I don't know) but it goes as far back as midieval times for the start of the tradition. Its a sign of respect to an opponent OR an aquaintence. You reveal yourself to them.

I saw someone ask why it was a sign of respect. During the days of knights...after they fought, they would flip up their visors to reveal their face to their opponent. The handshake started because they would extend their hand to show that they had no weapon.

My philosophy on golf "We're not doing rocket science, here."

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I started playing in 1975 and we always shook hands but nobody ever took their hats off that I can recall playing junior and golf team events. Not sure when this became popular, late 80's early 90's? My normal rounds are primarily played with my son and Father Inlaw so we give each other a high-5 if we had a good round. If we have someone join us we then shake hands with our guest. I normally do not remove my hat unless someone else does first. I could care less either way.

Funny how traditions can get burned into your head though. I've been out of the Army for nearly 18 years and it was a cardinal sin to be caught indoors with your cap on. I think punishable by death according to my Drill Sergeant,,lol! But to this day if I walk into the clubhouse with my hat on I feel like I'm breaking the rules. It's a Public course and there are no official rules of removing hats indoors but I still feel like that Drill Sergeant is going to come out of nowhere screaming about my head gear being on,lol!

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Iacas beat me to it so I'll just say I agree with him about removing a hat. That was always done when meeting a woman, not a man. In fact, if you go back far enough, the hat was removed and swept to the side with a bow when meeting a woman. Why golfers started doing that 10 years ago or when ever it was is beyond me. Why would a man even care if another man is wearing a hat on a golf course when shaking another mans hand. Go ahead and even Google social graces or manners for a distinguished gentleman. It fully explains when a man should take his hat off and it is never taken off when meeting or shaking hands with another man. Like I said, how did this silly thing get started in the first place?
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Note: This thread is 1896 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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