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

[tqcishark]

I always shake with chosen playing partners and most of the time when I paired up.  Every now and then, when I'm paired with someone who played the whole round in a egocentric bubble, I feel strongly a handshake is not required.  Hat removal is not golf etiquette.  Removing (or tipping) one's hat shows respect in all circumstances.  I liked the poll.

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GangGreen

I've always shaken hands but, quite honestly, until I joined this forum I never knew removing your hat at the end of the round was also considered proper etiquette as well.

As has been stated a few times, it's not really. It's only a recent thing and not everyone does it.

This is just another one of those things that's been picked up from TV.  I always shake hands around the group after leaving the last green, but I've never removed my hat just to shake hands.  On the other hand, when entering a home or restaurant, including a golf course clubhouse, I do remove any headgear.  Just one of those manners things my grandmother trained into me, like opening the  door for ladies.

[Spitfisher]

This is just another one of those things that's been picked up from TV.  I always shake hands around the group after leaving the last green, but I've never removed my hat just to shake hands.  On the other hand, when entering a home or restaurant, including a golf course clubhouse, I do remove any headgear.  Just one of those manners things my grandmother trained into me, like opening the  door for ladies.

I ALWAYS shake with the group I am with, friend or stranger as well as remove my hat while doing so. Too bad the poll did not list always in addition to. Almost always

[RickK]

Not ALMOST always...ALWAYS.  Would be rude not to.  And, I don't wear hats or caps all that often but when I do, I remove it.  If wearing sunglasses, I remove them also.

[Gilberg]

I searched on here a lot about this and couldn't find any helpful info, which didn't surprise me or catch me off guard.

Please tell me what you typically do right after a round is over if you are playing with other people. I know tradition is different everywhere you go and it also depents on you personality.  If I am playing with an elderly family member I will give them an appropriate hug and tell them how impressed I was with their preformance, even it they played like an amatuer.  Sometimes when I play with friends that I already know, I don't give them a hug, but I will just stare at them with the utmost respect, for maybe like 40 or 45 seconds, and then slowly walk away while still facing them to show respect.  If I am playing with a friend that I have not met before I typically give them a hand slap and a nice monogrammed golf towel (great gifts and I have like a hundred of them in a box, now way i can use them all).

Also, does anyone have the shotlink (tm) records for the 1973 tour season?

[randomzero]

The few times that I've played alone and ended up joining others, I've always shook their hands. I never removed my hat, though. Typically, I play with people that I know really well, and we never shake hands.

"Staring at someone respectfully for 40-45 seconds" would freak me out. lol.

[No Mulligans]

I seldom shake hand.  Shaking hands is a great way to transfer viruses (it's flu season right now).  Shaking hands is a pretty stupid tradition if you think about it.

It may seem rude but I'm a bone marrow transplant patient on immune suppresion medication.  I'm the kind of person that is likely to get hospitalized if I get the flu.

[Spitfisher]

I always shake and look them right in the eye, my hat is always removed. If we are playing partners, I do the same for my partner ( friend or stranger) often with slight pat on the back as we walk off the green.

[Spitfisher]

I seldom shake hand.  Shaking hands is a great way to transfer viruses (it's flu season right now).  Shaking hands is a pretty stupid tradition if you think about it.

It may seem rude but I'm a bone marrow transplant patient on immune suppresion medication.  I'm the kind of person that is likely to get hospitalized if I get the flu.

I guess I can see your point, but immediately with out fail following a round the very first thing I do is wash my hands- not because of the hand shake, but course chemicals, waste & soil from handling clubs and ball.

[AmazingWhacker]

I searched on here a lot about this and couldn't find any helpful info, which didn't surprise me or catch me off guard.

Please tell me what you typically do right after a round is over if you are playing with other people. I know tradition is different everywhere you go and it also depents on you personality.  If I am playing with an elderly family member I will give them an appropriate hug and tell them how impressed I was with their preformance, even it they played like an amatuer.  Sometimes when I play with friends that I already know, I don't give them a hug, but I will just stare at them with the utmost respect, for maybe like 40 or 45 seconds, and then slowly walk away while still facing them to show respect.  If I am playing with a friend that I have not met before I typically give them a hand slap and a nice monogrammed golf towel (great gifts and I have like a hundred of them in a box, now way i can use them all).

Also, does anyone have the shotlink (tm) records for the 1973 tour season?

I don't know where you live but, here in TX . .if somebody started at me for 45 seconds and then tossed me a monogrammed golf towel I would find that strange, lol.   Usually a slap on the ass and a loud "Hell Yeah" will suffice.

[dkolo]

I do make sure to stick around and shake hands after 18. I've never taken it personally if someone just waved across the green as they walked away, just thought it was odd considering that the handshake has always seemed like a de rigeur formality. As for the hat thing, @Fourputt is right, I've picked it up from TV. I don't know any better one way or another, so I figured if they do it on TV, it's a safe bet to do it myself. Literally the only time I haven't taken my hat off has been in the winter when it was crazy cold and I was wearing a beanie instead of a baseball-style cap. And even then, if the other people on the green had gone hat off, I'd probably have followed suit.

[Pretzel]

If I'm playing with strangers, I'll shake hands with them on the 18th green. I don't take my hat off, but I do remove my sunglasses if I am wearing them at the time.

As for the transmission of viruses caused by shaking hands, I've survived worse than a handshake so I figure I can just wash my hands afterwords and be fine. However for someone who has to take immune suppressants I can understand why it would not be a good idea.

I don't know where you live but, here in TX . .if somebody started at me for 45 seconds and then tossed me a monogrammed golf towel I would find that strange, lol.   Usually a slap on the ass and a loud "Hell Yeah" will suffice.

You can safely ignore a lot of what Gilbert has to say except for the entertainment value of it. He had a tendency to make posts that make very little sense, but are at least somewhat humorous.

[Herkimer]

Why is it impolite to shake hands after finishing the 18th hole without removing your hat?  My hair doesn't look so great when I remove my hat and I'd rather leave it on.  Do any of you leave your hat on when shaking hands with other men after finishing your round?  Do the LPGA players remove their hat on 18? I have to check that out. I've never noticed one way or the other.  Bottom line: I see no need for men to remove their hats on 18.

[Patch]

It depends on how much respect I want to show those I have golfed with. If they earned my respect, then yes, I would remove my hat, and shake hands. Yes, there have been times when just a hand shake was good enough. 

If I remove my hat, and it's a  sunny day, and they were not wearing sun glasses, that's their ptoblem.

Now in our own normal group, we don't do alot of the courtesy stuff. We are life long friends. We'd just as soon kick each other in our backsides as to shake hands with one another.  

Edited December 17, 2018 by Patch

[DeadMan]

I like to remove my hat and run my hand through my sweaty, hat hair before shaking anybody's hands. It's just the courteous thing to do.

 

 

 

Real answer is that it really doesn't matter if you remove your hat before shaking hands at the end of the round.

[DaveP043]

8 minutes ago, Herkimer said:

Why is it impolite to shake hands after finishing the 18th hole without removing your hat?  My hair doesn't look so great when I remove my hat and I'd rather leave it on.  Do any of you leave your hat on when shaking hands with other men after finishing your round?  Do the LPGA players remove their hat on 18? I have to check that out. I've never noticed one way or the other.  Bottom line: I see no need for men to remove their hats on 18.

I think the practice of taking a hat off before shaking hands is a pretty recent one.  We had few good long discussions of this a few years back:

If you look in photo archives, you can find lots of pictures of PGA professionals shaking hands with their hats still on their heads.  For me, a handshake is absolutely the right thing, but my hat often stays on my head.

 

[rehmwa]

Yeah, I don't think it matters.

[HJJ003]

I almost always take my hat off before handshakes on the 18th....grew up doing that because my dad did it. It doesn't matter as long as you shake hands and show respect to your playing partners. It is just something I do, and will likely continue doing it. Don't care if others leave their hats on though.