Several times over the years I

[cypressperch]

have seen this situation at the pro-shop. "Sir, I am very sorry but it is against our dress policy to wear denim on the course," or "Sir, I am very sorry but it is against our dress policy to wear a shirt without a colar."

Reactions by the people being told of these things has ranged from "Oh, I am sorry I did not know of the rules," to "Well you can take those rules you got there and this course and go straight to. . . . . ."

At some municipal courses where I have played a lot, there are no such regulations. Occasionally, a golfer might wear some Levi jeans, but no one really gives it much thought. As far as the collar is concerned, there are many pros, Tiger included, who now wear pull over shirts that have no buttons and no real collars which look more like glorified tee-shirts than the collared golf shirt those rules were in favor of.

Doctor King said he had a dream that one day it would be the content of one's character and not the color of their skin that would determine how we would be judged. That sounds like the Golden Rule to me, and it sounds pretty good. I like that dream. Sometimes I wonder if some of our dress regulations are on shakey ground. I once had a dream that someday at the golf course, we might be judged according to our etiquette and manners and courtesy and honesty (content of our character) rather than by the type of cloth our pants are made of or whether or not our shirt has a collar.

Of course, there is always some person who pushes their individuality and personal taste in clothing to stupid extremes, so dress regulations of some sort are probably necessary (I saw a guy ruin a green playing in cowboy boots!). Personally, I like wearing a comfortable pair of Levis with a golf shirt because it is sort of casual and very comfortable. I do not rock the boat on this issue, because it isn't that important a battle. Life is too short to battle all the time, so I pick the battles I engage in (a couple of times in the past, the government picked them for me!).

I suppose the whole anti-denim thing harks back to when denim was seen as the cloth that worker class folks wore and was therefore inappropriate for the golf courses at country clubs that were places where those in the higher ranks of society played. So it is that, even today, denim just does not look proper when we are trying to create a certain look of class at the club. Yet we allow a $40 pair of Dockers which certainly does not have "the look" of a fairly nice $200 pair of slacks. So I guess those who set the standards for dress have made at least some concessions to the lower ones who come to play.

I suppose some of this also comes from that mentality that always suspected that anyone wearing jeans was some sort of "hood." Heaven forbid, if the country clubs of this earth became overrun by scratch golfers who were also "hoods." And even worse, what if denim caught on as being stylish, and we started seeing denim at Augusta!! No! That? Never!

Come on, now. At least allow denim, provided that our golfing heritage is somewhat preserved by the rule that denim can be used provided that it is used in making denim knickers.

Confusion once said, "The one thing in life that is constant is change." To which Cypressperch replied, "Which, like the butterfly, is not always bad."

Sincerely, Cypressperch

[IrishGolfer]

This is a well-debated subject. When I was a lad, demins were very much in vogue for kids, yet our club banned them. The way round it was to play golf wearing denims but wearing waterproof trousers over the top, not much fun in the heat of summer.

Some of the jeans then were well cut and clean, yet there were guys (usually older dudes) wearing scabby, dirty slacks that were within the rules. It seemed that these rules were being made by committees made up of stuffy old men.

Jeans these days can be much more in the designer bracket, but it is a lot easier to associate them with rips, tears, frays and so continue to get lumped in with the "blue collar" stereotype.

The dress etiquette is important I guess to maintain standards on the course. Luckily the course I play at now is a lot more lenient.

I suppose if Golf Directors / Managers / committees maintain an element of common sense in contempory policy making things will be OK.

[SiberianDVM]

Any rule against playing in a kilt?

[IrishGolfer]

I was playing in NE Scotland (Tain) a few years back and saw an old dude playing in a kilt. Had to look twice to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but actually it was pretty cool to see. I imagine bunker shots would lead to sandy balls, tho! The mind boggles!!!!

Couldn't see Tiger fashioning one. Maybe Poulter?

[Sandy]

The nicest guy - and the best golfer - I ever got paired with as a 'walk in' on my local muni was wearing smart black jeans (probably cost more than most golf pants) and a Nike black mock-turtle neck shirt with black shoes. He'd probably have been barred from 80% of the courses around here just for that.

Conversely the biggest idiots I ever got paired with were a classic couple - man in his late 50s, trophy wife in her 20s - who had obviously just given their credit card to the local Golfsmith salesman and told them to give them everything they need to be golfers. They had all matching gear, right down to matching her pink golfballs to her bag and clothes, and obviously assumed that was all you needed to be a golfer. After 5 holes of barely being able to hit the ball, and her twice doing the hilarious 'pick the ball up and throw it onto the green' joke (!) they phoned their limo driver to pick them up from the road running alongside the hole, asking me and my friend if one of us would mind taking their cart back to the clubhouse. On appearances they'd have been welcome everywhere...

[goatster]

ive seen this happen many times also.so now when i go to a course i dont know i wear a golf shirt and a nice pair of shorts or dress shorts.i`ve also had to go and tell guys to put there shirts back on.(as the owner was busy and asked me to handle it for him)

i try most the time to dress in a golf shirt and shorts even at my course that doesnt have a dress code.although occ. i will were a jersey or a tee-shirt if i`m in a hurry.

[JEFF4i]

Originally Posted by IrishGolfer

Jeans these days can be much more in the designer bracket, but it is a lot easier to associate them with rips, tears, frays and so continue to get lumped in with the "blue collar" stereotype.

The irony of this statement is the stereotypical nature of it's own.

The majority of people who are wearing jeans now a days do not wear the excessive ones, most of us wear normal blue jeans. I do know where you are coming from, and I feel put off by some of the styles of todays jeans.

My home course requires a collared shirt and no denim. I wear my jeans anyway, and there is never a question. Why? They have seen my play and behavior out on the course, all know me by name, so they really don't care what I wear as long as it's somewhat tasteful. As far as collared shirts, I always wear one, because since the rest of my shirts are either from concerts or my old race stuff, my collared are the coolest.

Oh, and though I cannot say this enough, great post Cypress.

[ezra76]

I often wear a pair of carpenter type jeans I have to the muni up the road. Looks fine to me with the Navy Ashworth pullover and Dryjoy pro's. I have 5 pairs of other golf pants, one of which is a pair of khaki cargo's, again, looks fine to me with the proper shirt, ect. I have 1 pair that's just a flat front, in between a sand and khaki color, that I'll wear at a nicer course just in case. I'll be wearing those tomorrow as I'm not sure if the course has a policy.

I could really care less what other people are wearing. I think more attention should be given to pace of play. Personally I'd like to see more guys banned from the tips unless they have a USGA card with a single digit on it.

[JEFF4i]

It's not even that. I don't care how you play and from where, just keep the pace of play up.

Three things that need to be emphasized more is...

Fixing divots.
Pace of play.
Courtesy.

Maybe if they did that some of this rather pretentious(excuse my spelling if it is incorrect) courses wouldn't be such a turnoff to players like myself.

[sandwedge]

We played a course for the first time a few months ago and one of my buddies showed up wearing a nice pair of denim type Dockers shorts. The people in the proshop told him those shorts were not allowed. He had to spend an extra $40 to pay for a new pair of shorts at the proshop. Later on the course I was approached by a ranger who made me tuck my shirt in after I had untucked it during the course of the round. The pace of play was incredibly slow on the course but all they cared about was the damn dress code. You would have thought we were at Augusta. Needless to say we won't be going back there again.

[warbirdlover]

I'm still going to get a pair of these. If these guys can get on the course why would someone in jeans?

[SiberianDVM]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

I'm still going to get a pair of these. If these guys can get on the course why would someone in jeans?

WBL, if you do, I promise I'll play a round wearing knickers a la Payne Stewart.

I dunno about the kilt, though. Real Scots let it all hang out and I play some windy courses.

[Pa Jayhawk]

I guess my only question would be that if you allow denim and non collared shirts, how far would people try to push the envelope. What would separate that category from cut off blue jeans and a tank top??

Fine line where clubs may make exception and how far people would try and stretch it in saying "Sorry, I thought of cut off jeans and a tank top as denim and a collarless shirt"

Same apply to businesses going to casual dress and drawing the line and showing respect for the business.

I personally feel better about myself when dressing better and likely reflects in my game, but I can't say it is the right thing for everyone. In the same sense, in the business world if I were to spend time with a client I would wear a shirt and tie out of respect, unless they insisted it bothered them in doing so. I then would not show up in ratty jeans and a tee shirt, but others may take that to mean whatever is comfortable.

[dave.]

I have only ever had one problem with dress code and that was with a club who wanted knee length white only socks on the course with shorts and of course the shop only sold.....................ankle socks.Because of course no right minded male would ever buy knee socks and I seriously doubt they even exist beyond the world of sexual fetishes.Sadly some clubs are run by bigotted tossers who lead lonely lives and have no friends so they make daft rules up to give them some purpose in life.

I might be being a little ott though with that last opinion

[SiberianDVM]

Here we go, only for the Brave of Heart:

Sport Kilt