I am a traditionalist when it comes to this game. I try to follow all that my golfing forefathers have laid down and what was taught to me as a young lad. When it comes to dressing for the game though, I am yet to reconcile being attired in Edwardian style plus fours, tie et al.
As the game evolved, so did the style of dressing. Sure, jeans are comfortable but it is a complete no-no on the golf course so long as it has the colour blue on it.
What’s correct and what’s not
SHIRTS
Round-neck collars are out. No tees please; we are prim and proper, ask any club or institution in this country! Straight-collared shirts are the norm. As a modification, many apparel manufacturers have introduced “the half-collar golf shirt”. Strangely, this is only marginally better than round necks; fashion wins and this shirt stays.
SHORTS
There is the vexed issue of the blessed shorts: anything without 20 pockets and just below the knee is acceptable. While running shorts, pedal pushers and bermuda shorts are not. Payne Stewart had a unique style of his own — he tucked his trousers into his socks, setting a cult that was unique and difficult to follow.
Wearing football-style socks, revealing only an inch of the knee was the order of the day in Victorian England. Today, it does make one look like an old PT master! I personally prefer ankle socks; but anything between that and the traditional shin socks are fine.
SHOES
While bespoke golf shoes are allowed on the course, trainers are not. If one compared golf shoes and trainers by a company like Adidas, both seem identical but are different in form and feel.Golf shoes need studs or soft spikes; gone are the days when we were allowed to wear metal spikes. These give sufficient purchase on the ground, given all the torque one generates, but with the effect of not damaging the turf. Try the same violent swing with trainers and you will find the turf being torn up, as the soles are not conducive to golf.
OTHER GEAR
At one course, I was compelled to tuck my shirt, wear a belt and put on a cap or hat to gain admission. While this is stretching it too far, I would still say that these are comfort items, and anything from the ostentatious to the mundane goes.
ARE WE GOING TOO FAR?
It has been argued that people who uncompromisingly support dress codes at golf clubs do so only because of a certain degree of prudishness and wish to maintain certain standards. Without being judgmental, I’d say that this argument is flawed because humankind has proven that it’s hard to practise what we preach.
The core issue, again as a traditionalist, is for us to see some form of decorum on the course, knowing as it were that golf is a genteel game. One would rarely see a well-dressed, recalcitrant golfer mouthing obscenities. Indeed, as referees, we are told to avoid arguments with players, since sponsors loathe to see anything unpleasant attached to their brand, particularly when it is beamed live into 300 million homes worldwide.
In a similar vein, I would be dismayed to see young college kids in loafers, baggy pants and oversized tees with a baseball cap worn backwards, swinging a club with iPod earphones stuck in their ears.
Golf does not yet face a crisis. Let the tradition remain; it’s just how we maturely and equitably cope with it that matters.
