Golf's Antiquated Dress Code - Limerick Golf Club

The Voice of Midwest Golf by Ivan Morris
Limerick Ladies In Hunt For Glory
The Munster Final of the AA Junior Ladies Foursomes takes
place at Youghal this Friday (20 th ). A reputedly exceptional
Lismore squad faces a strong Limerick panel that has steadily
improved throughout the campaign under the guidance of Marie
Moran (Capt.) and Vivienne Gabbett (Vice-Capt.) Ballykisteen,
Castletroy, Nenagh and Dromoland were all defeated before
Cliodhna Mulcahy & Trish Kennedy; Grainne O‟Donovan & Cathy
Cotter and Ger O‟Carroll & Maria Kelly overcame Castlegregory.
The reliable Sigrid Maher, Ann-Marie Sexton, Marie Crawford,
Jean O‟Donnell, Anne O‟Leary and Miriam Feighery, all featured
and made their contributions in the earlier matches and may be
called upon again if Limerick qualifies for the All-Ireland finals at
Donabate on September 23-26 th.
Golf’s Antiquated Dress Code - In some sporting pastimes,
perceived sartorial shortcomings are of no relevance but in golf a
„neat and tidy‟ dress code is rigorously applied and generally
respected but much harm is done to the long-term future by
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antiquated rules of dress; telling juniors what they can and
cannot do or wear.
That the European Tour would reprimand Martin Kaymer
and Sergio Garcia for donning replica football shirts while playing
the final hole of the BMW Championship at Munich on the same
day as Spain and Germany contested the semi-final of the World
Cup makes a nonsense of golf‟s arch-conservative dress code.
There has always been a small but significant minority of
golfers who like to stand out from the crowd, flaunting their
individuality by wearing bold patterns and gaudy colours.
At my home club, the former William Street Gentleman‟s
Outfitter, Ger Fulham, is renowned for wearing the most „eye-
catching‟ of outfits, particularly bright-coloured, trousers. Mr.
Fulham treats his golfing attire as a statement even though he is
repeatedly told by his unkind, playing companions Joe Collopy,
Jim O‟Driscoll, Jim Geary, Tony Hartigan, Frank O‟Dwyer and
John Dudley that he could be the worst player never to win The
Open or Masters.
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Fulham says: “If I look well, I will feel well and therefore
play a better game in spite of the jibes. My inexhaustible supply
of colourful golfing attire is as important to me as someone
else‟s gritty determination in the face of seemingly
overwhelming odds, an inexhaustible supply of swing thoughts or
a silky putting stroke.
“If you dress well, you feel good about yourself. As a
complete incompetent, as often as not on the golf course,
theoretically at least in my own mind being a snappy dresser
helps to separate me from the crowd. After all, golf has a rich
tradition of sartorial excesses that go all the way back the era of
Walter Hagen‟s elegance; the peaches, limes and creams worn
by three times Masters champion, Jimmy Demaret and the sadly
missed Payne Stewart‟s plus two‟s.
“I was broken hearted when Pringle ceased manufacturing
the patterned sweaters worn by Nick Faldo in the 1990s. When
they were in fashion, I loved wearing Greg Norman‟s psychedelic
tee shirts because, apart from the imperturbable Frank O‟Dwyer
who seems impervious to such distraction, they helped me to win
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an occasional £1 by giving the opposition a headache. Collopy is
particularly susceptible to bright colours but O‟Dwyer is either
colour blind or suffers from acute tunnel vision. He never
acknowledges my dazzling fashion statements and seems only
concerned with whether he is ahead or behind on the scorecard.
“Some think that you need a big personality to wear bright
clothing successfully but there is no harm in it. Why those who
allow checks, stripes, diamonds, tartans and the most
outrageously bright colours, will not countenance a youngster
wearing a round-neck tee shirt, jeans, or a leisure suit is beyond
me. A junior with his shirt hanging loose is a court marshalling
offence.”
Mr. Fulham speaks with tongue in cheek but there is a
serious side to all of this. Isn‟t it strange that dress codes are
almost entirely about what you can‟t wear?
Heading the list as golf‟s biggest no-no is - jeans. Why such
a seemingly innocent piece of apparel became so unacceptable is
not immediately apparent. Personally, I have never worn jeans
but why they are universally banned from the golf course is
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puzzling.
The French and Italians are the most fashion conscious of
golfers. Yet, they embrace jeans in the golfing environment
wholeheartedly. Mind you, the French and Italians also
encourage family golf to a much greater extent than we do in
Ireland and therefore the game is growing much faster there
than here.
Clubs who insist on the dreaded “long socks only” rule must
do so to ensure that any desired cooling benefit derived from
wearing shorts is effectively negated and therefore will not be
worn at all. As for „tailored shorts‟ – the cause of so much
controversy - does anybody really know what they are?
Although there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that
trainers do any harm to a golf course – in fact they almost
certainly do far less damage than spiked shoes – they are strictly
confined to an almost extinct caddie class. Why?
Golf has always been a little bit too elitist, too precious and
too expensive for its own good. Golf Clubs with outdated,
traditional dress codes will be forced to change someday.
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