Just over a week ago, two of my fellow “new Dad” friends and I descended on our local Golf club, with a view to playing a few holes on the 18 hole course.

Of my two Golf buddies, one of them was entirely new to Golf, the other has taken up the sport within recent years and got the bug for it during the pandemic.

Despite the former having never having swung a club before in his life, he fully and confidently embraced the opportunity, with my intention being that we’d play a scramble format, so as to make it more fun and give him an enjoyable introduction to the game.

However, when we arrived and approached the front desk to pay a green fee, we were met with an array of barriers to entry. First of all, he did not have his own set of clubs. With no rental sets available (and having been short on time to collect and bring his brother in law’s set, due to having had a chaotically busy work day), this was issue number 1.

Secondly, he was not wearing, nor did he own any Golf shoes. Thirdly - and indeed what proved to be the proverbial cardinal sin - he was wearing Jeans.

Credit to the Front Desk Assistant, she was neither obtuse, nor ostentatious about the matter, rather she was very matter of fact. The club’s dress code rules clearly state that denim cannot be worn on the golf course.

All was not lost, however and indeed the story had a happy ending, as instead we headed across to the Pitch and Putt facility (which, in hindsight, was probably the ideal set-up for our resident beginner).

Nonetheless, both during and after playing, the three of us debated the subject of dress codes and asked ourselves a number of questions, including:

“How did such stringent dress codes get here in the first place?”

“Why is Denim not allowed on the course?”

“Should the criteria for dress codes be dependant on the profile and “aspirational” nature of the Golf club in question?”

As we set about setting the world to rights, a thought occurred to me…Jack and I must take up our microphones and debate the subject, for our latest GBA episode.

Here are just a few clips from our conversation (full video episode at the top of this post):

Jeans are ok in the corporate world…why not in Golf? (37 seconds)

Imposter syndrome in Golf doesn’t discriminate based on age! (36 seconds)

Nevermind the Jeans, what about the pathways for beginner Golfers? (35 seconds)

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Before you go, make sure you check out the following articles from National Club Golfer, the first from 2015 and the second more recently published in 2024 (just going to show how this debate has raged on for many, many years!!!)

https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/tour/tour/the-great-dress-code-debate/

https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/club/features/golf-dress-codes-jeans-debate/