Ron King
Many of us recall old movie images of golfers in plaid pants, sweater vests, billed caps, and other stereotypical apparel of golfing lore. While clothing on golf courses has changed over the years, proper golf apparel is still expected. And the greater the prestige of the golf club, the greater the expectation you will abide by their dress code.
Most clubs and courses, even the public ones, require that golfers follow a dress code. The most common rule is the collared shirt. Many courses require long pants, not jeans, and golf shoes.
5 Minutes Early Is Late
When it comes to actually starting your game, the primary rule of etiquette is to show up on schedule for your tee time. That means you will have already done everything else in preparation for the start of the golf game. You'll need time to park your car, warm up, practice, buy balls, change, and pick up a cart. Being early is a matter of consideration for others.
Of our major professional sports, golf alone retains the lyrical innocence with which it began centuries ago among Scottish herdsmen slapping the gutta-percha ball around the bonny banks. golf alone, despite huge purses, has remained immune to the violence and vulgarity that have turned other sports into spectacles of sanctioned mayhem. The game, as Andrew Carnegie believed, is an “indispensable adjunct of high civilization.” No other group of professionals is self-ruled by an honor code in which players call penalties on themselves. golf etiquette prevails. Can football etiquette or hockey etiquette be imagined? golf has no Charles Barkley, who has spit at fans. It has no John McEnroe, the obscenity-shouter, nor does it have enforcers, late-hitters, or self-absorbed clods who moan that they aren’t paid enough.
—Colman McCarthy, U. S. journalist. “Gentlemen and Louts,” The Washington Post (June 19, 1993)
Leave Cell Phones In The Real World
The exclusion of cell phones from golf apparel is another common courtesy on the links. Cell phones should be left in your car or locker. If you do need to bring 1 onto the course for emergencies, keep it turned off.
When you're on the course, you'll need to understand how the other golfers in your group want to play. Some let the best score tee off on the next hole, while others let whoever is ready tee off first. You can offend players by not following their rules, even if their rules are, from your perspective, wrong.
Time-Honored Conventions Make Golfing Unique
An obsession with quiet is another characteristic for which golfers are known. Like most traditions, this one is based on necessity. When your object is to hit a small object with a long pole, you need all of your concentration. Even when golfing with friends, respect the fundamental rule of keeping quiet during shots, and standing out of the direct line of vision.
And the wind shall say: “Here were decent godless people:
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls.”
—T. S. (Thomas Stearns)
Today's golfing rules of etiquette can seem archaic -- a throwback to days of old. They harken back to a slower paced time when consideration for others was perhaps easier. In the 21st century, golfing provides us a time away from the bustle of everyday living. Though golf is highly competitive, it is, nonetheless, a gentleman's -- and gentlewoman's -- game.
About the author:
Visit http://www.golf-gear4u.com to learn more. Ron King is a full-time researcher, writer, and web developer. Copyright 2005 Ron King. This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact.