We were expecting to receive quite a few emails following our recent interview with Top 50 Coach Anders Mankert, ‘Time for a change’ in the March issue of the magazine. We perhaps didn’t expect to hear so many negative experiences.
To recap, PGA Master Professional Mankert is the owner of Leicester Golf Centre, a forward-thinking municipal course that challenges the status quo by being a club with ‘no rules’ that aims to take away barriers to participation.
Being one of the most qualified people in the industry to talk about matters surrounding the state of the game in this country, we wanted to get his opinion on what he thinks most needs to improve if our game and its facilities are to continue to thrive.
It was no surprise to hear Mankert talk about dress codes. "If clubs aren’t prepared to adapt, perhaps addressing issues around dress code and aspects of outdated etiquette in golf, they are going to be begging for members in the future," he said.
This is a divisive topic. The requirement for knee-high socks with shorts and an insistence on collared shirts and no hoodies may still exist at a small number of old-fashioned golfing venues, but attitudes on dress codes are changing.
However, plenty of golfers still believe that some form of dress code should exist, not least, as my colleague Fergus Bisset wrote recently, because it preserves golf’s identity. "Golfers should wear golf gear proudly," argued Bisset.
Whatever your view on this contentious subject, hearing stories like the one we received recently is rather dispiriting. The reader wished to remain anonymous, which is perfectly understandable given that the incident took place at his own golf club.
To summarise, our reader went to his golf club on a non-competition day to enjoy a Sunday lunch with his nephew, who had only recently joined the club.
While at the bar in a fairly empty clubhouse, a board member asked his nephew to take off his cap. We got the impression that the manner in which this was done soured the afternoon.
"His dress code was typical of a young man’s in today’s society,” said our reader. “We could have chosen any cafe, restaurant, or bar in the UK that afternoon, and no establishment would have asked him to take his cap off, so it got me thinking, 'why does a golf club hold itself in such high esteem that it still insists on this archaic rule?'"
He went on to say: "I sent the club an email to formally communicate this incident and advised my thoughts on the club needing to rethink this rule to encourage more people through the door, particularly younger people.
"Unfortunately, they doubled down and plastered signs in the clubhouse saying phones and caps are not permitted. It seems some clubs are determined to hang onto the last remaining embers of yesteryear and will only enter the 21st century kicking and screaming."
It’s not unusual for golf clubs to insist that golf caps are not worn in the clubhouse, a traditional etiquette that golfers will usually observe even if they believe it to be outdated.
"Why does a golf club hold itself in such high esteem that it still insists on this archaic rule?"
However, it’s often the way members and visitors are reminded of the rule that can leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth, that feeling that you have been told off and made to feel small.
Opinions on this matter, including the rules around caps, split the Golf Monthly office straight down the middle. Nick Bonfield calls it "outdated and irrelevant", while our editor, Neil Tappin, has even asked whether it’s time to abandon dress codes altogether.
If that’s caused you to spit your tea out, you won’t be alone. Is this the way we really want to go?
Maybe it depends on the club. Clearly, for Mankert and his thriving municipal venue, where visitors can wear whatever they want, it works.
However, Mankert believes more golf clubs should follow suit.
"In my opinion, the long and the short of it is that Gen-Z are not the same as I was when I was 20," Mankert told us when we visited Leicester Golf Centre, where it doesn’t matter if you wear golf clothing, cargo pants, or overalls caked in paint and dust.
"They don’t behave or live the same way. You either acknowledge it or you are going to get caught napping.
"Everything is less formal now. How often do you wear a suit nowadays? You might do if you go to a wedding, but most people don’t even wear a suit for work anymore.
"The world is becoming less formal, so why wouldn’t you want to be on the front foot with that? Why wouldn’t you want to be ahead of the curve?
Mankert makes some valid points, but would this model work at every golf club? Probably not, not yet at least.
Perhaps for those clubs that still have dress codes in place, there’s a better way of communicating this, and not making people feel like naughty schoolchildren should they forget to take off their caps or, heaven forbid, slip on their golf shoes in the car park.
What do you think? Are dress codes at golf clubs outdated? What is your opinion on caps in the clubhouse?
Please let us know by leaving a comment in the box below.
