GET REAL DRESS CODES

It’s that time of year again for ‘conkers’, which brings me to that old chestnut of a topic; dress codes.

I have never fully understood why elderly men-folk insist they know best about what younger people should wear to play golf.

They must know that your taste in fashion changes through the decades.

I am sure one day (which is rapidly approaching), I will like wearing a navy blazer with gold-coloured turn-up pants with a striped shirt and tie in the clubhouse and pleated beige pants with an indescribable coloured polo shirt and jumper combo on the course.

So what are dress codes really for?

I keep hearing they are to maintain standards. Nothing wrong with trying to maintain standards.

Golf should be taking a leading role in supporting apparel standards.

I am not talking about superficial tit-bits such as the length of your summer socks or the tailoring of your shorts or the toss-up between a collared and a turtle-neck shirt.

 I am proposing that golf’s new dress code signs outside the clubhouses around the world should go for the jugular; ‘only ethically-made apparel in the clubhouse’, ‘no sweatshop apparel on the course’. Apparel which is made by textiles workers who are paid a ‘living wage’ and who have workplace health and safety standards to protect them from handling the hazardous toxic chemicals used to make moisture-wicking golf wear.

Now if these new dress code standards were introduced today, I appreciate that most golf pros and hackers would be butt-naked on the course.

And I can't think of a better image to highlight the need for golf to get real dress codes.

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