Jeans & Tonic

I have a question for you. Taking golf clubs out of the equation for just a moment, if someone asked you to have a drink at the pub, would you expect to change into a pair of chinos because of the dress code? Moreover, would such an imposed condition influence your choice of drinking tavern? The answer is probably ‘no’ and ‘yes’ respectively.

No public house or restaurant would score such a commercial own goal. If you’re looking for business, why on earth would you actively discourage potential customers? So why are so many golf clubs still refusing to budge one iota on this issue?

I need to clarify my view fairly early by saying that I’m not campaigning to turn every golf club in the country into a complete free for all on dress standards. I don’t have a problem putting a shirt and tie on, I don’t mind adhering to a dress code, and I do understand why many golf clubs have a reluctance to change. I like the traditions of the “old school” clubs.  But the signs are that I’m in the minority. How many busy golf club bars do you see these days? Discounting club competition days, I doubt many are a hive of activity on an evening.

I’ll concede that dress standards aren’t solely responsible for a quiet golf club bar – prime example being the link to the drink drive limit. Anything more than a pint and you are on the bubble of the law. Stiff penalties rightly act as a deterrent to driving to a bar for this very reason, and golf clubs suffer from the fact that they are, almost by definition, out of town.  But are they helping themselves? For some golf clubs, the lucky ones, there is no concern. Bar takings are up, their members are happy, and dress codes are still observed. Good luck to you, and long may it continue. But what about those clubs where the staff outnumber the punters, where the atmosphere is flatter than the local ale, and where a lack of bar takings is one of the financial strains on the club? Is there still an archaic dress code in place?

Now I’m not suggesting that you have to relax dress requirements to the point of absurdity, but I’m sure there’s some middle ground here. For starters, is a pair of jeans that offensive anymore? The future King is regularly seen sporting a pair, as is the Prime Minister, and indeed pretty much 90% of the population. Just to clarify, jeans are no longer associated with punk rockers, uncouth individuals, or football hooligans. And more importantly, the golf club has already accepted the individual as a suitable candidate during the membership application process. Does a pair of jeans really alter this perception of the individual? Of course not. So the issue isn’t with the member, or the pair of jeans – it can only be a matter of upholding traditions.

I can sense the sceptics would fail to recognise the middle ground between those people that wear jeans and the root of all evil. Or perhaps they would dismiss the notion without giving it any thought or fear that it’s a “slippery slope” if they took that first step. However, failing to recognise this middle ground might also be a failure to recognise the precarious position of the club. Not only financially, but socially, too. A busy bar is a happy bar, full of happy members and happy members invariably become renewing members. Admittedly, a jeans policy alone isn’t going to singlehandedly save a golf club, but it might help. And in the current climate, there aren’t many golf clubs that can afford to be complacent.

I think the traditionalists can still be kept happy, too. I’m not campaigning that jeans become mandatory, or that the jacket and tie be hung up, never to be worn again. Clearly there are occasions when a smarter code of dress may be required, and in an effort to satisfy all members of the club, it’s probably right that flexibility to impose a dress code is retained. For some places this may still be the majority of occasions. But that’s not to say that a club match would be considered ‘low brow’ should the decision be made to permit jeans.

Club dinners, certain evening functions, and special occasions do often require a little effort in the wardrobe department to give a sense of style or occasion, and nobody minds dressing suitably. But what about those other times (the majority of the time) when members and visitors choose to go elsewhere for a few drinks or meal because of the restrictions in place over what are essentially most people’s “everyday clothes”? Those times when the bar is closed because it isn’t financially viable to keep it open due to the lack of business.

As an example, I recently met a golfing friend of mine for a drink at his club after he’d finished playing. It was early evening, but the bar was absolutely packed. There was a lively social atmosphere, a broad spectrum of members all enjoying themselves, and frankly an environment you rarely see in a golf club these days. The difference? A few weeks prior, the golf club had introduced a “jeans” policy allowing members to wear jeans up until a certain time in the golf club bar. According to my friend, ever since this change had been put in place, the bar had regularly been full. Brilliant, I thought, though he was quick to point out that this rule only applied up to a certain time, and that half an hour later the bar would be empty. Sure enough, he was spot on. Now you can read all sorts of things into that, but it’s a striking example that a golf club bar can be instantly transformed from ghost town, to a bustling hub of social activity, and back again, all within a few hours, and all because of a pair of jeans.

The dress code is still one of the primary image problems for the sport, and like it or not, it has an influence on attracting newcomers to the game. Jeans on the golf course is a separate issue. I’m all for encouraging new players to the game, but for me this isn’t the reason people don’t PLAY the game of golf. Jeans in the clubhouse is part of golf’s stuffy image (like it or not, it has one), but there are some much wider issues than a bit of blue denim that prevent newcomers picking up the game. I can’t think of a sport that you actually PLAY whilst wearing jeans, but generally the most popular ones allow you to wear a pair whilst socialising around them. Golf is a sport where a pair of jeans will only serve to discomfort when in action. But the purpose here isn’t to address the issues surrounding participation levels of golf, that’s a different beast altogether. Yes, permitting jeans in the clubhouse might show off golf as a “game that’s adapting to modern times” but in reality, this alone isn’t going to shed golf’s elitist image.

I’ll reiterate – I’m not for one minute saying that there is never a time for a dress code at the golf club. Nobody minds dressing up for an occasion, whether it be the golf club, fancy restaurant, or special function. But people do mind dressing up for a social drink at the bar. The trouble is, when economic times are better, some clubs will claim they don’t need to change because they are doing alright. When times are tough, some will say they have more important issues to deal with. But perhaps it’s some of these taboo subjects that will turn the tide of club fortunes, and perhaps jeans are one such tonic in the bar.