Look the part

Snelly said:
Job interviews have nothing whatsoever in common with playing golf with friends.
Click to expand...

I fully agree.
But dirty shoes (caked in mud) worn to either an interview or by somebody on the first tee smack of laziness.
What would you (and the world) have said if Jordon Spieth have turned up on the 1st tee at the Masters yesterday with his shoes plastered in mud.
Could be excused if he'd fallen into Rae's Creek on the way to the tee, but if the mud were still on there from the day before???
Scruffy git.
 
Smiffy said:
I fully agree.
But dirty shoes (caked in mud) worn to either an interview or by somebody on the first tee smack of laziness.
What would you (and the world) have said if Jordon Spieth have turned up on the 1st tee at the Masters yesterday with his shoes plastered in mud.
Could be excused if he'd fallen into Rae's Creek on the way to the tee, but if the mud were still on there from the day before???
Scruffy git.
Click to expand...

But what impact does it have on their Golfing ability?
 
Snelly said:
You make a good point. The key thing here though is what criteria should you be using to form opinions about a person in this specific situation - the 1st tee of a golf course. I am arguing that some mud on your shoes at this exact point is not a valuable basis on which to judge someone.

If they were at a black tie dinner then yes, or an office with a smart dress code, or a party, or a wedding or countless other social situations where one needs to be properly spruced up.

However, a muddy field on a January morning isn't quite the same and after 200 yards, the dew will have washed them clean anyway.


Speed of play is a different kettle of fish though. If someone is a slow player, I personally think it speaks volumes about their character.
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100% agree.

Context is everything and some on here must always play on courses in pristine Augusta like conditions. On the vast majority of inland clay based courses, for six months of the year, if the shoes are clean at the outset they will not be after two or three holes.

Personally I keep my shoes reasonably clean at all times but the condition of others' footwear is not something on which I will base my opinion of them. After all I am about to spend three and a half plus hours with them so I would be far more interested in what sort of company they are likely to be based upon initial conversation.
 
Being Military I very much take pride in appearance and cleaning of shoes, but that is for my own self respect and pride, I certainly wouldn't judge someone else just by their shoes, I have no idea what there life is about, what if the rest of there appearance is smart?
 
Snelly said:
You make a good point. The key thing here though is what criteria should you be using to form opinions about a person in this specific situation - the 1st tee of a golf course. I am arguing that some mud on your shoes at this exact point is not a valuable basis on which to judge someone.

If they were at a black tie dinner then yes, or an office with a smart dress code, or a party, or a wedding or countless other social situations where one needs to be properly spruced up.

However, a muddy field on a January morning isn't quite the same and after 200 yards, the dew will have washed them clean anyway.


Speed of play is a different kettle of fish though. If someone is a slow player, I personally think it speaks volumes about their character.
Click to expand...

Yeah I get your point and I guess everyone uses their own criteria based on what's important to themselves, and everyone's list of criteria will be slightly different (and often while maybe not sub-conscious the opinion will be formed on auto-pilot)

Some lists will contain things that most agree on (the really bad stuff people can do) while other items will be almost an irrelevance... and muddy shoes are certainly towards the latter end of the scale... just slightly higher on some lists than others
 
This thread has two parts to it.

Judging people by dirty shoes - I don't agree with it, but yes we are all judgemental at times, just with different criteria.

Disrespectful to fellow players - sorry, a crock of.
 
Liverbirdie said:
This thread has two parts to it.

Judging people by dirty shoes - I don't agree with it, but yes we are all judgemental at times, just with different criteria.

Disrespectful to fellow players - sorry, a crock of.
Click to expand...

What about the third & primary part that is: Turning up for golf with dirty shoes?
 
Slab said:
What about the third & primary part that is: Turning up for golf with dirty shoes?
Click to expand...

My shoes get cleaned occasionally, maybe once a week.. Probably more often than I clean my wellies, which are also used for walking through muddy fields.. I'll ask the dog, but I don't think she finds it disrespectful when I put dirty wellies on...
 
Slab said:
What about the third & primary part that is: Turning up for golf with dirty shoes?
Click to expand...

Oh that's easy - that's a crime.

Well in some peoples eyes it is.

I hardly ever clean my shoes, so I disrespect everyone equally. Maybe I'm a commie or a leveller?

However, I play with all manner of handicappers, I rake bunkers, repair my pitchmarks, let faster groups play through and I'm generally a good egg.

Maybe we should have line ups , instead of throwing the balls up when having meets, then the clean brigade can go out early and "shine" together, whilst the great unwashed can have a sleep in, not shower, give our dogs a quick run round the block to have their daily poo (not picked up), and we'll spread our litter around the course, after you have gone.

Did you give the rulers out in class?
 
Smiffy said:
I haven't ever mentioned "golf ability".
All I ever said was that a pair of shoes caked in mud on the 1st tee would tell me the person was a lazy git and not a lot of respect (for want of another word) for his playing partners.
Click to expand...

My respect is based on people not being judegmental asshats (thank you bluewolf)
 
Isn't there a saying you can't judge a book by its cover ?

If I see someone looking scruffy on the course, I think that is a scruffy person. If I see a smart person on the course I think that person looks smart. That is all. I would not judge their character by how they look. Some of the smartest people are absolute nobs, and some of the scruffiest are my good friends.:ooo:
 
If someone had mud on their shoes on the first tee i'd be more worried about how much golf they had played recently compared to myself. When the dirty golfer outdrives you, hits the approach closer and makes the birdie, the last thing you should be worried about is how clean his shoes are.
 
Can somebody please explain how the cleanliness of shoes relates to Golf ability/knowledge/etiquette etc.
😃
 
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