• We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas from all at Golf Monthly. Thank you for sharing your 2025 with us!

Shirt and a Tie

When should a minimum of shirt and tie be worn in the golf club restaurant?


  • Total voters
    121
I've been a member at clubs where jeans are allowed in the clubhouse & on the course. I've only seen a handful of people wearing jeans. I don't think allowing jeans really makes a dramatic difference apart from allowing a few people to feel more comfortable.

Shirt & Tie - only for special occasions.
 
If you like to wear a collar and tie, fine. If you like to wear jeans, fine. What is the problem with either?

I wouldn't play in jeans as I don't think they are practical, same as I wouldn't play in chinos or any other heavy cotton (or wear chinos full stop). However if someone else wants to that's their choice.

Comments like walking off if their opponent turned up wearing jeans are, in my opinion, laughable
 
We used to have a no jeans rule in the clubhouse. My mate's son & his wife, both of whom work in the pop music industry, came to visit him. They decided to go to the Club for lunch. Before they went his daughter in law came downstairs wearing denim shoes, jeans, denim shirt, denim jacket & denim cap. They went anyway, don't think anyone noticed!
 
If you like to wear a collar and tie, fine. If you like to wear jeans, fine. What is the problem with either?

I wouldn't play in jeans as I don't think they are practical, same as I wouldn't play in chinos or any other heavy cotton (or wear chinos full stop). However if someone else wants to that's their choice.

Comments like walking off if their opponent turned up wearing jeans are, in my opinion, laughable

Like.
 
We used to have a no jeans rule in the clubhouse. My mate's son & his wife, both of whom work in the pop music industry, came to visit him. They decided to go to the Club for lunch. Before they went his daughter in law came downstairs wearing denim shoes, jeans, denim shirt, denim jacket & denim cap. They went anyway, don't think anyone noticed!

Was she in Bewitched?? Cool.;) bewitched.jpg
 
I remember Tony Jacklin plugging his dreadful 'Great British Golf Club' idea at a local golf club.

'I guarantee you will never see anyone wearing jeans in a Great British Golf Club' he says in the club's lounge.

Trouble was that six foot in front of him was a camera man dressed entirely in denim.
 
To me shirt and tie should be for special occasions such as captains day, inter club comps and special events like majors where dinners are involved afterwards. Our club runs this policy and so many people stay relax and chil at the club after a Sundays game..... It works.
 
Come on own up, who is the fossil stuck in the 20's saying they should ALWAYS be worn?

I think you should be able to dress smartly and access any of the services and areas of the clubhouse. I dont pay a subscription to have rules shoved down my throat, and like others, there are so many scruffy beggars in clubhouses, maybe the term and standard of dress should be addressed not what is worn.

For all those Musty blazer crew, they should be made to wear smart trousers, smart blazer, crisp shirts and smart tie if that is what they want to wear. If they turn up looking like an extra for Oliver they should be kept out until they sort themselves out.:cheers:
 
I'm quite a traditionalist at heart so voted for special occasions like presentation night etc. These tend to be members only and so the issue of this image being off putting to visitors is mute as they won't normally be there. As I said elsewhere, aside from a few matches against very traditional clubs (Duke of Beaufort, Royal Household) the club has done away with jacket and ties and a sit down meal after club matches, opting for a brunch before and sandwiches and chips after, allowing players the chance to get away much quicker after the game's are complete.

It seems a much popular format and participation in matches (people putting their name up at least) has increased significantly. The club did experiment with allowing jeans but the members voted to revoke it at the AGM
 
This thread has gone off on a tangent a bit. It was not meant to start the great jeans debate up. After the other thread regarding making clubs more sustainable, I was just wondering on what the general thought is regarding clubs that make you get changed into a collar and tie to have your dinner. Does having to put on a collar and tie deter you from going into the restaurant for a bite to eat? There are still clubs out there that make you and are they actually loosing money through this archaic dress code?
 
This thread has gone off on a tangent a bit. It was not meant to start the great jeans debate up. After the other thread regarding making clubs more sustainable, I was just wondering on what the general thought is regarding clubs that make you get changed into a collar and tie to have your dinner. Does having to put on a collar and tie deter you from going into the restaurant for a bite to eat? There are still clubs out there that make you and are they actually loosing money through this archaic dress code?

I consider myself to be pretty traditional when it comes to dress code but yes, I think jacket and tie for lunch does put people off. I don't mind for a special occasion like when I played Swinley or Rye but I wouldn't bother eating at my own club if I had to change.
 
Actually, I don't think a dress code is what necessarily puts off people from using the facilities. The swindle I play in has some 80 or so frequent players. But I am one of a very small handful of them who use the dining room. What it is that puts them off, I don't know but it's unlikely to be dress code - as that is merely "smart casual please" (Ok, it does say no jeans, but that has not been enforced in ages and no-one cares - not even me). Its not price, as prices are reasonable. And the dining room has one of the best views in the whole of London. I think it's that some folk just don't see a (the) golf club as a place to dine out?

As to losing money - not sure they do, as the place is usually busy. Just not with people I play with.

Jacket & tie - special occasions was my choice. I accept it may put off one or two folks, but given that the special occasions are usually packed, it cant be many. And the truly formal "DJ & Dickie" events are always over subscribed. Point being, if the "occasion" is something you really want be at (whether it be just a lunch, or it's the grand ball) then you'll wear what you have to. But if you're ambivalent in the first place, then what one is allowed to wear is presumably not that key an issue? Put another way, do people really think "I'd really really want to go to xyz - but I'm not going to, because I cant wear my spats/jeans/cumerbund/fez (underline item of choice)? Do they?
 
I'm quite a traditionalist at heart so voted for special occasions like presentation night etc. These tend to be members only and so the issue of this image being off putting to visitors is mute as they won't normally be there. As I said elsewhere, aside from a few matches against very traditional clubs (Duke of Beaufort, Royal Household) the club has done away with jacket and ties and a sit down meal after club matches, opting for a brunch before and sandwiches and chips after, allowing players the chance to get away much quicker after the game's are complete.

It seems a much popular format and participation in matches (people putting their name up at least) has increased significantly. The club did experiment with allowing jeans but the members voted to revoke it at the AGM

Special occasions or if requested by Captain for reasons given above
 
Our place allowed jeans about 7/8 years ago. More or less anything goes in the clubhouse now. Nobody has died as a result. Most seem pretty happy and the levels of snobbery, confrontation etc are well down. I too don't get the "it will lead to wearing jeans on the course" argument. 1. Why the hell would that be a problem anyway? 2. It just doesn't happen. Saturdays we all wear the usual golf wear. Jeans are uncomfortable and not at all practical for golf so just don't get worn. I've seen the odd player nipping out for a few holes in the week wearing them but that's about it and I have no issue with that, it's a free country and they are harming nobody.
 
At the weekends I like to sometimes wear jeans. My wife wears jeans a lot, my two kids wear jeans a LOT. My club are trying to attract members to eat there and bring their families at the weekends, but you can't wear jeans, and so... so far, we haven't been. It would be nice to go there, sure, but usually we decide where we want to eat while we are out somewhere - and usually one of us has jeans on. There's enough to be thinking about with 2 young kids than making sure they're wearing appropriate dress for the golf club. So inevitably we just eat out elsewhere.
 
I voted for the nearest thing to: "when they ask for it". I don't make the rules - I just respect the wishes of those that do.
 
Top