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.
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 “If clubs aren’t prepared to adapt, perhaps addressing issues around dress code and aspects of outdated etiquette in golf, they are going to be begging for members in the future,” he said.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.
Anders Mankert’s Leicester Golf Centre doesn’t have a dress code
(Image credit: Leicester Golf Centre)
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…
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