Anand Datla

Golf fashion: Getting shorty?

Why does golf shy away from shorts? Special feature on golfingindian.com

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Barack Obama by AP

Special Column by Anand Datla

 

The debate by Jessica Marksbury, who hosted Golf Magazine’s Jeff Ritter, Alan Bastable and Cameron Morfit has once again brought the discussion on shorts to the surface. The LPGA allows shorts for their women, caddies walk around in them, but the PGA and the European Tour seem to continue holding a dim view of golfers chasing low scores in a pair of well knitted shorts.

 

The topic has drawn mixed responses for those on the tour and from men around it. One of the most recent episodes was surrounding the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final in 2012. The event – not sanctioned by the PGA – invited golfers to play in shorts. Earlier that season, Rickie Fowler was featured on the Golf magazine cover in shorts.

 

But it is a bone of contention that seems too dirty for the PGA to deal with, at least for the moment. Golf is a game steeped in tradition and etiquette and many a traditionalist believes that the show of legs might take away a certain dignity from the men who practice it and the greens that foster them. Incidentally, neither the women on the LPGA nor the community of caddies that accompany the men on the PGA seem affected by it.

 

In fact the ladies have used shorts in the most tasteful manner imaginable, covering themselves with glory even as they woo their spectators with their shining toned muscles that carry them around the course. So it seems counter intuitive to disallow the men from playing golf in the convenience of a nice pair of shorts.

 

With the extent of walking around, in mostly summer like conditions, it would be a welcome relief for the golfers to be able to dress according to the weather. In this era where television controls much of how sport is consumed, greater comfort for the players could only help increase the speed of the game, making it far more attractive to the spectators.

 

But golf also has an exclusive appeal to an international audience with a certain refined taste. While change is welcome, the PGA might wish to address it with studied carefulness to avoid any backlash from its loyal base of fans. An obdurate resistance to change might not go down well with a global audience, especially when the PGA is unable to voice its opinion in clear terms.

 

A good first step might be to conduct a survey that combines samples from important golf clubs, a collective online response and the opinion of the golfers. The outcome of such a survey could be used to initiate or withhold change without polarising the people that hold this game dear.

 

Feature by Anand Datla, who is Management Consultant and Freelance Sports Writer.

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