Golf needs to get over itself, Scottie Scheffler can wear what he wants and so should everyone else

Someone once ran across two fairways to tell my friend he was not wearing the right socks.

We’ll come back to that, but first: traditions are important.

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In Gloucester, Cooper’s Hill hosts an annual cheese-rolling competition. Why? Well, they just always have. 

It can be something as simple as a roast on Sunday. Often, the tradition serves no purpose but to create a comfort, or a sense of keeping things the way we like them.

Golf’s no different – it’s a very traditional game – and for the most part, that’s fine.

But sorry, why on earth are golf fans so angry that world No.1 Scottie Scheffler played North Berwick in an untucked round-neck t-shirt and shorts?

He’s an elite sportsperson, for goodness sake. Not a wedding guest.

These are just some of the comments reacting to Scheffler’s choice of attire at the iconic golf course ahead of the Scottish Open…

“This isn’t acceptable attire for a golf course and shows a complete lack or respect for one of the finest courses in the country,” one user said.

Another wrote: “F*** this guy. He has no respect for the game or Scotland.”

And a third put: “If you had any respect, you should’ve kindly rejected him at check-in until he found appropriate attire. North Berwick doesn’t need him. What an embarrassment.”

It is important to note at this point that golf courses do not have feelings, you don’t need to be offended on their behalf.

Some of the golf purists among you might remember when Tyrrell Hatton’s decision to wear a hoodie at Wentworth was the biggest scandal in all of golf.

And LIV Golf were able to claim their only real PR success just by allowing its players to wear shorts, as if the thought of athletes performing in the most athletic gear was a revolutionary idea.

Look, I get it. I’ve played golf for most of my life. I’m aware of the dress code. But let’s call it for what it is: golf’s way of keeping out the ‘riff raff’.

And it is one of the most outdated things in all of sport.

A few people whinging about Scheffler’s clothes on the internet is hardly a big deal.

But it does beg the wider question: why is golf so obsessed with what its players wear?

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The answer? Golf has a class problem.

Take your hat off in the clubhouse. Tuck your shirt in. Don’t change your shoes in the car park. Put your phone away. Those socks are too short. 

We’re not kids in a classroom. It just makes the game so unwelcoming and inaccessible.

Bringing it back to the man who made a 200-metre round trip to tell my friend his socks weren’t right, I remember distinctly asking myself, ‘What did that achieve?’ 

Unless the socks really were that offensive, to the extent this man could barely focus on his game, what was the point?

If we’re honest, it’s a God complex. It’s like the kid who brings the ball to school.  I make the rules, you follow. It doesn’t have to make sense.

Golf clubs become a place where some people go to keep the world the way they like it, where outdated attitudes are OK. It all adds up.

The game has improved in terms of diversity, but its ugly history means it couldn’t exactly get worse.

Women were only invited to join the world’s oldest golf club at Muirfield in June 2019. People of colour still make up a disproportionately small percentage of members nationwide. 

Golf is still a bit of a playground for elitists. That’s the way the world’s most powerful man sees it, anyway.

Back in 2015, keen golfer and President of the United States Donald Trump actually said: “Let golf be elitist. 

“When I say ‘aspire’, that’s a positive word. Let people work hard and aspire to someday be able to play golf. To afford to play it.

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“They’re trying to teach golf to people who will never be able to really play it. They’re trying too hard. People should come to golf, golf shouldn’t come to them.”

And that’s exactly what’s being enforced with the complaints about Scheffler’s clothing at North Berwick.

The message is: you’re only allowed to enjoy golf if you can afford to look the part.

Raw talent becomes encoded with class, and there’s no route to pursue for the working-class kid hacking about in the rough, who just needs a few tips to get better.

Golf just isn’t very appealing in that sense – especially next to sports like football. Imagine turning up to five-a-side and telling someone to wear a collar or tuck their shirt in.

And here’s the thing, it’s a massive shot in the foot. Curious golfers are put off because of the imposter syndrome. They don’t invest.

Anyone who loves the game will tell you that everyone should play. Not least for the benefits to your physical and mental health.

Those are universally great things. But golf’s image, for those who don’t love it, is snooty. And it is hard to argue against that.

How do you fix it? Well here’s a start. Let Scheffler wear whatever the hell he wants on the golf course.

And never, ever, tell someone off for wearing the wrong socks.