This is why the PDGA has a dress code.

[bradharris]

But on a recent Sunday, the players were neither sporting fancy pants nor wielding gleaming irons. Instead, they wore crumpled T-shirts and dusty sneakers, and toted colorful discs as small as dessert plates.

This quote was pulled from an article in the Sacremento Bee, cited in the PDGA e-mail blast that just went out.

It shows an outsider's view of the sport and those that participate in it. While ball golf gets terms like "fancy" and "gleaming" we get "crumpled" and "dusty."

I know there are plenty of people who will say "who cares what other people think?" But there are plenty of others who always ask "why aren't we taken seriously?" This illustrates one good answer to the latter question.

I agree with the former question a bit. It doesn't matter what others think as long as we enjoy playing. But at the same time, there are benefits to having a cleaner, more athletic appearance.

 

[HybridZombiw]

where is the professionalism and etiquette of that the sport needs? I too agree to an extent that it doesn't matter really what others think, but if you want this to be more main-stream, more endorsed and sponsored like golf and other sports a certain way of conduct is needed and respected.

 

[DiscNutt123]

Pay courses will change this. I wish there were a lot more pay courses. It sucks that outsiders see disc golf as a trashy sport.

 

[zenbot]

I like crumpled and dusty. :\

 

[bergdawg]

Bradley Williams wore a dress at Worlds last year. lulz

 

[BrotherDave]

I'd rather not wear my fancy pants when I have to go into the brier patch looking for my lie.

 

[Rocaholic74]

People stereotype too much. They have to realize that we don't play on pristine fairways and don't have caddies that carry our bags so that we can dress in $50-$100 shirts and so forth. We play in the trees, get down and dirty walking through bushes and shrubs and the like. This is a "dirty" sport and I'm sorry but even though I have the money to buy nice golf apparel I'm not going to buy some $50 shirt so some bystander can have a good impression of me and the sport. I'm not about to have it ruined by getting it snagged on briars and thorns. I'll leave the Polo shirts for when I'm on the links and not in the trees.

Sorry...rant over/ and now back to your scheduled posts.

 

[sidewinding]

I don't think the quote from the article was meant to be negative but simply pointing out that there are two different types of golf. If anything the term fancy pants could be viewed as more negative than dusty sneakers. This is simply a writer using terms to differentiate two groups of people to tell a story. Don't make more of it than it is.

 

[caseyb]

So whats the dress code? Polo Shirt and Khaki Pants/Shorts? Whats restricted from wearing during a pdga tournament?

 

[pineappletrees]

I almost bought a hat for a guy at a tournament this weekend because it looked like someone shot it with a shotgun and then rubbed it in bleach and poop. Tournaments should have dress codes...

 

[bradharris]

I don't think the quote from the article was meant to be negative but simply pointing out that there are two different types of golf. If anything the term fancy pants could be viewed as more negative than dusty sneakers. This is simply a writer using terms to differentiate two groups of people to tell a story. Don't make more of it than it is.

I agree that there was no derogatory intent by the writer. I'm just quoting it to illustrate the picture that gets painted.

 

[curveball4]

I'd rather not wear my fancy pants when I have to go into the brier patch looking for my lie.

:thmbup:
Also most nicer golf courses have a dress code, no collard shirt=no playing. Disc golf in a public park is no where near the same. I've played ball golf since I was 4 or 5 & I might wear a collard shirt if I have to but it's usually shorts & a nice (no holes or tears) t-shirt. But if you're talking about sponsored pros, I can see your point, especially if it's a big event. But if I'm playing disc golf, it's 95 outside, sweating my arse off, trampling through briars & bushes, I'm not wearing my Sunday best

 

[Jedi-D85]

It's a pain sometimes, but needed. In an organized event there should be a professionalism about it if we want the tour to grow and become more prosperous. While I don't think we need $200 pants and $100 shirts, but we also don't need some acid washed jeans from 1995 with holes all over them and a 420 t-shirt that looks like it hasn't been washed in a few weeks and has the stains to match as our apperance.
I think a decent jeans and decent shirt would be acceptable, even good athletic clothes work just fine. Plus if we create this atmosphere about it maybe theiving players wil be on the course as well as less broken beer bottles off the side of tee boxes as well.

 

[Stud Muffin]

This quote was pulled from an article in the Sacremento Bee, cited in the PDGA e-mail blast that just went out.

It shows an outsider's view of the sport and those that participate in it. While ball golf gets terms like "fancy" and "gleaming" we get "crumpled" and "dusty."

I know there are plenty of people who will say "who cares what other people think?" But there are plenty of others who always ask "why aren't we taken seriously?" This illustrates one good answer to the latter question.

I agree with the former question a bit. It doesn't matter what others think as long as we enjoy playing. But at the same time, there are benefits to having a cleaner, more athletic appearance.

I play ball golf and I play disc golf and I wear the same to both.

If you think ball golf doesn't have crumpled tee shirts and dusty sneakers, you are mistaken.

 

[DeadEye]

I agree the PDGA should have a dress code, but it's not like the players themselves have to dress in Khakis and a polo. You don't have to look like you're going to church, just look like you care a little about what you look like. Athletic clothing is the best, because it's reasonably priced, comfortable, and makes you look like an athlete.

 

[MikePinchico]

I won't play DG in this:

 

[JeCroisQue]

There's also plenty of ball golf courses that don't have much of a dress code. They tend to be in bad shape though. Walnut Lane in Philadelphia has more beer cans on it than most of the disc golf courses I've played at. You can pretty much play in any shorts or teeshirt.

I think tournaments should have dress codes. Nothing fancy, but a presentable look (clean athletic clothing) would do well to make the sport look more professional.

 

[xdzt]

I don't think anyone should feel pressured into khakis and a polo, but at the same time, I wish people would dress as nicely as they would at any other public place. I recently played with a guy who was wearing nothing but some dirty sweatpants that he had raggedly cut into shorts, and a pair of shoes. I doubt this guy goes into the supermarket dressed like that, or heck, I doubt he'd even take a normal stroll around a public park dressed like that. Why is it so hard for disc golfers to think of the course as a public location where you should dress in a fitting manner?

 

[Spookyspence]

I agree tournaments should have a dress code, I am fine with that..but at the same time if they introduce that rule I hope they don't start going crazy and introduce rules for longhair, facial hair, olored hair, no visible tattoos, no piercings etc.

 

[GUtz]

There sure is a dress code. Rule 3.4 of "Player Conduct"

http://www.pdga.com/rules/3-4-dress-code

But at the A/B/C Tier its the TD's discretion.

I'm sure if the dress code were enforced at a C-tier the turn out would plummet