Am I the only one who misses the times when the champion golfers were playing bareheaded (Nicklaus, Seve, Faldo, Tom Watson) or with distinctive hats if they felt the need for one (Hogan, Norman)

I know this is pushed by brand marketing and their contracts with manufacturers but I find the look of players much less classy and unique than before. Nicklaus making that putt in 86 or Seve swinging out of his shoes at the Open - classic pictures and I think a baseball cap would have been out of place.

I wish one top player would have the guts to just say no and play bare headed.

Personally, I cant play with a hat on. I look so out of place even wearing one, and I get trash from kids I play with because I don't wear a hat. Its turning into golf apparel...

Sure there's money involved with wearing a sponsor's hat, but it's also about keeping the sun off your head and out of your eyes (without sunglasses). I live in Florida and couldn't fathom playing from April through October without a cap. I'd NEVER wear a Kangol or some of the old time hats, nor would I wear a bucket or straw hat.

Ask Stewart Cink or Jim Furyk if they'd go sans cap in the middle of the summer.

Paul Goydos didn't have a sponsor last year, yet he wore a cap for one of his local minor league baseball teams. I thought that was cool.

Kevin

There is the marketing aspect as you've mentioned, but you also have to respect the desire from some players to protect their noggins from the sun. Skin cancer is a real issue for players as they spend a lot of their time outdoors. Unless you have a big mop of hair, you will get sunburn which is not desireable on a regular basis.
The only thing with baseball caps (or any other headgear for that matter) that bugs me, is when players fail to remove them at the end of a round to shake hands - bad form!

Two words..skin cancer.

Nostaglic as the good old days were, the dangers of skin cancers and the like makes wearing a hat a darn good idea. Style of hats are another matter but to each their own.

If everyone wore a Hogan cap it would cease to be unique.

I guess you are a fan of Camillos Militia cap, Ryan Moore's headbands, Briny's wide brim and Tripplett's Bucket?

I like individuality but also love a good fitted baseball style cap.

You've gotta protect yourself from the sun, just ask Venturi.

He went to Long Beach State, that's the hat for that school.

Well I know the risks of skin cancer but a cap does not protect your neck, does it ? Anyway I doubt caps are UV-proof. Sunscreen is the only good protection

I bet some of those older players who spent so much time in the sun would tell you now that they wished they would have worn a hat.

THe biggest risk of skin cancer is the ears. I totlaly appreciate wearing a cap, in fact I'd almost never golf without one, but I am tired of Baseball caps as they have become nothing more than a billboard and IMO look pretty silly with nicer trousers. Pork Pies, FIdoras, Ivy League style.... All imo look better and are more practical.

Indeed it was.

No, a cap doesn't protect your neck. But the point of your original post had nothing to do with skin cancer or UV protection, but rather how the wearing of caps is driven by marketing and how a cap isn't as classy looking as some of the hats worn by players of the past.

The "classy" hats of the past wouldn't provide any additional UV protection, would they?

And you're right, the key is sun block. I go through 2 or 3 tubes a year and ALWAYS apply it to my face, ears and neck when I'm outside for any length of time. If I posted pics of my father-in-law's recent surgery for skin cancer, you'd all run out to CVS or Walgreens and buy sun block if you don't already have some. It ain't pretty, trust me.

Kevin

JIm Colbert always wore the bucket hat and upturned collar to help. A full brimmed hat does help protect the ears.

They also used to play in wool plus-fours (knickers), knee socks, neck ties, long sleeve shirts, and sometimes wool jackets.

(I'm not trying to be snarky. Just pointing out that, in addition to sun damage prevention and sponsor logo placement, times and fashions change.)

But then why do they still wear slacks and Collared shirts. The apparel of the past was would be typical attire of a person coming home from work and the hat was part of what was appropriate for what they wore. Yes fashion trends have changed, but Ben Hogan and Sam Snead were in style wetrher on the golf course or out for drinks, casual settings. I'm not sure that IMO a Polo style shirt and Baseball cap are considered appropriate together oputside of golf. Maybe for guys under 23 or so.

I miss the old bareheaded days of the pros - albeit in my case, unless it's raining or really windy, I'm still a paid up member of the bareheaded club.

A barnet you could lose a mammoth in and a home course in the north of England mean the last time my scalp saw the sun I was still in nappies.

Can you edit your original post to include a poll so we can see how many of US wear baseball style hats?

Anyone who has been hooked up to an IV due to heat stroke wouldn't give two $hit about a$$ or class it's about protecting ones self, and the marketing aspect has a huge play as well. I am sure that back in the 60's Arnie and Jack would have smokes around their kids to, but it doesn't mean the people of today should do the same. But that's just my $.02.

Yes absolutely. My point was about looks especially of the top golfers (and I prefer no hat to any hat at all), and then the thread diverged to sun protection being the rationale for wearing a cap, which I think does not make sense.

Mind you I'm not a fanatic and I sometimes wear a cap myself (without logo as I'm not paid for it), but that's to avoid the sun glare in my eyes, not to fool myself into thinking I'm protecting my skin.

How do I do that?

you should be able to click edit, somewhere on your near the window of your original post.

well actually I'm not really interested in knowing what other amateur players do. I witness it every week end on the course and as people are not paid for it and I usually don't admire them I couldn't care less what they wear as long as it's not offensive. My post was really about champions and the images of classic moments which stick in your memory...

IMHO......

1) You should probably stick to the old films if that's what you miss.

2) Your complaint is really, REALLY over the top in looking for something to complain about.

Hmmmm. That's a fair point. But then again, most people (nowadays) in polos and slacks wouldn't be spending the majority of their time outside like golfers.

I'm not sure exactly when or why the hat ceased to be a part of the daily wardrobe for men (and, to an extent) women in this country. But I'm also not sure that golfers' headwear (whether it be a hat of some kind, or no hat) followed the same trend as general fashion. (I'm not saying that it didn't - just that I'm not sure.)

1) That's true, I like old movies. But I like new ones too, they just don't have the same look
2) to each his own; I think I've seen much worse though on this forum. But you may be right, maybe I'm just too grumpy today

Was merely suggesting so that you could see the ratio or "bareheads to hats" of the WRXers.

AND.... the hats you'd like to see more of are those that farmers and cowboys are supposed to wear, not golfers. Do you really think these are better than baseball hats?

my dad is 65 & plays a lot of golf. he usually wears a callaway cap. last month he had a spot removed from his ear that was cancerous, but luckily hadn't spread. his doctor strongly urged him to wear a bucket hat that covers the ears in addition to sunblock (which he already wore)

my grandfather worked construction and had to have 1/2 his nose removed when he was older. cancer risk is serious stuff. i cover my neck, face, & ears with SPF 30 every time i play.

Again my preferred look is no hat at all, or maybe one like the one Sean Connery was wearing in Goldfinger.

I need to run but maybe I'll start the poll later

I never ever wear a hat when I golf. Main reason why I don't like hats is because I have AWESOME hair. seriously. and yes, I wear sunscreen. Even through winter months...even on mondays when I am sitting in my office under nasty flourescent lights...because those lights also make you age.
The day I start balding....which should be never, is when I'll start wearing a hat all the time.

You're right. There has been MUCH worse.....

You have the right to be a lit'l grumpy once in a while....

Grump-On.....

John F. Kennedy was the first US President in at least 75 years not to wear a hat at his inauguration. It was noted at the time. Since then, in the USA, hats for men as off-to-work attire went out of fashion almost immediately. A hat was seen then as being a part of the Old Guard, not the New Frontier.

My beef is towards the baseball hat worn backwards as a style. It seems ridiculous to me. But I really don't care how people wear or don't wear a hat. There are a lot more important things to worry about.

Okay, if its not offensive than why the post about it?


Here's the thing. I work outside in the sun most of the day at the golf course. I wear a hat because I like to keep the sun off my eyes and it sort of completes the look in my opinion. It also means I don't have to worry about fixing my hair in the morning

Now, as for the being paid thing, you seem like the kindof guy who's always watching out for what people do to you when it comes to marketing. Like it or not, marketing is a big part of our lives. Its everywhere we look, and sometimes we don't notice it (like that hamburger wrapper or that coffee cup). Heck, now you can go pick you golf ball out of a hole and theres an advertisement starting you back in the face. Even on this page, there's an advertisement at the top for either Nike irons or some golf mat, and now on the right hand side there's a golf course finder advertisement. Are you getting paid to access this site and see those advertisements? How about the car you drive? Should Ford pay me to drive a Mustang because I'm rolling around town with the running pony logo on the back of my car? Finally, did you sand off all the logos from your golf clubs? You're surely not getting paid to play those.

Its kindof a weak argument to be frank (in the nicest way) I won a pair of FootJoys on here, so it doesn't bother me that I wear a Titleist hat with 'FJ' on the side. I like the Seattle Mariners, I'll wear that off course without issue as well. The list goes on....

Caps protect your face and the top of your head. While not UV-proof (neither is sunscreen by the way) it is more protection than nothing.

I've played in the heat for a long time... in addition to sun protection, they absorb sweat so it doesn't wash away the suncreen on your face or let perspiration get in your eyes.

It is also a style of the times, like it or not. The hats that Hogan et. al. wore were attire that was also worn off the course.

As long as I don't have to look at 200 pounds of fat squeezed into 3 inches of spandex, I don't worry too much about what others wear. I have enough problems of my own.

I thought my initial and subsequent posts were clear enough.
I don't care if you wear a hat, even if there's Titleist on it. It's your choice and you're a free man and if you think you look smart in it or that it will save you from cancer then so be it. I sometimes wear a hat myself. I do own stuff because of the brand and I'm not ashamed of it so my post was not a rambling against brands.
I know OEM pay a lot of money to the pros to advertise their brands, and I love money as much as everyone else so if I was a pro and needed the money I would probably take the money and wear the goddam hat with the logo on it.
I was just saying that in my own eyes, champions (CHAM-PI-ONS) in their greatest moments look better without a hat. I just prefer the hatless look of Nicklaus in 86 or Seve at the Open to Phil wearing a KPMG cap or Ernie a SAP cap.
Now please stop second guessing what kind of guy I am.

Okay, gotcha. I didn't understand when you were talking about witnessing "it every week end on the course and as people are not paid for it..." versus CHAM-PI-ONS. I'm sorry, I'll take a seat and keep the confusion to myself.

Many of the players that I watched growing up did not wear hats. Most of these guys have huge sun damage on their faces. Look at guys like Nicklaus, Tom Kite and others. Their faces look 100 years old. A lot of golfers wear headgear today because it does protect your face and eyes (and ears if you have any hair), and that's a very good start.

Mickelson went hatless for quite some time - he looked much better, but was younger and slimmer as well.

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/jfkhat.asp

I wonder though, the OP was talking specifically about wearing Baseball style caps. I totally agree on the protecting oneself form the sun. But if that's the case why baseball caps that do nothing to protect the ears which are the most susceptible to skin cancer. From a style perspective I gather that the OP is saying that a Baseball cap doesn't look right to him as part of Golf attire. If Trousers and collared shirts are still the norm, then why are such casual caps as a Baseball cap the norm, beyond the function of keeping sun out of ones eyes, which can be accomplished by other means.

What defines "golf attire" anyway? Are we talking about $300 trousers by Zegna or some other expensive brand, or are we talking about $75 tech pants from Adidas, Nike or others, or a cheap pair of cotton Dockers type pants? Are we talking about a goofy Tabasco shirt a la Woody Austin, or are we talking about an expensive Burberry shirt? Mock neck or full collar? Are we talking about $300 FJ Classics, or better yet, ultra expensive FJ Exotics? Or $100 Nike, Adidas, etc shoes?

I suppose things change over time and not everyone likes change or accepts it. Who knows, perhaps at some point PGA Tour players might be allowed to wear shorts. Maybe, maybe not. I know the attire on the LPGA Tour has changed over time, and I tend to like it on certain players. The shorts are getting shorter every year!!

Kevin

P.S. This topic has really taken some interesting twists and turns.

I actually started a thread earlier that touched on the fact that Golf is kinda floating around somewhere between modern athletic and traditional clothing. To Me tradition of golf is eroding in terms of the appropriate attire. Heck Camo is apparently now acceptable. To me I'd like golf to figure out if it's traditional or if it's modern athletic.

Just a little more fuel to the fire, is that the styles tend to blend and IMO that's not a good thing. Tiger IMO dresses very well, except on sundays. The Slacks and Black shoes with Tech top and ball cap is kinda the fashion equivalent of a mullet (Business up front party in the rear) but in this case it's Business down low, Gym up top. IT's neither fully traditional nor fully modern it's just kinda Limbo.

Snopes is usually pretty good at this, but I trust Neil Steinberg's more extensive research a little more:
http://www.amazon.com/Hatless-Jack-Preside...n/dp/0452285232

Also, I was referring to Kennedy's Inaugural address as to his being hatless. He did, in fact, wear a cutaway, striped trousers, and a silk top hat to the inauguration. He removed it before he gave his address.

If I'm wearing a polo and slacks or plaid shorts my friends ask me if I'm on my way to or coming from playing golf even if that's just what I was wearing to class. Hat or no hat. my peer group looks at that attire as "golf attire" but it's hard to say what us young people think is inappropriate now a days. It would have to be something very outrageous for people to point it out.

(I know this is late in the conversation but I was thinking about it last night and wasn't near a computer)

-Micah

I wear some of my running/triathlon caps to play. They are made from UV proof material and also very soft and breathable, so yes, indeed there is protection beyond just covering.

Peace

Eisenhower and Truman might have worn them at some point on Inauguration Day, but neither wore one when taking the oath of office or giving the address. I am not sure about FDR or Hoover.

Baseball hats aren't exactly a new thing for the top players. Trevino used to wear them all the time. Player use to as well.

Even Jack used to wear them in the 1960s back in the old "Fat Jack" days. He'd show up at a course and buy the souveneir baseball cap for the event and then wear it the entire tournament. He stopped once he grew his hair out in the 1970s, but then when he lost the mop top in the late 1980s he started wearing a cap again.