Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms Calif. --
Some choose to call golf a sport while others will fight to the death to say otherwise. Regardless of any personal opinions, golf is a mental game. When things are going right it’s tranquil and peaceful. Players drive the ball straight; they hit the fairways and can sink a putt like a professional. On the flipside, when things go wrong during a round of golf it becomes a raging battle inside their once-cool and collected mind.
Players begin to overthink. They make small adjustments to their swing, change their stance and power through the ball instead of having a solid, fluid motion. Concentration is key whenever it comes to golf and mind-over-matter plays into every opportunity during a game.
Playing against your own strengths can make golf unlike the peaceful game it’s known to be. Each stroke is different, just like each course is different. The mentality behind a round of golf is what makes the average player grow.
To counteract any of these things some players kickstart their golf mindset by dressing the part of the aforementioned golfer. Does it work? Maybe.
Forty Marines and sailor from the Combat Center exemplified just that, a mixture of veteran players and some teeing off for the first time. One thing they all had in common was they dressed the way they thought golfer do.
“Pink shirt”
Professional golf has its personal flare when it comes to fashion. Rickie Fowler, the young faced golfer who always has the brightest and boldest outfit on the course. Tiger Woods who always wears red in the final round of a tournament because his mother told him it’s his power color.
These aren’t just their quirks, it’s their personality.
Here you have Pink Shirt, a seemingly fashionable man wearing pinstriped pants to go with black and brown golf shoes, a black scaly cap and a bright pink polo, because he’s not afraid to say, “real men wear pink.”
His attire rivaled Fred’s, a Vintage Club member, whose outgoing personality proudly matched his flashy plaid pants and red and blue Adidas golf shoes.
The crowd of golfers laughed as the two eccentric golfers were paired up. They proved to be the rowdiest of the bunch.
“Grey Fedora”
The man with the grey fedora sported a scarf, cargo shorts and a matching pullover.
He wore nothing that resembled golf attire. He wasn't dressed the part and he didn’t play the part.
He was a lefty, one of the only left-handed golfers on the course. His swing was rough and wasn't tuned like the club members in his group. Instead of the fluid motion people see from professional golfers, his swing resembled that of a lumberjack who was feverishly hacking at a tree to gather kindling for a fire.
He had better things to do, like continue his career as a high school physics teacher.
“Redneck 24/7 hat”
At the beginning of the day, Redneck 24/7 Hat looked like he was an inexperienced golfer.
He powered through his swings at the driving range. He threw more power into his swing than Rocky hitting frozen slabs of meat.
While most Marines and sailors sported semi-casual golf attire, Redneck 24/7 Hat wore cargo shorts, Nike running shoes with an orange sole and a grey polo.
Unlike most others golfing, he had his pocket knife tucked into his left pocket. Who knows why. Maybe he felt like cutting a few blades of grass away from his golf ball while he was in the rough, who knows.
He actually played pretty well. It goes to show you can’t really tell a golfer by the way he dresses himself. Though, in most cases, you can.
“Argyle Sweater”
Singling him out as “Argyle sweater” isn’t really fair. He dressed the part. That's an important first step.
At least he looked like he knew what he was doing. There must have been a memo because he wore khakis like everyone else. He matched it with an argyle sweater and a tan scaly cap.
Yep, that’s a golfer.
You could tell he was going to have a good time come drive, putt, or shanking it in the water.
Argyle sweater wasn’t going to play well, but he was going to look good doing it.