Stupid Golf Problems: Why do I have to remove my hat indoors?

Earlier this week, I played in a golf outing at the West Point Golf Course in West Point, N.Y., site of the United States Military Academy. If you ever get the opportunity to play the course (it’s public), or go to an Army Football game, or simply visit the campus, I cannot recommend it enough. A soon-to-be-retired General spoke at this charity outing and told everyone playing in the event we were all “stakeholders” in West Point, which was quite a moving thing to hear. It’s the type of atmosphere that makes you want to fall the hell in line immediately.

>And yet, I noticed something inside of the newly-renovated clubhouse – a lot of guys had their hats on inside. If there were ever a place to remove your hat inside, even if you were the most staunch advocate of not removing your hat inside, it would be the place where you see the phrase “DUTY. HONOR. COUNTRY.” plastered on everything.

>In fairness, sometimes you just forget it’s on your head, and hats have become so commonplace that they are an extension of many men’s bodies. I should note, during the "Star-Spangled Banner," which naturally kicked off this golf outing at West Point, everyone removed their caps. But then most put them back on during breakfast and the pre-round presentation.

>I should also note, this is not something that just randomly popped into my head, and I wasn’t in full 75-year-old get-off-my-lawn mode. I’m 33, and while I do lean on the more traditional side of golf when it comes to dress code and etiquette, I did have mid-calf socks on and rather short shorts on. But I did take my hat off inside, a debate that will never die as long as our boy Lou Stagner has something to say about it on Twitter every now and then:

I’ve been meaning to write about this ever since Lou had everybody up in arms, but the scene inside the West Point clubhouse reminded me on Monday. Notice he also doesn’t care about sock length. I see you, Lou.

>Does he have a point? Dress code conversations always boil down to a very simple line of thinking for me – if a place has rules, you follow them. If a place doesn’t have rules, then you can do whatever you want. For the most part, private clubs do and munis do not. Does that mean you should wear a shirt with the sleeves cut off, jeans, a backwards hat and flip flops at your local public course? I guess that is what that means, yes. It’s a free country.

>As for a private club, the rules are usually well laid out by the member inviting you, or by employees of the club itself upon your arrival. If they don’t want you putting your shoes on in the parking lot, you shouldn’t do that. If they want you to remove your hat indoors, take off the freaking hat. You are a guest. If you want to bitch about the rules, do so when you get off the property.

>For me, hearing stories of the great Arnold Palmer asking folks to remove their hats indoors, and that still being a rule heavily enforced at his course, Bay Hill, is enough for me to always remove my hat inside wherever I am playing golf. Of course, in researching where the origin of this traditional etiquette began, the answers vary. Some say it dates to medeival Europe, when knights would remove their helmets upon entering a castle or church to show peaceful intentions. Others say it’s simply out of respect for whoever’s house your entering, be it the Lord’s or your aunt’s. And then there’s the most simple answer of all – it's just what you do.

>As societal norms continue to crumble, most times in the name of “who cares, rules are stupid” discourse, it seems like the absolute LEAST we can all do. Bare minimum. If you’re in someone’s house, a church, a beautiful clubhouse at a country club, in the presence of a woman or a military member, just take off the hat. The “who is it negatively affecting if I have my hat on?” question can be answered like this: how is it negatively affecting you to take it off?

>Do you have a "stupid" golf problem? A question you're too ashamed to ask your close friends? A conundrum that needs to be talked out in a public forum? We're here to help. If you have etiquette-related inquiries or just want to know how to handle some of the unique on- or off-course situations we all find ourselves in, please let us know. You can email me (chris.powers@wbd.com) or send me a DM on Twitter/X (@Cpowers14) or on Instagram (@cpthreeve).