When and where did not changing your shoes in the parking lot start?

[Anthony Gray]

  Do you have to take your hat off at Merion?

  Anthony

[K. Krahenbuhl]

  Do you have to take your hat off at Merion?

  Anthony

Can you make a shoe smell?

[Anthony Gray]

  Do you have to take your hat off at Merion?

  Anthony

Can you make a shoe smell?

  I'll bet you a hundred Kyle he slices it.

  Anthony

[Tony_Muldoon]

I have wondered if it comes from the Hagen story?  It has various versions but all of them have him refused entrance to the Clubhouse at The Open Championship.   Apparently he had his driver bring the Rolls Royce upto the front door where he ate lunch/or changed his shoes.

Wiki has it thus. 

"Hagen was a key figure in the development of professional golf. He emerged in an era when the division between amateurs and professionals was often stark, with the amateurs having the upper hand in some sports, golf among them. This was especially true in the United Kingdom, which was the leading country in competitive golf when Hagen began his career. Golf professionals were often not allowed to partake of the facilities of the clubhouse and were sometimes not allowed to enter the clubhouse by the front door. On one occasion he hired a Pierce Arrow to serve as his dressing room because he was refused entrance to the clubhouse dressing room."

So perhaps it goes back to the concept of Gentlemen Golfers?


PS where was that  RCP or RSG? Or do I mean Deal or Sandwich?

[Steve Salmen]

It's one of the differences between public and private golf.  Personally I prefer the parking lot, but I subscribe to the "when in Rome..." theory at private clubs. 

Last year I was invited to play an exclusive club and my host made clear that we were not to change shoes in the lot.  Fine.  At my club, I almost always use the lot.

The largest difference in my public/private behavior is this:  At private clubs, I always leave my car unlocked with the keys in the console.  Better chance of finding Paris tanning the the passenger seat than the car being stolen.

[Chris Cupit]

  Do you have to take your hat off at Merion?

  Anthony

Can you make a shoe smell?

How about a Bull shot?

[K. Krahenbuhl]

  Do you have to take your hat off at Merion?

  Anthony

Can you make a shoe smell?

How about a Bull shot?

The last time I saw a mouth like that it had a hook in it...

coming back to Champions this spring?  Bull shots are on me if you are.

[D_Malley]

i once played at a club which required that your golf shoes be given to the locker room attendent so that he can clean all grasses off of the shoes before they touch the club's turf.  can anyone guess the club?

[K. Krahenbuhl]

i once played at a club which required that your golf shoes be given to the locker room attendent so that he can clean all grasses off of the shoes before they touch the club's turf.  can anyone guess the club?

Alotian?

[PThomas]

i once played at a club which required that your golf shoes be given to the locker room attendent so that he can clean all grasses off of the shoes before they touch the club's turf.  can anyone guess the club?

Double Eagle!

[Andy Troeger]

i once played at a club which required that your golf shoes be given to the locker room attendent so that he can clean all grasses off of the shoes before they touch the club's turf.  can anyone guess the club?

Double Eagle is a good guess--they did this when I visited. I don't remember if The Alotian Club did or not--they might have but were more discreet if they did. Muirfield Village went a step further and changed my spikes!

[Damon Groves]

My board and membership do not have a problem with folks changing shoes in the parking lot.  It's that simple.  If they did, we wouldn't allow it.  We are a "golfers club," and our policies reflect that.

If we had shoe shine employees whose existence needed justification and the only way to do that was by forcing members and guests to change shoes in the locker room... maybe we would have that rule too.

 

My kind of club. Just can't see how this hurts the image. I think everyone knows it is a golf club and that people wear golf shoes to play. Clubs that demand such stringent rules have forgotten it is a game to be enjoyed and to make such rules only tells me they are more about their exclusivity and image then about a group of people coming to enjoy the outdoors and a friendly game of golf. Clubs that have no issue with this are clubs that have the right attitude.

I remember playing at LACC and my host reminding me multiple times of their rules. Either A) I am more of a schlep then I think I am or B) How sad that members are more worried about their rules then having fun.

[Jon Wiggett]

I remember many moons ago playing at Hillside, Southport and there being a sign requesting that 'golfers should not wear their golf shoes in the carp as the spikes might damage the new asphalt'. 

[Doug Siebert]

You don't have this issue if you do like me and wear sneakers to play golf.  If you need spikes you are swinging too hard!

[Sean_A]

You don't have this issue if you do like me and wear sneakers to play golf.  If you need spikes you are swinging too hard!

I guess you don't play a lot of winter golf or in England. 

I prefer to change in a locker room though I could care less about what others do.  I prefer to take my hat off indoors unless its cold, but I could care less what others do.  These sorts of rules are exactly why some are turned off to private memberships.  Folks with too much time on their hands trying to dictate to minions who pay their fair share.  As is always the case, live and let live. 

Ciao

[Dan Herrmann]

To me, this is a little like not allowing golf carts, but, on the other hand, I do understand it.   Many visitors to a country club aren't there for the golf.  They're there for a lunch or even perhaps a wedding.

While I couldn't care less, I'm guessing that there are some of those folks that would find shoe-changing to be a bit clumsy.
------
Doug - wear sneakers at my place, and you may find yourself doing a butt-plant when your fleet slip out from under you walking down a fairly steep hill in the rough.  Then again, a kid from North Carolina shot a 67 during an AGJA event here a couple of years ago while wearing sneakers.

[Anthony Gray]

   The problem is that the brits have the habit of changing in the car park.

[Steve Pozaric]

A friend of mine was playing Old Warson in St. Louis several years ago.  They were playing early in the morning and essentially no one was around.  He started changing his shoes in the parking lot and a club employee came from nowhere and informed him that that was not proper there.  He thought it seemed silly since no one was around but complied.

Slightly OT, but I flew to Phoenix a month ago and one guy on the plane actually wore his golf shoes during the flight!  I had never seen that before and thought it was kind of funny.

[Brent Hutto]

Slightly OT, but I flew to Phoenix a month ago and one guy on the plane actually wore his golf shoes during the flight!  I had never seen that before and thought it was kind of funny.

I dunno. Middle of winter and he probably wanted to get in 36 after his flight arrived. Or at least 27.

I've posted this before but a buddy of mine walked 10K in one of those Walk-A-Thon fundraisers in his home town. People pledge a dollar a mile or whatever. He did it wearing his golf clothes, golf shoes and carrying his bag of clubs. When people asked what was up he said "I do this every Saturday morning, why should today be any different?".

I actually think it's because he wanted to get in a quick 18 after the Walk-A-Thon was over...

[Kalen Braley]

Slightly OT, but I flew to Phoenix a month ago and one guy on the plane actually wore his golf shoes during the flight!  I had never seen that before and thought it was kind of funny.

I dunno. Middle of winter and he probably wanted to get in 36 after his flight arrived. Or at least 27.

I've posted this before but a buddy of mine walked 10K in one of those Walk-A-Thon fundraisers in his home town. People pledge a dollar a mile or whatever. He did it wearing his golf clothes, golf shoes and carrying his bag of clubs. When people asked what was up he said "I do this every Saturday morning, why should today be any different?".

I actually think it's because he wanted to get in a quick 18 after the Walk-A-Thon was over...

Brent,

I'm sure your buddy is a good guy, but that sounds like at least an Honorable Mention for one of Shivas' "You know your a DB, when you do this" threads... 

[Lester George]

The second day we had golf shoes.

Lester

[Roger Wolfe]

Slightly OT, but I flew to Phoenix a month ago and one guy on the plane actually wore his golf shoes during the flight!  I had never seen that before and thought it was kind of funny.

I remember back in the early 90's I used to leave a client's office and change out of a suit into golf shorts and a shirt and socks while on the DC Beltway in rush hour traffic in my 1981 Mazda RX7.  Glenndale in MD was a madhouse Friday afternoons and there was no time to f around in the locker room.  I am not sure I could even reach my socks to take them off these days... and I drive a minivan!!

Let me make one thing clear... you always follow club policies regardless of your personal opinion... I think everyone on GCA agrees with that.

[Anthony Gray]

Slightly OT, but I flew to Phoenix a month ago and one guy on the plane actually wore his golf shoes during the flight!  I had never seen that before and thought it was kind of funny.

  Maybe he wanted everybody to know he was a rater.

  Anthony

[Mike Hendren]

I'm a bit surprised by the responses.  Even Hillbillies do not change their shoes in the parking lot unless others are doing so in plain sight, thereby suggesting it is acceptable.  Having been guilty of the occasional faux pas as a younger man, I tend to err on the cautious side as a visitor.

Bogey

[Buck Wolter]

  Shoes?

You didn't do that to Kavanaugh did you? He's Old School.