The PGA Tour is Changing Almost Everything. Except The Dress Code Rule I’ve Wanted Changed For Years

Last week, at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, DP World Tour players got a choice most pros never get in competition: shorts or pants. With actual temperatures in the low 90s and a feels-like reading over 100 degrees, the tour and the tournament host let the 70-player field decide for themselves.

It wasn’t a first. The tour first allowed shorts in competition at the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Championship. Ernie Els called that move common sense, noting shorts had been discussed on tours around the world for years. 

For me, this isn’t a novelty. It’s the answer to a question I started asking years ago.

Early in my career, I worked on POWERADE. A big part of that job was digging into how hydration and heat affect athletic performance. Once you see sport through that lens, you can’t unsee it. 

So, when I started at the PGA of America in 2011, one thing jumped out. The PGA Championship was in August and had been for decades. The dress code mandated long pants. In 2007, the PGA Championship was played at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla., during a heat wave. During the first round, the heat index reached 108F (42C). 

I brought forward previous research I had seen that showed the impact on performance when core body temperature rises excessively and advocated for players to have the option to wear shorts.  The furthest I got was practice rounds and it took a while (about seven years). I’ll take the win but the heat doesn’t know whether it’s a practice round. 

What about the belt and the tuck?

Heat isn’t the only place the dress code runs into performance. Many clubs require a belt and a belt sits at the waist where the swing happens: pelvis and torso rotating against each other. There isn’t a hard requirement for a belt in the professional ranks. 

I couldn’t find a study that tested belts but a 2013 study had golfers swing in lumbar corsets. The hard corset reduced lumbar rotation while the hips rotated more to compensate: restrict the midsection and the body finds another way to turn. Obviously, I’m not claiming a belt is a corset but even the apparel industry seems to agree. Callaway built its Swing Tech line around eliminating restrictive waistbands, using stretch waistbands that keep the shirt tucked in. 

Same question for the tucked shirt. It’s anchored at the waist while your shoulders turn away from your hips. Does that cost anything, especially in the heat? I don’t know. Nobody does, because nobody ever asked.

What would I do?

I’m not asking for anarchy. Tradition matters … to a point.

However, in most sports, the uniform is a performance garment and it changes when athletes or evidence push back. Here’s where I’d start.

1. Adopt a heat trigger. The Abu Dhabi decision was ad hoc and so was the 2019 Alfred Dunhill. Heat was the trigger. Exceptions to dress codes are also fairly commonplace at private clubs where pants are typically required. 
2. Make the belt optional. If a waistband holds up the pants, the belt is decoration.
3. Test the tuck. A motion-capture lab has the potential to answer this. 
4. Ask what each rule is for. If it’s safety, fairness or performance, keep it. If it’s none of those, chuck it.

Golf chases marginal gains in every part of the game from shaft weights to ball spin. The dress code is the one place we’ve never run the test.

Do you play better in shorts? Does your belt get in the way of your turn? What did I miss? Let me know in the comments.