Tuesday

Barack Obama's Controversial Golf Style Statement

Several months ago I wrote about the great cargo shorts conundrum.

It was spring time... and the golf season was just getting under way. I had received an email from a reader who was struggling with dress code issues at his private club ...and most thorny of those issues concerned the voluminous shorts with multiple pockets.
"
The post asked, "Do cargo shorts belong on a golf course, or not?" ...and it provoked a visceral reaction.

Well the future president of the United States seems to have come down squarely on the side of the cargo wearing kids. Because that's just what he wore when he played in Hawaii over the weekend. Now Mr. Obama sported a neat, tucked in polo and a stylish leather belt but his trousers were definitely cargo.

Unlike others, I've spotted sporting the style the future President looked casually elegant, and I doubt he would run afoul of dress code warriors... no matter the club he was playing at.

I just wonder what he uses as a ball marker??













Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

22 comments:

  1. I love cargo shorts for the pockets. I usually wear these cargo pants I have when flying because I can put my wallet and cell in those pockets and they won't get in the way and I can button them in so I know they won't fall out. So there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I regularly committed this transgression of wearing cargo shorts until two things happened: 1) I started playing at nicer courses/clubs (I even wore slacks!) and 2) my g/f told me I was too old to wear them, saying "cargo shorts are for high school and college KIDS"..

    Personally, I agree with Joseph that the utility of cargo shorts is unmatched. Maybe President-elect Obama is carrying around James Bond gadgets in the pockets.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CARGO SHORTS ON THE GOLF COURSE ARE A SIGN THAT YOUR A HACKER. SO ARE CLIP ON TOWELS, TEE HOLDERS AND BEADS TO COUNT YOUR STROKES!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wear them for the cellphone pockets, when I'm not on a country club course.

    Muni's and other public courses see them all day long.

    Are they ugly? Mostly. But function beats fashion in my neck-o-the-woods ... mostly because I play during work hours and need that cellphone nearby in case, er ... in hopes that a customer calls with an order.

    Now that BO is wearin' 'em, maybe we can get a Presidential Pardon for wearin' 'em !

    ReplyDelete
  5. You can tell right away that he is not your typical hacker. He has a good strong overlap grip, his left elbow is tucked in, his weight over the ball is well distributed with good posture, and his shoulders are parallel to the ground. All in all I can’t see too much wrong with this golf swing, except the shorts with the big pockets, ha ha just kidding Mr. President.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cargo pants are for kids and those without any fashion taste or sense of dignity.

    That includes Obama!

    Have some class, put your stuff in your bag and turn your electronics off! If you are that important, you will have a caddy to hold that stuff for you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm so not sure about this one. I must admit Mr. Obama looks very smart in this photo--even with the cargo shorts. Hubbie doesn't wear cargo shorts on the course, but I did notice I bought him a pair of Nike golf shorts that have cargo-inspired flat pockets on one side. Maybe this fashion line is being blurred and becoming more golf-appropriate.

    Is that really a ball mark? How fun!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hacker!!! He'll have to stick to the Grille Room in that outfit...Ball marker is very hip, though...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Golf is not a game in which one makes one's own rules of dress. One accedes to a dress code. Collared shirts, for instance. P/E Obama may, in fact, meet the dress code for Olomana Golf Links--(41-1801 Kalanianaole Highway • Waimanalo, Hawaii 96795)--but from the swanky look of Olomana website and photos of its nicely stocked pro shop, perhaps not. In any case, if one is over 18, claims to be a golfer, and has been elected president of the USA, then why not set an example for others? Even Dockers would be better than the puffy pocket shorts. Those are for hiking, not golfing. The pro shop has what you need, Mr. P/E, and you will enhance your O-dentity.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've seen worse 'hacker' dress than what the pres-elect was sporting. At least he wasn't in a tank-top or construction boots like some of the meatheads that come to the course I work at.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am not much of a golfer--however, it is my observation and understanding that cargos do not belong on the golf course. However, Obama does look quite nice in them. However, he can get away with them--but a lot of men when they are pushing middle age if they wear cargos too baggy and with too many pockets it screams midlife crisis--no matter where they are wearing them.

    ~Becky

    ReplyDelete
  13. I don't think the baggy Cargos belong on a course. They are sloppy looking, in general. Tommy Bahama makes a slim flat front "cargo type" that is acceptable which I wear, but most cargo shorts just don't flatter the wearer and cheapen the atmosphere of the venue.

    ReplyDelete
  14. As someone who has played Olomana (and covered it in my book), I can tell you that it is a really, really casual, Hawaiian-style place. It can be a strange game of matching when playing in Hawaii. I have felt somewhat under-dressed when playing in my Ping golf shorts and tucked-in Addidas golf shirt with guys from the mainland playing in pants and packing full-on Tour bags. But that same ensemble has made me feel wildly overdressed when paired with locals in t-shirts, board shorts, and flip-flops (which is not uncommon at munys in the Aloha State). So, I gotta give Obama props for his insight. Cargo shorts, while slightly gauche on this side of the pond, tread a pretty fine cultural line in Hawaii.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Last I heard, his ball marker is from the UAW, but he's taking bids on a new one. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. I almost always wear cargos now, whether shorts or long. I concede that I'm not a fashionista, but they are comfortable and I like the pockets on the side for my wallet (and that is all when golfing -- the rest is in the bag or the truck). At work I will sometimes have my cell in the opposite side.

    I refuse to put anything in my back pockets anymore and putting a wallet in the front pocket is uncomfortable and awkward to get at.

    I think that there are some golf traditions that need to be bent and the narrow fashion is one of them. We don't wear ties on the links anymore, not even the PGA requires that.

    Golf needs to be fun and that includes allowing people to dress the way that they are comfortable to some extent -- even if it means Crocs 9=)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm pretty sure there will always be varying opinions on these provokative pants. Ultimately Barack Obama looked fine (pulled together nicely and everything in proportion. It's to be noted that Barack Obama has a pretty great physique and that certainly helps. I get the impression it would be hard for the President-elect to look sloppy if he tried. ;p

    ReplyDelete
  18. I agree completely with Lone Wolf:

    "Golf needs to be fun and that includes allowing people to dress the way that they are comfortable"

    I'll go even further. Life needs to be fun and that includes allowing people to dress the way they are comfortable.

    I hope the Southwest Airlines model represents the future of the workplace. Employees at Southwest headquarters - from clerks to VP's - are free to wear what is comfortable. And they mostly wear jeans and cargo pants and T-shirts and sandals and sneakers. I'm told the company does have some minimal dress standards, such as nothing too revealing, nothing with offensive wording, and nothing wrinkled or dirty. But that still leaves room for comfort and individual expression.

    If Southwest Airlines can conduct serious business in jeans and cargo pants, why can't golfers emjoy their round in like clothing? The world has been too stuffy for too long, IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Cargo shorts are the best.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Making holic gold is the old question : Honestly there is no fast way to make lots of holic money . Sadly enough a lot of the people that all of a sudden come to with millions of holic online gold almost overnight probably duped . Although there are a lot of ways to make lots of cheap holic goldhere I will tell you all of the ways that I know and what I do to make holic online money.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Very nice Site number one topic Thanks you..homeschool | high school ged

    ReplyDelete

Lets us know what you think...