The LPGA Tour enacted a dress code midseason in 2017 and it was met with some pushback from many of the players on the circuit immediately. And it would appear those hard feelings haven’t softened just yet.
Michelle Wie, one of the most recognizable female athletes in the world, took to social media in recent days to give the LPGA Tour a jab in the side while she spends her offseason in her native Hawaii. Make sure to check out the caption Wie provided.
In July, the LPGA Tour informed their players that certain types of clothing would no longer be permitted and those breaking the rules would be fined.
Here’s what Ashely Mayo of GolfDigest.com wrote about it at the time.
Professional golf has become increasingly progressive when it comes to all-things fashion. Rickie Fowler regularly wears joggers with high tops; Nike started making polos without collars; and the European Tour allows its golfers to wear shorts during practice rounds. So it’d seem like a curious time for any of golf’s governing bodies to enforce a stricter dress code that limits an athlete’s style options.
But that’s exactly what the LPGA Tour has done.
Starting on Monday, July 17, the LPGA Tour will enforce a dress code policy that cracks down on athletic wear. In an email directly to Tour players on July 2, LPGA Player President Vicki Goetze-Ackerman outlined a list of items that will no longer be allowed. The email was marked as “important” and had a subject line that read, “Updated Policy to begin in Toledo.” Here’s the new dress code as it appeared in the email:
–Racerback with a mock or regular collar are allowed (no collar = no racerback)
-Plunging necklines are NOT allowed.
-Leggings, unless under a skort or shorts, are NOT allowed
-Length of skirt, skort, and shorts MUST be long enough to not see your bottom area (even if covered by under shorts) at any time, standing or bent over.
-Appropriate attire should be worn to pro-am parties. You should be dressing yourself to present a professional image. Unless otherwise told “no,” golf clothes are acceptable. Dressy jeans are allowed, but cut-offs or jeans with holes are NOT allowed.
-Workout gear and jeans (all colors) NOT allowed inside the ropes
-Joggers are NOT allowed
The harsh language here — capitalization of every NOT; dated phrases like “plunging necklines” and “bottom area” — begs the question: Who on the LPGA Tour began dressing offensive enough to drive the implementation of this new policy?
Goetze-Ackerman went on to explain that it’s an LPGA Tour player’s “job” to notify her clothing sponsors of this new policy, and that “penalties for violating the dress code will be a $1,000 and it will double with each offense.”
When we asked the LPGA to comment, Heather Daly-Donofrio, the tour’s chief communications and tour operations officer, offered the following statement: “The dress code requires players to present themselves in a professional manner to reflect a positive image for the game. While we typically evaluate our policies at the end of the year, based on input from our players, we recently made some minor adjustments to the policy to address some changing fashion trends. The specifics of the policy have been shared directly with the members.”
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