Whenever you have watched professional golfers playing golf in the past, you may have never seen one sporting some cool tattoos.
Therefore, you may be wondering, why aren’t golfers tattooed up? Are professional golfers even allowed to have tattoos?
In this article, we will answer these questions and tell you exactly why golfers are not typically tattooed, as well as whether they are allowed to be tattooed.
Are Professional Golfers Allowed to be Tattooed?
Yes, professional golfers are allowed to be tattooed. However, PGA Tour Dress Code limits the types of clothes players can wear, including clothes that show lots of skin and hence, tattoos. Many professional golfers have tattoos that are hidden by their clothes.
In fact, there are no rules in the PGA Rulebook that specifically discriminate against tattoos, body modifications such as piercings, and others.
Technically, you can have any tattoo you want on your body if you are playing on the PGA Tour. However, make sure the tattoo design is not incredibly disrespectful (e.g. to the PGA), or you run the risk of getting extraordinarily banned.
Why Aren’t Golfers Tattooed Up?
The main thing to remember here is that there is a relatively small, but significant portion of golfers who are tattooed, but you might just not know it.
In fact, according to the PGA Tour Rules, there is no ban on tattoos or body modifications for professional golf players, but there is however a Dress Code.
The Dress Code holds the list of clothes professional golfers are allowed and prohibited from wearing. Generally, the PGA Tour Dress Code tends to avoid allowing golfers to wear clothes that show lots of skin, which is one of the major reasons why you might not see tattoos often.
The golfers that have tattoos sometimes have their tattoos covered up by the clothes they wear that need to abide by the PGA Tour Dress Code.
For example, very short shorts (that rise high above the knee), cut-off shorts & tank tops are not permitted on a PGA Tour Golf Course.
Examples of the clothes that are allowed on PGA Tour Golf Courses are shirts with collars, mock collars, slacks (“dressy” pants that are not too formal either), and shorts that rise no higher than 2 or 3 inches above the knee.
Other examples of prohibited clothes are jeans, sandals, shirts that show your nipples, and other casual types of clothes. You also are required to not show up without shorts or pants, and you cannot be shirtless.
PGA Tour players need to look presentable for the image of the sport of golf and for the cameras as the game is being televised worldwide. The PGA does not want to lose the image that golf is a classy, elegant sport.
Another reason why golf players might not have tattoos, despite it being allowed, is that golf is known as an elegant, upper class sport.
Tattoos carry a bit of a trashy, grunt, grimy kind of connotation with them, so golf players may avoid them for fear of not being accepted into golf communities, despite there not really being anything wrong with tattoos.
To illustrate this point, it is much more likely you will find a tattoo on a motorcyclist than on a golfer, simply because of society’s expectations of what the image of a golfer represents.
How Will People React To My Tattoos On A Golf
Course?
Like with almost everything in life, there will be mixed reactions.
Younger folks may compliment or see no issue with your exposed tattoos, and brush them off as personal expression, or not even notice them, while old scrooges may give you a mean look for “not respecting the image of golf”.
Whatever the reaction is, you are allowed to wear all the tattoos you want, even on your face, although you need to be mindful that our appearances do cause prejudice and generate emotions in others.
If you do not wish to ever be mistaken for a criminal or make people nervous and dial 911 on you, you should probably not get a face tattoo.
On the other hand, for some people, tattoos are a form of art and expression in which they can find energy and motivation to push through the low points in life. If you have tattoos, own them.
No one should make you feel like you are less worthy as a golf player just because you have tattoos; that is discrimination. The perfect “image” of a golfer is nothing more than a golden boy ideal; you do not need to model yourself after that.
If you are still not convinced that a few extra pigments of ink inside of your skin do not make you a worse golfer, look to some of the professional PGA Tour golfers that have tattoos, such as:
Boo Weekly
D.J. Trahan
Matt Stieger
Matt Every
Justin Thomas
Max Homa
Rory Sabbatini
Rickie Fowler
Danny Willett
Tyler McCumber
Bubba Watson
Lydia Ko
Carly Booth
Mel Reid
Seve Ballasteros
James Nitties
Francesco Molinari
All these golf players listed above have tattoos and are professional golf players that likely outrank anyone that could ever badmouth you on a golf course for having tattoos.
The existence of these tattooed players should prove to your subconscious mind that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a tattooed golf player, and that your performances will absolutely not suffer from having them.
Believe in yourself, and own every part of you that you cannot improve or that you intentionally designed.
Conclusion
There you go! After reading this article, you have learned whether professional golfers can be tattooed in the PGA, and why more golfers are not tattooed.
This article went over the PGA Tour rulings on tattoos, the specific reasons why more golfers are not tattooed, as well as how other people will view your tattoos while you are on the golf course.
Do you like tattoos on golfers? Do tattoos break the elegance of golf? Let us know in the comments down below!
