Stupid Golf Problems: Is it weird to have a headcover from a course where you're not a member?
The bag of Golf Digest Managing Editor Stephen Hennessey, who is a member at only one of the clubs pictured.
In internet years, this debate is ancient history. It took place literally TWELVE days ago. In that time we’ve yelled and screamed at each other over anchoring, early-tournament WDs possibly called in by Las Vegas and fan discourse at the Players Championship. The “headcover from a golf course you are not a member at” discussion might as well have happened when dinosaurs were still roaming the earth.
Good news is, X/Twitter has a handy-dandy bookmark function, which I utilized to save this post from our buddy Chad Mumm, sent on March 5, back when Moses wore short pants:
This take, and the take it was “quote-tweeting,” naturally, had folks fired up. I wouldn’t say I was FIRED fired up, but as an apparent offender of this rule, I’ll admit I was lightly triggered.
Instead of rage-replying, or rolling out the equally insufferable “just let people enjoy things” BS Switzerland motto, I stopped and gave it some thought. Ultimately, I think it probably is a little bit weird to rock a driver headcover of an ultra-private golf club you were invited to play once and are not a member at with zero shame whatsoever. As “Yung Arnold” pointed out, a polo, a hat, a belt—things that are not on display every single time you play golf—is always a much safer route when you’re meandering in the pro shop of a Top 100 wondering what you’re going to purchase as a memento. Should you be imprisoned over it? No. Will people judge you over it? Yes.
Having said that, if you looked in my golf bag right now, you’d see that I very proudly have a Royal County Down headcover on my driver. It is one of my most-prized golf possessions, and I’ve yet to see a driver headcover in any other pro shop, including the little club I joined last year, that is worthy of replacing it.
Does that make me weird? Is it different when it’s from a historic destination course like Royal County Down in Northern Ireland? The no. 1 course in the world, according to Golf Digest? A private, members-owned club that allows non-member play? I don’t know, I don’t make these rules, and I clearly do not abide by them.
For me, every time I pull that red, white and blue Royal County Down headcover off my driver, it invokes the memory of standing on the top of the hill on the ninth hole and putting my arms around my dad and my brother Jack, posing for a picture that existed as my phone background up until I had my first child. It was a religious experience playing that golf course that day with those people I hold near and dear to my heart.
From teeing off in the bitter cold next to the Irish Sea, to making the turn when the clouds broke and the sun came out for the entire back nine, to shooting a million, to the Guinness and ham and cheese sandwich in the Murlough Room while looking out at the Mountains of Mourne after the round, it is a day I can remember minute-by-minute, second-by-second. At the time I was 26 years old, and I recall not sleeping the night before from the excitement, an experience I probably hadn’t had since Christmas Eve in 1999, when I knew I was getting a Playstation the following morning. That’s what that driver headcover means to me. If that makes me weird, so be it.
Does every headcover need to have a similar story to make it acceptable? That’s not really for me to decide. What I will say is this: I’ll never scoff or look down at anyone for having a headcover from a place they are not a member at. And perhaps it would be a good practice for us all going forward to simply ask the person when they got it and if there is a story behind it. If their answer is “oh, I just bought it the day I played there,” or “someone just gave it to me as a gift,” I won’t stop you from quietly judging them, but don’t be an a-hole about it. And, as Chad laid out in some follow-up tweets, it’s perfectly fine to have your OWN rules on these matters. Your OWN standards to live by. Once you begin projecting them on everyone else, though, that’s where you lose me.
Last week at the Players Championship, I asked a bunch of guys who play this sport for a living about this very subject, and I think you’ll enjoy some of their answers. A shameless plug, if you will ....
Do you have a "stupid" golf problem? A question you're too ashamed to ask your close friends? A conundrum that needs to be talked out in a public forum? We're here to help. If you have etiquette-related inquiries or just want to know how to handle some of the unique on- or off-course situations we all find ourselves in, please let us know. You can email me (chris.powers@wbd.com) or send me a DM on Twitter/X (@Cpowers14) or on Instagram (@cpthreeve).