I believe that removing your hat after a round and shaking hands with your opponent is a sign of respect for the game and opponents. A majority of golfers agree with me and yet there is seems to be a growing number of people who believe that this tradition has out lived its usefulness. I realize that some traditions surrounding our society are changing, but I do not believe that removing your hat to shake hands after a round of golf should be one!

I was taught by my father some hat etiquette. Many of the instances, like a church or funeral, still hold true. Additionally, removing your hat at table before eating is very important. As an older member of my family I have tried to instill some of these traditions (especially removing your hat at the table when eating) into the young members of the family. I believe it is important and shows respect to many of the people in the vicinity.

Back to golfing; the majority of golfers agree that removing your hat after a round is important:

Okay golf etiquette gurus, should a player remover their hat after a round to shake hands? Please explain. #golfchat

— The Grateful Golfer (@TheGratefulGolf) April 18, 2020

Removing ones hat as a sign of respect has many historical references. The primary one deals with medieval knights removing their helmets when feeling safe within a group. Moving forward, there are many different iterations about how we arrived at today’s version of why we remove our hat, but the bottom line is that we should still remove it after a round of golf.

On the flip side of the argument, the best reason not to remove one’s hat is because the first thing a person does is run their hands through their sweat soak hair or over their sweat soaked head, then shake hands. I agree that is gross and I can say without a doubt that I have never do this. Additionally, many did not see the correlation of removing one’s had and respect. They just don’t look a things that way. I can respect their view, but adamantly disagree.

Given our current climate, shaking hands also garnered some negative views. I think shaking hands is also respectful to your opponent and should continue in the future. Until the rules relating social distancing are change removing and tipping one’s hat will have to do.

Lastly, I found out something I did not know about removing our hat. When removing our hat, we should hold it in your hand so the inner lining is never visible. This is something I did not know. Thus I have learned something new today so the day is not wasted. I am not sure why, but it seems to be a thing. There are many articles on this topic, but Patrick Allen’s article: Everything You Need To Know About Proper Hat Etiquette from lifehacker is short and to the point.

Removing one’s hat and shaking hands after a round of golf is proper etiquette and a sign of respect. I think this is one tradition that should remain and I will continue to follow it as long as I am able. How about you?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!