I don’t know if my family can pull this off. At the very least, we are already raising eyebrows at the driving range. However, we have a good friend who has volunteered to teach the girls to play golf, and the girls absolutely love it. It’s kind of crazy the way they pay attention and don’t seem to get bored.
So far I have concluded that dresses aren’t going to work. I’ve been perusing thredUP for golf-y clothes without much luck, but we do have some preppy looking shorts on the way. I think I will need to purchase more practical shoes as well. Larkspur may be going to golf camp this summer, and I don’t want her to stand out as a “nature person.”
Seth is joining them at my insistence. He’s pretty one track with his interests, and we do our best to encourage (gently force) him to widen his horizons. He definitely likes playing, so while he might complain about changing his plans a couple afternoons a week, he has a great time once he’s at the golf course. Gabe and Keats want to play too, but no way! They already play travel baseball, and that is enough. They get to tag along and putt sometimes but that’s it. My boys are funny. At my house they either they want to do everything or nothing when it comes to sports.
Any golf playing families out there? Care to share any tips, fashion advice, or just general stories? This is a foreign land for me. So far the main conclusion that I have reached is that I think golf will pair best with sock knitting.
Vivian says
Hey Ginny,
I live near place where the mens & women’s US Open will take place the next two weeks. Golf attire is easy here and mandatory if you want to play on any of the courses here. Go to Target, or *gasp* Walmart and get a polo style shirt, a pair of khaki shorts, and some regular sneakers to start with. That simple ands not much $$ to lay out.
For the record, I don’t golf, lol, but I spent plenty of time with my Gran out on the fairway 🙂
Nahuatl Vargas says
No golf here, but your pictures are beautiful, I think you girls had a jump of aging, they look older and beautiful in there pictures.
Anna says
I love the dresses myself. I agree with the other mamas about skorts. I’ve been dressing our little one in elastic waist skirts with leggings underneath.
Cary says
Tams!!! You can knit Tams with big fuzzy balls on top:) My husband is a golfer and he takes the kiddos out to play. Shorts & collared shirts are perfect- just as you thought. And a hat- to keep the sun out of their eyes. Or you can go the traditional route which will feed the knitting habit- sweater vest, tam, knee socks and knickers!!!
🙂 Who cares if she is “the nature person”- I have all ideas she knows that’s a good thing! And even nature people love to play golf- it’s outside. In nature. Kudos to you for allowing your children to explore hobbies outside of your comfort zone. I played with my husband and kids a few times. It was a disaster but we had a lot of fun laughing at me!!!!!
christy says
Its great to get the girls involved in golf. They look natural in these pictures. They should wear polo style shirts with khaki shorts/ skorts- for sure….
karen sue says
I wear shorts with a pocket for a ball or tee, or skorts. You could whip up a skort out of a pair of cheap elastic waist shorts and just a tube skirt joined around the elastic waist, just long enough to cover the bottom of the shorts. Elastic makes potty breaks quicker, too. I’d still think a pocket sewed on the back might be a good addition for your ball and/or tee while you’re walking to the next hole. And as in my own sewing of pajama bottoms, it helps you find the front from the back quicker!! If you have enough skirt fabric, you could applique a ball and tee on a plain tshirt and have a matched outfit…. have I made it harder or easier?? I guess my thing is the less flappy everything is, the better for me.
Sneakers are fine, but if you golf in wet grass, you’ll stay drier with golf shoes. Not at all a necessary thing, but when my kid started golfing with the school team, his sneaker feet were wet all the time and he’d have to switch each day between two pair, so the other could dry out. If you’re not golfing enough during the week, sneakers would be fine. You are swinging and swiveling in wet sometimes, so if the sandals you have let your feet slip and slide, they are a no.
Emily says
Hello Ginny! Your photography is just so beautiful- thank you! I am also wondering, where did you get Larkspur’s sandals?
Linda says
I don’t know squat about golf, but I’ll be sad to see those bright twirly skirts go. They bring a bit of whimsy to a game that has always struck me as taking itself too seriously. Have fun!
CathyC says
My 10 year old son has played golf since first grade and he absolutely loves it. Up until last year he also played baseball (town & travel) but he didn’t want to do that again this year. He is not into team sports at all, so golf is right up his alley. My husband started playing 2 years ago just so he can play with our son.
**There is a dress code where he plays and I have to say I really like having it because you should see how some of these boys dress otherwise. Boys must wear golf shorts, a collared shirt with 3 buttons that must be tucked into their pants, and a name tag. They have to look neat and put together. When my daughter played (she didn’t like it) she wore a collared shirt, and either golf shorts or a skirt.
Have fun!
Taryn says
Your girls are beautiful. My husband loves golf, me not so much. So hopefully our toddler boy will enjoy it in the future and go golfing with daddy. I look forward to your posts daily.
Dawn says
Our farm is just 15 minutes away from Pinehurst, NC where the Women’s and Men’s Open will be held during the next two weeks. So, golf is a BIG deal over there. However, one could say there has always been a kind of Great Wall between there and where we are so, unless you go over there, you would never know. The golfing activities are pretty self-contained, I guess you would say. I have never played golf and have zero interest in it but many people in our families do and my husband once worked in an IT job that had to do with golf (though he doesn’t play.) He says he hopes our boys don’t become interested in golf but we’ll see. I do know there are a lot of organizations that help enable children to play. First Tee is one of them. I personally would love to see children dressed as yours or ours out on a course. The typical golf uniform is just too preppy for me, I guess, nut I think girls have a little more lee-way to express themselves and still be appropriate. Hope they have fun! And, yes, knitting on the “sidelines” would be a great thing since it tends to be a fairly quiet sport compared to others.
Isabel says
well I love the yellow dress! I want one in my size!
and the twirling…. exactly perfect
Suzanne says
Really loving the “twirly dress picture” My 15 year old son took up golf last year. Maybe I should rephrase that….My 15 year old ballet dancer-singer-trombone playing son took up golf last year. He’s not obsessed with it, but he was quite happy to take a week of golf lessons and hit various courses. he’s starting another round of lessons tomorrow morning.
This boy lives in sweats (it must be a dancer thing?) but for the golf course he wears trousers (no jeans) and a golf shirt. Nothing special or expensive.
mari says
Oh Ginny, I was just saying to myself, I am going to have to make myself some dresses like those ;D … but for golfing, well, I guess it requires a different style altogether 🙂 mari
Kathleen says
Fabulous! Our oldest is going to start “playing” golf this summer also. She has expressed an interest and I want her to run with it. I hope they enjoy the time spent on the course. I don’t golf (very well) but it is nice to get out there and try. ( or just ride in the cart) 🙂
Stacy says
I heard once that girls golf scholarships are the most underused college scholarships out there… keens are good golf shoes.
Elizabeth says
Love the pictures! Sounds like you are well on your way to getting it all down, including what to wear. Good to balance/encourage kids in areas (i.e. not more sports/more to do for those who need it)… 🙂
Jenna K says
Hi Ginny,
I don’t play golf, but my husband does 🙂 I usually just take my knitting to sit in the cart. I wanted to tell you how much I admire the way you post. I love all of your beautiful vibrant photos and how they really draw a reader in from the get-go. Thanks for sharing this little bit of your world 🙂
Happy Friday!
karen says
my husband is a golfer and taught our 2 sons early on – they were on the course with him at age 5. Both are grown up now and still play. my niece was a great golfer – enough that people were talking scholarship – but she her love of music won out over golf. But rumor has it there are lots of golf scholarships out there – especially for girls.
Even though i do not play golf what I love about it is the ability to continue to play no mater your age. My parents both play and they are in their 70s
Maggie says
If you ever get up Chantilly Va. way, there is a great childrens consignment store, called Little Lords & Ladies. They are well stocked and probably have exactly what you need at a great price. They do have a web site, littlelordsand ladies .com.
Karen says
What a wonderful new sport for the girls. Great exercise and motion awareness. Golf courses are among the most beautiful places on Earth. Love the twirls. Tell them to “never” stop twirling.
tara says
So cute! I’m impressed – golf is hard!
I always wear shorts similar to what you described ordering and a plain t shirt. But I’ll admit that I always felt like golf was a little challenging to get dressed for – it’s so much more geared towards boys in that regard.
How fun they’re going to golf camp!
Amy says
What a great experience. They look like they are having so much fun.
Traci says
Hats and sunscreen. Have you seen the way those golfers dress? There are no rules.
I also have my boys bring their own water bottles.
Karen says
How adorable! That twirly yellow dress photo needs to be framed and hung in the clubhouse as the best golf swing ever!!
I’m not a golfer, but my next door neighbor has been playing since she was a wee thing… she ended up going to college on a golf scholarship! She often wore skorts, so she still looked girly (which was important to her!) but didn’t have to worry about being immodest with a skirt flying up.
Tina says
My kids are out playing golf with my Dad right now. I wouldn’t stress over the clothes- shorts, shirt, tennis shoes and my kiddos also like to wear a hat or visor.
Wanda says
I’ve played since I was a teenager and most of all the family plays now. My husband plays twice a week. The girls will be most comfortable in anything that is not constraining. Shorts or skirts ( gold skirts) would work best with a cotton shirt.
Those two just look precious !!! Not a bad swing there either! Cute idea for marking the balls!
Meryl says
Definitely some plaid! And have you looked at the patterns on Ravelry for golf club head covers? I confess, I do not understand why such things are necessary, but I’ve been secretly plotting a set for my golf-loving dad for quite awhile now.
kate C. says
They help protect the clubs that are made of wood from banging against the other clubs and getting broken. At least, that’s why people used to use them, because some clubs really were actually made of wood. Now they are made of titanium and such things, I think. But the covers still help protect them, and maybe just as important – it’s tradition!
Wendy says
Just hilarious–I agree, the twirly dress picture is wonderful. This brings back lots of memories as I started golfing around jr. high and continued playing off and on until I became a mom. It was fun, but I don’t miss it now–interests change.
My least favorite thing about golf was that I never quite got over the feeling that I wasn’t of quite the right pedigree to be out there on the course (I totally get your “nature person” comment 🙂 ) even though we mainly played at public city courses and small backwoods hillbilly ones with people who were probably “just like us”.
As far as equipment/clothing goes–shorts and t-shirts should be just fine, along with a good pair of tennies. Golf cleats would be nice, but not mandatory (I golfed in plain old Nikes for many years). I can imagine that golf cleats for kiddos would be fairly expensive, not to mention they won’t fit next summer–but they would cut down on the amount of twirling going on–but then again, probably not 🙂 Hope the girls and Seth have fun out there on the links!
Wendy says
And, yes, great sock knitting potential with golf–I think argyle socks would be super!
Rebecca says
I have a cousin who wasn’t into sports at all. His parents decided he needed to do something and signed him up for golf. He did extremely well and could have had golf scholarships for college, but he didn’t have enough love for the game and opted out, much to the disappointment of his father. My cousin did enjoy it though, it was good for him!
Elissa says
What Peggy said. The twirly dress picture is perfection!
Peggy says
Love that twirley dress picture.