Opinion & Analysis
What Your Golf Hat Says About You

Picture a bright summer day. The sun is shining through the trees and you need something to shield your eyes from the light. A hat!
Just about every professional golfer wears one to protect themselves from sun exposure… and because they get paid big sums of money to put logos on them. The last time I checked, however, 99.9 percent of golfers aren’t fortunate enough to have endorsement deals. So why do the vast majority of golfers in the world generally wear similar hats with very similar logos?
Here’s a list of some of the favorite hats worn by golfers across the world, as well a brief description of the golfers who are probably wearing them.
Titleist Hat
Usually a pretty good player. You’re obsessed with swing mechanics. Most of the other members at your course usually see you on the range with a tripod, an iPad, a launch monitor and at least three alignment rods.
- Common Line: “Do you mind filming a swing for me?”
- Shoots Around: 76, but you can shoot in the 90s when the swing gets “off plane.”
Beanie
Beanies are totally acceptable in the winter, but very few people have the confidence to wear one in the summer time… and you’re one of them. Somehow you keep your cool, both on and off the course, even though your bank account is overdrawn and your rent is past due.
- Common Line: “Can I borrow your (insert golf item)? I lost mine.”
- Shoots Around: 91, but you’re scary consistent.
FootJoy Bucket Hat
You’re obsessed with both the game of golf and sun screen… the SPF 100+ stuff. The white sunscreen streaks on your nose don’t fade until the back nine. You play about twice a week and take three minutes to hit every shot.
- Common Line: “Need any sunscreen? I have the spray-on stuff, too.”
- Shoots Around: You always seem to shoot below 85, but it’s never pretty.
TaylorMade Hat
For a brand that literally means “made for you,” you own a hat that is worn by countless other golfers. But you love your new TaylorMade driver, and you want the whole world to know it.
- Common Line: “I dropped my spin by 500 rpm with this driver!”
- Shoots Around: 83, but the way you drove it you should have shot 75.
(Insert Name of Financial Institution) Visor
You’ve been wearing that visor for less than a week, and you’re way overconfident about a recent day trade that made you a few hundred bucks… in less than an hour, of course. Your golf game is terrible, but you play all the time. As an “entrepreneur,” you get to “make your own schedule.” Your playing partners know this before you make it to the first green, which takes a few fatted pitch shots.
- Common Line: “How is IBM is down 5 percent today! Everyone said it was guaranteed to go up.”
- Shoots around: 112, but 95 when you’re keeping score.
Budweiser Hat
You get hammered before you even make it to the first tee. And whether you’re teeing off at 4 p.m. or 6 a.m., everyone knows within a few minutes of meeting you that you came to the course for a good time. Your cigarillos (usually Swisher Sweets, grape flavor) send a warning to nearby golfers to watch out for shanks, skulls and slices.
- Common Line: “(Something GolfWRX can’t print about a cart girl).”
- Shoot Around: Doesn’t keep score, ever.
Nike/Tiger Woods Hat
Tiger fanatic. You were slightly depressed for the 15 months Tiger wasn’t on the PGA Tour, and you’ve watched the 2016 Hero World Challenge on DVR four times.
- Common Line: “I’m getting close.”
- Shoots Around: 80, but you fist pump like a tour player.
Ben Hogan “Cap”
You’re over the age of 55 (or Bryson DeChambeau), and have read Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons and Power Golf at least three times. You’ve compiled a 50-page journal about what you need to do in your golf swing, and you’ve taped your favorite Ben Hogan quote to your bathroom mirror.
“The ultimate judge of your swing is the flight of the ball,” is your current favorite.
- Common Line: “Would you mind if I offered you a tip about your swing?”
- Shoots Around: You rarely break 90 (unless you’re Bryson DeChambeau), but you think your next swing change will have you shooting under par.
MLB Flat Brim Hat
You’re the guy who pulls driver on every tee box (except the par-3s). You normally out drive everyone in the group, but only hit one or two fairways per round. You’re constantly talking about your minor league days, and how things would have been different if you didn’t throw your arm out.
- Common line: “I’m soooo sore. It was leg day yesterday, bro.”
- Shoots Around: 105, but you’re really, really competitive.
Any Other Kind of Flat Brim
There are no 10-handicap golfers wearing flat brim hats. If you wear one, you’re either a stud or not very good at all. And you probably love energy drinks, and have at least one tattoo.
- Common Line: “Do you think the beverage cart girl has Red Bull?”
- Shoots Around: Under par or over 100.
No Hat
You’re legendary at your club. You break par almost every round.
- Common Line: “None. You don’t say much on the course.”
- Shoots Around: 68… from the tips.
What hat do you wear to play the world’s greatest game? Let us know in the comments section below.
Opinion & Analysis
The 2 primary challenges golf equipment companies face

As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Podcasts
Fore Love of Golf: Introducing a new club concept

Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Opinion & Analysis
On Scottie Scheffler wondering ‘What’s the point of winning?’

Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
Ed Bradford
Dec 16, 2023 at 12:32 pm
Nice selection. I personally purchased a golf bucket hat at https://bucket-hat-central.com/collections/golf-bucket-hat and I love it
Ed Bradford
Dec 16, 2023 at 12:30 pm
Nice selection! I personally purchased a golf bucket hat at https://bucket-hat-central.com/collections/golf-bucket-hat and I love it!
Oh Translate
Oct 26, 2023 at 11:36 am
Interesting read! It’s fascinating to learn how the hat you wear on the golf course can reveal aspects about your personality and style.
Miuralovechild
Feb 6, 2017 at 1:25 am
Still waiting for someone to make a Miura visor and put it on Ebay.
Golfraven
Feb 2, 2017 at 5:27 pm
Still Titleist hat dude, although I have only 2 alignment sticks (but other training gear) and use a iPhone plus. Rest it pretty correct.
M Smizzzzzle
Feb 2, 2017 at 12:04 am
Alt facts:
1. Titleist Hat: Dad hooked you up with everything and you think you’re going pro. You’ll work for him instead.
2. Beanie: Stoked about new marijuana laws. Dad is ‘waiting’ for you to come around.
3. Bucket Hat: Glad to just be alive. Dad waiting for kids to move back in any day now.
4. TM Hat: Just bought your 4th TM set in 4 yrs. Free hat from your ‘buds’ at the shop. Dad’s CC.
5. Visor: You got ripped off for only buying half a hat. Dad mad.
6. BW Hat: Your brother in law throwing you a bone to join him after the softball/achilles incident. First and last round. You have twins on the way and the race is coming up.
7. TW Hat: You wish they had 1080p when this dude was playing because watching the magic on Youtube is so F”N hard.
8. Hogan Cap: You don’t have a close friend to tell you otherwise. Keep on going out as a single and someone’s dad eventually lets you know. Or you’re pimp AF.
9. MLB Hat: Used to hit be good in pop warner and heard the swing is ‘basically the same.’ Dad loves his little slugger.
10. Other Flat brims: ‘Take that thing off when you are inside’. Dad.
11. No Hat: I’ll take you to the shop after this round if you promise you’ll keep practicing. See #1.
Charlie
Feb 2, 2017 at 3:36 pm
Great follow up. Had me cracking up
But why do 8 out of the 11 reasons have to do with Fathers/Dads?!?!? Daddy issues anyone???
M Smizzzzzle
Feb 1, 2017 at 11:42 pm
This one stings..
Shoots Around: 83, but the way you drove it you should have shot 75.
Brendan
Feb 1, 2017 at 7:59 pm
Mainly Taylormade hat guy, and other hats on occasion. 0 handicap and College Golfer
ThatGuy
Feb 1, 2017 at 7:41 pm
No hat except in winter, 0 hcp
Chemo
Feb 2, 2017 at 3:38 pm
100% Cancer
mhendon
Feb 1, 2017 at 5:48 pm
Hey can we just start making hats that say XL actually XL, I’ve got a big dome.
Ben
Feb 1, 2017 at 3:34 pm
Flat bill NBA hat (kings, rockets, okc or toronto)
Flat bill works well with sunglasses
29 years, +3
chip
Feb 1, 2017 at 8:48 am
Flat brim guy here. Age: 30. Handicap: 1.
chip
Feb 1, 2017 at 8:47 am
So according to WRX, theres about a 90% chance that if you wear any type of hat, you’re either not good or just OK. WRX, this article is struggling.
creeder
Feb 1, 2017 at 4:23 am
haha, this was a fun article and pretty accurate. i am a flat brimmed guy and yes, i can shoot in the 70s and then over 90 on the same day.
Egor
Feb 1, 2017 at 1:26 am
No hat or Mizuno visor, in blue of course. Not a legend (well, not a golf legend) 12 HI.
Jim
Jan 31, 2017 at 5:53 pm
I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a correlation between ‘living’ in a golf hat from pee-wee to pro that causes hair loss & receding hairlines in so many young guys on tour…
S Hitter
Feb 1, 2017 at 1:13 am
No. That is a myth. But a correlation has been made about having wet hair all the time that could lead to hair loss. But it’s mostly just genetics, there are plenty of people who have worn hats all their lives that have full thick hair
David Ciccoritti
Jan 31, 2017 at 5:02 pm
I don’t wear a hat and apparently I’m not doing myself any justice 🙂
Philip
Jan 31, 2017 at 5:01 pm
Like nothing … someone make a comment about your hat fashion-wear lately? It didn’t match the orange, red and lime green outfit?
Bob
Jan 31, 2017 at 2:53 pm
I prefer to not wear a hat but evidently my game doesn’t live up to that level. Also my dermatologist frowns on it.
nate
Jan 31, 2017 at 2:20 pm
What about the die-hard brand hats, mizino, ping, calloway, with matching bag and clubs
Tom
Feb 1, 2017 at 12:02 am
well ya got Ping right. One outta three your a flat brimmer.
Double Mocha Man
Jan 31, 2017 at 12:33 pm
What about the visor???!!!
Brian
Jan 31, 2017 at 8:51 am
Titleist (MLB) hat, but I’m usually in the 80-88 range.
Marco
Jan 31, 2017 at 6:50 am
Haha… I’m no 10 🙂
Love my flat birm and energy drinks. Can shoot 65 as well as 110 😀
Scott
Jan 31, 2017 at 9:46 am
65 to 110? I have told you a million times to stop exaggerating.
S Hitter
Jan 31, 2017 at 2:36 am
#8: or, you’re just a young plonker with an ugly name like Bryson
MuskieCy
Jan 31, 2017 at 12:18 am
Anyone who cares at all about what a hat looks like is a pretender.
I prefer contenders.
Mitch
Jan 30, 2017 at 11:15 pm
“What are we waitin’ for these guys?”
“Hey Whitey, where’s your hat?”
LaBraeGolfer
Jan 30, 2017 at 10:24 pm
What if I wear a white Mizuno hat, a TW hat, a Titleist hat, a Srixon hat, a Bridgestone hat, so on and so forth. I got hats for like almost every day of the month. Except I have to keep throwing the white ones away. Sometimes I go no hat if it’s stupid hot outside or I forget it.
Tom
Feb 1, 2017 at 12:05 am
ur a hat ho
Alex
Jan 30, 2017 at 9:57 pm
The no hat comment is hands down the most accurate one. The best player at my club just shows up with no hat, gets hammered, and turns in a 65. Every time. It’s unbelievable.
rymail00
Jan 30, 2017 at 9:50 pm
When I see the Hogan hat I hink Byrson or Little Rascals….either way kinda goofy
Acemandrake
Jan 30, 2017 at 6:28 pm
I might start rockin’ the bucket hat!
George
Jan 30, 2017 at 5:54 pm
I wear a blank white hat. No advertising any company for me. Means I dont need approval
Tom
Feb 1, 2017 at 12:07 am
and tighty whities
Double Mocha Man
Jan 30, 2017 at 4:52 pm
I’m a “no hat” guy. Just call me “Ollie”. I wore a hat once, at Pebble Beach, in the rain. It was from a ski resort. My caddy claimed he had skied there, too. I believed him.
Brad T
Jan 30, 2017 at 3:50 pm
look good feel good play good
K dawg
Jan 30, 2017 at 3:16 pm
Hats from top private courses say “I am privileged enough to have played this course which means do not argue with me about anything to do with golf. In particular course design”
Moose
Jan 30, 2017 at 3:03 pm
Free U.S. Open Hat (courtesy of the USGA members program): This guy is very cheap and he drives a Mercedes.
teetyme
Jan 31, 2017 at 11:46 am
Or a BMW like me. Those hats are light and comfortable. LOL
BooBunkie
Jan 30, 2017 at 1:59 pm
My hat says I’m NOT Ben Hogan. That hat should be retired out of respect for The Hawk.
Tom
Feb 1, 2017 at 12:15 am
so should fast cars outta respect for Benny Parsons
Justwellsy
Jan 30, 2017 at 12:37 pm
you forgot the snap back vs flexfit argument… or even worse, the velcro back. For the sake of this argument, no hats with team insignias will be considered, only “golf” brand hats. Velcro back guys are either really good or really bad, there’s no in between. Flex Fit guys are the guys that want to look good on the course. They don’t necessarily achieve their goal, but they’ve consciously thought about it and how other people perceive them is very important. Snap back guy either has a huge dome or is budget conscious. I myself wear a 7 3/4 hat so it’s very tough to find a flexfit hat that doesn’t choke my brain. Oh, and fitted hat guy?? That’s reserved for bald guys who wear “baseball coach” Oakley sunglasses. For us mere mortals, these hats just don’t breathe enough. Full analysis and selection chart to follow when WRX hires me as a staff writer.
KRo88
Jan 30, 2017 at 12:30 pm
what about a hat from a nice golf course public/private. or from the Masters?
Joe Burnett
Jan 30, 2017 at 2:35 pm
Considering I’m usually a Masters hat guy myself, I would argue these tend to be the “best-looking” athletic guys on the course.
Bobtrumpet
Jan 30, 2017 at 12:02 pm
Ben Hogan “Cap”
… or if you’re Ty Webb.
Blakester
Jan 30, 2017 at 11:59 am
If I had the game to back it up I’d rock the Chi Chi Rodriguez panama hat or some kind of casual fedora on the golf course. I don’t ever wear them in real life (unless I’m on the beach) but they protect your ears better from the sun and would set one apart from all the ball caps out there.
chinchbugs
Jan 30, 2017 at 11:56 am
“You’re a funny kid ya know…what time you due back in Boys Town?”