Journal
What to put a young golfer in
Illustrative imageChildren come to the course long before they play it. They come because you are going, and they spend the morning on the patio, in the cart or at the end of the range. What they wear matters less for the dress code than for whether they are warm at eight in the morning and comfortable by eleven.
Children's sizing is not small adult sizing#
Baby sizes run by age in months, toddler sizes carry a T, and boys' sizes return to letters that mean something different from the men's ones. A boys' large is not a small men's large; it is a different chart entirely.
Children also grow through a size in a season. Where you are between two, the larger one usually gets worn for longer, particularly in a layer meant to go over something else.
Dress codes rarely reach the youngest#
Most clubs that ask adults for a collared shirt make no rule at all for a toddler on the patio. Juniors old enough to play are a different matter: at a private club the dress code usually applies to them much as it does to you.
Policies vary enough that the only reliable answer is your own club's. Ask once and you will know for the next ten years.
Warmth before anything else#
An early tee time is cold, and a child standing still at the range gets colder than you walking. A fleece layer they can keep on until the sun arrives does more for the morning than anything else they wear.
Hoods on children's clothing should have no drawstrings at the hood or neck. That is a safety rule in the United States for sizes up to 12, and it is worth checking on anything you buy, not only here.
What the rules require of us#
Clothing made for children 12 and under is regulated more tightly than adult clothing: third-party testing, a certificate covering the finished product, permanent tracking labels and flammability standards.
Those obligations sit with whoever makes and sells the garment, not with you. It is reasonable to ask a brand about them before you buy, and a brand that cannot answer is telling you something.
