You would think that golf, being born of Caledonian heritage, its players would have traditionally sported the kilt and sporran. Especially as that sporran would have been perfect for storing balls and tees. The kilt is, in fact, rarely donned by doughty Scotsmen on the links. Sure, it’s a mite too chilly on the Forth of Fyfe and elsewhere along the Alba coast. A full-blooded drive by a kilt wearing golfer would give rise to new definitions of the Flying Scotsman. The game of golf is crying out for more drama and local colour in this scribe’s view. Why golfers don’t wear kilts in the Scottish game remains a mystery.

Pants Were Too Effeminate in the Ancient World

Did you know that pants were originally considered too feminine in the ancient world? Real men wore short skirts called a chiton in ancient Greece. Pants were Persian and way too effeminate for a warrior in those times in the Mediterranean. Of course, times change, and pants have become de riguour for blokes on and off the links. The kilt was a Highlander’s outfit of choice for charging into battle. Golf, as we all know, is a battle against the course, perhaps the kilt will stir up some testosterone for a golfer seeking better performances.

Bryson Swinging it Hard in a Kilt

Can you imagine Bryson DeChambeau wielding the big dog in a kilt and swinging at supersonic speeds?  It would be a sight to bring more attention to the game of golf than ever before. He already has the correct headgear to go with this fashion choice. Tiger in a kilt on his long-awaited return to golf? I’d like to see that! Young Cam Smith in the kilt would really suit his wispy mullet and facial fluff. Brookes Koepka, the angry golfer, in a kilt would bring the house down I reckon. Why golfers don’t wear the kilt in the Scottish game beats me, as it would enchant the fans.

Early Morning Golf in a Kilt

I see a kilt wearing golfer with leather bag slung over shoulder amid the morning mist and heather on the links. I hear the pipes, the pipes are playing, and Danny Boy is shouldering up that bag. He draws a baffy for the shot at hand and targets that yonder flapping flag. The sound of the sea can be sensed in the background, as ball soars through the dawn air toward a lonely green.  The crisp atmosphere has the hairs on his legs standing up, as he strides down the fairway. This is living folks, early morning golf in a kilt separates the men from the boys. Try it before you deride the idea out of hand.

The history of the kilt tells us that there were big kilts and small kilts. The great kilt covered you top and bottom and the short kilt just the lower half. The term kilt comes from the Norwegian kjalta because those Vikings were big in Scotland for a long time. The Scots were heavily influenced by Norsemen through interbreeding over centuries. The short or walking kilt was a seventeenth century invention. Kilts were outlawed by the English in 1746 in an attempt to suppress Highlander culture. The kilt was a symbol of Jacobite resistance and remains an intimate reminder of the desire for Scottish independence. To wear a kilt is to make a statement in a typically feisty Scots way.

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