Players on the Sacramento State women’s golf team have differing opinions on how they feel about the rising hemlines of skirts on the LPGA Tour, but their general consensus is the stereotypes are about individuality and self-expression.

Freshman Lexie Hall said what women wear on the golf course reflects their personality and the image they want to portray of themselves.

“It’s kind of whatever style you have is what you go with,” Hall said. “(It’s) like how (PGA golfer) Rickie Fowler dresses differently than anyone else, or (how) John Daly dresses differently than anyone else. That’s their form of expression and with girls it’s shorts or skirts, lengthwise or whatever it may be.”

Women’s golf fashion has been in constant evolution since they began playing the sport in the 1600s. Originally, the clothing women wore was constricting – long skirts and jackets, which was not conducive to swinging a golf club or to hot weather.

Over time, women’s golf attire became more functional, but was similar to men’s golf clothing – a loose-fitting polo tucked into long pants.

In recent years the LPGA has had a more relaxed dress code than the men’s tour.

“Some of them, I mean in the LPGA, don’t even wear collared shirts anymore,” said senior Julie Shutler. “They just kind of wear the mock tees or whatever and just a V-neck or something.”

Hall said she feels the LPGA is more laid back than the PGA.

“It’s kind of like girls just wear clothes differently,” Hall said. “So I think as long as (a skirt’s) to a certain length to where it looks appropriate and it isn’t too revealing that it’s fine to wear whatever because our bodies are totally different than a guy’s.”

Freshman Rockelle Sande said being able to wear clothing she looks good in helps her confidence level on the golf course.

“It’s not like I care how I look practicing, but in tournaments, it’s totally different,” Sande said. “It’s like, you look good, (and) you play good. That’s how I feel. Why do girls get their hair dyed? Why do they get makeup and stuff? You look good, you feel good about yourself, that strengthens your confidence overall.”

Hall said she likes the self-expression aspect of fashion.

“I feel like when we play we always want to wear like ribbons so we actually look cute while playing instead of doing like the average girl athlete role because at least we can spice it up and it makes it more fun than just wearing athletic clothes,” Hall said.

Former PGA golfer David Sutherland, Sac State’s golf director and head coach, said he does not think women are pressured to dress a certain way at all and are given the freedom to dress how they like.

“They’re allowed to wear whatever they want to wear. If they’re not comfortable in short shorts, then they can wear long pants; we don’t care,” Sutherland said. “It’s more comfortable to me that they feel comfortable on the golf course and they play well than they look good. The women probably care more than anyone else does if they look good, if that makes sense.”

He said he has not heard negative comments for or against short skirts from outside the golf team.

“I’ve never had a complaint against the women in my program about the clothing that they wear and I’ve actually had complaints against the men about the clothing they wear, so I wouldn’t say that the women feel (pressured).”

Shutler said women in the LPGA have more freedom than the Sac State women’s golf team does regarding how they dress.

“We probably have to be more conservative because we’ll go play at country clubs around here,” Shutler said. “Since we’re not members, they’re doing us a favor, so we have to abide by their dress code and a lot of times our stuff might be too short. So we definitely err on the more conservative side. I’d say in college, (it’s) definitely more conservative than the LPGA.”

Hall said she thinks women’s golf should be treated like what it is, a professional sport.

“I always wear longer skirts even though I’m sure like they should be shorter, but I still think it’s like a professional sport,” Hall said. “It’s one of the more classy sports and I just don’t think (Michele Wie’s) skirts are that appropriate. So, no, I don’t really like it.”

Hall said she does not think the LPGA women are pressured to wear shorter skirts; it’s their personal choice.

“Some of the girls wear the long Bermuda shorts and I think it’s the girls who are having more fun with the fashion of it that want to be cute while being an athlete that wear the shorter ones,” Hall said.

Katie McMillin can be reached at [email protected].