{"id":15540026,"date":"2024-04-27T19:30:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-27T23:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&p=15540026"},"modified":"2024-04-27T19:30:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T23:30:21","slug":"pro-shop-merchandise-how-much-is-too-much","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/golf.com\/lifestyle\/pro-shop-merchandise-how-much-is-too-much\/","title":{"rendered":"How much pro shop merch is okay to buy? The Etiquetteist has thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pete from Memphis writes:<\/strong> A friend and I recently played as guests at a famously exclusive and prestigious club. After the round, my friend bought more than two thousand dollars in pro shop merchandise. I didn\u2019t buy anything. I\u2019m not a logo guy. I\u2019m also on a budget. My friend told me I was being cheap. I thought he was being tacky. What\u2019s the deal? Is there a minimum or maximum you should spend in a pro shop when you\u2019re playing as a guest?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Pete:<\/strong> Like you, the Etiquetteist<\/a> is cheap, but for self-branding purposes, he favors the term \u201cfrugal,\u201d which sounds more mature and fiscally responsible. It\u2019s a good label if you\u2019re running for political office, or trying to justify why you failed to shell out a single cent in the pro shop. You should try it on for size sometime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As to your question, though. The short answer is, no. There is no hard-set limit on either end, but there are some variables worth weighing.<\/p>\n\n\n

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If, for instance, you\u2019re playing at a remote club that gets few visitors, or at a modest club in town where the pro owns the shop and draws proceeds from merchandise sales, common courtesy suggests that you should buy something, anything. It needn\u2019t be extravagant. A cap. A shirt. A towel and a commemorative ball marker. Even a modest purchase will go a long way as a gesture of support. The same applies if you’re playing for free through some connection at the club; a pro shop purchase is a nice way to show your gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that doesn\u2019t sound like the kind of place you\u2019re describing. \u201cFamously exclusive and prestigious\u201d clubs \u2014 the Shinnecocks<\/a> and Cypress Points<\/a> of the world \u2014 no more need your financial backing than Tiger Woods needs PIP money. You\u2019re under no obligation to buy anything unless you accidentally knock over something precious in the clubhouse and it shatters on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n Lifestyle <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \"a <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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11 affordable Masters things to have someone buy you this year at Augusta National<\/a><\/blockquote>\n By:<\/span>\n \n \n Josh Berhow <\/a>\n \n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

As for the flip side \u2014 loading up on pro shop merch<\/a> \u2014 no one is going to quibble with you about that either. If anything, the club is likely to be thrilled that a sucker, er, shopper, opted to spend a mortgage payment on logo-ed apparel and accessories. Your host might even receive a quiet thank-you from club management for bringing a big spender onto the grounds, just as a casino would be grateful to a private jet operator for sending them a whale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only question worth examining has less to do with etiquette than it does with psychology? What, exactly, is your motivation for acquiring so much merch? If you\u2019re buying gifts for friends, okay, fine. That\u2019s nice of you. If, on the other hand, you\u2019re buying stuff to resell, that\u2019s bad form. You should find another way to supplement your income.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you\u2019re buying that motherlode of merchandise all for yourself? That\u2019s another ball of wax. The urge to amass large amounts of logo-ed memorabilia is a complicated impulse, and the Etiquetteist can\u2019t claim to understand it any better than he understands why anyone over the age of 12 not named Tom Brady would wear a Tom Brady jersey.\u00a0If you want a memento of your special day, or a conversation starter the next time you play at your local muni, fair enough. But if that’s the case, one or two items should suffice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why you purchased so much more is a matter too tangled for the Etiquetteist, who would simply suggest that all that money shelled out in the pro shop would probably better be spent on a shrink.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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If you spend a mortgage payment on caps and shirt, no one at the club is going to quibble. But questions about your motives might arise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15540028,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-27T23:30:19Z","apple_news_api_id":"5f90422e-4ce8-4bc3-b3e9-54245cd174da","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-27T23:30:19Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AX5BCLkzoS8Oz6VQkXNF02g","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[40],"tags":[44412,3519],"class_list":["post-15540026","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-etiquette","tag-etiquetteist"],"acf":{"tee_time_button_status":false,"wsum-gated-content":false,"wsotp_enable_one_time_payment":false,"ad_meta":false,"article_template":"standard","featured_image_caption":"The most famous clubs don't need your money, but they don't mind your support","featured_image_credits":"Getty Images","art_author":[{"ID":14045818,"post_author":"235","post_date":"2016-10-09 13:44:40","post_date_gmt":"2016-10-09 17:44:40","post_content":"","post_title":"Josh Sens","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"josh-sens","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-03-01 10:29:29","post_modified_gmt":"2024-03-01 15:29:29","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.golf.com\/?post_type=golf_person&p=14045818","menu_order":0,"post_type":"contributor","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"art_source":"None"},"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow much is too much to spend on pro shop merch?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you spend a mortgage payment on caps and shirt, no one at the club is going to quibble. 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