Country club dress code: what real clubs actually require

There is no national country club dress code. Each club publishes its own, usually divided by room (clubhouse, grill, main dining room), by activity (golf, tennis, pool) and by hour. Guides that generalise about “country club attire” tend to get the details wrong.

So we went to the source: the published dress codes of fourteen American clubs and two British golf clubs, each linked below. For every other code, from black tie to casual, see the dress code chart.

What “country club casual” means

Several clubs define the term in writing. Army Navy Country Club’s version: collared shirts (or knitted collars of at least an inch), blouses, sweaters, vests, jackets, trousers, “appropriately fitted and styled jeans”, and mid-thigh shorts, skirts and dresses, with clean sneakers, dress shoes or loafers. Shorts drop out of the definition from November to March.

St. Andrews Club’s “club casual” is collared or polo shirts, dress slacks, pressed khakis or tailored Bermuda shorts for men, “and similar casual attire for women.” El Caballero calls it “country club casual or resort casual”.

The tone of these documents is consistent. La Jolla says its policy maintains “the tradition, decorum and dignity of our Club. Proper dress is traditional and conservative.” Ardsley and Tamarack both ask for “higher standards of appearance than may be evident in public places.”

What almost every club agrees on

1. Collared shirts, tucked in, unless the shirt is cut to be worn out.
2. No athletic wear, cut-offs or distressed denim in the clubhouse.
3. Rules tighten by room and by hour: Thursday evenings at El Caballero, Saturday dinner at Ardsley and St. Andrews, after 5:30 pm at La Jolla, after 11 in the morning at Muirfield and Royal St George’s.
4. The golf course is stricter than the clubhouse about denim. The exception in our sample is Green Tree, which allows clean, undistressed denim on the course.
5. Tennis whites are not universal: required at some clubs, seasonal at others, and explicitly not required at Tamarack.

Country club dress code for men

Clubhouse by day

A collared shirt or mock turtleneck, tucked in; tailored trousers or shorts of the club’s stated length; a belt; hat off indoors. T-shirts, team jerseys, slogans, cargo pants and gym clothes are out at most clubs. Sleeveless shirts for men are often barred.

Dining room at night

Add a sports coat. Jackets are “highly encouraged” at Oak Hill’s grille, “strongly encouraged” at La Jolla after 5:30 pm and on weekend evenings at Ardsley, and required at Saturday dinner at St. Andrews Club outside the summer season. Resorts can be stricter still: The Greenbrier requires a jacket and collared shirt for men at dinner in its Main Dining Room.^[2]

Summer evenings and dances

If a club dance calls for black tie in summer, the Black Tie Guide notes that the white or ivory dinner jacket is appropriate in America in summer, typically at open-air country club and yacht club parties.^[3]

Country club dress code for women

Dresses, blouses or collared tops, collarless tops with or without sleeves, skirts, and tailored trousers or shorts, at the club’s stated length: “no shorter than four inches above the center of the knee” at El Caballero, “no shorter than mid-thigh” for dress shorts at La Jolla.

Sport halters and racer-back tank tops need a cover-up in the clubhouse. For lunch, cocktails or dinner-dancing, El Caballero suggests “dressier versions of these styles, in non-sport fabrics”. On the course, a sleeveless top usually needs a collar. Leggings are allowed at some clubs only under a skirt, skort or shorts.

Can you wear jeans to a country club?

You will often read that most clubs ban denim. In the codes we reviewed, the opposite was more common: clean, dark, undistressed jeans were allowed in the clubhouse by day at Oak Hill, El Caballero, Green Tree, Ardsley, High Point, Sand Point, Patterson, Brooklawn, Waynesborough and Army Navy. The limits are about condition, place and time:

• Condition: nothing frayed, faded, torn or patched.
• Place: usually not on the golf course, and not in some formal dining rooms.
• Time: Ardsley bars dress denim at Saturday dinner; Tamarack allows “dressy denim” only from October to April.
• Exceptions: St. Andrews Club bans blue and black denim everywhere; La Jolla allows jeans only in four named rooms.

Golf, tennis and the pool

Golf

The most consistent rules: collared or mock-neck shirts tucked in, tailored golf trousers or shorts, soft-spike or spikeless shoes, caps worn forward. DuPont offers a practical test: clothing made specifically for golf by traditional manufacturers is acceptable, and “Pro Shop merchandise can be used as a guideline.” Oak Hill allows golf hoodies only with small logos and a collared shirt underneath.

Tennis

Whites vary more than any other rule.

• Brooklawn: white required.
• Patterson: predominantly white.
• Waynesborough: all-white on clay from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with no more than 10% coloured trim.
• Army Navy: all-white on its outdoor Arlington courts from April to October.
• Tamarack: “no white requirement”.

The model for all of them is Wimbledon, which requires “almost entirely white”, excluding off-white and cream. How old the rule is depends on whom you ask: Forbes dates the written dress code to 1963, tightened in 1995, while the BBC, writing in 2023, called it 146 years old.

Pool

Swimwear stays at the pool; a shirt or cover-up and shoes are required anywhere else, including the car park.

Hats, phones and changing your shoes

• Hats: men remove them indoors; outdoors, the bill faces forward. Some clubs allow women coordinating hats indoors.
• Phones: silent mode; texting usually fine; calls only in locker rooms, the car park or designated areas. Brooklawn asks guests to remove earbuds in the main clubhouse.
• Shoes: change in the locker room, not the car park.

Weddings, parties and other events at a club

A private function sets its own dress code. High Point says private events are “subject to the dress code appropriate for the function”; El Caballero modifies its code through special event flyers; Ardsley points members to the flyer for formal and holiday events.

For a wedding at a club, dress to the invitation: see the dress codes guide, or cocktail attire if that is what the card says. Day-to-day country club casual is a close relative of smart casual.

British golf clubs: jacket and tie after eleven

The traditional British clubs regulate time rather than room. At Muirfield, golf attire is acceptable in the clubhouse before 11:30 am; after that, men wear a jacket and tie and women a jacket or sleeved dress in all public rooms, with smart shoes and no jeans or trainers. At Royal St George’s the cut-off is 11:00: then a jacket, collared dress shirt, tie, tailored trousers and dress shoes.

Shorts are handled differently too. American clubs regulate length (Bermuda, mid-thigh, four inches above the knee); Royal St George’s requires knee-length socks with shorts and Muirfield prefers long socks. Muirfield goes furthest on phones: no calls anywhere on its grounds, only a photograph, a score, or a brief look at your diary. Debrett’s notes that country dress codes in general are more traditional than city ones.^[1]

Country club dressing is mostly about upkeep: pressed, clean, well-fitting clothes in a narrow range, worn for years. Our guide to old money style on a budget covers how to build that wardrobe without overspending.

Questions people ask

Last verified 13 October 2026