What Men Should Wear to Play Golf at Forest Dunes
Most golf dress codes would have stopped at the word collared. Forest Dunes Golf Club did not. The club's own published Guest Policies page opens with "Proper golf attire is required." and then lists what counts: golf slacks, skirts, dresses, capris or golf shorts "(no shorter than mid-thigh)" "and collared or sleeved golf shirts." Read the second half of that shirt clause, because it does real work. A sleeved shirt with no collar on it satisfies the policy as written on the two main courses. What the same page refuses is just as specific: "Denim, sweatpants, gym or tennis shorts, cargo shorts, and other athletic wear are not allowed." No jeans, no sweats, no running or tennis shorts, no cargo pockets, and whatever shorts you bring have to reach mid-thigh or lower. All of that loosens in exactly one place, the Bootlegger, the property's ten hole par three, which the club describes as a more relaxed atmosphere where T-shirts are permitted and many guests play barefoot.
A collared or sleeved golf shirt, a golf bottom that finishes no shorter than mid-thigh, and nothing made of denim. That is the entire code on the Forest Dunes course and on The Loop, and the Bootlegger relaxes it from there.
The Forest Dunes course
Proper golf attire, in the club's phrasing. Collared or sleeved shirt, golf slacks or golf shorts at mid-thigh or longer. The club describes a parkland course with two personalities, a front nine running through the wooded Huron National Forest and a back nine set in sand dunes it attributes to ancient glaciers, so one shirt works in deep shade and open light on the same loop.
The Loop / The Bootlegger
The same shirt rule governs The Loop, which the club calls North America's only truly reversible golf course. The Bootlegger is where the page bends: a more relaxed atmosphere, T-shirts permitted, and many guests playing it barefoot. Covering both in one day is the real packing problem here.
Unless You Are Heading to the Bootlegger, the Collar Ends the Argument
Put on a collared golf shirt and nobody on this property will look twice. That is the collar's whole value here. It is not the only thing the policy accepts, but it is the only thing that clears the Forest Dunes course, The Loop, the clubhouse and the dining room without you having to remember which page you read the night before.
The collar also has to survive the round. The club sets pace of play at no longer than four hours thirty minutes for eighteen holes, which is a long time for a shirt to be sweated in and sat on in a cart. A soft collar stops standing somewhere on the back nine, and a collar that has stopped standing is the one thing a dress code was written to notice, which is why a Forest Dunes bag starts in the men's polo collection.
The Piece That Clears Every Gate
David Polo, Navy
$76
The collar is what turns the dress code into a non question, and PILLAR publishes this collar as firm, which is the spec that matters once you are four and a half hours in. It still reads as a collar walking into a dining room the club calls casual.
The ground here is sand under jack pine with the trees pushed to the perimeter, so a mid to deep solid reads cleanly against both the dark tree line and the open sand, which is navy's whole case.
84 percent nylon, 16 percent spandex. Four way stretch, sweat wicking, classic athletic fit, firm collar, U cut hem, pre shrunk.
You Will Read a Collar Requirement Into This, Unless You Finish the Sentence
The published policy does not require a collar. It requires a collar or a sleeve. The exact phrase on the club's Guest Policies page is "and collared or sleeved golf shirts." Most clubs write collared and stop there. Forest Dunes wrote the second option in, and a sleeved golf shirt with no collar on it sits inside the letter of the code on both main courses.
I am not telling you to test it. I am telling you what the document says, because the looser half is how you read the stricter half. A club that bothered to name the collarless case also named denim, sweatpants, gym shorts, tennis shorts and cargo shorts one by one. That is precision, not laxity.
A policy that will take a shirt with no collar on it has not stopped paying attention.
Unless the Trees Are Standing Beside You, Nothing Is
On the Forest Dunes course the front nine is sheltered by the Huron National Forest and the back nine is sheltered by nothing. The club describes that split itself: a parkland course with two personalities, the front running through the woods, the back set in sand dunes it attributes to ancient glaciers. You do not change shirts at the turn, so the layer is the part that comes and goes.
The code is one sentence. The ground is four separate things sharing one clubhouse. If you have packed for a single enclosed parkland course before, the way we laid it out in the guide to what men should wear to play golf at Montauk Downs, this is the same shirt discipline with a harder second nine.
The forest nine
The Forest Dunes front nine runs through the wooded Huron National Forest. The trees stand beside you, so this is the stretch where a layer earns its place.
The dune nine
The back nine sits in sand dunes the club attributes to ancient glaciers. Open ground, no tree line, nothing filtering anything.
The Loop
Plugged In Golf reports the trees are almost exclusively at the perimeter and the course is compact without many steep climbs. The review recommends walking it.
The Bootlegger
Ten holes, 1,100 yards, par three, by Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns. The club calls the atmosphere more relaxed, permits T-shirts and notes many guests play barefoot.
The clubhouse
The club describes the clubhouse and dining areas as casual. No jacket to pack, no second shirt, which only works if the first one lasted.
You Have Packed for the Wrong Round, Unless You Know Which Way The Loop Is Running
Ask the pro shop which routing is up before you pack, Black or Red. The club calls The Loop North America's only truly reversible golf course: the same eighteen greens and fairways played in two routings on alternate days. Tom Doak's own site has the Black running clockwise and the Red counter-clockwise, and he writes that the approach shots present so differently with a different angle to the green, and a different background. One shared green is named there, the twelfth on the Black serving as the sixth on the Red.
Reverse the routing and you reverse which shoulder the air sits on for the walk, and nobody says that out loud. Plugged In Golf's review reports the trees almost exclusively at the perimeter, a compact course without many steep climbs, and the firmest fairways the author had played. Nothing breaks the air for most of the round, in either direction.
Unless the Shirt Is Finished on Its Own, the Layer Never Comes Off
If your shirt only looks right with something over it, you will keep that something on through holes where you do not want it. That is the test, and it is the one most men fail here. The front nine is cool and wooded, the back nine is open dunes, and a layer that stops being optional is a bad decision you carry for two hours.
So the order matters. Shirt first, finished on its own, with a collar that still looks deliberate at the end. Layer second, and it has to be something you are glad to strip off at the turn. The longer version of that logic is in the piece on what to wear under a quarter zip, and the answer there is the answer here.
Unless Denim Is All You Own, This Is the Easiest Rule on the Page
Denim is out, and so are sweatpants, gym or tennis shorts, cargo shorts and other athletic wear, in the club's own words. Golf slacks, capris or golf shorts are in, with the shorts measured at the hem rather than the waistband, because the published line is "(no shorter than mid-thigh)".
The jeans question is the one men type at eleven at night, and the answer here is no. A polo with denim is a good combination in plenty of places, and we have argued for it in the guide to wearing a polo with jeans. This is not one of those places. The club named denim first.
| What the policy says | What that means in your bag |
|---|---|
| Proper golf attire is required. | Read it as a golf shirt and a golf bottom. Nothing has to be new. It has to be golf. |
| and collared or sleeved golf shirts. | A collar clears it without a thought. A sleeved shirt with no collar also clears it, as written. |
| golf slacks, skirts, dresses, capris or golf shorts (no shorter than mid-thigh) | Shorts are welcome. Check the hem, not the waist. |
| Denim, sweatpants, gym or tennis shorts, cargo shorts, and other athletic wear are not allowed. | Leave the jeans, the joggers, the running shorts and anything with a cargo pocket at home. |
| Pace of play is no longer than four hours thirty minutes for eighteen holes. A player assistant warns a group up to two times, and a third violation stops the group's play. | You are dressing for four and a half hours, not for one. A shirt that gives up at the turn was the wrong shirt. |
| The Bootlegger is a more relaxed atmosphere, T-shirts are permitted and many guests play it barefoot. | Bring the shirt you want to be seen in for the main courses, and something easier for the short course. |
Assume You Are Carrying Everything You Bring, Unless You Are Riding
Bring your own clubs, bring your driver's license if you intend to take a cart, and leave your own alcohol at home. All three sit on the club's Guest Policies page: each player must bring a set of clubs, a valid driver's license is required to rent and operate a cart, and guests may not bring their own alcohol onto the courses.
Plugged In Golf recommends walking The Loop, and a walked round is a different clothing problem than a ridden one. Sleeves you are not using turn into weight. That is why the three pieces below are a morning layer, a vest and a hoodie, and why the men's pullover collection is where to build the bag out.
The Morning
Alec Quarter Zip, Blue
$98
The Forest Dunes front nine sits inside the forest and the sun does not reach it the way it reaches the dunes on the back nine. This goes on at the first tee and comes off at the turn.
The Loop
Kevin Vest, Black
$78
Trees only at the perimeter means nothing stands between a player and moving air for most of the routing, and the course is walked, so the arms have to stay free. A vest answers moving air without answering it in the sleeves.
The Bootlegger and the Drive
Hayden Hoodie, Black
$98
The Bootlegger is the one course here where nothing is being tested, which is exactly why the hoodie belongs there and nowhere else on the property.
Unless the Clubhouse Is Your Last Stop, Pack for It Anyway
The club describes its clubhouse and dining areas as casual, which means the shirt you played in is already enough. That is the reward for getting the polo right in the morning. Nothing else has to leave the bag, as long as the first collar held its shape.
If the day turns into dinner and a drive, the Alec Crew in black is what I would leave in the car. Three courses, one shirt rule, one bag. The hardest part of the dress code at Forest Dunes Golf Club is whether your shirt is finished enough to walk inside in.
The Questions People Type the Night Before
What is the dress code at Forest Dunes Golf Club?
Proper golf attire is required. The club's published policy accepts golf slacks, skirts, dresses, capris or golf shorts no shorter than mid-thigh, together with collared or sleeved golf shirts. Denim, sweatpants, gym or tennis shorts, cargo shorts and other athletic wear are not allowed. The Bootlegger short course is the exception.
Can you wear jeans at Forest Dunes?
No. Denim is the first item named on the club's list of clothing that is not allowed, alongside sweatpants, gym or tennis shorts, cargo shorts and other athletic wear. Bring golf slacks or golf shorts instead.
Does Forest Dunes require a collared shirt?
Not strictly. The published wording is collared or sleeved golf shirts, so a sleeved golf shirt with no collar satisfies the policy as written. A collar is still the simplest way to clear the courses and the dining areas without thinking.
Are shorts allowed at Forest Dunes?
Yes. Golf shorts are listed as acceptable clothing, with the club specifying no shorter than mid-thigh. Gym shorts, tennis shorts and cargo shorts are named as not allowed, so the shorts need to be golf shorts.
What should I wear to play The Loop?
The same collared or sleeved golf shirt and golf bottom the rest of the property asks for. The Loop is where the clothing gets interesting rather than the rules: Plugged In Golf reports the trees are almost exclusively at the perimeter and recommends walking it, so a vest keeps the arms free.
Can you wear a t-shirt on the Bootlegger course?
Yes. The club's Guest Policies page describes the Bootlegger as a more relaxed atmosphere, states that T-shirts are permitted there, and notes that many guests play it barefoot. That relaxation applies to the Bootlegger, not to the Forest Dunes course or The Loop.
It Is the Collar That Does the Traveling
One property, two dress codes and three very different pieces of ground. Start with the polo, because the collar is the part that clears every gate here, then add the layers that handle a wooded front nine, an open dune nine and a walked lap of The Loop. Pack the shirt first and the rest of the bag gets easy.
