Arnold Palmer: What I’ve Learned

The then 82-year-old golfer on how staying with the classic styles helped him dress well his whole life: It seemed like the guys that were really good always had a neat style for dressing. Hogan, Demaret, Nelson: They were the sharp dressers. My father was an Immaculate dresser. He was a golf-course superintendent, or a greenkeeper, and it might surprise a lot of people to know that one of the things that I used to see him do was shine his shoes. He’d shine his shoes when he got dressed to go out, whatever the occasion, and he could see himself in his shoes they were so shiny, and he used to say, “Arn, you can always tell the character of a man by the shine on his shoes.” The crease in his slacks — in suits and in his everyday clothes — it was like a razor blade. And I picked that up from him and developed a style for myself, and I must say that one of the nicest things I ever did was follow in his footsteps. I think there’s a relationship between the player and his dress. Does that mean that they all are gonna play good if they dress properly? Well, it doesn’t mean that. Read more at Esquire.