Not even Augusta mandates shirt colour

ORLANDO, Fla.

Here’s how seriously the Tavistock Cup takes itself. The annual inter-club exhibition between Isleworth and Lake Nona, which has been in the news this year chiefly because Tiger Woods chose not to play it, even requires reporters to dress in team colours.

No kidding. A nationally known golf writer from a leading industry publication showed up there Monday morning and was told he needed to wear either a red or blue logoed shirt, in order to blend in with the gallery, mostly members and measured in the dozens, there rooting on all the big-name pros who belong to either of the clubs, which are about 25 miles apart.

By the way, blue is for Lake Nona and red is for Isleworth, if you’re scoring at home.

He was offered a choice of official shirts to wear, but decided he wasn’t there to be a walking advertisement for either club and simply left, rather than wear the team colours. A wire-service reporter later had a similar experience. Both men were dressed entirely appropriately for admittance to any golf club.

The Tavistock Cup is essentially a promotional tool for the two clubs to attract interest and therefore to sell real estate. Woods, a member at Isleworth, usually plays it, but chose this year to go directly to Augusta National and make his return from his self-imposed exile for serial infidelity at the Masters.

Augusta National, in case you wondered, does not require anyone except its members to wear green.