Where’s the plaid? Group of guys buck tartan tradition, opt for ‘Loudmouth’ patterns
When packing in preparation for the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Rodney McDonald lays out the outfit he has planned for each day.
“We’ll get progressively louder through the week,” McDonald said.
He — and his friends, Dave Snively, and Steve, who declined to provide his last name — have brought their colorful pants and shorts to the tournament for at least 15 years.
“We’ve collected loud mouth clothing over the years,” McDonald said.
And “loud mouth” isn’t just an adjective to describe the bright colors and patterns.
It’s a golf clothing business that isn’t too fond of neutrals. The men typically buy new patterns to add to their closets from the tournament’s merchandise tent or online at us.loudmouthgolf.com.
The group smoked cigars and sipped beer from their red tartan plaid beer koozies near the concession stand off of hole No. 9 Tuesday morning.
McDonald and Snively live in Savannah. Steve travels a bit further, from the United Kingdom, to make the tournament each year.
Dave Snively sported yellow and orange printed pants in a pattern he said was called “Chirp Chirp.” A black Polo golf shirt featured pocket and collar accents in the same pattern.
Steve said he owns at least 30 pairs of Loud Mouth bottoms.
On Tuesday, he wore his Aloha girls shorts, a print made up of red and white hibiscus flowers, palm leaves and Hula girls in swimsuits and leis.
Over the years, Steve’s wife, Jana, has been roped into the group’s shenanigans. She bought a flamingo print skirt at the merchandise tent Tuesday to add to her collection of printed skirts, which already includes Clemson, Georgia and Hello Kitty prints.
For the second day of the tournament, McDonald settled on a lime green Polo and blue flower-printed shorts.
The green, red and white blooms were appropriately named forget-me-nots.
Kelly Meyerhofer: 843-706-8136, @KellyMeyerhofer
This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Where’s the plaid? Group of guys buck tartan tradition, opt for ‘Loudmouth’ patterns."