Putter & Tweed

Hole 13 · Since 1930

Golf belts: from woven cotton to ratchet buckles

1930s to now: woven cotton, loud 1950s patterns, then ratchet buckles

Golf belts have kept golfers' bottoms up since the days of knickers and plus fours. Woven cotton and silk came in the 1930s, wide stripes and plaids in the 1950s, and nylon web belts with ratchet or friction buckles more recently.

A black leather golf belt whose metal buckle holds a ball marker and a divot tool
A black leather golf belt whose metal buckle holds a ball marker and a divot tool. Golfactor, LLC / Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Source.

What it solved on the course

Knickers and plus fours needed a belt to stay put, and pants or trousers still do when you crouch to read a putt. Newer ratchet and friction buckles close without holes, so the belt sits where you set it.

History

Early golfers wore knickers and plus fours, and those needed a belt. In the 1930s woven belts in cotton or silk turned up on the course and added a bit of texture and color at the waist.

The next change came in the 1950s and 1960s, when belts got wider and started carrying stripes, checks and plaids.

In the 1970s plenty of American golfers skipped the belt altogether. Sansabelts, a pant whose name tells you the point, came "in colors plucked off a Froot Loops box," as GOLF.com put it. Tom Shaw won three of his four Tour events in them. Golfers liked their rounded front pockets as well, because tees and ball markers didn't fall out when you squatted over a putt. Baggy belted chinos in off-white and tan took over after that. The brand survived: Peter Schwadel bought the Sansabelt name from Bud Ruby of Michigan City, Indiana, and relaunched it in 2013.

Buckles are where belts have changed most since. Nexbelt was one of the first companies to sell a ratchet belt in the US. GRIP6 makes a nylon web belt with no holes that holds by friction. 59 Belts, set up by a golf instructor to make custom buckles for golfers, had them on the LPGA tour by 2007. Leather is still the standard, and one maker, Patrick Gibbons, also works in lizard, ostrich and alligator.

Who wore it best

  • Tom Shaw

    Won four times on the PGA Tour, three of them in Sansabelts, the pants golfers of the 1970s wore instead of a belt.[2]

How to use it now

  1. Match the leather to your shoes: brown with brown, black with black.
  2. A web belt with a low-profile buckle lies flat under a tucked polo and won't dig in when you turn.
  3. Buckles with a magnetic ball marker save you fishing in your pocket on the green. Keep the marker small and plain.
  4. Allow one loud piece. A striped or plaid belt wants plain pants or trousers and a plain shirt.
  5. If you own one belt, make it narrow tan or dark brown leather. It works with almost everything in a golf closet.

Where to buy

New

Vintage

Links open the shop's own site. Some may earn us a commission.

Sources

  1. Fore! Score and Seven Belts Ago: A Golf Belt Odyssey, Antas Apparel. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  2. Vive Les Sansabelts! The once in-vogue trend of NOT wearing a belt deserves a vintage comeback, GOLF.com. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  3. Golf Belt Guide: 8 Brands You Should Know About, Practical Golf. Retrieved 2026-09-30.

Updated .