The nice thing about a warm, wet winter is that we, here in Central Kentucky. jumped into the spring golf season early.

The downside to this joyous turn of events for the public at-large is that my pasty, furry, Scot-Irish mutt legs made an appearance in shorts on the golf course much sooner than anyone could have expected.

These are the socks that started a crisis of confidence and an involuntary examination of my golf wardrobe.

Unlike during the cool late winter and spring season, when I play in slacks so hideous that The Wife won’t be seen with me in public when I wear them, once it’s shorts season, all of a sudden in matters which pair of socks I wear.

For several seasons now, I have worn predominantly black, no-show length Under Armour socks as my go-to golf sock.  Their low profile makes them barely visible to anyone more than a few feet away and they are super comfortable, which is of paramount importance to me because I walk, carrying my bag, almost every round.

One afternoon a few weeks ago, when my stash of black golf socks must have all either been in the dirty laundry hamper or in a clean basket that I hadn’t folded yet, I decided to sneak out for nine holes.  So, I threw on a pair of ankle-length white socks.

Normally, I would have never given this seemingly inconsequential decision a second thought.  However, on this particular day, every time I stood over a putt, I noticed my socks.  In particular, that I could see them at all with my peripheral vision was just plain odd.

This tiny, insignificant change to something that I’d basically taken for granted got in my way, mentally, for the entire round.  Also, it was perhaps the worst putting day I’d had all year.

Post hoc ergo proctor hoc.

These are my go-to game socks. Sure, they may clash with my shoes, but I don’t care, they just look and feel right when I’m standing over a putt.

My poor form on and around the greens very well may have had nothing to do with my socks.  Nonetheless, it was significant enough that I remember the whole fiasco now, several weeks removed.

Which all brings me to the fact that I do, almost by default and without much prior conscious thought, have a go-to golf sock.  Apparently, I have my absolute best chance to play better golf in shorts if I wear no-show socks that almost no one can see.

What about you, Dear Readers? Are you monogamous with the style or cut of socks you sport on the golf course?

Also, apparently, those hardly visible socks need to be some non-white color.  Black, grey, tan, even brightly or multi-colored fashion shocks can work as long as they aren’t white.

I recently received a pair of these Bombas socks as a gift and am completely sold on their comfort, even if they clash with literally everything I might wear on the golf course.

To play better golf, I’ve been told and taught to keep it as simple as I can and to strive to eliminate certain misses and flaws that can be fatal to my scoring and enjoyment of the game.

Before this episode, I never would have thought that the socks I chose to wear (or not wear) could have any bearing on my golf game.

Now I know the truth and have devoted infinitely more time to thinking about my socks (and golf shoes, for that matter) than I ever could have imagined.

Thanks for voting in the polls above, and I sincerely hope I haven’t awakened a latent distraction for your game as well.