Is My Dad Gay If He Goes on a Golf Trip With the Guys?

Every spring, Dad and seven other men leave for four days. They come back sunburned and very tired. We looked into what happens in between.

By the Gay-I Research Desk · October 3, 2026 · 4 min read

Four matching light blue polo shirts laid out on a condo bed beside a golf bag, a blue cooler, sunscreen, and a scorecard, each marked with a yellow numbered evidence tent — Exhibits 1 through 8, recovered from Unit 4B. The ninth exhibit was a receipt for 36 holes that were never played.

The Gay-I Verdict

Gay-I Reading: 22%

No, going on a golf trip with the guys does not make your dad gay. In most cases the annual golf trip is a way for a dad to spend four days away from his family without having to explain why. The Gay-I rates the trip low risk and high in sunscreen.

The golf trip usually starts as a joke in a group text. Somebody says "we should do Myrtle this year," somebody else says "I'm in," and four months later eight grown men are boarding the same flight in shorts.

Families tend to accept the golf trip without asking many questions. The Gay-I Research Desk is not a family. We asked several questions and assessed the risk.

Destination Analysis: Myrtle Beach vs. Scottsdale

Our researchers found that nearly every dad golf trip goes to one of two places. Myrtle Beach is the traditional choice. It has a lot of golf courses, a lot of pancake houses, and condos that sleep eight if two people take the pullout. Scottsdale is the upgrade. A dad who switches from Myrtle to Scottsdale has gotten a promotion or a new friend group, and possibly both.

Neither destination raised a meaningful reading on the Gay-I. Scottsdale did register slightly higher, mostly because of the spa.

A granite tee marker for hole 3, a par 4, on a Myrtle Beach golf course, set between two boxwood shrubs with pine trees behind it — Hole 3. Our researchers estimate that most golf trips never make it this far.Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Group Text

The trip runs on a group text, usually named something like "MYRTLE 2026" or "The Boys (Golf)." Our team reviewed the general shape of these threads. They contain tee times, a spreadsheet nobody opens, a running argument about who owes who $40, and roughly 300 photos of fish, even though this is a golf trip.

There is no emotional content in the group text. The most affectionate thing anyone has ever written in one is "safe travels boys." The Gay-I reviewed this and found it to be normal.

Matching Polos, Shared Condos, and Other Risk Factors

We scored the most commonly reported features of the golf trip. Higher numbers mean the Gay-I paid closer attention.

A steakhouse dinner reservation for eight (0 out of 5): Booked by the one guy who plans everything. The others have never thanked him.
Matching polos (1 out of 5): Someone's brother-in-law owns a screen printing business. That is the entire story.
Sharing a condo (1 out of 5): Eight men, one condo, two bathrooms. It is a cost decision. Somebody always ends up on the pullout and complains about it for the next year.
A spa appointment (3 out of 5): Scottsdale only. He will say it was for his back.
Coordinated outfits for a group photo at dinner (3 out of 5): Usually the same matching polos, worn a second time. We had to score it anyway.

How Much Golf Is Actually Played

This was the most important finding of the study. Dads describe the trip as "four rounds in four days." Our researchers estimate that the average golf trip includes about one and a half rounds. The rest of the time is spent at the pool, at a sports bar, at a pancake house, or sitting on the condo balcony not talking.

That last activity came up a lot. Dads on golf trips seem to enjoy sitting near each other in silence, looking at a parking lot, while no one asks them to do anything. When we asked one dad what the best part of the trip was, he said, "Nobody needed a ride anywhere."

This is the same conclusion we reached in our fishing trip with the boys dossier. The golf, like the fish, is mostly a cover story. What Dad is actually after is a few days where nobody asks him where the scissors are.

What To Do With This Information

Let him go. The golf trip is one of the most stable and least suspicious institutions in American fatherhood. It says that your dad has friends, which is good, and that he likes a break, which is fair. A golf trip cannot tell you anything about who someone loves.

If you want a second opinion anyway, upload a photo of him in the matching polo. You can also see how his trip outfit holds up in our shorts inseam investigation and dad sunglasses taxonomy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it gay if my dad goes on a golf trip with his friends?

No. A golf trip is a vacation with golf in it. Most dads go for the break from routine, the pancakes, and the chance to sit on a balcony without being asked to do anything.

Why do dads go to Myrtle Beach for golf trips?

Our researchers believe it is because there are a lot of golf courses, the condos are cheap, and someone in the group went there in 1998 and has been pushing for it ever since.

Is it weird that my dad and his friends wear matching polos?

No. Matching polos on a golf trip are almost always the result of one guy who knows a guy with a screen printer. The Gay-I scores this a 1 out of 5.

How much golf do dads actually play on golf trips?

Less than they say. Our estimate is about one and a half rounds per trip. We made that number up, but it feels right.

Can a golf trip tell you if your dad is gay?

No. A golf trip tells you your dad wanted a few days off. Nothing about a trip, a polo, or a condo can tell you anything about someone's sexuality.

The joke is on stereotypes, not on anyone's dad. Nothing on this page can tell you anything about a real person's sexuality. If your dad has actually come out, start here instead.