Golf fans are not down with the upside down trend.
I’m sure you’ve seen the new style of hat at some point. It’s hard to pinpoint where or when the trend started (some blame Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott), but somewhere along the way, someone asked this question when designing the front of a hat:
“What if we took whatever font and text that was going to be used and turned it upside down?”
Though it might not seem like that big of a deal, the decision to just start flipping things upside down and slapping them on the front of hats has been quite divisive. Some people – primarily the younger generation – love it. Others – mostly older people with more traditional views – despise the hats.
Which brings us to reigning U.S. Amateur Champion José Luis Ballester, who is a Spanish golfer who is currently making his Masters debut. Ballester is currently in the midst of his senior year at Arizona State University, and because he won the U.S. Am last summer, he earned an invitation to play at the prestigious Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
The beloved major tournament has a rich history of amateur participation, and Ballester is one of five amateurs in the field this year. And he’s already making headlines during the first round, and you’d probably assume that’s a good thing, right? Well… not exactly. The 21-year-old decided to wear an upside down “Sun Devils” text hat during the opening round, and though there’s nothing wrong with representing his university, people hated the fashion choice:
Does anyone else just not get the appeal of wearing a hat with upside down text?
Am I (or anyone else) supposed to see that and think, “Oh how cool, it took me a second to read your hat because the text is upside down!” You may feel indifferent about the style of hat, or you might be finding out about it for the very first time.
For those that are aware of the stupid hats, and have vast appreciation for the tradition of the Masters, they are ripping into José Luis Ballester for “not respecting” the tournament that he’s playing in:
Deplorable
— B³ (@BensonBunnyBoy) April 10, 2025
ASU. Checks out
— Jordan Gilbert (@tunesquadjordan) April 10, 2025
Hope he shoots 90 today
— Obi Plumbus (@oplumbus69) April 10, 2025
Awful, should be escorted out
— James Johnson III (@johnson_james24) April 10, 2025
This amateur’s hat is so unbelievably stupid.
End the upside down hat trend IMMEDIATELY. pic.twitter.com/JDe2NxlO3D
— Jake Brend (@JakeBrendTV) April 10, 2025
The game has left us
— Johnny Manziel (@johnnymanzjel2) April 10, 2025
Just a little bit of fucking respect is all we ask.
— Reese Knox, CFA (@reesechillings) April 10, 2025
Should be banned from Augusta
— J.R. Ballz, MBA (@RichardBallz27) April 10, 2025
Ballester wearing the upside down Sun Devils hat at Augusta is some real Arizona State Dbag energy pic.twitter.com/BDbfLjyZzG
— Bunkie Perkins (@BunkiePerkins) April 10, 2025
So are golf fans overreacting about the hat? Or do you agree? There’s also a possibility that you do not care, and considering that José Luis Ballester is struggling out of the gate in his very ever Masters (understandably so), we might not have to worry about his upside down hat into the weekend.
