Equipment
To glove or not to glove?
It is one of golf’s timeless debates—do you need to wear a golf glove?
For many players, it is a make or break piece of equipment, while for others it’s embraced as a fashion accessory as much as a necessity.
One of the best examples of a glove or gloves offering a performance advantage is with rain gloves. Anyone that has traveled to Ireland or Scotland to play golf will attest, not having a pair of rain gloves while trying to play golf in a deluge would be like trying to play golf in bowling shoes—sure it’s “possible,” but the likelihood of success is greatly diminished.
Considering the price for high-quality rain gear, rain gloves pale in comparison and are worth every penny.
Most players on the PGA Tour use a glove with a few exceptions—the modern one being Lucas Glover (I don’t think we need to spell out the irony of that) and the always loveable Freddy Couples. A more historic player well known for beating golf balls and never wearing a glove is Moe Norman—as the Moe stories go, and there are a lot out there, after a certain time he would cut the calluses off the pad in his left hand when they would get too hard and start to bug him.
Factors in selection
The decision to use a glove also relies a lot on a player’s choice of grip. Cord grips are rough and designed to offer maximum traction and all-weather performance, but depending on how often someone plays or hits balls, they can be quite uncomfortable. Now, on the other end of the spectrum are multi-layer grips made with a rubber core and wrapped in some manner with a tacky polyurethane outer layer for soft traction and comfort. For more fairweather golfers, these are the grip of choice, and also provide extra shock absorption on mishits.
It would be negligent not to also point out that one of the most popular grips of the last decade— the MMC from Golf Pride—offers a firm corded top portion for under the glove hand, and a softer lower portion for the bare one, it is the best of both worlds.
So many to choose from
Now when it comes to gloves, the sky is the limit as far as options go, everyone from Costco and its Kirkland Signature brand all the way to luxury designers offer golf gloves. The most premium gloves use thin high-quality leather which is extremely supple and is designed to feel like you are hardly wearing one at all.
Other options like the Claw from Caddy Daddy are designed for both traction and durability and are constructed from synthetic materials designed to outlive the traditional leather glove, they can even be cleaned in a washing machine—for everyone, no, but for many, this is the golden ticket.
When it comes to wearing a glove, I’m solidly on the fence—my hands don’t sweat, and I play just enough golf to keep them blister-free, but for some reason, I enjoy the custom of carrying one around in my back pocket. If it is really humid, then the glove goes on, when it’s cold, I will often wear it too, but for some reason, there is just something about playing fresh cord grips without a glove that I can’t get out of my head.
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Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 70 TX (45.5 inches)
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (16.5 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 80 TX
Irons: Mizuno MP-20 HMB (3), Callaway Apex TCB ’24 (4-10) Buy here.
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid X100 (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-10)
Wedges: Callaway Opus (52-10S) Buy here, Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-10S @57, 60-04T) Buy here.
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Putter: Odyssey Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH Buy here.
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
Check out more in-hand photos of Xander Schauffele’s clubs in the forums.
The winning WITB is presented by 2nd Swing Golf. 2nd Swing has more than 100,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
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The first wedge has made its way to the Three Swing Challenge! This week we have the WedgeWorks A+ grind that was recently released by Vokey. BK is looking for a new 60-degree wedge, and this could be a contender.
Why three swings?
Many years ago, the legendary Barney Adams, founder of Adams Golf told us this:
“My formula as a fitter was three shots only. I discounted No. 1 just because it was the first one, counted 100 percent of No. 2 and discounted No. 3 because the player was starting to adjust.”
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- Daniel Brown WITB accurate as of The Open Championship.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
3-wood: Ping G430 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X
(Image courtesy of SMS on Tour)
Irons: Ping i230 (3), Ping Blueprint S (4-9)
Wedges: Ping s159 (50-12S, 54-12S, 58-06T)
Putter: Ping PLD
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Info an images via SMS on Tour.
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Bob Pegram
Aug 31, 2020 at 11:29 pm
I used to use full cord grips, but they tore up my hands. I have never used a glove. When I was a beginner a round of golf and a glove cost about the same. I round of golf did my game more good than a glove. I now use mid size rubber grips. My hands usually don’t sweat. I suppose I should get some sort of rain glove before the rainy season arrives since the rubber grips are smoother than the Lamkin Crossline grips I used to use. They wouldn’t slip unless it was raining hard and they got very wet.
Mike
Aug 31, 2020 at 10:46 am
I do not wear a glove and the only reason why is it definitely helps me to reduce my grip pressure and just swing. When i wear a glove I seem to grip the club tighter and that creates problems on the course. If i have a blister or cut, I just use some medical tape or no skin to protect during the round.
Bas Kooij
Aug 31, 2020 at 3:43 am
I only wear gloves on the driving range to prevent blisters. I will occasionally use one with the driver, but usually I don’t wear one on the course.
Dave
Aug 30, 2020 at 4:52 pm
Think about this: 98% of pro golfers wear a thin, white, leather glove on their top hand gripping the club. Being different can be cool and can work, but when an overwhelming majority of the world’s best are doing the exact same thing, its probably for good reason. Wear a glove
Tim
Aug 31, 2020 at 10:43 am
Let me guess – you also buy the exact same equipment setups that the Pros use as well? Just because the Pro’s where one does not mean others should wear one. Do what is RIGHT for YOUR game not just because a Pro is wearing one.
Matt Smith
Aug 31, 2020 at 2:16 pm
That’s not the same thing. Wearing a glove isn’t like choosing between which driver brand, its like choosing to wear shoes or go barefoot
Rob
Aug 30, 2020 at 1:18 pm
I wear a glove for tee shots and occasionally full approach’s. My hands sweat a lot and I can destroy I high quality leather glove in a few rounds. That’s partly why I pretty much only wear it for tee shots. When my hands start sweating badly I have a better grip with no glove than a wet leather one. I like cord grips and don’t find them too rough on my hands at all.
JT
Aug 31, 2020 at 5:54 am
I have the same issue with leather gloves in general that I ruin them in a couple of rounds or sessions at the range. I found that wearing rain gloves (the FJ one) as a regular glove paired with cord grips works amazingly well. On all shots including the short game!
Acemandrake
Aug 30, 2020 at 11:11 am
I never understood the occasional glove wearer. The glove/no glove feels are different.
Also, it’s difficult to go back to no glove after using one for an extended period.
I just wear a glove all the time.
Nack Jicklaus
Aug 30, 2020 at 7:59 am
I played Lamkin full cord grips with no glove in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. For some reason I switched grips and have never played gloveless again. Might have to go back to the old Lamkin cords now and play gloveless again just for fun…
Rich
Aug 29, 2020 at 1:57 pm
Glove or no glove? Glove. Bionic Performance. Best glove ever.