We all know that golfers wear gloves (usually one glove) to ensure a good grip on their golf clubs. That applies in all weather conditions, particularly the extremes of rain or high temperature where the grip is compromised by rain or sweat. Also, you’ll rarely find a golf pro who doesn’t wear gloves, Fred Couples being a notable exception. Finally, they just look cool when properly dangling from your back pocket.

But having had varying results with different gloves, in terms of fit, how they perform and how long they last. I decided to do some research to find the best golf gloves currently available.

After researching all of the gloves available, I chose the FINGER TEN Mens Raingrip Hot Wet Weather glove – Click Here to check the price on Amazon. Which is a bit of a mouthful, but one heck of a glove. For me they offer the perfect balance between fit, wear, versatility, and price.  At just over $5 a glove (in the multi-pack) they offer great value for money, but more importantly, provide excellent grip in all weather conditions. For me that’s important because I’m no stranger to golfing in the rain.

They are both waterproof and breathable which means that whatever the weather, your grip will remain intact. And if you’ve ever watched your club fly further than your ball off the tee, you’ll know how good that is. Equally, when it’s hot and humid their wicking qualities keey your hand dry.

They don’t provide a size guide – I just ordered Medium, which is my usual size for brand name gloves and they fitted perfectly.

You can’t really go far wrong with the Footjoy Weathersof Golf Glove – click to see current prices on Amazon. It’s the best selling golf glove in the world and used by one in 5 Americans for a reason. I like them for normal play. I don’t like them for wet weather though. For me, the leather patches on the palm of the glove are a bit of an oddity. The become greasy in wet weather, and that doesn’t help grip. They’re more than double the price of the Finger Ten gloves too.

I also like the Stablegrip Golf Glove by Bionic  – Click to see current pricing on Amazon The fit and durability are first class which is what you’d expect from a leather glove designed by an Orthopedic hand surgeon. I wear mine exclusively for competitions, just because I want to feel great and this glove helps. More expensive though at upwards of $20 per glove usually.

This might not seem important but it is. How can you go wrong with the fit of a glove? You stick it on your hand, it seems to fit ok, all go to go, right?

Wrong.

The glove is your actual contact with the golf club grip. We wear them in order to gain a little more friction so that we can hold the golf club without squeezing the life out of it (throttling it) and still maintain control of our shots. It also stops perspiration from your hand working into the grip, which reduces friction). And because we’re not gripping so tightly, it means that our grips last longer before needing repolacement.

But an incorrectly sized glove for your hand acheives little of that. And will also wear out and need replacing far quicker that a properly fitted glove.

Golf glove manufacturers actually have glove fitting stations that measure the key parts of the hand, mainly width and finger length, so that the correct fit can be recommended.

Without that specialist set up, here’s what you need to know:

• The glove should fit like a second skin, in other words, it will initially feel quite tight. Snug, is probably a better word.
• There should be no loose material either across the palm, or at the finger ends
• The velcro strap should close and leave around a half inch of velcro showing. That means there’s adjustment available either way.

Get the fit correct, and you’ll get the best performance and wear from your glove.