£3 vs £20: Does A Premium Golf Glove Help To Lower Your Scores?

There was a new craze last summer when I saw women turning up to play in brightly coloured, boldly patterned unbranded golf gloves. It wasn’t just one or two of them, but quite a few players every week who I saw wearing these gloves.

A close friend told me that she was sourcing hers from online retail giant Amazon at an incredible price. Intrigued, I decided to investigate, and low and behold I came across dozens of different women’s golf gloves being advertised on Amazon and sold at a fraction of the price that I usually pay for one golf glove in a pro shop.

They looked funky and fashionable and they were described as ‘Cabretta leather’ indicating that they are supposedly made from the soft material that I’m used to wearing. But would the quality be the same?

Curious to know why these gloves had become so popular I ordered a pack of five from Amazon for the incredibly inexpensive price of £16. Yes you’ve read that right, £16 for five gloves, just over £3 a glove!

I’m used to paying anywhere up to £20 for one of the best golf gloves for women, so being a bit of a bargain hunter who loves a deal I was excited by this incredible saving.

Like most things in stock on Amazon, from order to delivery took just one day and inside my Jiffy bag parcel I discovered five individual golf gloves in thin clear plastic wrappers. On first impression they looked pretty good. They certainly stand out in terms of bold patterns and vibrant colouring.

I’d ordered a women’s small size and when I slipped my hand inside the glove to try it on, the fingers were just a fraction longer than I was used to, but the leather felt silky soft and there was plenty of stretch in the fabric on the back of the hand making it feel pleasant to the touch. I was pleasantly impressed.

The patterned part of the glove is made from a very thin stretch fabric and while this does give it an excellent fit it didn’t feel very thick, suggesting that these gloves will be better in the summer when you want your hands to stay cool on the course, rather than on a cold winter’s day.

I planned to play several rounds of golf wearing my new Amazon-bought golf glove before forming an opinion, however I pretty quickly realised that I wasn’t going to play very well if I did so.

Although the leather is super soft, it was also super slippery. I’m used to my golf glove having a much tackier touch that encourages me to grip the club confidently in the right position. With my hand inside this glove, it almost slid out of place when I took my grip. This was all the more evident when I tried on a brand new FootJoy CabrettaSof leather golf glove as a comparison.

The difference in the softness and tackiness of the leather was like chalk and cheese. I suppose you could compare it to buying a budget pair of trousers from Primark versus a beautiful pair of Galvin Green golf trousers. Or think of it as a comparison to a real designer handbag versus a fake - you can see the difference in the leather.

There are other subtle differences too, like when you look closely at the quality of the stitching. I’m just not sure that this glove will have the same longevity and lifespan as a FootJoy. I’m used to my gloves lasting nearly a whole season of play. I get the impression this glove might be worn out within a few weeks.

The final nail in the coffin for me was the Velcro fastener badge on the back of the hand. I found it very firm and just a bit too large, which meant that my hand did not have the same ‘give’ and freedom of movement that I am used to. This made me feel a bit restricted in my golf swing move.

There’s an old saying that ‘you get what you pay for’ and I honestly feel that this golf glove is a perfect example of that. It might look great and feel nice to touch, but performance-wise it doesn’t come close to the quality, durability and performance of a FootJoy glove.

Yes the big brand name is five-times the price, but I’d bet money on it lasting five times as long. For that reason my Amazon golf glove purchasing days will be limited to this one and only test.