The History Of Golf Gloves

Early Days of Golf - Bare Hands on the Club

Back in the 1800s in the early days of golf, all players gripped their clubs with bare hands. The clubs themselves were often handmade, with wooden shafts and leather-wrapped grips. While this provided a direct feel for the club, it also created significant challenges, including:

  • Blisters and Calluses – Regular play could result in painful blisters and calluses, making it difficult to maintain a consistent grip.

  • Weather Conditions – Wet or cold weather could make holding onto the club more difficult, affecting performance.

  • Slippery Grips – Crude grips on early wooden golf clubs, made of rough leather or twine, were often slippery, especially when dirty or wet.

In 1885, GH Rawlings patented this padded baseball glove that was also successfully marketed and used by golfers who loved it because it help them cope with those challenges.

THE HISTORY OF GOLF GLOVES

Predecessor to modern golf gloves

The Rawlings glove was a formal, mass-produced product that although designed for baseball and cricket became one of the first commercially marketed gloves for golfers and although it was not specifically designed for golf, the adaptation of this 1885 glove was a forerunner of the specialised leather golf gloves that became more commonplace in the 20th century.

Golf gloves only gained popularity in the 1940s, when golfing legend Sam Snead began to actively wear a glove during PGA Tour events and then in the 1960s their popularity grew very quickly thanks in part to the influence of stars like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

Since then, it has become a standard and key piece of equipment for almost all golfers because it provides their sole contact with their clubs.

Over the years though despite the huge amount of growth in golf technology, golf glove technology has remained constant and unchanged despite the clear need to help golfers grip so much better in order to perfect their contact with the clubs and maximise their feel and control.

That is why in very recent years we realised the importance for us to create our new golf glove technology that was clearly most needed by all golfers.

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