If you are new to golf, and you have noticed that many golf players wear hats on the courses, you may wonder if you have to wear a hat in golf.
Maybe you do not like wearing hats, and you are wondering: Is wearing a hat mandatory on golf courses?
In this article, you will learn whether you have to wear a hat in golf or not.
Do You Have to Wear a Hat in Golf?
The short answer is that no, wearing a hat in golf is not mandatory, but it is generally recommended. A hat can protect you from sunburns, skin cancer, sweat in your eyes, distractions, and much more. Therefore, it is generally recommended to wear a hat in golf, especially if it is sunny.
No golf course will ever force you to wear a hat while playing golf, but some might recommend it.
Read further down below in this article to learn why you might want to wear a hat, whether it is to protect your health, or to improve your performance.
9 Reasons to Wear a Hat in Golf
Down below are the 9 reasons why you could or should wear a hat while playing golf, whether it is a baseball-style cap, a winter hat, a tuque, or a visor.
1. Skin Protection (Cancer prevention)
First of all, wearing a hat is always recommended when the sun is out and hitting your skin hard.
There are countless studies that have linked long, direct exposure to sunlight with skin cancer.
Therefore, if you wish to maximize your chances of not getting skin cancer, you should absolutely wear a hat when it is sunny outside.
This is especially true around noon, when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, and the rays hit you directly. At noon, the sun’s rays need to travel the least distance to hit you, which is why it is most damaging to your skin at that time.
Furthermore, if you would like to avoid sunburns, you should also wear a hat, because exposure to sunlight for prolonged periods will make your face go redder than a tomato.
2. Glare Reduction
The second reason to wear a hat while playing golf is to reduce the glare you experience in your eyes.
When you play golf, it is important that you are comfortable, and able to see the ball and the course well, or you will be thrown off, and potentially miss your shots.
Just about everything on this planet is less comfortable when you are blinded by the sunlight, and that includes trying to be good at golf.
Therefore, to increase your comfort and save your golf performance, you need to block the sunlight from directly reaching your eyes.
To block the sunlight from reaching your eyes, you can simply wear a hat, whether it is a baseball-style cap, or a visor.
3. No sweat dripping in your eyes
Have you ever had sweat drop in your eyes, followed by an intense stinging pain in them? If you have particularly sensitive eyes, it is possible they became bloodshot, and you could not open your eyes anymore.
Feeling such a sting in your eyes can kill both your pleasure for the current round of golf, as well as your ability to perform.
Your sweat tends to originate from your scalp and hair before dripping down your forehead and into your eyes.
To prevent your sweat from entering your eyes, you need to block its passage. How? Simply wear a hat.
A hat, whether it is a winter hat, a baseball-style cap, or a visor, will hold your hair and sweat at the top of your head.
With a hat on, your sweat will have a much harder time dripping down your forehead and into your eyes. Therefore, if you have a hat on, you can save yourself eye pain, discomfort, and play golf as well as you can!
4. Aesthetic Purposes
A more optional, yet valid reason to wear a hat is for aesthetic purposes or fashion.
In fact, if you can color match your hat with the rest of your golf attire, you can look quite cool or professional.
For example, wearing a black hat with an all black outfit always looks clean, sleek, and professional.
If you like more flashy clothes, there are also options for you, like the colors red or yellow.
Whatever you choose, some people wear hats while playing golf simply for the aesthetic appeal of them, or to look professional, and so can you.
5. Heat Protection or Conservation
The next reason to wear a golf hat is very important: heat protection or conservation.
In the summer or warm weather, the extreme heat will hit your head and make you feel like you are overheating, dehydrated and dizzy.
By wearing a hat, you will be somewhat protected from the sun’s warmth. Without excessive warmth from the sun, you are less likely to get dehydrated, and more dizzy than you need to be.
In the summer, it is recommended to wear a Baseball-Style Cap or a Visor hat.
In the winter or cold weather, you will have the opposite problem – a lack of heat conservation. It is easy for us humans to lose heat through our extremities – arms, legs, and head.
Without sufficient heat conservation, you will feel very cold in your head area, and will even experience pain if you are exposed to the cold long enough.
To optimize your heat conservation, you should wear a warm winter hat or tuque.
This type of hat will keep your heat close to your head, keeping the latter as warm as possible in the cold months. With this hat, you will be able to play longer, and without pain.
6. Eye Health
The next reason to wear a hat is to maintain your eye health.
In fact, direct sunlight into your eyes, particularly if you have a lighter eye color, can damage your eyes, causing severe conditions that can worsen or make you lose your sight.
To limit the amount of sunlight going into your eyes, you should absolutely wear a hat while playing golf.
To increase the safety of your eyes relative to sunlight, you should also wear a good pair of sunglasses that are UV-Blocking.
Your eyes are very precious, and you only have one set of them in your life; take care of them. You will thank yourself when you are old and moving is painful; at least, you will have your eyes to take in the beauty of the world.
7. Less Distractions = More Concentration
Here is a purely performance related reason to wear a hat. Various professional golf players, including Tiger Woods, claim that the curved brim of their hat limits their peripheral vision, which prevents them from seeing distractions.
Without seeing distractions on the sides, such as other players, spectators, and more, you can focus solely on the golf ball and hole ahead of you.
Make sure you choose a hat with a curved brim. If the brim of your hat is straight, it will not really block out your peripheral vision much.
Wear a wide-brimmed hat, and you will be more concentrated & focused on the sunny days that you are playing golf.
8. Holding Your Hair
Another great reason to wear a hat while playing golf is if you have long hair.
If you have long hair, it might very well get in front of your face, and bother you as it lays on your arms and shoulders.
These minor annoyances can distract you and ruin your kinetic chain, especially when you feel the weight of your hair moving around as you try to shoot the golf ball.
To prevent these annoyances, you can stick all of your hair within a baseball-style cap or a winter hat. A visor hat may be able to hold your hair out of your face, but it will be less effective than the former two options.
9. Advertisement Placements
Unless you are a professional golf player, the last reason on this list is probably not applicable.
However, if you are a professional golf player, then you can add the logo of a company or brand sponsoring you on the front, back, and sides of your hat as a paid advertisement!
Any piece of clothing that you add to your outfit can be customized to hold advertisement placements.
In the case of these professional golfers, wearing a hat with advertisement placements is literally making them money. This is definitely not a bad deal, if they are wearing the logo of a brand they trust and believe in!
Conclusion
There you go! After reading this article, you have learned you it is not mandatory to wear a hat in golf, and that golf courses will never force you to wear one.
Additionally, you have learned the 9 reasons why you could or should wear a hat in golf, and that there are both health & performances reasons to do so.
Do you like to wear a hat while out on the golf course? Which type of hat? Let us know in the comments down below!
