Purchasing golf gloves is not always a simple process, and it might take you a few tries to get the right size and fit for you.
Therefore, you may want to know: how long do golf gloves last?
In this article, we will tell you exactly how long golf gloves last, how to know when your golf gloves are no longer good, and give you tips to make your golf gloves last longer.
How Long Do Golf Gloves Last?
Golf gloves should last you around 8 to 12 rounds of 18-hole golf, although many factors can affect their shelf life. These factors include the type of glove material, how well you take care of your gloves, and the conditions you golf in.
On average, golf gloves will likely last you between 8 and 12 rounds of 18-hole golf.
However, many factors can modify how long your golf gloves will be in good condition.
For example, leather gloves offer more feel on your clubs than composite/synthetic gloves, but they last significantly less long. Leather gloves also decay quicker than synthetic gloves when used in rainy weather.
Furthermore, the quality of the golf glove you pay will affect its shelf life. For example, if you purchase a 5$ golf glove, it will tend to last less long than a 30$ glove.
More expensive golf gloves tend to be more expensive because they use better materials and more advanced technology. However, if you find a good glove at a good price, do not let a lower price dissuade you from a good thing.
In addition, how firmly you grip your golf clubs can change how long your gloves last. You should hold your golf clubs firmly, but not so firmly that your arms become overly tense. Gripping your clubs too firmly can damage the glove material.
Finally, it is important to take good care of your golf gloves, or else the elements causing glove decay will stack up and ruin your gloves.
When Are Golf Gloves No Longer Good?
Golf gloves are no longer good and need to be replaced once tears, holes, crustiness, or glove deformation appear. You need to replace golf gloves when they lose their grip and feel on the golf club.
There are many ways in which golf gloves can no longer be good, but it usually comes down to fit, condition, feel & grip.
Fit
Golf gloves need to fit correctly. If you do not know how to size a golf glove, read our guide: How To Size A Golf Glove.
However, over time, as your golf gloves accumulate wear and tear, their shape can change.
If your golf gloves experience permanent deformation and no longer match the shape of your hand, it is time to get new golf gloves. If there is extra material or material bunching up on parts of your golf gloves, replace them.
A golf glove is engineering to match your hand shape perfectly, leaving little-to-no extra material around your hand. If the glove does not match your hand shape anymore, you will lose some feel on your clubs and lose performance.
Condition
Golf gloves can also be worn to protect your hand from blisters. To offer optimal protection, golf gloves need to be in good condition.
Therefore, if your golf gloves have visible holes, cuts, or tears, it is time to replace them.
Furthermore, on top of being uncomfortable, wearing damaged golf gloves on the course does not look very classy.
Feel
Golf gloves create an extra separation between your hand on your golf grips, so you need to be mindful of your feel on your clubs.
Golf gloves tend to be thin in the palm area in order to provide the most feel, but over time, golf gloves can go bad and cause you to lose that feel.
One of the most important things to look out for is golf glove crustiness. As moisture, sweat and water reach your golf gloves, they will start to crust up, become hard and crisp.
A crusty golf glove will feel uncomfortable on your hand, and it will feel like you need to fight a resistance just to close your hand on your clubs.
Crusty golf gloves offer very bad feel on your golf club grips, and you will lose performance from using them.
When your golf gloves get crusty, you need to replace them and buy new golf gloves.
Grip
Finally, if your golf gloves start to experience a loss of grip, it is time to replace them.
In fact, golf gloves are meant primarily to provide grip onto your golf clubs, so if they are slippery, they are no longer good.
Slippery golf gloves might even be worse than using your naked hands, depending on how slippery they are. If you are unlucky, your golf clubs may end up slipping right out of your hands, potentially even hitting and injuring someone.
When your golf gloves lose their grip, it is time to replace them.
How To Make Golf Gloves Last Longer?
The shelf life of golf gloves can be lengthened by taking them off to let them breathe, avoiding sweat, moisture & water, wiping down your golf grips, cleaning your gloves, gripping your clubs less firmly, and avoiding playing in wet or humid conditions. You can also buy synthetic gloves over leather gloves for added shelf life.
Although golf gloves tend to last around 8-12 rounds of 18-hole golf, there are ways to maximize their lifetime.
Down below is a list of things you can do to increase the shelf life of your golf gloves, along with explanations:
Play in good weather conditions
One of the easiest ways to reduce the decay of your golf gloves is simply to play in better weather.
To maximize the shelf life of golf gloves, avoid very hot & humid weather, as well as poor, rainy weather.
Hot & humid weather will cause sweat & moisture to accumulate in your golf gloves, two ingredients that will make your gloves crust up, on top of smelling horrible.
On the other hand, rainy weather will soak your golf gloves and also cause them to crust up, especially if you use leather gloves.
To get the most life out of your golf gloves, play only in good, clear sky conditions, at temperatures around 50F-70F.
Finally, if you insist on playing in rainy conditions, one great option you have is to purchase rain gloves. These special golf gloves are made for use under rain and will actually improve their grip as they are drizzled.
Let your golf gloves breathe
Golf gloves start to go bad and decay faster as moisture, sweat and water accumulate inside and on them.
A great way to reduce how quickly and how much moisture sweat and water accumulate is to take off your gloves regularly and let them breathe.
If you would like to take it to the extreme, you can take your golf gloves off after every shot to maximize the aeration that goes through them.
The airflow into your golf gloves will clear out some of the sweat and moisture, on top of you not adding more sweat by keeping your warm hands inside of them.
Furthermore, once you finish a full round of golf, you can take off your gloves, but avoid throwing them directly into your bag.
Let your golf gloves breathe a little outside of the bag, until they are dry. To maximize the aeration of your golf gloves, only put them back into your back a few minutes before the next time you go out to play golf.
Clean your golf gloves
During golf play, your gloves will accumulate dirt, gunk, moisture, and more, and these can reduce the lifetime of your gloves.
Therefore, to maximize how long your golf gloves last, you should clean them regularly. To learn how to clean your golf gloves, read our guide: How To Wash Golf Gloves.
Washing your golf gloves will make your golf gloves look newer longer, on top of making them last longer.
Wipe down your golf grips
Moisture and sweat are known golf glove killers, but they do not only accumulate on your gloves.
In fact, the golf grips on your golf clubs will also accumulate sweat and moisture, and that sweat and moisture can go onto your gloves and cause decay.
Therefore, to maximize the lifetime of your golf gloves, you should wipe your club grips down regularly with a towel.
Hold your golf clubs less firmly
Holding your golf clubs too firmly with your golf gloves will increase the friction between the two significantly, causing more material decay.
On top of damaging the glove and grip materials, holding your club too firmly will reduce the performance and accuracy of your shots.
If you do not know how to hold a golf club correctly, read our guide: How To Hold A Golf Club Correctly – Optimal Technique.
Learn to hold your golf clubs with the perfect amount of firmness, and both the lifetime of your gloves and your golfing performance will improve.
Buy synthetic gloves over leather gloves
Leather gloves, although providing a superior feel, fall flat in the sense that they decay much easier when met with water, moisture & sweat.
Therefore, if switching gloves often is annoying to you, you can buy synthetic golf gloves; they will last a lot longer than leather gloves, and deal better with the rain.
However, it is important to note that synthetic gloves may give you a slightly lesser feel on your golf grips, but they are still a solid option used by many.
Conclusion
There you go! After reading this article, you have learned how long golf gloves last, how to know when they are no longer good, and how to extend the lifetime of golf gloves.
With these tips, you will be better able to know how often you should restock on golf gloves. Aim to purchase multiple gloves when you restock (2-6 gloves) because you will run out eventually during the year as your current gloves wear out.
Use the tips in this article, and you will add a bit of lifetime to your golf gloves that are so essential to give you grip on your club.
How long did your longest-lasting glove last you? Let us know in the comments down below!
