Buying guide
Cold hands, lost strokes: seven winter gloves and mitts from $28
Winter pairs, rain gloves and cart mitts from FootJoy, Galvin Green, Red Rooster and Clicgear, and how to build a simple system that keeps your grip working from October to March.
Once the temperature drops into single figures, cold fingers lose feel for the grip long before the rest of you gets uncomfortable, and a single leather glove that has soaked through on the 7th is a slippery liability by the 12th.
A warm pair to swing in, a grippy pair for the wet and a mitt to hide your hands in between shots will see you through. Below are seven from four brands, starting at $28. Prices are in US dollars from each brand’s own site at the time of writing; shipping and availability outside the US vary by brand.
Swing in them: winter pairs
FootJoy WinterSof, $28 (men’s and women’s)
FootJoy bills the WinterSof as the world’s No. 1 pair of men’s winter golf gloves. Unlike a normal golf glove, you wear one on each hand. The back is waterproof structured nylon over FootJoy’s Weather-Shield foam fleece, the palm is a water-resistant Autosuede knit for grip, and a knitted cuff sits higher up the wrist to keep the draughts out. There is reflective piping on the back too, for rounds that finish in near darkness.
The men’s pair runs from S to 2XL and the women’s from S to L, both in black. Expect a thicker feel than your summer glove; that is the trade-off for the warmth.
Shop the men’s WinterSof · Shop the women’s WinterSof
Galvin Green Lewis, $79
The Swedish brand’s Lewis is the dearest glove here, and the one in the photo above. It combines cabretta leather with Galvin Green’s INTERFACE-1 fabric, which the brand describes as completely windproof, water repellent, stretchy and highly breathable. Galvin Green says it is meant to be worn snugly. The thinner, closer fit gives more feel for the club than a fleece-backed glove.
It comes in six sizes, three ladies’ and three men’s, in black. It is best on cold, dry, blustery days rather than in steady rain, and it pairs neatly with a mitt for the walk between shots.
Grip in the wet: rain gloves
FootJoy RainGrip, $28 (men’s and women’s)
FootJoy says the RainGrip’s Autosuede palm gives superior grip in wet or humid weather, while the QuikDry II knit on the back of the fingers is designed to breathe and dry quickly. It is sold as a pair, has FootJoy’s angled ComforTab closure and carries a removable ball marker. The men’s version comes in regular and cadet fits from S to 2XL, and there are black and white options for both men and women.
Keep a pair in a zipped pocket of your bag all year. On a warm, humid summer day they double as a fix for sweaty hands.
Red Rooster Rain Rooster, $35.87
Red Rooster Golf is a small American glove specialist best known for colourful cabretta leather gloves with playful names. Its Rain Rooster is the brand’s synthetic wet-weather option, sold as a pair, which Red Rooster says keeps its traction in wet, humid or high-sweat rounds where leather can lose grip. It is offered in men’s sizes from S to XL plus women’s sizes, and Red Rooster says every adult glove it sells helps put a junior glove into a young golfer’s hands.
It costs a few dollars more than the FootJoy and comes with the brand’s Best Glove Guarantee, which offers a free return or exchange if you don’t love the glove.
Photo: Red Rooster Golf
Warm up between shots: mitts
You slip your hands into a mitt, glove and all, as soon as you have hit, and your fingers arrive at the next shot warm instead of numb. There are four here, depending on how you get round.
Galvin Green Levon, $89
Designed to be worn over your golf gloves, the Levon mittens use the same INTERFACE-1 family of fabric, with a TPU membrane in the lining and polyester padding. Galvin Green lists them as completely windproof with a water-repellent finish, and a velcro tab attaches them to a trolley so they are always to hand. Like the Lewis they are black, and one size. They are the most expensive mitts here and match the Galvin Green gloves.
FootJoy Winter Cart Mitts, $40
FootJoy’s cart mitts have a water-resistant polyester shell to shrug off mist and light rain, a soft thermal lining and a velcro pocket inside. The pocket takes a disposable hand warmer. Black, one size fits most.
Shop the FootJoy Winter Cart Mitts
Red Rooster Winter Cart Mitts, $39
Red Rooster’s version is waterproof on the outside and fleece-lined inside, with an inner pocket for heat packs. The soft microfibre exterior is, in the brand’s own cheerful words, perfect for a discreet nose wipe, which anyone who has played a December medal will appreciate.
Shop the Red Rooster Winter Cart Mitts
Clicgear Mitts, $32.99
If you push a Clicgear trolley, these are made for it. Clicgear says they are waterproof and windproof with a plush insulated lining, and that they attach quickly to any Clicgear cart and stay in place, so you can slide your hands in and out without taking your gloves off. They are the cheapest mitts in this edit, and the site was showing low stock when we checked.
Our pick: WinterSof plus mitts for under $70
For most club golfers the best spend is a FootJoy WinterSof pair and a set of cart mitts: under $70 for warm hands from first tee to last green. Red Rooster’s mitts are the independent alternative at almost the same price, and the Clicgear pair is the obvious choice if you already push one of its trolleys. The Galvin Green Lewis is for the golfer who hates the bulk of a fleece glove and wants more feel on cold, windy days.
Keep a rain pair in the bag as a backup, and rotate gloves during the round rather than playing 18 holes in one damp pair.
Sources
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