How Long Should A Golf Glove Last and When to Replace


We have all golfed with the person who wears a golf glove that is shredded and looks really slippery. 

The entire point of the golf glove is to provide a better grip on the club to help your overall performance. 

Don’t be the golfer that has the glove that is falling apart and looks like it is 10 years old. Spend some money and make sure you have a quality grip that helps you perform at your highest level.  There is nothing worse than the feeling that the club is going to fly out of your hand.

A clean, quality golf glove is essential!

How Long Should A Golf Glove Last?

Typically a golf glove will last between 6 and 10 rounds.  There are many factors that influence the life of the glove such as: quality of the glove, conditions that you play in and the grip that the golfer uses. 

Ultimately, how well the golfer takes care of the glove during the round and between rounds impacts the life of the glove significantly.

Below we will share the the following information to help you understand the lengths of a golf glove and how to maximize this time:
  • Factors that Influence the Life and Performance of your Golf Glove
  • When to Replace your Golf Glove
  • Quick Tips to Extended the Life and Performance of your Golf Glove
  • Glove Recommendations
  • Related Questions
  • Take Action

Factors that Influence the Life and Performance of your Golf Club

There are three major factors that are influencing the life of your golf glove.  They include:

  • The quality of the glove
  • The conditions that you play in
  • How you grip the club
  • Care of the glove during and between rounds

The quality of the glove

There are many different ranges of golf gloves on the market.  THe cheapest gloves have an average feel even when they are brand new.  They do not ever provide a high quality feel in my opinion, but seem to last longer as they are typically thicker and made of cheaper material. 

If you are looking for something cheap and will last a long time, the lower end glove will help you accomplish this. The more high performing the glove is, the shorter it may last.  Here at golfjourney365, we prefer to buy the glove on the mid to higher end as the grip is essential to the overall performance on the golf course.

The conditions that you play in

If you are someone that plays in a lot of hot weather, where you are going to sweat a lot, the golf club will become sweaty and may not last as long as if you were always playing in 50-60 degree weather. 

Another factor is if you play golf int he rain. When a glove gets wet, it starts to impact the immediate performance and the long term life of the golf glove. When a glove gets wet and is not properly dried out post round, the glove may lose some of its grip and become more slippery.

Rain can be difficult to manage, check out rain gloves below.

How you grip the club

When I first started playing golf, I would often rip right through the glove in the pad of my left hand.  I believe this was from not having the proper grip and putting extra pressure in this are. Eventually the glove wore down and tore in this area.

Care of glove during and between rounds

How often you take your glove off during those hot, sweaty rounds can actually help your glove last longer.  Allowing a glove to properly air out during and after rounds will help prolong the life of the glove. After the 18th hole if you are someone that just takes your glove off and stuffs it back into your bag and the glove was wet from rain or sweat, it will reduce the quality and life of your glove.  Instead make sure you are caring for your glove if you want it to last longer.

When to Replace Your Golf Glove

There are three key times when you should replace your golf glove.  They include:

  • When the grip that it provides leaves you lacking confidence in how it feels.
  • When the glove has a hole or tear.
  • If the glove no longer properly fits from stretching out.

When the grip that the glove provides leaves you lacking confidence

The purpose of the glove is to provide you with confidence that you can make your regular swing and feel comfortable.  Golf is difficult enough with all of the potential bad things that can happen in the swing. The last thing a golfer needs is some self doubt that the club may fly out of your hands. 

I would recommend buying gloves in batches of 2-5 at a time. Put these glove in your bag and be prepared to change gloves mid round if your start to have that self doubt creep into your swing about your grip.

When the glove has a hole or tear

Part of the role and function of a glove beyond the performance aspect is to protect your hands.  There are golfers that hit a ton of practice shots and play a lot of golf, the golf glove also has the role of protecting your hands from sores. 

Over time, your hands will build some calluses, which actually help protect your hands. When your glove has a hole or tear, it is time to buy a new glove or pull out a previously purchased replacement from the bag.

If the glove no longer properly fits from stretching out

During the course of the 6-10 rounds that a glove will last, the glove can start to stretch out from taking the glove on and off during a round.  I take my glove off to chip and putt as it provides a time for the glove to breath and air dry.

Over the course of the round, I will often wipe down my hands and grips on those extra sweaty days.  When the glove no longer fits well, it is time for the replacement to be pulled out of the bag. That glove now becomes my driving range glove or a backup glove for those rain and wet rounds.

Quick Tips to Help Extend the Life and Performance of your Golf Glove:

  1. Take your golf glove off while chipping and putting to provide time for the glove to breath and to dry your hands off on those sweaty days.
  2. Wipe your grips down between shots.  This helps keep the oil from building up on your grips and on your golf glove.
  3. On rainy days either rotate gloves every 2-3 holes or purchase a set of rain gloves to protect your regular gloves.
  4. Use your “older” gloves for practice, especially on those summer days if you are hitting over 100 balls in a driving range session.
  5. Put the glove away or velcro to the outside of your bag between rounds.  Make sure to care for your golf gloves between rounds.

Glove Recommendations

I have tried just about every glove out there and make my recommendations below.  Living in the northeastern part of the United States, I play golf in 30 degree weather and all the way up to 100 degree weather. 

I have to be prepared for all conditions from hot and cold, to snowy and rainy. I love golf that I am willing to play in just about any conditions.  Here are the different gloves that I currently use and would recommend to you:

  • Regular Gloves
  • Rain Gloves
  • Winter Gloves

Regular Gloves

My goto golf glove.  Provides a great grip with breathability on the top of the hand.  I sweat a lot, so this golf is perfect for me. It is actually reasonably priced.

Rain Gloves

The wetter you get these gloves the between grip you have.  These are a great investment if you ever play in rain. Any serious golfer should carry a set of rain gloves.

Winter Gloves

For those of us that aren’t fortunate enough to live in Florida or Southern California, winter gloves help keep your hands warm even on the coldest days.

Related Questions

How often do the pros change their gloves?

Some of the golf professionals will change their gloves every 4-6 holes.  It often depends on the weather and conditions they are experiencing during that round of golf.  Their profession is on the line and the last thing they are going to sacrifice is trying to make a glove last longer.  

What hand do you wear a golf glove on?

Most right handed golfers will wear their glove on their left hand and most left handed golfers will wear their glove on their right hand.  Check out this post for more information.

Why do you take your glove off to chip and putt?

It provides a better overall feel on these shots.  Where speed and power aren’t required, but feel is more important, I find that I prefer to not have my golf glove on.  It also provides time for my golf glove to breath and dry out.

Why buy 2-5 gloves at a time?

If you are someone that sweats a lot, changing your glove during your round will provide a better grip and also help your gloves last longer.  They are also great to have when you run into wet conditions and don’t want to wear rain gloves. As soon as your lose your grip in the rain, you can forget about playing quality golf.

Take Action

I am not sure about you, but I struggle to play my best golf with my grip does not feel good.  I have made an effort to carry 2-3 newer gloves at any given point. This has allowed me to adjust during the rainy or sweaty conditions.  I will wear a glove for between 6-10 rounds, but I always have a back up for those rounds.

Make sure you get all set with your golf gloves.  A simple online order is simple to make and they can arrive at your house maybe before your next round of golf.  The grip is something you don’t want to compromise on. When you are on that 18th hole of a big match, you don’t want to start questioning your grip and allowing some doubt to slip in.

It is also vital during rain or winter weather that you are ready and can enjoy your round of golf. The game is difficult enough, when it is rainy or cold and your hands are impacted, the game becomes really difficult. Make sure you are ready for all conditions.

We have plenty of other information to help you improve your game.  I highly recommend the series on getting your game ot the next level:

We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.
We have also provided a series on reviews on online instructors.  We believe that the following steps can help you improve your game:
  • Quality instruction – Online is a good option
  • Speed Training thorugh SuperSpeed Training
  • Frequent Practice
  • Tempo Training through Total Game and Tour Tempo App
Here are the reviews we have created on differnet online golf instructors.  Find one that works best for you:

Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:

Last, but not least, find a way to increase your swing speed.  Golf is about speed and distance. Yes, short game is still vital, but the analytics are pretty clear on the benefits of having extra speed in your game.   Here is our SuperSpeed Golf Review – Make sure you use discount code Golfjourney365 at SuperSpeed Golf for a 10% discount.

Check out our Recommended Products page on Golf Swing/Training Aids, Golf Balls, Golf Shoes and more.

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