Do Pro Golfers Wear Gloves? What the Pros Actually Do
Watch any tournament and you'll notice two things: nearly every player wears a glove off the tee, and nearly every one of them peels it off on the green. So do pros wear gloves? Mostly yes - but the details tell you a lot about how gloves actually help.
The short answer
The vast majority of professional golfers wear one glove on the lead hand for full swings - drives, irons, and most shots where grip and control matter. They wear it for the same reason you should: it locks the club into the top hand and stops it slipping under speed. That's the lead hand, which is the left for right-handed players and the right for left-handers, as we explain in what hand you wear a golf glove on.
Why pros take the glove off to putt
Putting is about feel, not force. On the greens, pros want maximum sensitivity in their hands to control speed and touch, and a glove gets in the way of that feedback. So the glove comes off for putting, and often for delicate chips and pitches too. It's the same logic behind wearing one glove instead of two - covered in one golf glove or two.
The famous barehanded exceptions
A handful of top players have famously played without a glove at all. Fred Couples is the best-known example - he's gone gloveless his whole career, saying he simply prefers the direct feel of the grip. Some other pros ditch the glove in certain conditions. These players are the exception, not the rule, and they tend to have a very natural, feel-based grip. For most golfers, a glove still gives more reliable control.
What pros do in the rain and heat
Tour players adapt their gloves to conditions just like the rest of us. In the wet they switch to rain gloves, often on both hands, because those grip better as they soak through. On hot, humid days they rotate through several fresh gloves during a round to fight sweat - the same trick that helps anyone with sweaty hands. And almost all of them wear premium cabretta leather for the feel, a choice we unpack in leather vs synthetic golf gloves.
What it means for your game
The pros' habits are a decent blueprint: wear a glove on your lead hand for full swings, take it off to putt, and adjust for weather. You don't need a tour swing to benefit from the same grip and control they rely on.
The B&C Proto I is built from the same 100% premium cabretta leather the pros favour - lightweight, breathable, and made to feel like an extension of your hand. Get the fit dialled in with our sizing guide.
Frequently asked questions
Do professional golfers wear gloves?
Almost all professional golfers wear one glove on their lead hand for full swings to improve grip and control. Most remove it for putting, where feel matters more than grip.
Why do pro golfers take their glove off to putt?
Putting relies on touch and feel rather than grip strength. Removing the glove gives players more direct feedback through their hands to control the speed and line of the putt.
Which pro golfers don't wear a glove?
Fred Couples is the most famous example of a tour player who plays without a glove, preferring the direct feel of the grip. A few others go gloveless in some conditions, but they are the exception.
What gloves do pro golfers wear?
Most pros wear premium cabretta leather gloves for their feel and feedback, switching to rain or all-weather gloves in wet conditions and rotating fresh gloves in the heat.
