Golf and Glasses: No Scratch Lenses Lead to Scratch Scores

 

Glasses are one component of golf that many people are unaware of the importance of. When you think about sports and excelling in a certain sport, generally what you have to wear while you’re playing isn’t something you focus on.

It is often important to have a specific uniform or a pair of shoes that will aid your performance, but suggesting that a pair of glasses is going to be a factor in how good your golf game is seems a bit crazy.

Becoming a good golfer surely has more to do with your technique right? Perfecting your swing, learning about how to get as much power and speed behind your driving as you can and about effective and clean putting.

And yes, these things are in fact, substantially more important than what you’re wearing. These are the things that you need to put the most amount of practice into. You need to spend hours and hours training to be a capable golfer.

But it’s also important to note that all of that practice might not be worth anything, if you can’t see what you’re doing. Even if you’ve done a ton of practice, it might be a good pair of sunglasses that’s separating you from achieving scratch scores every time you’re on the course. 

There’s a few reasons why this is the case:

• Playing a round of golf means spending several hours in the sun, which makes your eyes tired, irritated and will often result in you having to squint. All of these things get in the way of you being able to see well on the course and can lead to eye damage too.
• There is generally quite a bit of glare on a golf course. This comes from both the fact that it’s an open area in direct sunlight and also that there are often a lot of water features present on courses. Naturally, this reduces visibility of the course.
• Without the right pair of sunglasses, your depth perception as well as your perception of colour gets messed up, making it difficult to distinguish between different elements of the course and pick up on important nuances.

If you deal with one or all of these problems, you are not going to be performing at the highest possible level. But it is a really simple problem to fix. All you have to do is invest in the right pair of golf sunglasses. Here are the factors to keep in mind:

1.Tint

When you’re picking out your sunglasses, you will be hearing the word ‘tint’ a lot. This just simply refers to how the lenses are coloured. There are a few different common tints you can get in a pair of golf glasses and each of them have their own benefits.

If you get either brown or amber lenses, they work very well to neutralize the colour of the environment. The bright green of the grass or the blue of the sky will each be cancelled out by a brown or amber tint, making it easier to pick out your ball against those backdrops. 

Amber is also highly beneficial if you are playing in lower light. Some people prefer to play in more overcast conditions, during which it’s still important to ensure your eyes are protected, and amber tinting helps to offset the hint of dullness.

Rose coloured sunglasses are the most popular kind among golfers, and they’re great for ensuring that you can see every contour of a green very well because they make red and yellow colours nice and vibrant. 

2. Comfort

Being able to completely relax into your game without being distracted by any kind of uncomfortable clothing is going to be a huge contributing factor to your performance, and you need to consider that when deciding on your glasses.

First and foremost, you have to put a heavy priority on glare reduction. We mentioned earlier how glare can be a big issue on a golf course when it comes to planning out your shots, but it’s also just extremely uncomfortable.

This is the primary purpose that sunglasses serve, and with all of the advanced technology and research into crafting the perfect pair of sunglasses to maximise a players technique, the glare reduction often gets passed over. 

Make sure that’s a priority for you. Talk to the seller about it and try on a few different pairs of glasses with different levels of glare reduction to make sure that you choose the one which is right for you.

And then there is scratch-resistance to think about. No-scratch lenses are not an easy thing to design and perfect, but they do exist and they are important for golfers. A single scratch on your glasses could be a huge problem.

You need to be able to see every little thing ahead of you on the course and a scratch could block out an important nuance without you even realizing it. You should also request adjustable nose and ear pieces so that you can make sure they suit you, and maybe vented lenses to deal with sweat.

3. Cost

Be smart about how much you are willing to spend. Getting a cheap pair of sunglasses is counter-productive, because the likelihood is that they won’t last for all that long and probably won’t be as effective in protecting you and enhancing your game. 

At the same time, you probably don’t need the most expensive pair available. Find the medium between these two. Try on several different pairs, deal exclusively with reputable sellers and make sure that every important factor is present in the one you choose.

Set yourself a budget, and keep in mind that if you get a good pair, it should last you for years and years to come, so you should view it as an investment. If you’re trying to think of a good gift for one of your golfer friends, sunglasses might be worth looking into.

I wouldn’t surprise them with it because it’s important that they try on pairs to find one that suits them, but considering how valuable it is and how pricey it can be, a golfer would definitely appreciate sunglasses as a gift. 

So, if you are a golfer who is looking to maximise your potential on the course, and sunglasses haven’t been on your radar thus far, then it’s definitely worth looking into. You can become a much better player if you put just a bit of time into deciding on a worthwhile pair of gold sunglasses.