For most golfers, gloves are an essential piece of equipment. But 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover has, incredibly, never used one.
On this week’s episode of Subpar, Glover joined hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz to discuss, among other things, how he manages to hit tens of thousands of balls per year without wearing a glove.
“I always wanted to be a no-glove guy,” Stoltz said to Glover. “[But I] couldn’t even make contact with [the ball].”
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“Never, ever wore one,” Glover replied. “Years ago, Dick Harmon in Houston, he’d cut the fingers out for me, hitting a bunch of balls when I was a kid. He said, well you gotta try it, your hands are gonna hurt, bleed or whatever. I said, well, I can’t really feel the club. He goes, well, if that’s the case, let’s not do that when it matters. So we kinda of stayed away from it. Just never got into it. I’m a solid 10-handicap with a glove.”
As the hosts marveled, Knost brought up another point.
“I don’t know how your contracts are, but I know my contracts were ball, shoe and glove,” Knost said.
“I’ve always said they should give a little more up front, since I don’t waste any money on gloves,” Glover joked. “But I haven’t gotten any traction on that.”
When you swing the club with your bare hands, making sure you get a good grip on the club is especially important. Glover said that his caddie wipes his grips down every tournament day, but he uses full cord grips for maximum tackiness. And with four Tour wins on his resume — including the recent 2021 John Deere Classic — Glover is clearly doing something right.
For more from Glover, check out his full interview below.