Get the hand right first
This is the mistake that ruins more golf glove gifts than everything else combined, and it's completely counterintuitive if you don't play.
Golfers wear one glove, on their weaker hand — the one at the top of the grip. So a right-handed golfer wears a glove on the left hand, and buys a glove labeled "worn on left hand". A left-handed golfer does the opposite.
Amazon listings state this explicitly in the title, so it's easy to get right once you know. It's just very easy to get wrong if you don't. Full explanation: which hand does a golf glove go on.
Leather or synthetic?
This is the only other real decision, and it's a genuine trade rather than a better/worse.
Leatheris thinner and softer, so there's less between the hand and the club. Golfers who play a lot generally prefer it. It also wears out faster and turns slick when it gets soaked.
Synthetic is thicker and less refined but far more durable, and it handles sweat and damp better. For an occasional golfer it lasts several times longer.
For a gift, the honest default is synthetic in a two-pack: it costs less than one leather glove and a golfer will genuinely use both. The full comparison is in leather vs synthetic golf gloves.
Sizing, if you have to
Golf gloves come in Small through XL, plus "Cadet" sizes — which are for hands with shorter fingers relative to the palm, not for children.
The reliable way to get this right is to look at a glove they already own; the size is printed on the cuff or the wrist tab. Guessing is possible but a glove that's too loose bunches and slips, which is worse than no glove at all. Our glove sizing guide walks through it.
Why gloves make good gifts anyway
Because they wear out on a schedule. A golfer who plays weekly goes through several a year — they stiffen, the palm goes shiny, the thumb splits. Most golfers put off replacing them and play on with one that's past it.
That makes gloves the rare golf item where a duplicate is genuinely welcome rather than awkward, and it's why a two-pack is a better gift than one nicer glove for most people.
The specialist ones worth knowing about
Two categories exist that most golfers never buy for themselves and are excellent gifts for exactly that reason. Rain gloves are sold in pairs and grip better wet than dry — nobody buys them because it feels like planning for a bad day. Arthritis-oriented gloves with padded pressure points keep older golfers playing longer, and are a far more thoughtful gift for a grandparent than another dozen balls.
