Why it goes on the weaker hand
When a golfer holds a club, the hands are stacked: the weaker hand goes on top, nearest the end of the grip, and the dominant hand sits below it. For a right-handed golfer, that means the left hand is at the top.
The top hand does the most work holding on, and it's the one most likely to let the club twist. So that's the hand that gets the glove. The lower hand is largely along for the ride and is usually left bare, partly for feel and partly because two gloves would be hot.
How to check without asking
Three options, in order of reliability:
- Look at a glove they already own. The hand is printed on the packaging and usually on the glove itself. This also gives you the size, which you need anyway.
- Notice which hand they write with. Most golfers play the same way round as they write, so a right-handed person almost always needs a left-hand glove.
- Look at their clubs.Right-handed and left-handed clubs have the face angled in opposite directions — if you stand a club up with the flat face toward you and it points right, it's a right-handed club and they need a left-hand glove.
Method one is the only genuinely reliable one, because a small number of golfers do play the opposite way round to how they write.
What the listing labels mean
Golf glove listings say "worn on left hand" or "worn on right hand"in the product title. That phrasing describes where the glove goes, not which kind of golfer it's for — so a right-handed golfer wants one labeled "worn on left hand".
A few brands instead label them "MLH" (men's left hand) or "MRH". Same meaning: the hand named is the hand it goes on.
The exceptions
Two situations break the one-glove rule, and both are worth knowing:
Rain gloves are sold in pairsand worn on both hands. That's deliberate — in wet weather the grip problem affects both hands, and the material used grips better damp than dry.
Some golfers wear two gloves in hot weatheror for sweaty hands, though it's a minority preference. If you've seen them wearing two, buy two of the same hand-appropriate pair rather than guessing.
Getting the size right too
The hand is only half the problem. Golf gloves come in Small through XL plus Cadetsizes, which are cut for hands with shorter fingers relative to palm width — not smaller sizes, and not children's sizes.
The size is printed on the cuff of a glove they already own. Our glove sizing guide covers it properly, and the golf glove roundup has the picks.