The Digital Shield Golf Glove

There are a few golfers like Fred Couples who don't use a glove on either hand. And there are a few golfers like Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey who wear gloves on both hands.

And then there are the rest of us, who wear one glove, on our top (or leading) hand; that is, the hand that is on top when we take our grip (the left hand for right-handed golfers). But what about that bottom (or trailing) hand? Doesn't it deserve some protection, too?

If you're a golfer who has experienced problems with your ungloved hand - blistering and chafing of the thumb, middle and index finger, for example - you may want to take a look at the Digital Shield from a company called Game Theory.

The Digital Shield glove is a streamlined, open-palm glove for your bottom, or trailing, hand. The company says the glove was designed "to protect against blistering and chafing while maximizing tactile sensitivity," and says that it conforms to USGA and R&A rules.

The Digital Shield glove is available via the company Web site, www.thedigitalshield.com

We’ve all seen the guys, Tiger Woods (and my neighbor, Frank) among them, with little bits of tape wrapped around their fingers to protect their digits (now the name makes sense) from just the sort of problems the Digital Shield, which covers your thumb, index, and middle fingers helps to prevent.

The material composition of the Digital Shield is very similar to many 5 finger models on the market. It features:

• Cabretta leather specially engineered to remain soft to the touch and keep its shape
• Coolmax^® mesh whose wicking properties pull moisture away from the skin
• A spandex gusset that conforms to the unique contours of your fingers
• An unrestricting neoprene wrist band

So why the Digital Shield? Why not just wear a second glove? Although the company won’t come out and say it, I will…wearing two full gloves is stupid; dumber still if they don’t match. Yeah…I suspect you’ve seen that guy too. I hate one black, one white glove guy.

For their part, Game Theory maintains that full, or even half finger gloves (like those silly one for women that have fingernail holes), are unnecessarily hot, provide excess grip, and most importantly compromise feel. Personally I’ve never given any thought to the heat issue, but the excess grip thing sounds good (especially if you’re a club-choker like I am). Feel, of course, is extremely important, which is why 90% of us take our glove off before we putt. The other 10% do it because Tiger does it.

For those of you not willing to risk potential ridicule on the links in exchange for unblemished hands, the guys behind the Digital Shield suggest that it’s a great way to protect your hands while you beat buckets at the driving range. Imagine being able to hit a few hundred (or thousand) golf balls without having to worry about ruining your hands prior to your weekend grudge match. You have to admit, it makes more than a little bit of sense.

The Digital Shield will be available in early July for a retail price of $11.99. It will be available in men’s sizes small, medium, medium large, large, and XL. Women’s sizing eliminates the XL. Because the Digital Shield doesn’t have fingers, cadet sizes aren’t necessary.