Best Golf Grips: Cord, Rubber and What Rain Does

Grips are the cheapest specification in golf to change and the one most golfers never touch. A full set costs less than a driver head cover and takes an afternoon, and the compound you end up with decides whether your hands hold the club lightly or squeeze it. This page is about compound, texture and weather. Size is a separate question with a separate answer.

The four, compared

Two things separate one grip from another. The compound, which decides what happens when your hands are damp, and the texture, which decides how much the surface has to bite to hold. Everything else in grip marketing is a variation on those two.

Sizing is deliberately not in this table. Grip diameter is a fitting question rather than a product question, and golf grip size covers how to measure yours, what the actual diameters are and what a size change does to ball flight. Read that first if you do not already know what size you play.

Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4: the default

Tour Velvet is the compound that most golfers have already been holding for years without knowing its name, because it is what a very large proportion of clubs ship with. The Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4 is that compound with two changes: a uniform raised plus-sign texture across the surface, and a reduced taper that leaves the lower hand section thicker than a conventional grip.

The reduced taper is the part worth paying for. A conventional grip is much thicker at the top than at the bottom, which means the trail hand is wrapped around a noticeably thinner section than the lead hand. Building that section out lets the trail hand sit without cramping, and a hand that is not cramped grips lighter. Golf Pride describe the effect as simulating four extra wraps of tape under the lower hand, which is exactly what club builders used to do by hand.

Around £7 to £10 a grip

1Top pickThe default rubber grip, with less taper

Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

Compound

Rubber blend

Texture

Uniform raised plus-sign pattern

Wet weather

Rubber, so it needs drying rather than shrugging water off

Sizes

Standard and midsize

Profile

Reduced taper with a larger lower hand section

Feel

Firm to medium with moderate feedback

What works

• Tour Velvet is the compound most golfers have already held, which makes it the safest thing to standardise a bag on.
• The reduced taper genuinely lowers grip pressure in the trail hand, which is the more useful half of the Plus4 idea.
• Cheap enough that regripping thirteen clubs is a hundred pound job rather than a two hundred pound one.

What does not

• Plain rubber is the worst material here once it is properly wet.
• The plus-sign texture polishes smooth with use and it goes quietly.
• Only two sizes, so anyone at the extremes of hand size is out of luck on this model.

VerdictThe right answer for most golfers and the one to buy if you are unsure. The reduced taper is the reason to pick this over the plain Tour Velvet, and it costs almost nothing extra.

It is plain rubber, which means it is the worst thing here in genuinely wet weather. Rubber does not shed water, it holds it, and a rubber grip in rain needs drying between shots rather than shrugging the rain off. The texture also polishes smooth over a couple of seasons, and it goes quietly enough that most golfers respond by gripping harder rather than by replacing anything.

Golf Pride MCC Plus4: cord where it counts

The Golf Pride MCC Plus4 is a hybrid: brushed cotton cord moulded into the upper hand section and softer rubber through the lower, with the same reduced taper as the Tour Velvet Plus4 and a lower hand around 4.6 per cent larger in diameter than the original MCC.

That split is not cosmetic and it is the reason this grip took over. Your lead hand at the top of the grip is the one under load and the one that slips first, and cord fixes that. Your trail hand sits lower and takes less punishment, so it does not need cord and would rather not have it. Putting one material at each end is the obvious answer that nobody built for a long time.

Around £12 to £15 a grip

2Best forCord where you need it, rubber where you do not

Golf Pride MCC Plus4

Compound

Brushed cotton cord in the upper hand, softer rubber in the lower

Texture

Cord weave above, moulded rubber pattern below

Wet weather

The cord section keeps working when damp, which is where it matters

Sizes

Standard and midsize, with an ALIGN version

Profile

Lower hand roughly 4.6% larger in diameter than the original MCC

Construction

Two compounds moulded into one grip

What works

• Puts the cord exactly where your hand slips first, which is the lead hand at the top.
• The soft rubber lower section means it does not shred a bare trail hand the way full cord does.
• The ALIGN version adds a raised ridge for anyone who wants the hands placed the same way every time.

What does not

• Half the price again over the Tour Velvet, and a full set of thirteen shows it.
• Cord is abrasive, and if you play without a glove your lead hand will notice by the back nine.
• Two compounds means two wear rates, and the join is where the grip eventually fails.

VerdictThe best all-round grip here for anyone who plays in mixed weather and wears a glove. It is the sensible upgrade from Tour Velvet and the only one on this page that solves wet hands without punishing dry ones.

There is an ALIGN version with a raised ridge running down the back, aimed at getting the hands on the same way every time. Whether you want that is a matter of taste, and it is the sort of feature that either becomes invisible after two rounds or never stops being noticeable.

The cost is real. It is roughly half again the price of the Tour Velvet, which across thirteen clubs is a meaningful difference, and the join between the two compounds is where the grip eventually gives up.

Winn Dri-Tac: soft, and in every size

The Winn Dri-Tac is not rubber. It is Winn's own polymer, softer than anything else on this page, with a wrapped profile and a surface that stays tacky when damp rather than going slick.

The other thing Winn do that nobody else here matches is sizing. Dri-Tac is published in ladies, junior, standard, midsize and oversize, which is a genuinely wider fitting range than two sizes. For anyone whose hands sit outside the middle of the distribution, that alone decides the purchase.

Around £11 to £15 a grip

3Best forSoft, tacky and available in every size

Winn Dri-Tac

Compound

Winn's own polymer rather than rubber

Texture

Soft tacky surface with a wrapped profile

Wet weather

Stays tacky damp, which is the whole selling point

Sizes

Ladies, junior, standard, midsize and oversize

Feel

The softest here by a distance, with the most shock absorption

Sold as

Single grips and sets

What works

• Five published sizes including junior and ladies, which is the widest fitting range on this page by some way.
• Polymer absorbs impact vibration in a way rubber does not, which matters if your hands or elbows ache after a range session.
• Tacky enough that a lot of golfers stop wearing a glove on it, which is not true of anything else here.

What does not

• Wears out fastest of the four, and it is not close.
• Soft polymer feels vague to anyone used to a firm rubber grip, and some golfers hate it immediately.
• It marks and discolours, so it looks tired long before it stops working.

VerdictThe pick for golfers with sore hands, joint pain, or a hand size that standard and midsize do not cover. You are trading lifespan for comfort, and if comfort is your problem it is an easy trade.

Polymer also absorbs impact vibration in a way rubber does not. If your hands sting on a cold morning or your elbows complain after a long range session, that is worth a great deal, and it is a large part of why Dri-Tac has the following it has among older golfers and anyone managing joint pain.

The cost is lifespan. It wears out fastest here and it is not close, and it marks and discolours long before it stops working, so it looks finished before it is. Some golfers also simply dislike how vague a soft grip feels, which is a preference rather than a fault and is worth testing before committing thirteen clubs.

Lamkin UTx: three layers, built for weather

The UTx takes a different route to the same problem. Rather than one compound with a texture, Lamkin build it in three layers: a soft inner compound, a moisture-wicking fabric weave in the middle, and a firmer outer compound carrying an X pattern cord texture across the full length.

The middle layer is the interesting part. Full cord grips handle water by being coarse enough that a wet hand still catches on something. A fabric layer that actively pulls moisture off the surface means the outer texture does not have to be quite as brutal to achieve the same result, which is a genuinely different engineering answer.

Around £12 to £16 a grip

4Best forThe most weather-resistant grip here

Lamkin UTx

Compound

Three layers, with a moisture-wicking fabric weave in the middle

Texture

X pattern cord across the full length

Wet weather

Built for it, with a fabric layer that pulls moisture off the surface

Sizes

Standard, midsize and a wrap version

Construction

Lamkin's Tri-Layer, soft inner and firmer outer compound

Feel

Firm, with less torque than a single compound grip

What works

• The three layer build is a genuinely different approach rather than a texture change.
• The middle fabric layer is doing the wet weather work, so the surface does not have to be as harsh as full cord.
• The firmest and lowest torque grip here, which suits faster swings.

What does not

• Cord over the whole length is uncomfortable on a bare hand, full stop.
• The firm feel transmits everything, including a thin strike on a cold morning.
• Fewer stocked size options than the Winn, so fitting choices are narrower.

VerdictThe buy if you play through winter, sweat heavily, or have simply given up on grips going slick. It is the most weather-proof grip here and the least comfortable to hold without a glove, and those two facts are the same fact.

It is still cord over the whole length, and cord over the whole length is uncomfortable on a bare hand. It is also the firmest grip here, which suits faster swings and transmits everything to your hands on a cold thin strike.

Cord or rubber, and how to decide

This is the only real decision in the category, and it is decided by your hands and your weather rather than by your handicap.

The rule of thumb that holds up: if you wear a glove and play in weather that includes rain, hybrid cord is the better default and the MCC Plus4 is the obvious version of it. If you play mostly in dry conditions or often play without a glove, rubber is more pleasant and you lose nothing. If your problem is that your hands hurt rather than that they slip, neither answer applies and the polymer is what you want.

That distinction is the whole reason grips matter. A grip is not adding control, it is removing the need to squeeze. How to hold the club covers the placement side, and pressure is the variable that connects the two.

When to replace, and what it costs

The practical signals are visual and tactile together. Look for the shine: a polished patch under the lead hand where the texture has gone flat. Feel for hardness: an old grip is noticeably less compliant under a thumbnail than a new one. If either is obvious, the set is due.

Doing it yourself is straightforward and cheaper than having it done, and how to regrip golf clubs walks the whole job through, including the tape, the solvent, the cure time and the small number of ways it goes wrong. It also covers the cost comparison against paying a shop, which is closer than most people expect once you have bought the tools.

What the Rules allow

Two things follow from that. Every grip on this page conforms, because everything interesting grip makers do happens in the compound, the texture and the taper profile rather than in the shape. And a putter is a genuinely different product with different rules, which is why putter grips have got so much fatter over the last decade while swing grips have not.

What to spend

Multiply by thirteen and the decision changes character. A set of the cheapest grips here is roughly the price of one premium driver head cover. A set of the most expensive is a decent chunk of a wedge. Both are among the best value changes available to a bag, and unlike almost every other equipment decision they are fully reversible.

Two other things affect grip security more than the grip does, and both are cheaper. A glove that actually fits is doing at least as much work as the compound, and a rain glove grips better wet than dry, which is the single most useful piece of wet weather kit nobody buys until their third soaking. And a towel with a dry section is what restores a grip mid-round, because no compound survives being wet if nothing ever dries it. All three together is the answer, and waterproofs is the fourth piece for anyone who plays through winter deliberately.

If the whole bag feels wrong rather than one club, grips are one line on a longer list, and what a club fitting measures covers where they sit against shaft, lie and loft.