Feel for the game: FootJoy StaSof

• By Global Golf Post
• Sep 6, 2011 2:26 PM ET

Pity the poor golf glove. In recreational player circles, it rarely gets the respect other pieces of equipment are afforded, and people sometimes wonder why so much time and effort is spent on designing and producing such a product. After all, the thinking often goes, we are only talking about gloves here, not wedges or woods.

But touring pro Adam Scott puts it in proper perspective when he says: “All the feel in your golf game comes through your hands, so you have to have the glove with the best feel.”

Golf gloves are important, especially at the higher levels of the game. And FootJoy has demonstrated its appreciation of that ever since it started its premium StaSof line three decades ago by making regular enhancements to fit, feel and performance.

Consider, for example, the improvements in its latest generation StaSof, released in mid-August. The company employs a new leather technology called Taction 2 that comes from FootJoy’s exclusive partnership with Pittards of England. It is designed to bolster grip performance when weather conditions get damp, through light rain or high humidity, perhaps, or when a player perspires.

“We’ve found that this glove grips about 15 percent better in those types of conditions,” says Maria Bonzagni, senior director of marketing for FootJoy gloves. “And we are able to achieve that through a special tanning process with Pittards, and in a way that does not impede feel because feel is one of the things that is so important with StaSof.

“A golfer doesn’t want his or her hand to be stuck to the grip,” Bonzagni adds. “He wants the right amount of tackiness and also the right amount of feel. That’s why we went through 10 iterations of this new StaSof with Pittards to find just the right combination.”

At the same time, FootJoy technicians worked to improve fit by extending the leather cuff in this generation of StaSof by a quarter of an inch up the wrist. Bonzagni says the company also created a new closure design, called ComforTab, to enhance that attribute as well. In addition, it added PowerNet mesh inserts across the knuckles for greater flexibility and breathability.

The uninitiated might not think golf gloves need to be enhanced in such intricate and technical ways. But Adam Scott is right. These things matter.