What Do You Buy a Golfer When You Do Not Know Their Handicap?

Short answer: buy consumables, not equipment. Golf balls, gloves, tees and accessories work for every golfer regardless of ability. Clubs, shoes and clothing do not, because they depend on specifications you almost certainly do not have.

That is the whole answer. The rest of this explains why, and what to do about the one detail you do need.

Why handicap does not matter for gifts

People worry about handicap because they assume better golfers need different gear. For equipment, that is somewhat true. For everything else, it is not.

A 4 handicapper and a 28 handicapper use the same tees, wear the same gloves, need the same towels and lose golf balls at roughly the same rate — the higher handicapper arguably loses more.

The only place ability genuinely changes the answer is golf balls, and even there it is smaller than people think. A premium ball is a good gift for any golfer. A beginner will not play worse for being handed a Pro V1; they will just be slightly sad when it goes in the water.

What you can buy with zero information

• Golf balls. Safe for anyone. If in doubt, premium — it is the thing golfers most want and least often buy themselves.
• Tees. Universally used, universally forgotten.
• Ball markers and pitch tools. Small upgrades on the coin and broken tee most people use.
• Towels. Every golfer has one and every golfer's is filthy.
• A gift box. Covers all of the above in one purchase.

What you cannot buy without information

• Clubs — needs shaft flex, length, lie, grip size.
• Shoes — needs size and width.
• Clothing — needs size and, honestly, taste.
• Rangefinders — most regular players already have one.

The one detail you do need: glove hand

If your gift includes a glove, you need two things.

Size: S, S/M, M, M/L, L. Most adult men are Medium. Most women are Small or S/M.

Hand: golfers wear one glove, on the lead hand — the opposite hand to the one they play with. A right-handed golfer wears it on the left. This catches nearly everyone.

If you have no way of finding out without ruining the surprise, guess Medium and right-handed. That covers the majority, and any decent seller will swap it.

What about a personalised golf gift?

Personalisation is a good instinct but a narrow one. A name on a bag tag, a scorecard holder or a ball marker works, because those are items where a name adds something and nothing about fit can go wrong.

Personalising a ball is more divisive — some golfers love it, some do not want their name on something they are about to hit into a lake.

The safest single purchase

If you want one thing to buy and you know nothing except that they play golf, a golf gift box is the answer. You pick a budget, the contents cover the categories every golfer uses, and the only decision you have to make is the glove size.

Ours run from £28 to £94 and arrive ready to give.