Red Rooster Golf Glove Review

[DaveP043]

A couple of weeks ago, @iacas contacted the moderators, offering a chance to try out and review a brand new golf glove, from Red Rooster Golf. As I understand it, this is a new company, starting a Kickstarter campaign pretty soon to get some funding to move forward. You can check them out at

www.redroostergolf.com

You can read more about it there, but I’ll summarize quickly. They plan to offer top-quality Cabretta Leather gloves. They’ll work on a subscription system, so you’ll get a new glove regularly, at intervals that I believe you will determine. As a way of giving back, for every glove sold, they plan to donate a glove to the First Tee program.

So my test glove arrived yesterday. It looks nice, feels nice, fits pretty well. First impressions are good. I’ll try to get some photos up in the next couple of days, along with a few comments. We’re expecting some rain over the weekend, so I may not get a round in wearing the glove, but I’ll make sure to use it at the first reasonable chance. More to come over the next week or two.

[paperclip]

Have heard about it, I think they are from Ottawa, look forward to your comments!

[Vinsk]

Hey! Site reads they’re kickstarting on May 10th. That’s my birthday soooo...😃

[mchepp]

I'll admit being intrigued to see how a subscription glove service works. My current strategy is to utilize many gloves and rotate them. This could be a solution where I just get a new one every few months. I am also interested to see the pictures you share.

I will say though, I am not impressed with the marketing campaign so far. It seems a little disjointed. Maybe the owners have regular jobs also. That would probably explain it.

[Shorty]

I notice on their website the model is wearing a glove at least a size too large.

And pretty much any company that uses the "NO MIDDLEMAN. NO MARKUP" line is running a con.

There are plenty of good quality golf gloves available on ebay at excellent prices.

The idea of being locked into a "subscription" service like a wine club means you're essentially getting stuff you don't want whilst guaranteeing a sale for the company.  I'll bet you can also "opt out at any time, no questions asked."

There's absolutely nothing wrong with starting a business and trying to make a profit. Pretending you're doing something else is BS.

And....just for fun...... try and find a leather golf glove that is NOT advertised as "cabretta leather". But of course this company highlights the word as if they're doing something special.

Oh.... and amazingly (not) the price is not mentioned on the kickstarter site. Fancy that. You have to sign up for "exclusive access".

Sell a good glove at a competitive price without the BS and you'll sell plenty.

Lose the weasel words and hackneyed spin.

Cynical and negative rant over. 😉

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Shorty

[DaveP043]

Well it didn't rain yesterday, so I used the Red Rooster glove for a round.  But let's start with some first impressions and the photos.  The glove came in a typical express mail letter-size envelope, wrapped in tissue, with a handwritten note and a card with a QR code linking me to their in-house survey page, 

The glove itself looks pretty much like every other glove, with a couple of stylistic deviations.  

The dark thumb is pretty odd, but it makes sense to me that they'd ship something that will stand out, to provoke conversation.  There are also three separate logos, which seems like overkill. The back of the velcro is normal, but the small tab on the opposite seam, and the spot on the palm side edge are just overkill to me.  But the seams appear to be straight and solid, the feel is soft an buttery.  When I first pulled it on it seemed a tiny bit snug, but not enough to be an issue.  

So far so good, it seems like a good quality glove at first examination.  I played 18 holes with the RR glove yesterday, and that impression remains, its a  high-quality glove.  The grip on the club feels secure and solid.  The size is perfect, easy off and on, but still nice and snug.  Surprisingly to me, not a single person mentioned the contrasting thumb, and its certainly not an issue when actually swinging.  The only thing left to evaluate, in my mind, is the durability.  I'll come back and let you all know how it holds up over a few more rounds.

Now I can't say anything about their business model, about their fundraising tactics, the pricing, the subscription model, all I know is that the prototype glove is a pretty high quality.

[mchepp]

@DaveP043 How about sizing? Like you typically wear a Medium and this was a medium and fit the same?

[DaveP043]

2 minutes ago, mchepp said:

@DaveP043 How about sizing? Like you typically wear a Medium and this was a medium and fit the same?

I wear a ML, cadet usually.  They don't offer the Cadet sizing, but this ML fit just fine

[Missouri Swede]

Not too impressed with the black thumb. Have to be a big price break to wear that.  I pay 5.99 for online cabretta gloves now, so price would have to be well below that.

I also don't know how the subscription model would work.  Right now if I trash a glove, I grab a replacement and go. With this plan, do I have to wait for a new one, or do they start by sending you 2 or 3? I'm guessing they will have to have some way to gauge how often you usually wear one out (or in our summer weather, sweat through one or three during a round).

[Darkfrog]

Anyone know if they are planning to have a non-subscription purchase option?

I don't wear a glove on the course, but am considering using one for practice to prevent blisters because I hold the club a lot longer when practicing (rehearsals, practice swings, etc.). Last time I bought a glove, I paid $5.99 for a leather glove, which was good enough by my standards. I wouldn't pay more than that for a glove to practice with, and am not interested in a subscription model.

[David in FL]

 

On 4/25/2021 at 9:40 PM, Missouri Swede said:

Not too impressed with the black thumb. Have to be a big price break to wear that.  I pay 5.99 for online cabretta gloves now, so price would have to be well below that.

I also don't know how the subscription model would work.  Right now if I trash a glove, I grab a replacement and go. With this plan, do I have to wait for a new one, or do they start by sending you 2 or 3? I'm guessing they will have to have some way to gauge how often you usually wear one out (or in our summer weather, sweat through one or three during a round).

I could have written this word for word...

A buddy gets his gloves at Costco for something like 4 for $25.  They’re not Footjoys, but for 6 bucks a glove, they’re pretty damn good.  

Unless it’s priced under $5, I can’t imagine too many people are going to go out of their way to change from whatever it is that they use now.  
 

I learned a lesson about subscription services way back in the Columbia House music days that I haven’t forgotten too...  

[Double Mocha Man]

On 4/23/2021 at 1:39 PM, DaveP043 said:

As I understand it, this is a new company, starting a Kickstarter campaign pretty soon to get some funding to move forward.

Can't wait to see them on "Shark Tank".

[mchepp]

On 4/25/2021 at 7:06 PM, Darkfrog said:

Anyone know if they are planning to have a non-subscription purchase option?

I don't wear a glove on the course, but am considering using one for practice to prevent blisters because I hold the club a lot longer when practicing (rehearsals, practice swings, etc.). Last time I bought a glove, I paid $5.99 for a leather glove, which was good enough by my standards. I wouldn't pay more than that for a glove to practice with, and am not interested in a subscription model.

Initially I was opposed to the idea of a subscription. However, I respect that without that model they really have no way of standing out. They are pushing a fashion model, which is fine, but lets be real, it's a glove. The majority of golfers (men) aren't really fashion accessory gurus. They also have discussed a buy one, give one to youth, which is very admirable, but hasn't proven to be a model that causes people of buy more...anything.

So the main difference, is to make it easy for the consumer. Remove the need to drive to the golf store or buying a glove when you get to the golf shop. There needs to be some uniqueness added to the subscription. For a big part of the US the season is 6-9 months long and they won't need gloves in January. So they will need to be creative. I think there is a possibility it could work. Subscriptions for consumables can work, but it will need to be creative.

[Vinsk]

I dunno…so far I’d call it a flop.

[iacas]

Amazon has subscriptions for consumables.

We get an air filter every six months for our furnace. Etc.

[Shorty]

7 minutes ago, iacas said:

Amazon has subscriptions for consumables.

We get an air filter every six months for our furnace. Etc.

That sort of thing is a really good idea because you're getting a replacement for something you know needs to be replaced but you may not get around to otherwise. It's safety related so it makes sense. Golf gloves not so much. 

[Double Mocha Man]

4 minutes ago, Shorty said:

That sort of thing is a really good idea because you're getting a replacement for something you know needs to be replaced but you may not get around to otherwise. It's safety related so it makes sense. Golf gloves not so much. 

Unlike a golf glove, I have a permanent furnace filter you take out and hose down every 6 months.  Which just happens to be on today's agenda...

Edited April 28, 2021 by Double Mocha Man

[Darkfrog]

48 minutes ago, mchepp said:

So the main difference, is to make it easy for the consumer. Remove the need to drive to the golf store or buying a glove when you get to the golf shop. There needs to be some uniqueness added to the subscription. For a big part of the US the season is 6-9 months long and they won't need gloves in January. So they will need to be creative. I think there is a possibility it could work. Subscriptions for consumables can work, but it will need to be creative.

 

10 minutes ago, iacas said:

Amazon has subscriptions for consumables.

 

1 minute ago, Shorty said:

That sort of thing is a really good idea because you're getting a replacement for something you know needs to be replaced but you may not get around to otherwise.

Yup, subscriptions are great for certain things. I have a bunch of subscriptions for consumables, like 50lb bags of rice, 50lb bags of various grains for milling/baking, 5 lb bags house blend coffee, toothpaste/toothbrush heads, allergy medicine, floss, toilet paper, paper towels, etc.

I just don't see how this works out for a golf glove. If I ever decide to wear a glove again, I can just buy 3-4 of them, delivered to my porch, and then when one wears out, open a new one (I assume gloves don't go bad that quickly), and when I get down to the last glove, order a few more.