eyeglasses and golf

[RIduffer]

I noticed Kenny Perry switched from contact lenses to prescription glasses at the Chevron tournament, but you really don't see many guys wearing glasses on the tours (Tom Kite maybe?).

I've always worn glasses golfing, but sometimes I think it affects my ability to focus on the ball, i.e. peripheral vision and depth perception. I really hate wearing contacts and I'm nervous about LASIK, so I guess I don't have much choice. My eyes are bad enough that I wouldn't even consider trying to play without glasses.

Just wondering if anyone thinks glasses have any effect on playing golf.

[GolferNewb]

I think anything on your face while swinging could pose to be a problem. Just another thing to worry about. Also could get suntan lines on your face if you care about that.

[RC]

I've played in glasses all my golfing life -- no problem. However, if you need bifocals, I would recommend having a special pair of glasses for golf only, with no bifocal effect.

[Parker0065]

I wore glasses while playing golf from age 19-27, and from age 28-Present I have worn contacts. In my younger years with glasses they had no effect on me at all with ball striking, but my putting was not so great, better than most but not where it should have been.

The first couple years I started wearing contacts were the best years of my golfing life, I reached scratch level and started collecting tournament wins. I read a article years ago that stated that wearing glasses while reading greens can be more difficult due to how the sunlight hits your lenses and distorts the line, or something to that effect. I don't know if there's any truth to that but my putting greatly improved after I switched to contacts!

Maybe the key is to wear shaded lenses like K.Perry to reduce the glare. I just had regular clear lenses in my glasses.

[lobsterzilla]

i hate having to wear my glasses while golfing... I'm getting lasiks in the spring. Not just because of golf but i definitely think it will help.

[kris]

I know where you're coming from. My vision isn't bad, I have never played with my glasses and don't plan on it for a while. But I do lose the ball sometimes when I hit it over 180 yards or so. I know I'll eventually need some assistance in seeing in the future but am not looking forward to it.

[rckwd]

I noticed Kenny Perry switched from contact lenses to prescription glasses at the Chevron tournament, but you really don't see many guys wearing glasses on the tours (Tom Kite maybe?).

Please dont be worried about LASIK...my ex-wife had it done back when it was a new process and she had great success. I dont know about now but she was out of work for one day then had 20/20 vision the day after and no more worries about contacts or glasses......Good luck

[groovezilla79]

Please dont be worried about LASIK

I agree, however, as with any proceedure, I would suggest NOT having it done by the lowest bidder and you'll be fine.

I would like to see some guys out there with REC SPECS on! That would be pretty pimp

[RIduffer]

I would like to see some guys out there with REC SPECS on! That would be pretty pimp

Best suggestion in this entire thread!

[PiustheDrGolf]

I wore eyeglasses.

I had bad experience with contact lens. In my 1st or 2nd golfing year, I wore contact lens. My ball went into a sand near green on 2nd hole. I did sand shot but some of sand got into my eyes. I couldn't get it out of my eyes. I had to quit the round and came back home. Since the experience, I do wear eyeglasses.

Lasik.. Here in DC area, there is a radio commercial for TLC vision or somewhere that Tiger did his LASIK around late 90s by them. Last words of the commercial is Tiger saying 'I wish I had done this earlier'.

Now Knowing his visual tastes on women other than Elin, I won't do LASIK.

[golfdad]

well, i think it depends on several things, such as your eye condition, how well is it corrected by glasses vs others, and as you stated, your preferences. if you say i like glasses no matter what, then it seems that you don't have other choices left. fyi, there is another procedure where you wear a hard lens at night which corrects the shape of the cornea and you wear nothing during daytime. it is reversible, unlike laser surgeries.

also, wearing glasses may lead to distorted image/lines if you look through the lens on its outer peripheral areas. so, it may play a role in assessing slope and line during putting setup. you probably need to look straight on for the best info.

if you swing your driver exceedingly violently, i can imagine the glasses popping off at times.

[goblue107501]

I have glasses, that I am not required to wear. I wish I could wear them while playing, but I just can't. I have tried time and time again, it just doesn't work. First off, the glasses I have don't cover the entire eye, so when I look out of them at the ball I am not using them. Which is fine, but when I hit the ball and it gets in the air, it takes too long for my eyes to refocus and I have no idea where the ball is. Luckily, I have a predictable ball flight where I can see the ball take off and I know where it is going. I just can't see the ball land, especially off the tee. I know the general direction, but if someone tells me my ball is just next to the trap to the right of the bush, I have to take their word for it, because I can't see the ball on the ground that far away.

The rec specs would be a great idea for me!

[golfaddiction]

I don't have much of a problem when I wear glasses at the range, except when I get sweaty and have to wipe them off every so often. Also, occasionally during a swing my head moves to the point where I just lose the ball out of the side of the glasses. This is very distracting, but I'm pretty sure this means I'm overswinging, since it doesn't happen always.

But when I go the course, I always wear contacts. It's one less thing to be distracted by when you're on the course. It's also uncomfortable for me to wear glasses and a hat, and I always have a hat.

[iacas]

I've played in glasses all my golfing life -- no problem. However, if you need bifocals, I would recommend having a special pair of glasses for golf only, with no bifocal effect.

I wear glasses too. In fact, glasses are better than contacts on windy days... then again, I have astigmatism, so my contacts can't spin around at all (which the wind will do) if I want to see really really clearly.

Anyway, no problems here with glasses. I only prefer contacts on days I choose to wear them because I can more easily wear sunglasses (i.e. I don't have to switch from my regular glasses to my prescription sunglasses).

[FHopper]

I wear tri-focals and the lines help me keep my head down; I just keep the top line at the bottom of the ball. I have even wondered about selling golfing sunglasses with a line scribed on the lenses to help people keep their heads down.

[OldDog66]

I've never ever hit a golf ball without my glasses on. Currently I wear progressive lens tri-focals and do not have a problem. But then again I am a 20 handicapper so maybe if I could see I would be better. The weird thing is that I hate to wear sunglasses and feel uncormfortable playing if I forget to swtch them out after driving to the course.

[flopdarock]

im blind as a bat... but i wear contacts... with sunglasses... so its essentially the same thing as wearing specs... i take them off when im on the green or in the shade... but id imagine its the same as wearing glasses when im doing a full swing... i have no problems with it... i might even get a new prescription sunglasses sometime soon to give my contacts a break

[NormH3]

I wore eyeglasses.

You misunderstood. Lasik Huverness is a Norweigian movie star.