Golf and wearing eyeglasses. Single vision, progressive lenes, contacts or other?

[Tallwood88]

I've worn eyeglasses with progressive lenes the past 20 years, and I've always wondered if there was something better while playing golf. If it rains it is a quick handicap playing with rain drops on your lenes. I wear progressive lenes (needing them for distance and reading). What I find is it affects the peripheral vision on putting in particular. I've wondered if going to single vision (for distance only) glasses for when out on the links would be a benefit. How about contacts? I've never worn them but is it a better option? Just wondering if others have done anything different when playing or do they have glasses just for golf. Thanks in advance for your input!

[Triple_Putt]

I wear regular glasses and contacts and I cannot play golf with glasses on. I feel like they move around and also my depth perception is a just “off” with my glasses on. Contacts are the only way to go in my opinion if you feel comfortable wearing them  

[russtopherb]

I wear progressives and it has never been an issue for me. Even in rain I’ve never had a problem. 

[WaffleHouseTour]

I’ve worn glasses for fifty years, bi-focals/ now progressives for most of that time.  I have a pair of glasses just for golf - single vision distance that I keep in a hard case in my golf bag.  I see the ball on the ground much better without having to drop my chin or orient my head a certain way. Granted, I can’t read my phone when walking between shots without removing the glasses, but maybe that’s a good thing.  I tried w my progressive lenses and just couldn’t keep the ball in focus without moving my head around. Didn’t like it at all.  Oh, and they are the darkening transition lenses - lighter at dawn and darker as the sun rises. 

[Siamese Moose]

I can't tolerate contacts. For years I was able to use my progressives without problem, but as I've aged I can't any more. I have some prescription cycling glasses I use for golf now. If I need to read I just push them up a bit. However, they're a little too dark for twilight golf, so i also got a cheap pair of single vision glasses that stay in the bag. Unfortunately, "cheap" also means they're not the most comfortable.

[Stuka44]

6 hours ago, Tallwood88 said:

I've worn eyeglasses with progressive lenes the past 20 years, and I've always wondered if there was something better while playing golf. If it rains it is a quick handicap playing with rain drops on your lenes. I wear progressive lenes (needing them for distance and reading). What I find is it affects the peripheral vision on putting in particular. I've wondered if going to single vision (for distance only) glasses for when out on the links would be a benefit. How about contacts? I've never worn them but is it a better option? Just wondering if others have done anything different when playing or do they have glasses just for golf. Thanks in advance for your input!

Amen!  I have worn glasses since I was 11 years old, 56 now.  From the other comments, its apparently in the eye of the beholder( do-doot-chhichhh).  I have also worn progressive bifocal lenses for the last 25 years.  This is what I have found when it comes to golf and glasses.  Now some of it will depend on as others have eluded to just how bad your vision is.  I am +4.50, and +4.75, which is REALLY BAD!  I do wear contacts for work, and around just in general.   With "distance only" contacts for golf (again with as bad as my eyesight is) like others I literally could not read a text message, or  my golf watch,  without a set of "readers".  Squatting down to line up a putt, the ball was blurry, and even at 4-5 feet looking down at the ball with driver it was slightly out of focus. Depending on how bad your vision actually is if you would find your ball in focus lining up a putt, with distance only contacts, then they may be an option.  For me needing readers to see up close, and fill out my scorecard was just too much.

Now I will say that depth perception, and clarity,  and having a full field of view, no looking out from behind glasses are a huge plus, for distance only contacts, and just as good as the clarity with my glasses.

I now have what are called "mono vision" contacts.  One is about half power, and my dominant eye is full power.  This allows me to read my phone, see my golf watch, read a computer screen, unless the print is really, really small without "readers or cheaters" however you refer to them.   Now for golf "mono vision" lacks the distance clarity, of glasses, or distance only contacts.  For me even at 60-70, the mono vision contacts lack depth perception, to see how much green I have to work with, and lacks in observable contour.

So the short answer is that I wear my glasses for golfing.  Setting up to shots , my head position has just become second nature, for the ball to be in focus, lining up putts  are in focus, and on down the line.  You are 100% correct.  Golfing(and duck hunting) with glasses in the rain SUCKS ASS.    If it is drizzling, or rain is possible  I will wear or bring my contacts.  Just wanted to give you my take, just about having tried it all when it comes to glasses, and golfing.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Stuka44

[MGoBlue100]

I've also needed glasses/contacts for 40+ years.  I wore contacts for quite a few years, but the dryness in my eyes finally made me switch back to glasses.  I could (should?) wear bifocals, but i'm still in single vision and as others have mentioned I don't think I would be comfortable with bifocals while playing golf.  Could be wrong; haven't tried it at this point.

[Stuka44]

6 minutes ago, MGoBlue100 said:

but the dryness in my eyes finally made me switch back to glasses. 

Yes!!  I forgot about this.  In what is most of the time a breezy environment on the golf course, unless your eyes are really wet, I found putting contact drops in about every other hole was necessary.

[tony@CIC]

Well I just went the other way - with no prescription glasses. I've worn progressive lenses for at least 30 years, if not longer. I did use transition lenses so I didn't have to switch out glasses for sunglasses. I got so use to the progressive lenses that I could use them even for putting without any distortion. However, recently at my eye exam the doc told me my right eye had gotten so bad that I couldn't drive so we scheduled cataract surgery for both eyes (at different times). Immediately after it was like dialing back my eyesight 40 yrs. I now just wear inexpensive sunglasses. - I highly recommend this very simple procedure.  

[Bulldog]

I wear monovision contacts - distant vision correction in the right eye and near vision correction in the left.  Monovision contacts have worked well for me generally.  However, tracking a golf ball in flight with two different eye corrections scrambles my brain.  I'm also a private pilot and it's illegal to wear monovision contacts while piloting a plane.  For years, I would try to remember to put two distant vision contacts in before golf so I could see the ball in flight.  I would bring reading glasses for the scorecard.  A few years ago my optometrist retired and my new one is a golfer.  He suggested getting prescription sunglasses with no correction for the right side (distant) vision, and on the left, just correction for the difference between the near and distant vision contacts. So, now with the sunglasses, I have distant vision in both eyes.  Take the sunglasses off, and I can read the scorecard, gps, and restaurant menus.  I ordered a second pair of the sunglasses that are not as dark, which are great for cloudy days.  

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I need distance correction and correction to be able to read. My eyes were bad, so bad I had lasik eye surgery. Best thing I ever did. On the down side it lasted 12 years before it started slipping. For the last 10 years I'm back to contacts for distance and then I can wear low power readers over the contacts to read. Only need them in low light settings like restaurants or really small print.

Always had issues playing golf with glasses. I can't even wear sunglasses playing golf. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

i am contacts all the way when i golf. My glasses get filthy easily and i always worry about them falling off mid swing.

[Dweed]

I've worn glasses for 60 years. Played baseball, football, hunted, fished, fought and now for the past 20 years with progressives. I guess I've just gotten so used to them it doesn't really bother me when golfing. Even putting hasn't seemed an issue. Like a CPAP, once you get used to it you can't live without it.

[Manny]

Well, this is a subject that I am very passiontate about.

I used to wear old fashion gas permeable lenses growing up. They were extremely annoying and not comfortable at all.

I had a  pterygium on my left eye.  It may be  known as surfer's eye, it is a raised, wedge-shaped object on your eye.

I had it removed two times, and it has not come back, thank goodness.

But that is not the worst of it. I also have a eye disease called Keratoconus which is a vision disorder that occurs when the normally round cornea (the front part of the eye) becomes thin and irregular (cone) shaped, so normal contacts dont fit very well at all.

I didn't want or need a cornea transplant yet.

I would suffer discomfort when I was playing golf, from  simple dust or anything in the air. It was very frustrating and at times would ruin a hole because my eyes were so red and tearing up.

I can now wear my sunglasses without any discomfort or any problems

But after a lot of reserch I found a doctor that was able to fit me with Scleral Contacts and I can not tell you how much better my eye health is and how it has made playing golf or doing anything outside so much more enjoyable. These lens are speacialy made for my eyes only. Also she is able to put a bifocal in my lenses! I dont need readers!!

They are not cheap about $1200 for a pair but they last 2 years and are covered under insurance because it is a eye disease.

So after all that, if you need a great fiting and comfortable lens, I highly recommend  scleral contact lens.

 

[Tallwood88]

Thank you for all the responses. From the comments players have done everything from very little to very significant surgery. From time to time, I've considered Lasik surgery but each time I've brought it up with my ophthalmologist he talks me out of it. I had a retina tear several years ago and I think that plays into it. What I will probably do is try single vision glasses with Transition lenes first. It's the easiest, lower cost way to try something different. 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Tallwood88

[Golf2Much]

I'm 66, going on 67 and I've got progressive lenses in my regular glasses and wrap around Rayban sunglasses.  I use both when I play golf.  In the 25 years or so I've worn the progressive lenses, I've never had an issue playing golf with either of them.  The good news is that my last assessment, my vision is actually getting slightly better.  

As far as using peripheral vision with progressive lenses on putts, etc., I do not have that issue.  About 13 years ago I broke my neck on a hit and run scooter accident.  As a result, I have two plates and six screws keeping my head from turning.  So I've had to adapt my putting and alignment routines because my head is pretty much stationary.  I have to move my shoulders and upper body towards the target to see it.  It's small price to pay for being able to play golf (when some said I'd never walk again).  

[GolfSpy MPR]

Gonna revive this thread because, as I'm typing this, I'm within two hours of having received my first pair of progressive bifocals. And so far, I'm not sure that this is going to be a good fit for me.

Touch of background: I'm quite nearsighted. I would have been way more nearsighted had I not had corrective laser surgery when I was in my early 20s, but while that gave me about 8 years or so without glasses, it appears that my eyes are just going to continue to degrade.

In recent years, I'd noticed some of the telltale signs of the impending bifocal prescription: detail work or close reading had me looking over the tops of my lenses or removing my glasses altogether. So the bifocals were not a shock.

I'm obviously going to give these a few days, but my initial impression is that these are very, very annoying. Things below shoulder height are not in focus unless I intentionally tip my head down and look through the tops of the lenses. A test golf stance confirmed what was always like: the ball is a fuzzy mess looking through the bottom of the glasses.

So again, I'm going to give these a few days, but I'm almost certainly going to be buying a pair of distance-only glasses—at least for golf, but maybe for daily wear as well, going back to removing my glasses when I need to do up-close things.

[ILMgolfnut]

I've had bifocals for years due to astigmatism. No problem seeing the ball in my stance, but picking up a ball in flight is iffy. My retina surgeon (had a detachment two years ago) says the detachment has healed fine, but I have early cataracts, which my normal eye doc has never mentioned. I've had to postpone appointments with my normal eye doc twice because of my work travel, but hoping to get in there and discuss that with her. Maybe the cataracts are why I can't follow the ball in flight, and also why I have trouble driving at night and do my damndest to avoid that. Seems like I recall reading that Jack Nicklaus spent the last 20 years of his career unable to see his shots in flight, so it's not mandatory if you have someone with you who can. Which I rarely do.

And I can't get in to see the eye doc until July.

Edited March 19 by ILMgolfnut

[Indy_Oz]

27 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Gonna revive this thread because, as I'm typing this, I'm within two hours of having received my first pair of progressive bifocals. And so far, I'm not sure that this is going to be a good fit for me.

Touch of background: I'm quite nearsighted. I would have been way more nearsighted had I not had corrective laser surgery when I was in my early 20s, but while that gave me about 8 years or so without glasses, it appears that my eyes are just going to continue to degrade.

In recent years, I'd noticed some of the telltale signs of the impending bifocal prescription: detail work or close reading had me looking over the tops of my lenses or removing my glasses altogether. So the bifocals were not a shock.

I'm obviously going to give these a few days, but my initial impression is that these are very, very annoying. Things below shoulder height are not in focus unless I intentionally tip my head down and look through the tops of the lenses. A test golf stance confirmed what was always like: the ball is a fuzzy mess looking through the bottom of the glasses.

So again, I'm going to give these a few days, but I'm almost certainly going to be buying a pair of distance-only glasses—at least for golf, but maybe for daily wear as well, going back to removing my glasses when I need to do up-close things.

Odd coincidence, I read this sat waiting for a contact lens appt! Ha ha. 
I use bifocal contacts. Like most things it’s a compromise but I much prefer contacts to glasses and with these I can wear whatever sunglasses I want. 
My optometrist told me the way they prescribe bifocals has changed a little. Far sighted prescription is for dominant eye. Other eye then slightly weaker to allow reading/ near sighted prescription to be on the non-dominant eye. 
As I use computers for work and they are further away than my reading distance, so my dominant eye is set up to be in focus for long distance and computers. Non-dominant is in-focus for reading and just out of focus for distance work, but the brain compensates and uses the dominant eye preferentially. 
it’s a bit of a head scratcher but is working so far. Been using them for 5 days now. 

[mrk7367]

41 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Gonna revive this thread because, as I'm typing this, I'm within two hours of having received my first pair of progressive bifocals. And so far, I'm not sure that this is going to be a good fit for me.

Touch of background: I'm quite nearsighted. I would have been way more nearsighted had I not had corrective laser surgery when I was in my early 20s, but while that gave me about 8 years or so without glasses, it appears that my eyes are just going to continue to degrade.

In recent years, I'd noticed some of the telltale signs of the impending bifocal prescription: detail work or close reading had me looking over the tops of my lenses or removing my glasses altogether. So the bifocals were not a shock.

I'm obviously going to give these a few days, but my initial impression is that these are very, very annoying. Things below shoulder height are not in focus unless I intentionally tip my head down and look through the tops of the lenses. A test golf stance confirmed what was always like: the ball is a fuzzy mess looking through the bottom of the glasses.

So again, I'm going to give these a few days, but I'm almost certainly going to be buying a pair of distance-only glasses—at least for golf, but maybe for daily wear as well, going back to removing my glasses when I need to do up-close things.

SO I'M AN OPTICIAN BY TRADE, AND BEEN IN BUSINESS OVER 23YRS. BECAUSE NOT ALL PROGRESSIVE LENSES ARE MADE EQUALLY, YOUR ADAPTATION PERIOD MAY VARY. ALSO DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU MADE THE PURCHASE MATTERS. IF YOU PURCHASED FROM THE BIG CHAIN STORE, THEY MAY NOT HAVE THE BEST OPTION FOR YOUR INTENTION. IT MATTERS IF YOUR PROGRESSIVE LENSES ARE DIGITAL LENS OR NOT. DIGITAL LENSES ARE BETTER TO ADAPT TO, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE BIT MORE COSTLY.

THEY ALSO HAVE LENSES MADE FOR GOLF SPECIFIC. YOU SHOULD TRY THEM.

 

[RTH1]

Just thinking about the other day, frame on the glasses always got in the way for me, switched to soft contacts years ago, only problem was with sunglasses, tried rimless and others just can't find anything that is comfortable and not intrusive, getting to that point in my golfing career that I don't hit the ball far enough to need any eyewear.

[Domino1]

Ive worn glasses for 50 plus years. Ive tried single vision tho I currently wear progressive bifocals with no issues. 

I would advise against transitions lenses. When it very cold, my lenses darken so much I have trouble picking up ball flight.

[Shifty]

I have golf specific sunglasses that are progressive.  I got them the same time as I got regular progressives for everyday use.

For the golf specific sunglasses, The optometrist made me stand at address position, then sort of measured my field of vision for looking down at the golf ball, and he put the progressive part lower on the lens, out of the way when I'm hitting the ball.  It really is on the lower part of the lens compared to my regular glasses.

They work really well, and am thinking of getting a second pair this summer as the old pair is a few year old now. 

[ILMgolfnut]

38 minutes ago, Domino1 said:

I would advise against transitions lenses.

I've had Transitions for a long time. Reading a computer screen outdoors is difficult when they darken, but I don't find picking up a golf ball in flight to be any more difficult with or without.

[mrk7367]

2 hours ago, RTH1 said:

Just thinking about the other day, frame on the glasses always got in the way for me, switched to soft contacts years ago, only problem was with sunglasses, tried rimless and others just can't find anything that is comfortable and not intrusive, getting to that point in my golfing career that I don't hit the ball far enough to need any eyewear.

TRY TRANSITION LENSES

[mrk7367]

1 hour ago, ILMgolfnut said:

I've had Transitions for a long time. Reading a computer screen outdoors is difficult when they darken, but I don't find picking up a golf ball in flight to be any more difficult with or without.

THE NEW TRANSITIONS ARE BETTER NOW

[David Leighton Reid]

When I was younger, I had excellent vision.  As I aged, I eventually needed help with reading or up close vision, so I went with bifocals for work.  I absolutely hated wearing my bifocals on the golf course, so I tried wearing 1 contact to help me fill out the scorecard.  Then in my 60's, I started needing some help with my distance as well.  After my vision exam last year, I ordered a pair of Oakley glasses with transition bifocals lenses and forced myself to wear them while playing golf.  Now I don't even notice the progressive lenses and enjoy wearing them.  And it is very nice to see where my tee shots land!

[Rob Person]

I have 3 pairs of glasses. HdX vision progressives for everyday use at work/home.  Bifocal progressives for tinkering, very up close projects, etc. And progressive sunglasses setup for more distance view. (Double tint lenses, very dark!!)

I'm ineligible for corrective surgery at this time.

Even with distance lenses, I have a hard time tracking the ball in flight (main reason I play Yellow balls.)

I tried torks contacts once, and it was very annoying and the right side kept sliding out of place.

It took me 2 weeks to get used to transition lenses, now I won't ever not have them!

 

[Golf2Much]

Late last year at my eye exam I was encouraged by staff in the office to use single vision glasses for golf.  From my post last year, I had and exclusively used progressive lenses for golf and really didn’t have s as major issue.  So I had prescriptions made for both.  
It was around Black Friday when I thought I’d give single vision glasses a try again.  I picked up an inexpensive pair of regular glasses and a pair of REKS sunglasses both with single vision optics.  

It’s been roughly three months with the single vision glasses and I have to say that they have made a difference.   I find that I had to lower my head with the progressive lenses to as the effectively focus on the ball.   Now I raise my chin a little bit which I feel helps me make a better turn.  Yeah, I can’t read the scorecard unless I look over or under the lenses, but it’s a small price to pay for more consistent ball striking.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Edited March 20 by Golf2Much
Spell

[THE GOLF GUY]

It’s very interesting to read about all the different eye issues that I had no idea about! I wear progressive lenses but really seem to struggle a lot with my tee ball being out of focus or possibly my depth perception is off ? So I typically don’t wear mine when playing except to read or keep score with . 
 Not trying to change the subject here but my issues are all lower back related with a possible spinal fusion in the future.