Moving From Progressive to Single Vision Glasses for Golf

[Golf2Much]

In mid-November I had my eyes checked.  The good news is that since the two years since I had an exam, my eyesight really didn't change enough to even warrant a prescription update.  I've had progressive lenses for the last 15 plus years and played in them (both regular and sunglasses).  I asked both the doctor and attached optical shop if I should switch to single lenses for golf.  Both were golfers and recommended with switch.  Since my last pair of regular glasses with insurance were about $300, I really didn't want to have an expensive optical experiment!  I figured I would need single vision versions of both my regular and sunglasses so I wouldn't have to switch between single and progressive lenses during the round.

Around Black Friday, I started to look around for various deals.  Luckily I found two that made the migration easy and much more economical.  For my regular glasses, I went to Hip Optical.  They had a pair of rim-less glasses that look like my Ray Ban frames.  They included scratch-resistant, anti-reflective, 100% UV blocking, super hydrophobic, ultra-thin lenses (1.67 index).  All in, they were $79.  Actually, right now, they are offering the same glasses for $69!  For sunglasses, I went with REKS Sling Blade frames (similar to Oakley Flax 2.0 XL).  They included Trivex color boosting, rose-amber with a silver mirror finish, 100% UV blocking, oleophobic (oil resistant) coating single vision lenses.  The REKS sunglasses were $179 again on sale.  One nice thing was that both factories were in South Florida meaning quick delivery times. Both pair fit perfectly.  For less than $280 I had two pair of golfing glasses ready to go.

Today was the first day I had both pair out on the golf course.  The single vision lenses did keep the golf ball in focus and prevented my head from moving up and/or down to see the ball clearly.  This helped keep my head in a more favorable position.  The biggest change was with the REKS Trivex lens sunglasses.  When I put them on, the colors just popped!  This helped when reading greens and getting better perception of fairway undulation.  The harder part was marking the scorecard as it was at the depth that my progressive lenses would allow me to see but more challenging for the single lenses.  I just learned to look under both of the single lenses to write down the scores.  Overall, I played pretty well (84) and had no significant adjustment to the single lenses.  

With the success in ordering glasses online, I may never go back to another optical store again.  The ordering process was quick and easy (I spent more time trying to pick out the frames), they were made and delivered quickly and each fit perfectly.  As for the single vision lenses, the initial experience was positive.  It will be interesting going between golf and non-golf days switching between single and progressive vision lenses.   So far, the single lenses seem to do the job.

[bellken]

I wear progressives most of the time. I have single vision computer glasses, and, single vision glasses for golf (I actually prefer contacts for playing golf). With that said, if you need to do any reading while wearing single vision glasses, try sliding your glasses a bit down your nose. It is an old trick my old eye doc showed me.

 

[Golf2Much]

@bellken, both my single vision regular and sunglass frames do not have a bottom rim.  So, for me (and my broken neck) it's a little easier to look under the lenses than over.  

I'm three rounds in and will not likely go back to progressive glasses for golf.   I never thought I had a challenge getting my head in the right position while keeping the ball in focus.  The ball never seemed blurry.  But with the single vision lenses on both set of glasses, I can pick up the ball in flight and where it lands without any difficulty and the ball is always in crystal clear focus.