Half the sweaters sold under this name are not sweaters. They are polyester sweatshirts with a knit texture printed onto the fabric, and in a product photograph the two are impossible to tell apart. The ten below are sorted by which is which, with the price taken off each brand’s own site rather than a marketplace. Three of them are layers that still make sense on the 3rd of January.
In This Article
Knit Golf Ugly Christmas Sweaters
These four have the design knitted into the garment. They cost a little more than the printed ones, they are warmer, and they are the ones that still look like a sweater when somebody is standing next to you rather than looking at a photo of you.
Best overall
Tipsy Elves Men’s Golfing Santa Ugly Christmas Sweater
$50
Best budget option
Golfing Santa Claus Snowflakes Knitted Ugly Christmas Sweater
$40
Loudest design
Ugly Christmas Party Golfing Santa Sweater
$60
Best for a golf crowd
Tipsy Elves Men’s Who’s Your Caddy Ugly Christmas Sweater
$50
The quickest way to tell a knit from a print before you buy: zoom into the cuff on the product photo. A knitted sweater has ribbing that is a different texture to the body. A printed one has the ribbing drawn on, so the pattern keeps running straight through it.
Light Up and Printed Golf Christmas Sweaters
Printing buys things knitting cannot: photographic detail, a face, an LED strip wired through the chest. The trade is that what arrives is a sweatshirt. For one evening in December that is usually the right trade.
Most likely to win the contest
Tipsy Elves Men’s Santa Slice Light Up Ugly Christmas Sweater
$70
Most personal
BirdieTee Custom Face Xmas Star Golf Ugly Sweater
$50
Best pun
BirdieTee Tees The Season Santa Golf Cart Ugly Sweater
$50
Golf Quarter Zips and Hoodies for Winter Rounds
None of the sweaters above is built to swing in, and a December round still has to be played in something. These three are the layers Yatta Golf makes for that, and the last one doubles as the collar that keeps a crewneck inside the dress code.
Best for the round itself
Black Quarter Zip, Men’s
$58
Warmest layer
Daybreak Performance Hoodie, Navy
$58
Best collar to wear underneath
The Black Golf Polo
$44
A crewneck is where this runs into trouble at a private club. The print is almost never the problem, the missing collar is. Wear a polo underneath and the question stops mattering, which is covered in more detail in the golf dress code.
If the print is the part you are unsure about, the same thinking applies to shirts: a plain layer underneath lets you go as loud as you like on top, and the men’s golf polos range runs from solid black through to prints that hold their own against a Santa jacquard.
Tips for Buying a Golf Christmas Sweater
Every one of these gets bought in a hurry in the second week of December, which is how people end up with a polyester sweatshirt they thought was a knit, in a size that does not fit, delivered on the 27th. Five things worth knowing first.
- Knit or print changes everything. A knitted sweater has the design worked into the yarn. A printed one is a polyester sweatshirt with a knit texture photographed onto the fabric. In a product shot they are indistinguishable, and the listings rarely say which is which. Look for the fibre line: cotton or acrylic means knit, 100 percent polyester with the words all over print means the other thing.
- Most of these are unisex men’s sizing. Dedicated women’s golf Christmas knits barely exist, so the practical route is a unisex sweater one or two sizes down from your usual. The boxy cut that makes an ugly sweater look right also makes it forgiving, which helps.
- Order by the second week of December. Novelty knitwear comes from small brands running one season of stock. Standard shipping runs five to eight business days once they pick it, the popular designs sell out of the middle sizes first, and anything custom printed adds production time on top. Two of the sweaters above were already missing a size when this was written.
- Test the swing before the party, not on the first tee. A cotton knit with no stretch binds at the top of the backswing, and you will spend the front nine blaming your tempo for something your sleeves are doing. Take a few swings in the living room. If it binds, the sweater is for the party and a quarter zip is for the round.
- If they already own one, buy time instead. A second ugly sweater sits in a drawer for eleven months. A block of winter lessons, an hour on a simulator or a spring tee time gets used, needs no size, and does not have to ship by a deadline.
A knit wins the party and a quarter zip wins the round, and at these prices there is no reason the same person cannot own both. If the sweater is going under the tree rather than on your own back, it pairs well with something from the Christmas golf gifts list, and if the recipient is the type who plays through January, the best cold weather golf gear covers the gloves and hand warmers that go with the layers above.
FAQ
How do you wash a golf ugly Christmas sweater?
Cold water, inside out, and lay it flat to dry. Heat is what kills them: a hot tumble dry shrinks an acrylic knit and cracks a surface print. On any light up design, unclip the battery pack and the lighting strip first, because they are not washable and usually come out through an interior pocket.
Are there women’s golf ugly Christmas sweaters?
A handful, but the category is overwhelmingly unisex and cut on men’s blocks. The practical answer is to buy a unisex knit in a smaller size, or to go to a brand that prints the same design on a women’s body. The three knits above are all sold as unisex.
What do you wear with a golf ugly Christmas sweater?
Dark trousers or golf joggers at anything held at a club, chinos at a house party. Jeans are the one thing a course will turn you away for, however festive the top half is. Golf shoes stay in the car: spikes and a clubhouse floor is a conversation nobody wants to have.
When do golf Christmas sweaters sell out?
The middle sizes on the popular designs go in the first half of December, and small brands rarely get a reorder in before the 25th. Buying in late November costs nothing extra and removes the problem entirely.