Golf Gift Ideas for the Bloke Who Already Has Everything

Buying for a golfer is supposed to be easy. Ball markers, tees, another glove, done. Except the bloke you're buying for already has a drawer full of all three, and he hasn't opened it since 2019.

The good news is that golfers are easy to buy for once you stop shopping for golf and start shopping for the round. The gear that actually gets used is the stuff that lives in the bag, sits on his head or ends up in his hand at the 19th. This guide is about picking that gear without knowing his handicap, his shaft flex or what he thinks of his driver.

The test: would he use it on a Sunday?

Before you buy anything, ask one question. Will this come out of the bag on a normal Sunday, or is it a birthday-only object that goes into the shed and stays there?

Golf gifts divide neatly into two piles: gear that solves a small, repeated annoyance, and gear that just looks like golf. Aim for the first pile. It doesn't need to be expensive. It needs to be obvious enough that he reaches for it without thinking about it.

Gear that earns its spot in the bag

A stubby cooler that survives the round

The drink after the round is half the reason most people play. A decent stubby cooler is one of the few accessories that gets used every single time, and it's the first thing anyone else at the club notices.

The Après Stubby Cooler is the loud option, off-white with teal, navy and pink geometric shapes and the Golf Bogan script. The Caddy Shack Stubby Cooler is the golf-nerd option, covered in tiny carts, clubs, tees, flags and balls on cream. Both are neoprene sleeves that fit a standard 12oz can, and both collapse flat so they live in the bag without taking up room.

Why it works as a gift: nobody buys themselves a good one, and everybody notices a bad one.

A towel he'll actually keep

Golf towels get lost, left on a fence or borrowed permanently by a mate. Which means a golfer can never have too many, and a genuinely good one is a small upgrade every single round.

The Bell Air Bogan Towel carries navy palms and retro geometric shapes on white. The Kangaroo Dreams Golf Club Towel goes the other way entirely, with the kangaroo print from the polo of the same name. Both are a printed polyester front with a cotton back at 71.1 by 40.6 cm, big enough to wipe a club down properly without turning into a beach towel.

A cap that isn't a freebie

Most golfers own one hat they chose and four they were given. A trucker cap with vintage script and palm embroidery is the sort of thing he'll wear off the course as well, which is the highest compliment golf headwear can get.

Look for a structured front, a mesh back for Australian heat and an adjustable snapback. That way it fits whether he reckons he's a medium or a large.

For the bloke who dresses like a grey cardigan

Some golfers want to blend in. Buy them loud gear and it will sit in the wardrobe with the tags on, which is a waste of a good present.

Read the room first. If he plays in plain navy, don't lead with the brightest print in the range. Start with a print that has humour buried in it, like the Caddy Shack Golf Polo, where the pattern only reveals itself up close: golf carts, crossed clubs, tees and red flags on a cream base. At ten metres it reads as a tidy cream polo. At one metre it's a joke he gets to wear all day.

If he's already the loudest bloke in his group, skip the warm-up altogether and go for a 90s Chaos or Just Mates print. He'll wear it to the pub as well as the course, which is the entire point of loud golf gear.

Matching gear for a golf trip

If the gift is attached to a trip, a bucks weekend or a corporate day, matching accessories do more work than a single shirt. A cap, a towel and a stubby cooler in the same print make a group look like they planned it, even when nobody planned a thing.

It also solves the group-gift problem. One polo means guessing a size and hoping. A towel and a cooler mean nobody has to.

The filler that doesn't look like filler

• A stainless steel water bottle in the matching print. Double-wall insulation, available in 12oz, 18oz and 32oz, and it doesn't sweat through the side pocket of a bag on a 34 degree day.
• Cotton crew socks, because his current pairs are older than his driver and he knows it.

What to skip

• Anything that needs his specs, like gloves, balls or shafts. You will get it wrong and he will be polite about it.
• Anything carrying another club's branding. He plays where he plays.
• Novelty gear that makes noise or needs batteries. It gets used once, then it's clutter.

How to choose without asking him

You don't need his handicap. You need three things.

1. What he wears now. Plain or print, hat or no hat.
2. Where he plays. Club competitions call for a collar. Social rounds are more relaxed.
3. What he complains about. Cold drinks, wet grips and a lost towel come up far more often than anything technical.

FAQ

What's a safe golf gift if I know nothing about golf?

A towel or a stubby cooler. Both get used every round, nobody has strong opinions about them, and neither depends on his handicap or his equipment.

Is a loud golf shirt too much for a club golfer?

Not if the print has something to look at up close. Choose a cream or dark base with the pattern buried in it rather than a full-wallop print, and he can wear it anywhere on the course.

Do golf gifts need to be golf-specific?

No, but they should survive being carried in a golf bag. Anything that lives in the bag gets used. Anything that lives on a shelf usually doesn't.

The short version

Buy for the round, not the trophy cabinet. A cap, a towel, a cooler and a polo in a print with a bit of humour will get more use than anything with a famous badge and a big price tag. Have a look at the full Golf Bogan range and pick the print that sounds most like him.