Despite the fact most golfers preach “growing the game”, we are still an extremely judgemental bunch. Who among us hasn’t smashed ‘Like’ on an Instagram post that’s making fun of golfers who use iron covers? If you say you haven’t, you either don’t have Instagram or you are flat-out lying.
There should be nothing wrong with wanting to keep your expensive equipment intact, but for some reason the sight of iron covers make you stick out like a sore thumb. This is not limited to recreational golfers, either. Aaron Rai, a two-time European Tour winner who just secured his PGA Tour card last month, uses iron covers, a jarring sight for a tour pro. Rai has no doubt been the butt of a few jokes on social media for committing such a crime.
After hearing Rai’s explanation for using iron covers, however, golf fans might think twice about poking fun. During an interview with Jason Sobel and Michael Collins on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, Rai went into great detail about why he utilises them, and it dates back to childhood.
“It started from the age of four years old, when my dad used to pay for my equipment,” said Rai, who described his family as working class. “He paid for my membership, paid for my entry fees. It wasn’t money that we really had, to be honest, but he’d always buy me the best clubs.
“When we used to go out and practise, he used to clean every single groove afterward with a pin and baby oil, and to protect the golf clubs he thought it would be good to put iron covers on them. And I’ve pretty much had iron covers on all my sets ever since, just to kind of appreciate the value of what I have.”
Welp, I bet we all feel pretty bad now. That was a really cool answer, and one we should all think about next time we joke about iron covers. Here’s a guy who can get a new set of clubs any time he wants, and he still makes sure to appreciate what he has. It’s impossible not to cheer for the Englishman now, iron covers and all:
Honestly, it’s a solid-looking bag. And if you’re going to have iron covers, this is the way to do it. If you’ve got the ones that say which club it is on each cover, that’s a different story.
