Asher Premium Collection: Fashionable and Functional

    Glove tested: Asher Premium Collection (men’s) Retail price: $15 – $20 Material(s): Cabretta leather Colors: Red, yellow, green and black; red, white and blue; yellow, gray and white; black, gray and white; blue, black and white; aqua, gray and white; aqua, black and white; sandstone, black and white; red and white Hand: Left, right Sizes: S, M, ML, L, XL, XXL

    Available in cadet* fit: No Weather: All

    About this glove: Check out Asher’s Premium Collection gloves and you might notice a theme. Actually, you might notice several themes. See, this Utah-based upstart isn’t content with plain white or standard color combos. Instead, Asher offers eye-catching, multi-colored models with whimsical names like the reggae-themed “One” (red, yellow, green and black), “The American” (red, white and blue) and “Lemondrop” (yellow, gray and white).

    Of course, none of them are as out-there as Asher’s Alice Cooper-endorsed “Death Grip.” But Premium Collection gloves are interesting in their own right.

    Looks, though, rank well down the list of qualities that make a glove good, bad, or indifferent. We hit the course with notepad at the ready, judging Asher’s Premium offering for the following critical factors.

    Appearance: If you want to get noticed on the golf course, an Asher glove will do the trick. Aside from the snazzy colors, though, these are pretty conventional-looking gloves. Stitching, perforations and elastic bands are all in the usual places, while the cabretta leather appears smooth and soft.

    Comfort: Comfortable making a fashion statement with your glove? You’ll feel right at home in an Asher Premium Collection model. In fact, close your eyes and you probably won’t notice any difference between this glove and a comparable version by, say, FootJoy. Fit is snug from wrist to fingertips, with easy flexibility and adequate breathability.

    Feel: Keep your eyes closed with the Asher glove on. Now grab a club and make some waggles. Feels pretty much the same as any other cabretta glove, doesn’t it? That’s a good thing. Asher’s thin, precision-cut AA-grade leather suits its purpose quite well, transmitting feedback with ample sensitivity. As a matter of fact, we’d grade it above average in this key category.

    Tackiness: Here, too, the Asher Premium Collection stands out. If the club slips or twists in your hand with this glove on, you’ve either gripped way too lightly, gotten moisture on your glove or grip, or used the same glove way too long.

    Durability: On par with other cabretta gloves in the $15 – $20 range, where durability is typically excellent. Rotate gloves during rounds, remove your mitt between shots and store it properly after golf and you can count on 15-plus rounds with an Asher.

    Bottom line: The name Asher is Hebrew for “happy” or “blessed.” No doubt, the Premium Collection will put a smile on your face. These gloves perform with the best in their class while telling everyone you’ve got a slightly unconventional concept of golf fashion. You might say they put the “fun” in functional.

    *Cadet gloves have shorter fingers than regular gloves of the same size; e.g., a cadet medium glove has the same palm fit with shorter fingers than a standard medium.