I’ve worn prescription glasses since elementary school, so wearing them feels second nature — except when playing sports like golf. For a long time on the course, I defaulted to contact lenses. The idea was simple: play golf with sunglasses of a certain tint, with the option to switch or go without them if needed.
But contacts come with their own challenges. With strong prescriptions, they don’t always provide optimal visual clarity, and in spring — when pollen and dust are at their peak — they can irritate the eyes badly. Finding good prescription golf sunglasses has historically been tough in Finland because purpose-built golf eyewear wasn’t widely available. That changed when I discovered a Finnish company called Piiloset — under the OloLinssit brand — offering ProGolf® lenses specifically designed for golf!
Of course, I had to put them to the test. I visited Turun Optiikka, conveniently located right downstairs in my building, and got fitted for golf sunglasses with my exact prescription. The frames I chose are Ray-Ban, equipped with OloLinssit’s ProGolf® lenses. My test round was at Kankaisten Golf in Masku on an exceptionally bright and sunny day. Normally I play with brown lenses or Oakley Jawbreakers with violet lenses — brown for bright sun, violet for clearer contrast on partly cloudy days.
The first thing I noticed was sharpness and clarity. Prescription lenses deliver more precise vision correction than contacts, especially when astigmatism is involved. Contacts also tend to shift slightly in my eyes, which makes sharp focus inconsistent. This was a clear early win for the ProGolf® lenses. Another immediate advantage was how relaxed my eyes felt — significantly less strain compared to wearing contact lenses.
In full sun, the ProGolf® tint works extremely well. Contrast is enhanced, making it easier to read greens and track the ball after impact. The only small adjustment was when the sun slipped behind clouds — the brown tint took a moment to get used to — but even then, performance remained excellent. For me as a golfer, what really matters is putting. I’d rather have someone else watch my drives than lose strokes on the green. With contacts, the irritation and lack of tailored correction are always a factor. The strengths of properly fitted lenses come through especially on the green. I’m already at a low handicap (2.8), and fine vision while reading subtle breaks is essential.
There were no major downsides apart from that small brightness shift behind cloud cover — and that’s easily mitigated by carrying a second pair of regular glasses for dimmer conditions.
Of course, professionally made lenses offer additional advantages: 100 % UV protection, blue-light filtering, and superior MR8 optical material compared to ordinary sunglasses — and they can even be made with progressive prescriptions, which I haven’t needed yet but could in the future.
“As a golfer, putting well is crucial — even the slightest misjudgement matters. Beyond that, comfort and fit make all the difference, and those improve significantly when glasses are professionally fitted for you.”
In summary, while I’m not ready to throw away my contact lenses just yet, the ProGolf® sunglasses are now a permanent part of my golf bag — especially for bright, sunny conditions and early season rounds where contacts are least comfortable. Prescription sunglasses are also much easier to wear than constantly fiddling with contact lenses.