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This tour pro's reason for having iron covers will make you feel pretty bad about making fun of his iron covers

September 16, 2021

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 in tact, but for some reason the sight of iron covers make you stick out like a sore thumb at the local muni. This is not limited to recreational golfers, either. Aaron Rai, a two-time Euro 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 utilizes 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 practice, 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 dude who can get a new set of clubs any time he wants, and he still makes sure to appreciate what he has. Impossible to not root for the Englishman now, iron covers and all:

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Andrew Redington

Honestly 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.