10 Best Golf Polos

• Fitregular, described as right down the middle
• Fabrictextured, soft, light and breathable
• Moisturewicks sweat and dries fast
• Placketthree buttons
• Collarself fabric
• Usegolf and general performance wear

Best for: A golfer who wants one shirt design and four colors of it

The Tech polo is the shirt to buy if you would rather not think about shirts again. Under Armour has kept the same specification for years: a textured light knit that wicks and dries quickly, a three-button placket and a self-fabric collar, cut to a regular fit that suits almost everyone.

The collar is why it stays at the top. Cheaper polos use a knitted rib that softens and curls after a few dozen washes, and once it curls the shirt looks scruffy no matter what you do. A self-fabric collar cut from the same textured cloth holds its shape, and it is the reason a five-year-old Tech polo still looks respectable.

• Fitregular, straight through shoulders, chest and waist
• Fabricquick dry polyester pique
• Moisturewicking through the pique texture
• Placketthree buttons
• Collarribbed
• Detailsside vents for mobility

Best for: Anyone who wants four shirts for the price of one branded polo

At under 16 dollars this is the value benchmark for the category. It is a proper polyester pique, meaning the fabric has the small waffle texture of a traditional polo rather than the flat smooth face of a cheap performance jersey, and that texture is what moves moisture and keeps the shirt from clinging.

The side vents are the giveaway that someone thought about it. A vented hem lets the shirt sit properly whether tucked or loose and stops it riding up through a swing. What you do not get is any sun rating or any styling: this is a plain shirt that does its job.

• MoistureOpti-Dri wicking technology
• Sun protectionbuilt in, no number stated
• Fabriclightweight soft jersey with stretch
• Fitclassic, roomy engineered fit for range of motion
• Collarsolid self collar
• Sizesregular plus big and tall

Best for: A golfer who wants the shirt to look like it came from the pro shop

This is the shirt that reads as golf rather than as sportswear. The fine line stripe with a solid self collar is the oldest look in the category and the one that never dates, and Callaway cuts it in a soft lightweight jersey with Opti-Dri wicking so it performs as well as it looks.

The fit is described as roomy and engineered, which is an honest way of saying it is cut for movement rather than for the gym. That suits the majority of golfers, and the big and tall range means the look is available in sizes where the choice usually collapses to plain polyester. The price is the only real objection.

• Ventilationmesh ventilation woven into the fabric
• Moisturebuilt-in wicking technology
• Sun protectionUPF 15
• Fitclassic
• Sizesregular and big and tall, Small to 4XL
• Caremachine washable, keeps its finish

Best for: Summer golf on a course with no shade and no breeze

Airflux is PGA TOUR's mesh construction and it is the reason to buy this shirt. Rather than adding vent panels under the arms, the ventilation is knitted into the fabric across the whole body, so air moves through the shirt wherever you are hottest rather than only where a designer guessed.

That structure has a cost: on a pale color the shirt is a little see-through, which is worth knowing before ordering white. The other number to weigh is UPF 15, which is real protection but the weakest here. On a long July round, the G Gradual at UPF 50 plus does more for your skin, and this one does more for your temperature.

• Sun protectionUPF 50 plus
• Fabriclightweight, soft, breathable with stretch
• Temperatureregulates body temperature and wicks moisture
• Fitregular with a side split hem
• Placketthree buttons
• Detailcolor-blocked neckline, double-stitched seams

Best for: Fair skin, long rounds and no interest in reapplying sunscreen to your shoulders

Sun protection is the reason this shirt is here. UPF 50 plus means the fabric blocks the large majority of UV, and it does not wash out the way sunscreen rubs off, which over a season of Saturday rounds is the more reliable protection for your shoulders and upper arms.

The rest is better than the price suggests. Double-stitched seams, a side split hem so it sits properly untucked, and a color-blocked neckline that saves it from looking like a uniform shirt. It is warmer than the mesh-ventilated Airflux in dead air, so if heat rather than sun is your problem, buy that one instead.

• Fabric90 percent polyester, 10 percent spandex
• Sun protectionUPF 40 plus
• Stretchfour-way stretch printed fabric
• Feellightweight, silky touch, breathable
• Fittrue US regular fit
• Detailcontrast piping on the collar band

Best for: Someone who wants an all-over print and a real UPF number for under 15 dollars

This is the cheapest shirt in the list and it is not a stripped-down one. Ninety percent polyester with ten percent spandex gives real four-way stretch, the fabric carries a stated UPF 40 plus rating, and the collar band has contrast piping rather than being a plain strip of the body fabric.

Two things to consider. The prints are all-over designs rather than solids, so the shirt makes a statement whether you wanted one or not, and the silky face has less texture than a pique, which means sweat shows sooner on a hot day. At 13.49 dollars neither is much of a complaint.

• Fabricpolyester spandex with four-way stretch
• Sun protectionUPF 30 plus
• Weightlightweight, soft hand feel
• Moisturemoisture wicking, quick dry
• FitUS regular fit, S to 3XL
• Styleall-over print, easy care, holds its shape

Best for: A player who feels restricted across the back at the top of the swing

MAELREG's shirt is built around the stretch. A polyester and spandex knit with four-way stretch moves in every direction rather than just across the chest, and across the back at the top of the backswing is exactly where a stiff polo pulls and reminds you it is there.

The rest is competent. UPF 30 plus is real if unremarkable protection, the fabric is quick drying and lightweight, and the sizing runs to 3XL on a true US regular fit. Like most shirts in this price bracket it comes only as an all-over print, so the pattern choice is the decision you actually have to make.

• Fabric93 percent polyester, 7 percent spandex
• Fitclassic cut, deliberately snug
• SizingUS standard sizing
• Collarshirt-style neckline with no tag
• Constructiondouble stitching, minimised seam lines
• Moisturewicking with rapid cooling finish

Best for: A slimmer player who finds most golf polos hang like a sail

DEOLAX is the athletic fit option. Most golf polos in this price range are cut generously, which is comfortable and looks shapeless on anyone slim. This one is deliberately snug through the body and shoulders while keeping seven percent spandex so it still moves through a full turn.

The construction details are aimed at long wear. Seam lines are minimised and the collar is tagless, which sounds trivial until five hours of walking has rubbed the back of your neck. What is missing is a sun rating: nothing in the specification mentions UPF at all.

• Quantityfive shirts in one order
• Fabric95 percent polyester, 5 percent spandex
• Sun protectiondescribed as UPF, no number given
• Odorodor resistant finish
• Collarthree-button placket, printed inner tag
• Usegolf, tennis, office and casual

Best for: Filling an empty wardrobe, or kitting out a society in one go

The five pack is the practical answer to a wardrobe with nothing in it. Around 35 dollars buys five quick-drying polyester shirts with a three-button placket, a tagless neck and an odor-resistant finish, which works out cheaper per shirt than anything else here by a wide margin.

Set your expectations at the price. These are lightweight shirts with a soft collar, and the collar is what will show its age first, particularly if they go through a tumble dryer. As bag spares, range shirts and holiday golf they are excellent value; as the shirt you wear to a club competition, buy one of the first three.

• Fabrichigh-stretch performance knit, four-way stretch
• Weightlightweight with a soft hand
• Moisturebreathable, sweat wicking, dries fast
• Carewrinkle resistant, machine wash and hang dry
• Fitathletic
• Designnovelty print, hot dog pattern

Best for: A society day, a stag round or a group that has agreed on a theme

Tipsy Elves makes the joke shirt that is also a real golf shirt. The fabric is a high-stretch performance knit with wicking and wrinkle resistance, cut to an athletic fit, so it behaves like a proper polo rather than a printed cotton novelty that soaks through by the fourth hole.

Buy it for what it is. A society day, a stag round or a group event where the point is that everyone notices. It costs about the same as five plain shirts from the TELALEO pack, and there are courses where you will be asked to change, so it is a second shirt rather than a first one.