Straw golf hats were popularized by Sam Snead and later Greg Norman. Snead was ageless, the only player who won sanctioned tournaments in six decades, from the 1936 West Virginia Closed Pro to the 1982 Legends of Golf, which he won with Gardner Dickinson as his partner. Sam Snead He was famous for his golf straw hat and natural swing.
Greg Norman grew up in northern Australia, very close to the equator, and spent a majority of his time in the bright sun, surfing, fishing and diving. In Australia, the popular hat was a typical surfer's wide-brimmed straw hat. It has a brim that circles your entire head, even the back of the neck. It is the perfect hat for keeping the pounding sun away from your face and keeping you cool. When Norman played golf, he was able to keep his eyes focused on the ball while it was sitting on the tee, in flight, and after landing; all without getting a blinding shot of sunlight in his eyes. In the beginning of his career, Greg Norman was sponsored by an Australian hat company, known for their large, Aussie cowboy style hats. While on the course, this hat was too hot for him, so the company created the same shape of hat that he loved in childhood, but in straw.
In the hot sun, you absolutely must wear a hat to protect you from the bad things a tropical sun can do to your skin. But, just as importantly, your golf hat makes a definite statement about what kind of golfer you are, or at least hope to be. Nowadays, the most common kinds of gambler golf hats seen on the course are the straw hats, such as Greg "The Shark" Norman wears, called a gambler golf hat.
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