TowelHub Blog

Walk into almost any pro shop, and the towel rack sits somewhere between the caps and the register, priced low enough that nobody thinks twice. That spot is no accident. A club turns towels into merchandise by putting its crest on a good terry velour blank and selling it where members already spend money. It keeps selling because golfers wear out (and lose) a towel far faster than a shirt. The audience is growing, too. 

Golf Club Towels As Retail Merchandise

Every club runs two kinds of towel stock. Service stock (cart and range pieces) belongs to the property and cycles through the laundry. Retail stock carries the crest, wears a price tag, and leaves with a member. Only that second kind counts as golf club merchandise.

In practice, most retail pieces begin as custom golf towels made from a terry velour blank. One face keeps its loops for scrubbing grooves. The other is sheared into a short, flat pile that an embroidery needle can work on without the stitches sinking. Our 16x26 tri-fold color golf towel is built that way, and clubs use the same blank for branded golf towels for businesses that book a corporate outing.

Steady Demand For Logo Towels

A member might wear a crested polo for five summers. Their towel gets dragged through bunker sand and wrung out after a rain delay, and by August it looks it. Players replace worn towels without much thought. Price helps as well, because a logo towel costs a fraction of logo apparel. It sells as an add-on, a birthday present, or one of the personalized golf towels with a monogram under the crest.

Exposure Beyond The Home Course

Then there is the advertising, which no hat can match. On a bag, the crest hangs in front of three other players for four hours. After that it rides along to member-guests, away matches, and the yearly trip to Myrtle Beach or Scottsdale.

Football fans figured this out decades ago. Our piece on how the terrible towel changed sports fan merchandise traces how a Pittsburgh broadcaster's 1975 idea became a team icon. Branded golf towels do a quieter version of the same job, one foursome at a time.

Choosing Blank Towels Members Will Buy

Members pick the thing up before they study the logo, so the blank does most of the selling.

Weight And Hanging Style

For comparing wholesale golf towels, weight per dozen is the quickest honest measure. Cotton terry velour at about 3.2 pounds per dozen (roughly 450 GSM) feels substantial. Thin promotional stock, the kind handed out at trade shows, feels like exactly that.

After weight comes hardware. Most golf towels sold in pro shops come in one of two builds. The tri-fold is folded in thirds and hangs from a brass grommet at the top center, logo panel out. The corner grommet version hangs open at full length, which leaves room for a large crest or a two-line club name.

Caddy Sizes And Summer Color

For walkers and summer players, a caddy golf towel of around 22x44 inches offers something bigger at a higher price.

Color is the other call. Two or three shades from the club palette look more like the club than a rack of every color. Dark shades have one catch, though. Black and navy fade on a bag through a Texas or Arizona summer. Sun-resistant blanks such as this 15x18 UV-resistant black corner grommet golf towel are dyed to hold their color outdoors.

Decoration That Makes Towels Worth Buying

In an 1880 lecture called "The Beauty of Life," the designer William Morris gave a rule that still works as a buying filter in a pro shop.

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

Any decent towel clears the first half of that test on day one. Whether it clears the second half depends on the embroidery.

Thread Or Ink

For a club crest, embroidery is the standard. Stitches sit on top of the velour and stay sharp through dozens of washes, and embroidered golf towels look at home next to logo polos. Screen printing still earns its place on large event runs with bold one- or two-color art. 

Our breakdown of screen print and full-color printing for rally gear explains how each process behaves on cotton.

Artwork That Survives The Pile

Fine detail is the usual problem. Thin lines and small lettering sink into the pile and vanish. Experienced embroiderers simplify the crest, thicken strokes, and lay a water-soluble topping over the velour before stitching. Golf towels with logo artwork that still reads from six feet away look better on the wall.

Dating a design helps, too. Add the year under a member-guest crest and an ordinary towel becomes something players collect. Clubs that sell custom golf towels to outside groups can offer the same idea for annual outings.

Pricing, Sampling, And Display

Landed Cost And Margin

Price from landed cost, meaning blank, embroidery, and inbound freight per piece. At October 2026 list prices, wholesale golf towels like the tri-fold blank above cost about $2.16 each at one to four dozen and just under $2.00 at 20 dozen. 

Embroidery will usually cost more than the towel. Get a written quote at the exact quantity and ask whether it includes the one-time digitizing fee. Keystone pricing, which doubles landed cost, is a common start.

Sample Before The Season

Before committing to bulk golf towels for a season, request a sample of the blank and have the embroiderer run a sew-out. Check that the grommet clears the design and that the thread matches the caps. Blanks ship by the dozen, like most wholesale sports towels, but many embroiderers set their own minimums, so ask early.

Where Towels Sell Best

As impulse buys, crest pieces sell at the register, the bag drop, and wherever members wait on a tee time. Keep a second stack of branded golf towels folded by color beside the hats.

Tournament And Sponsor Orders

Outings produce the biggest single orders a club will see, and the pieces leave with players from outside the club. Golf towels earn their place in the gift bag because players clip them on before the horn sounds.

Golf Towels For Tournaments

A full 18-hole shotgun, with two foursomes on every tee, puts 144 players on the course. Order one per player, then stitch the event name on the velour panel and leave space below it for the presenting sponsor.

Branded Golf Towels For Businesses

Hole sponsors usually want something that outlasts a banner. A sponsor towel added to the hole package, and ordered through the club, gives them that. The numbers help the pitch. In the ASIGlobal Advertising Impressions Study, 78% of consumers said they keep promotional items because they are useful, and 85% remembered the advertiser who handed them one. Sponsors entertaining clients can also order personalized golf towels with each guest's name.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Size Is A Standard Golf Towel?

Most bag towels run between 15x18 and 16x26 inches. Compact 11x18 sizes suit gift boxes and junior programs.

What Fabric Works Best For A Logo Golf Towel?

Cotton terry velour. Microfiber waffle weave dries faster and weighs less, but cotton velour gives golf towels with logo embroidery a heavier, softer hand.

How Far Ahead Should A Club Order For An Outing?

Order bulk golf towels three to four weeks ahead to be safe. That covers shipping, a proof, and the embroiderer's queue in peak season. Plan one per player plus about 10% for late entries and sponsors.

What Is A Caddy Golf Towel?

It is a long towel, often 22x44 inches, that drapes over the bag or a caddie's shoulder. Our 22x44 white caddy towel is 100% cotton terry and a common choice for clubs that decorate their own.

How Should Embroidered Golf Towels Be Washed?

Wash colors separately, in cold water for standard-grade colored cotton and warm water for premium grades. Skip fabric softener because it coats the loops and kills absorbency. Keep bleach away from colored cotton, and tumble dry on low to medium heat.

To Sum Up

Golf club merchandise works only when the product gets used, and few things on a member's bag get used more than the towel. Start with one blank and two colors. Approve a sew-out. Add dated editions and sponsor programs once the first batch sells through.

We sell blank golf, caddy, and cart towels to clubs and to the embroidery shops that decorate them (we do not embroider or print ourselves). 

Order your first dozen from TowelHub this week, and add wholesale sports towels for the fitness center to the same shipment. In-stock items ship from Atlanta the same or next business day.