A visit to a sport supply outlet is enough to make anybody realize that golf shoes are a potential minefield. Just a listing of the brand names of golf shoes is enough to make a casual observer double take and that’s without the variations within a manufacturers line.
All the leading brands make a point of offering a range of styles at various price points so the phrase "a pair of Adidas golf shoes" while it’s not necessarily all things to all men (or women), can cover a multitude of possibilities.
Adidas is, of course, one of the better recognized names in sports footwear generally and they now market women’s golf shoes as "Lady Adidas" — the first thought at seeing that on a sign would be to start looking for a member of the English Aristocracy. As it happens, Nike have a similar arrangement with the one word name for its line of men’s golf shoes and then Lady Nike for women — another English person? Some of the other brand names you might see on the shelves on in the catalogues include Footjoy, Dunlop, Reebok, Oakley — the list is almost endless.
Endorsements: What are becoming more and more popular are golf shoes endorsed by the professional stars. Endorsements of equipment and apparel are important sources of residual income for pro athletes from all sports and golf is no exception. So, there’s a line of golf shoes with "Tiger Woods" endorsement, Ernie Els has a shoe as does Nick Faldo, and from the recent past, Sandy Lyle and Severiano Ballesteros.
Spikes or not: Having got the brand or endorsement sorted out, the real issues come to the fore. Should we be buying shoes with or without spikes for example? The spikes will obviously be better in some situations but they may be a hindrance in others — perhaps a pair of each would be sensible.
Is the fitting going to be narrow or broad, are we going to have hard toecaps or not?
The choice of the golf shoe is almost as important as the choice of club — both the one you swing or the one you join! If the shoe doesn’t fit well, you’ll be uncomfortable and maybe hobbling before you get back to the clubhouse, but get the shoe right and it’ll be like walking on air.
