REVIEW: Nike's New Tiger Woods Golf Shoe
Yes, most courses are now overrun with carts. This is annoying.
If you're in a cart, you're robbing yourself of half the fun.
The most reliably enjoyable aspect of golf is walking through a giant park.
(The least reliably enjoyable aspect of golf is the hitting of the golf ball. Sometimes that's great, other times, not so much.)
Walking is also the only way you can even moderately claim golf is a physical activity, a sport, even.
If you're sitting in a cart, driving to the ball, whacking it, then getting back in the cart, you might as well be playing Wii golf.
But, I digress. My point is that golfing and walking are perfect together. Therefore, you need really comfortable shoes when you're golfing.
For the past few months, I've been testing Nike's newest Tiger Woods golf shoe, the TW'14.
The verdict: they are very comfortable, and pretty good looking, too.
I've played 36 holes in 90+ degree heat in one day wearing the shoes. I've played on hilly courses, flat courses, and even in a cart a few times. (Some courses force carts on you.)
After all the walking, my feet felt great. If daylight allowed it, I would be able to play another 36 without worrying about my feet hurting. (Back would hurt, hands would hurt, but feet, they'd probably be fine.)
My main concern with these shoes when I first saw them was breathability. They're rather thick looking. But, no problems on that front either. My feet stay rather dry, even on the super hot days.
The TW'14s are waterproof, too, which is great on rainy days, or just days when there's still dew on the grass.
The sneaker-like look has also gotten a lot of comments, most of them complimentary. Whether or not you like them, is your call, of course. Personally, I'm a fan.
However, these shoes aren't any more expensive than other top-of-the-line golf shoes. In fact, they're in the second-tier of pricing for high-end shoes. It's a question of whether or not you want to spend top-of-the-line money.
If you really like these shoes, and money is no object, I recommend going with the Nike iD which lets you customize the shoes, choosing a mesh option and colors of your choice. It will set you back $225, but you'll look awesome.