The best golf shoes for men might surprise you. Golf style has made massive strides in recent years, but for decades, on-course gear mostly involved old-school staples like giant-fit polos, pleated pants, plaid bucket hats, and saddle shoe-like spikes—clothes befitting the sport’s reputation for rigid traditionalism. But as kettlebell swings replaced post-round cigars for the game’s top athletes, the clothes they wore on the links got trimmer, stretchier, and sportier, leading to an entirely new wave of golf shoes that put comfort, performance—even cool factor!—above country club dress codes.
And yet, even as the game’s swaggering new stars waged a subtle war against the sport’s stodgy sartorial mores, an interesting phenomenon was beginning to take shape among its younger fans. Instead of emulating the poly-blend polos of the pros, a wave of brands started embracing a “return to old” approach. Thanks to a handful of next-gen enthusiasts, classic-leaning polos and sweater vests started popping up in tee boxes around the world. Ditto dress-y golf shoe options. (The most important difference? The performance cues those newfangled shoes took from their gym-inspired brethren.)
The result is a new breed of golf shoes that are so comfortable, Tiger Woods himself ditched his Nikes for the first time in 25 years to rock ‘em. So to help you reckon with the sport’s revamped look, we went deep on that exact pair—plus 12 more of the best golf shoes for men—below. Tee time is now.
The Best Golf Shoes Shopping Guide
The Best Golf Shoes, Period
With the Packard, FootJoy achieved something truly special: a golf shoe steeped in tradition but built for the modern game. The ultra-supple calfskin details and full leather lining means these are shoes that will hold up round after round, year after year. (The advanced outsole with replaceable spikes also offers maximum grip in any rough or sand trap.) Best yet, their old-school styling is ideal for every kind of fit you’re apt to tee up in, whether you dig the mesh-y, highly-breathable polos of today or the more traditional, all-cotton styles of yesteryear. If they’re good enough for Tiger Woods and his surgically repaired, well, everything, then they’re good enough for you too.
The Best Golf Shoes for Finding Your Ball in the Woods
Old-school golf shoes often riff on traditional lace-ups, new-school versions tend to embrace the game’s athleticism, but Adidas’ Adicross is something else entirely. Given their earth-toned, paneled-to-the-max and bright accent colors, the Adicross basically looks like a futuristic hiking sneaker you’d typically bring on a weekend trip of trails—not taking in 18 holes while cruising around in the comfort of an electric cart. It’ll definitely turn heads in the clubhouse, but it’ll also separate your on-course swagger from everyone else rocking the same old fare on the fairways.
The Best Legacy-Defining Golf Shoes
The Nike Tiger Woods 13 marks the first time the brand has ever re-issued a classic golf shoe from its archives. That might be in part because Woods himself has recently switched over to Footjoys, but whatever the reason, they couldn’t have picked a better one to bring back. For years, obsessives have lauded the game-changing silhouette—which combined the running tech from Nike’s iconic Free series with a more classical, spiked outsole—as one of the best golf shoes ever made. Tiger wore them while racking up five victories and earning Player of the Year Honors, and though we can’t promise quite that much success out on your local track, you’ll certainly look the part.
The Best Golf Shoes for All-Day Comfort
It should come as no surprise that one of the most comfortable sneakers ever, the Adidas Ultra Boost, also makes for the coziest golf shoe available on the market today. In fact, other than the ruggedized tread and water-resistant upper, the tee box-ready iteration of this legendary sneaker looks nearly identical to the running kicks that had practically everyone bouncing on clouds a few years back. Which also means this is one of the few golf shoes we feel okay endorsing as something you can wear once you make your way off the course and to the 19th hole.
The Best Sneakerhead-Approved Golf Shoes
With casual golf style on the upswing, it was only a matter of time before the golf community and sneaker culture collided. And what a collision it was! Not too long ago, Jordan brand decided to fully embrace the synthesis and re-issue their most iconic silhouettes as fairway-finding gems, like these Jordan 1s that closely resemble the high-flying kicks so iconic Ben Affleck made a whole dang movie about them. In a typically stuffy and elitist sport, these shoes swerve in the face of the country club guard, the perfect embodiment of the kind of energy the younger generation brings to the table, er, links.
The Best Golf Shoes Your Dad Will Dig, Too
New Balance makes great sneakers for dads (or those who just want to look like one), and dads love golf—so it makes sense that the Boston-based label is responsible for one of our favorite golf kicks. Like the early-’90s running shoe they’re based on, the name of the game with the 997SL is a chunky silhouette built with support and all-round comfort as top priorities. (They’ve also got a waterproof upper should the round of your life happen during a once-in-a-century storm.) But, most importantly, they’ll look cool as heck when you take a page out of the old man style handbook and pair ’em with your best polo and pleated khakis. Don’t forget to tuck in that shirt, son!
Plus 8 More Golf Shoes We Love
Jake Woolf
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