What Makes a Good Golf Shoe?

MyGolfSpy put it best this year: "It should be a misdemeanor to step onto a golf course in uncomfortable shoes." Agreed. A good golf shoe does two things well: it stays comfortable for a full round on foot, and it gives you a stable base to swing from.

Start with walking, because that's most of what a golf shoe does. A round on foot is five or six miles. If a shoe needs a break-in period, those miles hurt. If the cushioning is thin, your feet wear out before the round ends. The main job of a golf shoe is staying comfortable through every one of those miles — ours are rated to keep doing it for a thousand.

Second, stability. Your swing runs through your feet: weight shifts, a pivot, and a moment where the ground has to push back. A good shoe gives you a flat, stable platform with real ground feel, so you know where your weight is without looking. This is the same demand skateboarding makes, which is why our golf shoe is built like our skate shoe — a cupsole with the feel of a vulc, a hybrid construction that gives you structure and ground feel at the same time.

Third, traction — and for a walking golfer a lot of the times that means spikeless. A spikeless outsole like our Vibram Ecostep grips through the swing on grass and still works as a normal shoe everywhere else. Our shoes will never replace the traditional spiked golf shoes, but the traditional shoes will never match our comfort. Why not get shoes that are better for your feet, better for the planet, and better for your soul?

Fourth, the insole. It's the part touching your foot for the entire round, and most brands treat it as packaging. Look at what's actually in the shoe. Ours is a recycled performance foam insole that Blumaka sells on its own for $55, and it comes stock in every pair because the insole is half the comfort story.

Last, materials that hold up. Real leather breaks in to your foot and takes weather; foam should carry a durability rating, not just a marketing word. Ours is rated for a thousand miles.

Our answer is the MACAW Golf: no break-in, a spikeless Vibram Ecostep outsole, and a recycled performance foam midsole and insole.

Full-grain leather from Bojos. Blumaka foam, up to 85% recycled. Designed in Costa Mesa, assembled in the Dominican Republic.