Some of these forthcoming shoes are focused on stylish aesthetics; others are packed with new technology. But all are guaranteed to bolster your time on the course. Here, we turn the spotlight on 10 new golf footwear styles that will be stepping to the first tee sometime in 2023.
FootJoy
In some respects, FootJoy’s newest iteration of the HyperFlex shoe ($175) is retro-inspired. The 2023 HyperFlex is now tour ready, thanks to a TPU coated layer around the knit bootie, which adds structure but retains the shoe’s sneaker-like feel. The brand also released an enhanced HyperFlex Carbon edition ($220), which sports a molded carbon-fiber power plate for added stability and an OrthoLite Impressions FitBed, which provides increased underfoot cushioning. While none of that is retro, the shoe’s nostalgic inspiration can be found in its color scheme—neon pinks, blues, and yellows—that will transport you back to 1990 in a flash.
ECCO
For the past several years, ECCO’s golf footwear came with two certainties: 1) People would know you were wearing ECCO shoes given the brand’s signature look; and 2) Your feet would be incredibly comfortable out on the course. For the first time in a long time, golfers will soon enjoy that comfort but in a much less recognizable form—and that’s not a bad thing.
In March, the brand launches the ECCO Classic Hybrid ($220), a model that features a time-honored silhouette and is based upon ECCO’s “dress shoe” last. The classically styled shoe is made exclusively of leather, 50 percent of which is recycled. The all-leather construction allows for better air circulation through the shoe, which keeps a player’s foot dryer and generally more comfortable. That dryness is further guaranteed thanks to the inclusion of Hydromax water-repellent technology.
TRUE Linkswear
The latest shoe coming out of TRUE Linkswear’s Tacoma, Wash., based headquarters is the LUX Hybrid ($195), which as its name suggests is a mashup of two existing models, the LUX Sport and the LUX Knit. The Hybrid is a fully waterproof knit shoe enhanced with a leather saddle and a TPU mudguard, the latter of which makes for easy cleaning after a round. The shoe also features the brand’s three-in-one heel stabilizer system (essentially an Achilles heel pad, a retention band, and a heel counter) that delivers a secure fit and stable feel while still being slightly flexible and breathable due to the shoe’s knit material. Consider this the brand’s top tour shoe for the year. In fact, the style is already out on tour, being worn by Ryan Moore and Joel Dahmen.
Royal Albartross
For much of the brand’s existence, Royal Albartross has embraced the athleisure movement, bringing a fashion-forward aesthetic to the course. The London-based company is continuing that initiative in 2023 with the release of several new styles. The Northcote ($275) is perhaps the most eye-catching. This clean and classic shoe features smooth Italian leather uppers and a contemporary rubber sole. The shoe’s TPR flexible outsole features a block tread pattern that delivers plenty of traction on tee boxes and fairways but easily transitions to settings away from the course. They say that good things are worth the wait, and this shoe proves that, as it won’t be available until June.
Payntr
Up until now, Payntr Golf has delivered a series of spikeless golf shoes that have shined for their comfort and their performance, but the brand’s engineering team has gone back to the drawing board—and back to traditional design ideologies—to offer its first spiked golf shoe, the X 004 RS ($200). With an emphasis on how the golfer can achieve more speed through better traction (essentially maximizing the ground forces during the swing), Payntr’s team has partnered with Softspikes to equip its latest shoe model with Tour Flex Pro spikes. Those new additions, combined with a midsole made of dual density PMX foam (promoting maximum energy return) and a graphite propulsion plate that allows golfers to further harness ground reaction forces, means that the new X 004 RS will keep you grounded out on the course. Who knows, that might even save you a few strokes.
NOBULL
The athletic brand NOBULL might not be new—the company was founded in 2016—but it’s suddenly gaining lots of traction and has recently entered the golf space. If you’ve worn the brand’s training shoes in the past, you know how well they fit. That same feeling—and the confidence that it provides—has carried over into NOBULL’s first leather golf shoe ($179). With an upper constructed from a single piece of durable leather and a rubber outsole made to easily transition from the course to the city streets, the shoe is versatile, especially given its understated design.
SQAIRZ
The latest offering from SQAIRZ is more about style than it is innovation. In the words of the company’s executive vice president, David Curran, the new SQAIRZ BOLD ($220), which will launch in March as an extension of the SQAIRZ SPEED shoe, is simply a more brazen statement of the brand, one that offers a greater variety of colorways. “This shoe doesn’t need to be improved in the technology,” he says. “We just needed to widen the variety of shoes available.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the technology of a SQAIRZ shoe, here’s what you need to know. The squared-off toe (hence the brand’s name) allows the shoe to be as much as 4.5 millimeters wider. That’s significant, since a wider base allows the foot to sit flatter in the shoe, promoting better balance. Better balance during the set-up of the swing allows the golfer to be better connected to the ground. That, in turn, allows the player to use the ground to create more energy in the swing, which leads to faster swing speeds. Better balance also creates more stability, which increases the odds that players can more consistently achieve proper weight transfer through all stages of the swing.
Skechers
The big story for Skechers Golf in 2023 is slip-in styling, and the resulting shoe, the GO GOLF Elite 5 Slip-Ins ($135) is bound to be a popular shoe choice amongst public links players who customarily change into their golf shoes in a course’s parking lot. Skechers first introduced the slip-in technology in its lineup of casual shoes, but the expansion into the golf space has taken longer due to waterproofing challenges. In the end, the brand simply had to make some fabrication changes to accommodate that feature. Skechers’s slip-in technology creates a heel pocket that secures the foot inside the shoe, and once the wearer adjusts the tightness, the shoe can still be slipped on and off without the need of further adjustment. The style is available with laces or a Twist-Fit closure system (similar to BOA), and the shoe features a full-length TPU outsole equipped with the brand’s GripFlex technology—a combination of multi-directional cleats that provide traction and stability.
Duca del Cosma
Surprisingly, Duca del Cosma has been around a long time—since 2004, if you can believe it. The brand has only been available in the U.S. since 2020, however, so consumers who invest in a pair are getting the best of both worlds: craftsmanship rooted in experience and a brand name with fresh buzz. Since 2004, the company has strived to blend sport and lifestyle, to create fashion-forward shoes that are still full of performance-changing technology.
That remains at the core of the brand’s new Bernardo style ($289), a shoe within Duca del Cosma’s Pro Spike Collection that marries a sneaker-like fit and comfort with more formal, wingtip styling. Made from high-quality waterproof materials, the shoe is lightweight but offers optimum traction thanks to strategic positioning of eight soft spikes.
Boxto
If you’re not familiar with Boxto, there’s good reason for that. The Houston-based company is brand new. In fact, it effectively used the PGA Merchandise Show at the end of January as its coming-out party—the company’s website even launched that same week.
Here’s what you need to know: The brand is taking an old-school approach to shoe design and shoe construction. The Heritage lineup is the brand’s crown jewel, featuring shoes that were inspired by classic FootJoy styles from the mid-1950s. They’re constructed exclusively of exotic leather with a traditional wooden bottom and retail for $1,200. The Legacy lineup, according to Boxto’s president of global sales and marketing, Jorge Corral, will be the brand’s “bread and butter.” These shoes, which retail between $249 and $279, feature thermoplastic high-abrasion soles, and while they boast a formal, old-school aesthetic, they are comfortable and offer modern-day performance.
