WALK THIS WAY The golf shoe has come a long way since the mid-1800s when gentleman hammered nails into the leather soles of their boots to improve traction and prevent slippage. It was a clever idea at the time, but there was often a cry of ‘ouch’ as nails would become loose, move upwards and pierce into golfers’ feet. Needless to say, the introduction of screw-in metal spikes in the late 1800s was welcome progress. Words Alison Root
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n the 1920s Spalding introduced the saddle Oxford shoe that was originally designed for racquet sports players. However, it was golfers that embraced the classic two-toned leather shoe and Gene Sarazen, one of the world’s top golfers during this period, first wore a pair. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the saddle shoe became immensely popular with men, women and teenagers, and even to this
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day its distinctive design is synonymous with golf fashion. During the decades that followed, the clickety-clack sound of replaceable metal spikes on pathways meant that golfers were hardly seen before they were heard. Still, with growing concerns about the damage metal spikes were causing to the greens,
they were generally on their way out by the late 1990s and replaceable plastic cleats took their place. FootJoy, the official shoe for the American Ryder Cup team in 1927, is a company that dominated the golf shoe market for a number of years and it was the go-to brand for anyone starting out in golf. FootJoy is still a leading
The Wisley | Golf Mag azine
