Yes, seriously, I test golf shoes for a living. If you want to hear all about my career arc please feel free to join me for a beer at my local, and I can talk you through the whole journey. Niche though my job may be, it does put me in a rather powerful position and I reckon I know just about all there is to know about the golf shoe market. I can tell you what a good golf shoe is from a bad golf shoe and - most importantly around Black Friday weekend - what a good golf shoe deal is from a bad golf shoe deal.
Black Friday weekend is one of the best times of the year to pick up a new pair of the best golf shoes. Some golfers rightfully find the ever-increasing price of golf shoes a tough investment, so the holiday sales period is an ideal time to pick up one of the best golf shoes on the market for a significantly cheaper price. Perhaps I'm biased, but I believe it's vital you have a good pair of golf shoes at your disposal if you want to take your golf seriously.
There are loads of sales on right now. In fact, our main page covering the best Black Friday golf shoe deals is showcasing over 20 pairs in total. Here, I'm going to pick out my favorites based on which I think are actually decent shoes and which offer such good value for money that they shouldn't be missed.
My favorite shoe of 2024. The Adidas Tour 360 24 is a huge improvement on the 2022 version and deserves to be on the feet of any golfer of any ability. Superb traction coupled with extra arch support and comfort around the heel makes for a high-performance shoe that is as comfortable to walk in as anything out there. You'll see the 2022 version is also still on sale for around $70 - but I'd look to avoid this deal. Though $150 isn't the cheapest shoe out there, this is a valuable investment and a surprising discount considering the shoes aren't even one year old yet.
Another one of the best spiked golf shoes of the year discounted to $150, this time from one of Adidas' biggest rivals, Nike. This was a new launch for Nike this year and is the shoe of choice for Brooks Koepka. I was shocked at how comfortable, soft and cushioned this shoe was, especially considering Nike are known for making slightly firmer golf shoes. This was a marked improvement from the previous generation and will be another great option if you're after a performance-driven spiked golf shoe. Like the Adidas, I was surprised to see this already discounted seeing it was only released in Spring this year.
Time to highlight a spikeless golf shoe. This one certainly isn't as recent as the last two I mentioned, but very few shoes have overtaken it in the spikeless category. The 2023 Ecco H4 stands out for its overall comfort (as most Ecco shoes do), neat styling and decent outsole. The fact it's fully waterproof is helpful too, and can be worn pretty much all year round - though it won't be quite as grippy as a spiked shoe in really wet conditions. It's not often Ecco shoes get discounted this heavily and take it from me when I say they are one of the best brands when it comes to build quality, comfort and waterproof reliability.
I'm going to highlight another spiked shoe from a different brand, this time the FootJoy HyperFlex Carbon. Released at the start of 2023, it was one of the most technology-heavy shoes FootJoy had ever launched. It combines carbon fibre in the outsole, which helps the golfer harness ground forces to better use energy through the golf swing. It also included the Ortholite Impressions FitBed (basically the insole), which is the best in the game and can be found in the newer FootJoy Pro SLX/Carbon.
This is the shoe of choice for Bryson DeChambeau. After his Puma deal expired, he flitted between FootJoy shoes and has settled on the HyperFlex Carbon - a glowing endorsement from a man who values power and energy return through his golf shoes.
We finish with the oldest shoes in the line-up. The Puma Ignite Articulate arrived on my doorstep in 2022 and is still in rotation to this day, such has been its longevity. Perhaps you'd expect it to be on sale, I would, but that doesn't make it a bad deal. This is a spiked golf shoe, but one that is much lower profile than the others featured above. The upper is fully waterproof, while the grey colourway I tested it in (pictured above) leaves it suitable for both winter and summer wear. With it being a much older shoe, the $69.99 price might be expected, but this is a good deal however old the shoe is.
