True Linkswear, who produce some of my favorite golf shoes, offers limited edition sets throughout the season. The first are in—a pair designed for the Phoenix Open. If these don’t strike your fancy, stay tuned. I’m sure there will be more. I particularly liked last year’s white with green soles Masters’ offering.

You can read my review of the Stealth model here.

And you can get True Linkswear at GolfBlogger sponsor GolfLocker.

Ecco Street and Street Premiere

Grade: A (Street); B (Street Premiere)
Teacher’s Comments: A good walking shoe. The Street gets a higher grade than the Premiere for me because it feels slightly wider.

hen Ecco introduced the “Street,” it created a new category of golf shoe—one that has more in common with Sketchers than with the traditional oxford. They actually remind me of the Keds or low top Chucks everyone wore when I was young.

That’s where the resemblance ends, though. There’s no canvas in sight and the interior is that of a modern walking shoe. On my black pair, the uppers are constructed of distressed camel leather—no need for polish there. The interiors are lined with a micro fiber, and the insoles are nicely padded and supporting. After several rounds of walking (including one particularly tough hike), I’ve found that they’re an absolutely marvelous shoe.

The non-traditional design of the Street extends to the soles. In lieu of metal or plastic spikes, the Streets have small rubber knobs. Like several spikeless shoes I’ve tried lately, they don’t look like they’d provide the stability of more traditional designs, but I really can’t tell the difference. The Streets provide for me just as much stability as the more traditional Ecco golf shoes I own.

The spikeless design, and the looks of the Street make it easy to just put them on before I Ieave the house and wear them straight to the course. I can even stop at a store on the way home without feeling out-of-place.

In terms of fit, I found that the Streets ran a half size larger than expected. Eccos use European sizing—their 44, for example, is a US 10 - 10.5—and I found I needed a 43 rather than my usual 44. There’s actually plenty of toe room left even at 43. The Streets also are a bit more narrow than my other Eccos. I fixed that, though, by loosening the laces and wearing them around the house for a while. They’re fine now.

What I appreciate most about the Ecco Street is that they’re a walking shoe. Like the True golf shoes I reviewed earlier, the Streets seem designed from the start for players on the hoof. Fred Couples is the most famous proponent of these shoes, but I’ve also noticed them on Vijay Singh. Along with the True and my Ecco GTX shoes, these now are in the rotation (I try to wear a different pair each time out—especially in the summer, when I’m walking several times a week. It evens out the wear).

My one complaint: they aren’t waterproof (to be fair, Ecco’s literature does point this out). Indeed, they really aren’t even dew proof. That, I found out on one of my early morning rounds. By hole two, the shoes were soaked. By four, my socks were wet, too. Fortunately, I had on a pair of wool hikers and it didn’t ruin the round. But I learned my lesson. They only come out now when I’m sure that it’ll be dry.

In addition to the Black/Moonless Streets, I also have a pair of white Street Premiere. I am not quite as enamored with those, though. There’s a sewn-in strap on the side that offers some visual interest, but it also makes the shoe tighter through the sides. I haven’t been able to wear these in nearly as well as the basic Street. I think I’m going to give them to Thing One (the teenager) to wear when I take him and Thing Two out for our father-son outings.

In defense of the Street Premiere: I have wide feet and have always needed shoes with a larger toe box. If you don’t suffer with these afflictions, I think the Street Premiere would be a terrific shoe.

I can’t help but compare these shoes to the True Linkswear shoes that I reviewed earlier. The two are similar in that they’re spikeless and a terrific walking shoe. Either are a terrific choice. The Streets, however, are a bit more stiff in the sole and feel more like a traditional shoe. I suspect there will be golfers who prefer this feel to the more glove-like fit of the True Linkswears. I like both.

You can find Ecco Shoes at GolfLocker, a longtime friend and supporter of GolfBlogger.

True Linkswear Stealth

Grade: A+
Teacher’s Comments: moccasins for the golf course

At the 1942 Masters, Sam Snead felt as though he had lost his timing and rhythm. So he took off his shoes and played nine holes barefoot. He’d learned to play the game that way and thought contact with the turf helped.

Snead said playing barefoot would cure other faults, too: “Overswinging is very difficult to stop. And I found one way you can stop that: take your shoes off and hit a few barefooted. That’s one good way to cut your backswing down so then you swing within yourself at about 85%.”

Playing barefoot these days probably is not a good idea. You don’t want golf course chemicals on your skin, and if your local track is like mine, you’ve also got to worry about goose droppings, stray sticks and the occasional sharp bit from a bottle or can top.

You can, however, get the feeling of playing barefoot with a pair of True Linkswear shoes.

True Linkswear doesn’t make a typical golf shoe. Looking and feeling more like a slipper or moccasin than an Oxford or sneaker, the True is by far the most comfortable walking golf shoe I have yet worn. They’re an awful lot like walking barefoot, but with traction and stability. The true is so light I can hardly feel them on my feet.

The key, I think, are the True Linkswear Stealth’s soft and flexible soles. They’re low to the ground, responsive and really make me feel as though I’ve got contact with the turf. At the same time, however, they offer traction with the built-in TPU “Ergo Traction” treads that include horizontal and lateral stability bars.

In several rounds wearing the shoes, I’ve had no problem with slipping. I’ve also been very much impressed the lateral stability that the shoes offer. I thought the less rigid structure would not perform as well as a more traditional design, but clearly I was wrong.

The close-to-the-ground feel of the True Stealth is for me much better than athletic style shoes, which often have made me feel as though I was standing on a block of wood. All of that extra padding and sole underfoot makes some sense when you’re pounding pavement, but any well-watered course already is plenty soft.

True achieves this grounded feeling by getting rid of the midsole.

That’s not to say that the True lacks padding. They’re amazingly soft inside—like a pair of slippers. There’s memory foam in the heel, a nice-feeling insole and thicker padding in the ankle area. There’s also some padding on the tongue.

The uppers are what you might call unstructured. It’s not shapeless—the stitching, heel, quarter, vamp and toeline give it form—but when you pull the laces tight, the True conforms to your foot, not the other way around. A more traditional shoe is a hole into which you squeeze your dogs. If the shape of the hole matches your feet, all is well. If not, it’s hello blisters.
A sign of the flexible fit is that the Trues come in only one width, but the company says they fit all from C to EEE.
The True Stealth felt great right out of the box—like an old pair of jeans. There was no break-in period here.
It’s clear to me that True Linkswear has done a lot of thinking about the nature of golf footwear. Traditional shoes started with men’s dress or work shoes and added hobnails; more modern designs evolved from running shoes. True Linkswear seems to have taken a third road and created its own paradigm.

Highly Recommended.

Available at GolfLocker

GolfLocker has the new Ashworth Cardiff spikeless golf shoes. They’re also offering free shipping.

They look nice.

Of the players I’ve watched over the years, Fred Couples is among my absolute favorites. In fact, if there’s one swing in the world I could have, I’d want Couples’ (his back, not so much).

Couples also has an undeniable sense of style. And while I’m highly dubious of celebrity endorsements, there are times when I feel gratified that a celebrity I like endorses a product I already use. In that vein, I’m happy to see that Ecco has re-signed Fred Couples. I’m a longtime Ecco fan—in fact, they are right now the only shoes I have in my closet aside from a pair of Keen sandals. I’ve got Ecco dress shoes, Ecco casuals, Ecco sneakers, Ecco hiking boots and several pair of Ecco golf shoes. I’ve always found the brand to be exceptionally durable and very comfortable.

So it’ll be nice to see Fred sporting the shoes I wear.

You can read the full press release below.

GolfLocker, a GolfBlogger sponsor, has a good selection of Eccos for sale.

Nike Lunar Control Golf Shoes
Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: Lightweight walkers

The Nike Lunar Control golf shoes fit in a growing category of shoes seemingly designed specifically for walking golfers.  These classic saddles are lightweight and flexible, yet still offer the stability you need for an aggressive swing.

At first glance, the Lunar Controls don’t look like walking shoes. The classic saddle design fairly screams “your father’s golf shoes.” I expected them to be stiff, hard and heavy.

It just goes to prove that first impressions can be deceiving. When I put these on, I immediately noticed they were polar opposite of my initial impressions. They’re lightweight, flexible and soft. I’ve now walked a couple of rounds in the shoes and found them to be a delight.

In terms of size and fit, they’re what I would anticipate. Heel to toe, they seem true to size. The toe box is plenty large.The heel, however, is slightly larger than my usual choices. That’s an issue with my own feet, however, and not with the shoe. I typically try to find shoes with a more narrow heel and wider toe box. If your feet are more of a standard size, you’ll find these fit as prescribed. Even with the slightly larger heel, though, I had no walking issues—no blisters, red spots or any sort of discomfort.

As with all its golf shoes, Nike has incorporated its experience in running and other sports shoes. Underfoot, the Lunarlon cushioning system is a dual density foam that’s both lightweight and supportive. When walking, I like to “feel” the ground beneath my feet, and these are better than most.

For stability, Nike has run some high-tensile fibers through the saddle that help to support the mid foot. It doesn’t feel overly snug in any way, but I can feel the support.

The Nike Lunar Controls have waterproof leather uppers, with a waterproof treatment. The outsole belongs to Nike’s Power Platform family. Nike also says that there’s a “Power Channel” in the forefoot to “allow more flexibility and greater natural motion.”

In all, I found these to be an excellent pair of shoes, and its a pair that I’ll keep in the car and rotate with my others. In walking as much as I do, I’ve found that rotating through several different sets of shoes helps not only to keep the shoes fresh, but also to keep from developing any potential soreness in any one spot on the foot.

I’m in a mood to get a new pair of golf shoes for the season (not that there’s any in sight), and two newish models have caught my eye: The Ecco Street and the True Linkswear. They’re both similar in intent and design—lightweight, spikeless—so I’m wondering if anyone has tried either (or both) and can give me an opinion.

The Ecco Street has been out longer than the True Linkswear and has gotten quite a bit of good press.

In comparison, the True Linkswear looks as though its even lighter and lower to the ground. The literature says it’s like walking barefoot while still offering golf traction.

You can get both at great prices at Friend of the GolfBlogger, Golf Locker.