At least Ricky’s honest about how loud his outfits have gotten:

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.

Hot Hands Heated Knit Cap

I like the idea of the Hot Hands mittens, but I’m a little more dubious about the Hot Hands Stocking Cap. Like its cousin, this has pockets to hold those air activated chemical. Instead of the palm, though, these pockets are located over the ears.

GOlfLocker—a longtime GolfBlogger supporter—has opened a new online store offering Garb Kids Golf Apparel. GolfLocker is the only authorized online retailer for these top quality clothes.

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.