I have beef.
And no, I’m not talking about the beef jerky I learned while working at Arby’s as a junior in high school. I have beef with NIKE, adidas, FootJoy and every other golf shoe brand you can think of.
Golf does most things right: a sunset nine, a hot dog on the turn, a 40-footer for birdie, and a ride with your friends.
Golf does one thing a lot, MORE mistake.
Where are all the designer shoes?
I played a lot of basketball growing up and wore a lot of designer shoes. My favorite basketball shoe of all time is the adidas Marvel x Harden Vol. 3 Heroes Among Us collab. When you mix blue and red paint, you get purple. What do you get when you mix a beloved superstar athlete and a high-performance shoe? You get off-the-charts sales and a lifetime of nostalgia.
Where did the signature shoes go?
NIKE blessed us with more than 20 years Tigers Woods’ The “TW” signature line, but hasn’t created another signature golf shoe since Tiger split with NIKE.
You won’t be too surprised by this, but the resale price for the “TW” models is still very high. It just goes to show you what Tiger brought to the table.
Scottie Scheffler has won 17 times (counting Olympic gold) since Tiger left NIKE and STILL he was not given his signature shoes.
If NIKE released a signature shoe with Scottie’s name on it, they would fly off the shelf. NIKE is not only losing additional money, it is depriving loyal fans like me of a deeper connection to the game of golf. It may sound dramatic, but I will sit on this soapbox until all the big names have signature shoes.
We occasionally see branded collaborations for specific players, but it’s usually a one-off situation. For example, take NIKE’s latest version of “Free Golf.” This shoe was specially made for Nelly Korda, but is now only available through resellers. Shocker.
culprit
My hypothesis is “duration of importance”. Golf is a game of ebbs and flows. A golfer can be extremely good one year and almost irrelevant the next. The ups and downs of golf make it difficult to predict who to invest in.
That said, the easy picks are consistent winners like Rory, Scottie, Hideki, Jon Rahm and even the new gun, Akshay Bhatia. Only these players could produce a fleet of signature shoes.
Hundreds of golfers play on the PGA Tour and major championships each year. There are only a handful of guys who are a “lock” for multiple wins every year. This makes it difficult for brands when deciding whether to make a signature golf shoe.
The solution
I am speaking to the industry as a whole with this statement: Grow a thicker skin and take some risks. The 10 to 35 year old demographic will make it worthwhile.
When my Harden Volume 3s were nearing the end of their high performance days, I upgraded to the Harden Volume 4s. It’s no coincidence that James Harden is my favorite basketball player.
Scottie Scheffler is my favorite golfer and I’m sure the scenario would be exactly the same all these years. Most likely a new model would come out every year and I would be begging my wife to let me buy more shoes that I don’t necessarily wear. need.
A brand needs to take a leap of faith. If FootJoy announced a Justin Thomas signature shoe, other brands would be tempted to follow suit. There is a lot of revenue and growth opportunity that is left on the table with the lack of branded shoes.
For goodness sake, give me a signature golf shoe!
