All Are Welcome!
Are you familiar with Eastside Golf? The Compton-based lifestyle golf company has made it their mission to introduce young people to the game of golf. Eastside’s approach to growing the game is centered on diversity, inclusion and authenticity.
Through their efforts to fulfill these ideals, Eastside Golf has partnered with Jordan Brand, hoping to inspire the next generation of golfers.
The upcoming Eastside Golf x Jordan Brand collection features a variety of accessories, clothing items and more, none of which are more symbolic of Eastside’s mission than the all-new Air Jordan 1 High Golf.
More Than Just a Game
Your initial impressions of the Air Jordan 1 High Golf x Eastside Golf more than likely echo the exact sentiment that Eastside lives by. No, this shoe doesn’t look like a traditional golf shoe. Instead, it embodies the idea that golf doesn’t need to look one way or another.
Let me try and explain.
Take a second and picture your ideal golfer. Now, throw that image out the window! We need to stop placing golf in an ever-constricting box of traditionalist ideals and instead work in tandem to bring anyone and everyone into the fold.
What I’m trying to say is that if we have any preconceived notions about what golf (and, by extension, a golfer) should look like, act like, dress like … we are hurting the game, not growing it.
The Air Jordan 1 High Golf x Eastside Golf is the antithesis to tradition. No more molds, no more exclusion. All are welcome.
The Rundown
- The Air Jordan 1 High Golf x Eastside Golf will release on Nov. 7 at Eastside Golf.
- Four other models will release as a part of the collection. These include the Jordan 1 Low, Jordan ADG 4, Jordan 12 High and Jordan 12 Low Golf.
The Tech
As with most of Jordan Brand’s golf offerings, the Air Jordan 1 High Golf is very minimalistic. Rather than retool the entire shoe to make it course-appropriate, the shoe was largely left untouched. When compared to the non-golf version of the Jordan 1, the two look rather similar.
The shoe features Zoom Air in the heel for impact protection and the outsole features an upgraded spikeless traction pattern for enhanced grip. Outside of those two changes, the Air Jordan 1 High Golf isn’t all that different from the famous high-top sneaker debuted by Michael Jordan in 1985.
For Whom is the Air Jordan 1 High Golf?
If you’re counting on the Air Jordan 1 High Golf to be a solid performance shoe, don’t get your hopes up. You won’t see this shoe make an appearance in our list of the best spikeless golf shoes but that shouldn’t stop you from considering it. I’m always of the mindset that you should buy what you like!
Eastside Golf’s mission is to make golf inclusive. That means we should be willing to celebrate differences between golfers.
Is this shoe different? Sure, but that doesn’t mean that it’s bad nor does it make anyone who decides to purchase it any less of a golfer than someone who doesn’t.
Growing the Game Starts with You
If Eastside Golf’s partnership with Jordan Brand is any indication of the direction that the world of golf is heading, it’s easy to be excited about the future of this game that we love.
The Air Jordan 1 High Golf x Eastside Golf is further proof that golf has the ability to break down barriers and that we can learn to forsake tradition in favor of growing the game.
How do you feel about the direction the game of golf is heading? Are you excited to see the younger generation latch onto the game?
Eastside Golf and Jordan Brand have certainly created a blueprint that we’d all do well to follow to make golf inclusive.
Nissan Christophe
3 months ago
Exposing underrepresented young people to golf is one thing. KEEPING them in the game is yet another. Fact: Golf is expensive. It costs money to play. It costs money to practice. Eastside Golf’s snapback hats are $70. Their putter headcovers are $80. A hooded sweatshirt is $145. Seriously, lack of inclusion in golf has been more of a financial barrier than a race/gender barrier for years. This isn’t growing the game. This is yet another way for folks to go broke creating image of perceived wealth and to be seen.