ASICS GEL-Preshot Golf Shoes

ASICS GEL-Preshot Shoes – Key Takeaways

• New spikeless entry from ASICS and Dunlop Sports Americas
• Three colorways, priced at $119.99
• Available this spring
• ASICS also updating colorways for GEL-Kayano Ace and GEL-Course Glide models

The new ASICS GEL-Preshot golf shoes come as a bit of a surprise.

In the new product announcement, Dunlop Sports Americas—the official new corporate entity for Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO—led with new colorways for two existing spikeless shoes. The GEL-Preshot was presented as an afterthought.

That might be a mistake.

In fact, the GEL-Preshot might be the best spikeless shoe ASICS has brought to North America. And while “affordable” is a relative term, the $119.99 price might just get your attention.

ASICS GEL-Preshot – ASICS Best Shot?

“ASICS” is an acronym. The name stems from the Latin anima sana in corpore sana, meaning “a sound mind in a sound body.” The company dates back to 1949 when Kihachiro Onitsuka started an athletic footwear company making basketball shoes in his living room in Kobe, Japan.

The company was rebranded as ASICS in 1977, the same year it introduced its products in North America. Golf shoes had been part of the portfolio dating back to the ‘50s. But it wasn’t until 2019 and a partnership with Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO that ASICS golf shoes showed up here.

Up to now, ASICS golf shoes have been okay performers in MyGolfSpy’s spiked and spikeless shoe testing. If this was high school, they’d be solid “B” students. And if you want to bring the Latin back into it, the phrase sicut in bene calceus (“just an okay shoe”) would apply.

The GEL-Preshot, however, delivers some right-out-of-the-box promise. It looks like what you’d expect a spikeless golf shoe to look like, with the appropriate heft where you’d expect it. Our samples arrived the same day as six inches of heavy, wet snow, so we haven’t been able to try them out for real yet. But from what we have been able to see, the ASICS GEL-Preshot golf shoes are definitely more comfortable than their predecessors.

However, since the Preshot won’t hit retail for at least a few weeks, it will not be included in tomorrow’s MyGolfSpy Spikeless Golf Shoe Buyer’s Guide.

Weight Versus Stability

The GEL-Preshot is noticeably beefier than previous ASICS spikeless shoes. The beefiness, however, is a blessing and a curse. The added heft gives the GEL-PRESHOT considerably more stability than we’ve seen from ASICS spikeless models in the past. But with that stability comes additional weight.

That said, the overall weight, stability and comfort seem to be on par with what we consider to be the best of the ASICS shoes: the spiked (and Hideki-approved) GEL-Ace Pro M Standard.

The GEL-Preshot shares many features with the rest of the ASICS lineup. There’s the Comfort Ankle Padding, a waterproof upper and the ultra-light Flytfoam^TM midsole. ASICS takes extra care in the heel area. There’s what the company calls an External Heel Counter, basically extra rigidity surrounding the heel to keep your foot in place during the swing.

Additionally, there’s the signature ASICS GEL in the heel for comfort and shock absorption. Whether you need the same level of shock absorption walking 18 holes as you would running 26 miles is a fair question. But I suppose it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

The GEL-Preshot’s sole pattern is different than the GEL-Kayano Ace. The nubs are smaller and more tightly packed.

About Those Other ASICS Updates …

Again, this is a weird launch announcement from ASICS and Dunlop Sports Americas. Despite the fact the GEL-Preshot is the only new product in the launch, it’s getting lower-tiered billing to new colorways for two existing spikeless shoes.

In news writing, we call that “burying the lede.”

But since Dunlop went ahead and wrote the press release, we feel compelled to share that info with you.

If you’re a fan of last year’s GEL-Kayano Ace, you’ll be happy to know it’s getting two new colorways. Black/Black and a very Augusta-ish White/Neon Lime join the existing Glacier Grey/Pure Silver, White/White and White/Midnight.

The GEL-Kayano Ace does feature a wider-than-normal (and, frankly, odd-looking) toe box. That, however, isn’t stopping ASICS from adding wide sizes to the lineup. The wide models will be available in only two colorways: Glacier Grey/Pure Silver and White/White and in half-sizes from 8 to 12 as well as 13 and 14.

The GEL-Kayano Ace lineup is priced at $169.99 and is available starting today.

Additionally, ASICS is revamping the GEL-Course Glide family. The men’s lineup features four new colorways: White/Midnight, Black/Carrier Grey, Sheet Rock/Slate Grey and Glacier Grey/Neon Lime. The women’s lineup will be available in Glacier Grey/Aquarium, Light Steel/Grand Shark and Glacier Grey/Pure Silver.

According to ASICS, the GEL-Course Glide is water-resistant (the Preshot and Kayano Ace are waterproof) so if you jump in puddles you’ll finish your round with damp feet.

The GEL-Course Glide is ASICS’s lowest-priced shoe in North America, retailing at $99.99. The new lineup is also available today.

ASICS GEL-Preshot: Options, Price and Availability

As mentioned, the ASICS GEL-Preshot is new and Dunlop Sports is giving us a vague availability timeframe of “spring.” Technically, that’s anywhere from March 20 through June 21. We would, however, expect to see it sooner than later.

The GEL-Preshot will be available in half-sizes from 7 through 12 and in sizes 13 and 14. There will be three colorway options: White/White, Black/Black and Piedmont Grey/Grand Shark which, as best we can tell, is kind of a slate blue.

The GEL-Preshot will retail for $119.99.

For more information, visit the ASICS section of the newly rebranded Dunlop Sports Americas website.