Designed by Tiger: The Sun Day Red Osprey, An “Apex Predator” of Golf Footwear?

Apex predator: noun; A predator at the top of a food chain that is not preyed upon by any other animal.

If I asked you to name an apex predator, what would you say? The tiger, lion and wolf would surely make your short list of answers.

But what about the Osprey? Sometimes referred to as the “fish hawk” (or Seahawk, for that matter), the Osprey, like the mighty lion, is an Apex predator at the top of its food chain.

Ospreys have large talons and sharp beaks that they use to tear apart their prey. In other words, Ospreys don’t play with their food.

No nonsense. Kill or be killed.

That attitude, along with the backing of professional golf’s Apex predator (yes, this is a Tiger Woods joke), is what Sun Day Red hopes propels their entrant into the lifestyle golf shoe category to the top of the food chain.

Introducing the Sun Day Red Osprey: the brand’s first foray into the lifestyle segment of the golf shoe market.

So, what makes the Osprey different than, say, the Jordan 1 G, or something like the Samba golf shoes? Your typical lifestyle golf shoes didn’t start as golf shoes, but rather were adapted to golf through some sort of small design change.

In the case of the Jordan 1, it started as a basketball shoe. The Samba? A cold-weather football shoe.

The Osprey? Designed from the ground up to be a golf shoe, through and through.

And from the first wear, you can tell. Heck, even getting them in hand for the first. No, this wasn’t a “add some rubber here” and “make this part waterproof” kind of project. This was taking a simple idea, a golf shoe made to be worn on and off the course, and building it from scratch in the best way possible.

Naturally, like most of Sun Day Red’s offerings, it all started with input from the man whose nickname is perhaps the most feared Apex predator in the world: Tiger.

“He wanted to be able to play golf on the golf course, but also he preferred wearing sneakers at some of his off-course elevated events.” said Sun Day Red’s Head of Footwear, Charley Hudak. “He wanted to be comfortable in those settings and not have it look like an overly branded model that had more of a traditional sneaker look. He wanted it to be like an executive, tasteful, elevated.”

A good starting point, sure. Woods was keen on the idea of an “executive” shoe, the type of sneaker that you’d see in boardrooms (think Cole Haan, Greats or Allen Edmonds).

That part was easy. The hard part? Making an executive sneaker that performed on the course.

“Our objective is to make the best product, the best equipment, the best tools for golfers.” Hudak continued. “We wanted to make sure… that this shoe was going to be worn on course, off course.”

And that they did. A full synthetic-leather upper provides great flexibility and some water resistance, with a streamlined, classy look. A drop-in EVA wedge sits within the rubber cupsole, providing elite-level step-in comfort.

“We made it a three-quarter booty construction so that the tongue stays fixed. It doesn’t fall to one side,” Hudak chimed in. “You definitely can play golf in it. It has the traction elements. They’re 3.5mm recessed lugs.”

But the design doesn’t stop there. As we’ve become accustomed to with Sun Day Red, the Osprey is full of easter eggs paying homage to the dominance of Woods.

“On the toe box here we have three rows of micro perfs, kind of leaning into the story of the rule of thirds, which Tiger has a strong affinity towards,” Hudak pointed out.

“We reinforced it with three [perfs] here on the medial side, and then on the heel, the heel mustache, or the heel overlay. We have four debosses that kind of tell the story of the majors.”

So, what’s to make of the total package?

It’s solid. Really solid.

I’ve worn hundreds of golf shoes, including nearly every golf sneaker you can think of. And there are few, if any that I would put up against the Sun Day Red Osprey in terms of overall versatility.

The Osprey fits the bill with a near-perfect blend of performance and lifestyle. Will it blow you away with traction? Nope. But it works. Will it be as stable as their performance-focused Pioneer line? Nope, but it’s got an integrated heelcup to keep you locked in.

And it’s darn comfortable.

I’m not sure we’ll see this pair on tour. I don’t think it’ll ever outsell my personal favorites like the Jordan 1 G or Samba golf shoe … but the Sun Day Red Osprey is the perfect example of what the challenger brand can do when they keep “first things first”.

That “first” thing was, as is often the case with Sun Day Red, making something the most dominant golfer on the planet could be proud of.

“Ultimately, we just wanted to satisfy him. And he’s been wearing it all day.”