Look, I’ve owned three pairs of the Jordan 1 golf shoe over the last three years.
They look great. But they aren’t actually a good golf shoe and two of my three pairs have experienced mild to moderate sole separation after a few months of wear.
They don’t last, sport.
I’m always looking for alternatives, shoes that give me that same sneaker vibe but are 1) more durable and 2) much more functional on the golf course.
Anyone in the same boat as me?
Well, you’re in luck, chief. I finally found a near-perfect alternative to the Air Jordan 1 golf shoe. And it’s made by a crew of boys just down the coast from His Heirness in little Astoria, Ore.
Enter Alma Mater
You’ve never heard of them. But you do now. And honestly? You’d do well to become an early adopter. Because once the general golfing public finds out about them? Good luck. They’re that damn good.
The Alma Mater playbook is not dissimilar to the screaming success that PAYNTR Golf has shown. If you get a bunch of smart, experienced footwear veterans in a room and give them the freedom to make whatever they want, it tends to turn out pretty darn well.
And thus, the Beta was born.
It’s one of those golf shoes that you know is going to be good before you ever put it on. At least it was for me, someone who’s worn more than 150 pairs of golf shoes in the last four years.
My high expectations for the $288 super shoe were not only met but exceeded, thanks to Alma Mater’s crazy tech story.
All good golf clubs have a tech story. All good golf shoes SHOULD have one. Most don’t. A few brands lean into the tech while others just slap spikes on the bottom of a shoe and consider it complete.
Alma Mater, like the aforementioned PAYNTR, is different. They built the Beta from the ground up, starting with an insanely good spikeless traction pattern.
Next up, the cupsole (this is where it’s similar to an Air Jordan) that provides lateral stability, torsional rigidity and allows you, the wearer, to sit closer to the ground.
Let’s talk about the foam that sits in that cupsole. It’s a nitrogen-infused supercritical foam, you know, like the kind you find in the fastest shoes on planet Earth. So, yeah, these guys are built for the walk.
Top it all off with a leather, wingtip upper (on the Longwing) or a lightweight synthetic upper (on the Lite model) and you’ve got yourself a performance powerhouse.
By the way, they’ve got a lot of fancy marketing lingo for their 3Pe tech but I’ll spare you those details. The only thing you need to know is that the traction, cupsole and foam combine to make a shoe worth splurging for.
Under the hood, it stands up against the top-performing golf shoes. But on the outside, it’s casual, understated and Jordan-esque.
A combination that, for my personal preference, is almost impossible to beat.
So where does that leave us?
Price. It ain’t cheap. (I can already see the comment section brimming with penny-pinching rage). And I’m not saying you need to buy them. The amount of cash is a lot for any shoe, let alone a brand you’ve never heard of.
What I am saying, though, is if you’re sick of golf sneakers like the Jordan 1 not lasting and not performing, then one pair of Alma Mater Golf Beta shoes is a worthy investment over the three pairs of Jordans that I’ve already gone through.
It's_How_Eye_Roll
6 months ago
Good money spent on quality footwear is never a waste. As I’ve gotten older (64), I’ve realized that cheap shoes are just tossing money away. They may look good and they may feel good. For a while. But your feet (and knees and hips) are going to pay a price, especially if you’re walking all the time. Invest in your future self and buy good shoes.