The New Generation of Golfers Doesn’t Care About Performance

Last week, while I was hitting balls at the range, I noticed something rather peculiar.

It stopped me in my tracks. I knew immediately that I had to write about it.

I was on the range at the same time as a bunch of high-level junior golfers who were there for an event. As someone that makes “sneaker” contact before eye contact, I took note of their footwear.

What I saw shocked me.

One pair of FootJoy. One pair of adidas. The rest? A whole lot of NIKE and Jordan. The vast majority of the junior golfers next to me were rocking NIKE or Jordan golf shoes. Or, in golf nerd terms: I saw a lot of “casual” golf shoes and very few “performance” golf shoes.

On the surface, that doesn’t seem like a big deal. But as someone who’s fully ingrained in golf shoe culture, it shone a bright light on something that I’ve been bullish on for a while: the idea that new golfers care more about what’s “cool”, not what performs well.

I’m not here to say that a brief analysis of some junior golfers should be generalized to fit an entire generation,but it is a microcosm of what I feel the up-and-coming generation of golfers represents.

Their rallying cry? Golf is cool and performance isn’t all that matters.

I’ll admit this is a train that I’ve been on for a while. As someone who tests golf shoes professionally, I still find myself reaching for my Air Jordan 1 G or the New Balance 550 G more often than not. I know there are better performers (a la Under Armour Drive Pro, adidas TOUR360 24). But that’s not important to me. I care about what looks cool, regardless of performance.

This notion doesn’t just extend to golf shoes. Think of the Malbons and Bogey Boys of the world. They make apparel for the cool golfer. Jason Day and Bryson Dechambeau dress very differently. It’s not that Day isn’t concerned about performance in the same way that Dechambeau is but he has a unique style that he wants to show off.

Heck, I tend to feel this way about golf clubs, too. There’s one reason the TaylorMade P790 Vintage Copper irons are in my bag (spoiler: it’s because they look sexy). Could I find a set of irons that better suits my game? Surely, they exist, but they won’t look near as cool as my current set.

Tony Finau has worn the Air Jordan 1 G for a few years. Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson have dabbled in the Air Jordan game as well (sans the NIKE contract).

If the best golfers in the world are choosing a “cool” pair of golf shoes over a “performance” pair, shouldn’t that tell you something? I’m not normally one to compare my game to professionals but if Johnson feels comfortable playing in Jordans, why should I (or you) feel any different?

There will always be a faction of golfers that only care about performance. It’s foundational to what we do at MyGolfSpy. There’s a reason our Tony Covey won’t wear anything that isn’t defiled by a BOA dial. There’s a reason a big portion of the MGS staff plays L.A.B. putters. And there’s a reason we test and rank seemingly every golf product on God’s green earth each year based solely on performance.

Performance matters, until it doesn’t.

All I’m trying to say is this: If you want to wear, game or buy something simply because you “like it”, that’s a good enough reason to do so. Performance be damned. I’ll wear my Jordan golf shoes until the lackluster spikeless soles fall off.

What are your thoughts on style versus performance? Do you buy golf gear simply because you like it? Let me know.