Do you know what the second most popular U.S. shoe brand is?
If you said Skechers, you’re either lying or made a really good guess. But the truth is the truth. Outside of NIKE, Skechers is the best-selling casual shoe brand in the United States.
Why then, when looking for a new pair of golf shoes, is the brand with the giant “S” logo often an afterthought?
When I was in middle school, I was obsessed with NIKE and Air Jordan. I am, to some degree, still that same 12-year-old kid who just wanted to have the coolest shoes. If NIKE and Jordan were the top of the sneaker pyramid, it always felt like Skechers was at the bottom.
To me, Skechers were always just the shoe that janitors wore (no offense intended, I was a janitor all through college to support my family). And my opinion largely stayed that way until I started testing and reviewing golf shoes for a living.
Over the past two years, I’ve worn, tested or reviewed hundreds of golf shoes. And none are as underrated or underappreciated as Skechers.
Yep, the kid who wouldn’t touch Skechers with a 30-foot pole is here to shout it from the rooftops: Skechers are the most underrated golf shoes on the market!
No, I’m not trying to brownnose the brand or anything like that, I’m just calling it like I see it. When products stand out in testing, it’s my job to highlight them. If my job is your game, then it’s my responsibility to shine a light on products that punch well above their weight class.
That, friends, is why Skechers should be on your radar.
Why Should You Care?
No, Skechers aren’t perennial winners in the typical sense. But when put up against the likes of adidas, PAYNTR, Under Armour and more, Skechers consistently outshines and over-indexes in two key areas: comfort and value.
Let’s talk about it. If you care for nothing else but comfort, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more comfortable golf shoe. The spikeless Skechers Go Golf 2 Rover Slip-In was one of the most comfortable golf shoes to ever grace my foot. The same can be said for the spiked Go Golf Blade GF.
But they aren’t just comfortable. The other thing Skechers always nails is value. Value is not determined on price alone. It’s rare that the cheapest offering in a test win’s the esteemed “Best Value” award.
Value is, instead, a combination of price and performance. Any product given an award for Best Value has performance that far exceeds its price.
If there ever was a prime example of this, it would again be Skechers.
They aren’t the “cheapest” golf shoes on the market. But with most models around the $100-$120 price point, they provide performance that stacks up to shoes nearly twice the price.
(S)ex Appeal
For lack of a better term, the reason Skechers is so underrated is because the brand lacks “sex appeal.” No one is buying Skechers for flashy styles, cool looks or to impress the cart girl. You won’t catch the handsome Brooks Koepka or charming Scottie Scheffler in a pair.
Isn’t Matt Fitzpatrick just the perfect Skechers brand ambassador? Anyways …
If Skechers could fix the stigma that they aren’t cool or hip, I think they’d easily gain some market share from the big dogs.
That’s much easier said than done.
Until then (if they ever get there), they’ll continue to make underappreciated, great performing products that consumers should pay attention to.
Have you ever worn a pair of Skechers golf shoes? Drop me a line down below and share your experience.
Pete S
2 weeks ago
I would rather walk barefoot than be seen wearing a pair of Sketchers