adidas MC80 Golf Shoe Review

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.

What We Tried:

The adidas MC80, the newest golf shoe from the Brand with Three Stripes. First introduced as a part of the adidas x Bogey Boys collaboration, the MC80 golf shoe looks to become a mainstay (dare I say flagship?) model in adidas’s spikeless golf shoe lineup.

Who Tried It:

Connor. Director of Soft Goods Testing and resident sneakerhead. I believe golf is better with a pair of cool shoes and comfortable joggers. My neighbors are starting to get concerned about the amount of golf shoes that show up at my door.

Need to Know

• Available now at adidas
• Retails at $180
• Available in four colors (for now)
• Premium leather construction
• BOOST midsole
• TORSION bar for added stability

Modern Elegance

First impressions are everything. The MC80 is a far departure from the prototypical adidas golf shoe. It’s traditional yet sporty. Everything about the adidas MC80 is about as far away from the Codechaos line as you can get. Instead of a polarizing, love-or-hate-it design, the MC80 is just cool.

I’m a huge fan of the classic look, something that has been missing from the adidas golf shoe lineup. Enough about how the MC80 looks. That’s far from my favorite thing (oh, the adidas MC80 gets much better).

A New Comfort King?

Forget everything you think you know about traditional golf shoes. The adidas MC80 sets a new standard for how a classic-looking golf shoe should feel.

Let’s start with the upper. There’s not much I wouldn’t do for a leather upper like the one found on the MC80. It’s seriously soft and supple. We’re talking Charmin soft (sorry, please don’t sue me).

Besides being soft and supple, the leather upper breaks in beautifully as well. As with any good leather shoe, it starts to crease in a way that conforms to your foot. To the cow whose fine hide made its way onto my pair of MC80s … thank you (sorry, PETA).

What’s the only way to make me forget about a supple leather upper? A BOOST midsole is a pretty good start. The MC80 feels amazing underfoot thanks to the BOOST pucks in the forefoot and heel areas. These can be seen through teeny-tiny windows in the outsole (not that you were wondering, or even care, but those are the details I love to see).

The combination of the springy BOOST and the included INSITE sockliner (which is very comfortable on its own) make for a heavenly walking experience. Fatigue? Never heard of her.

Traction and Torsion

Sure, it’s comfortable … but it can’t have good traction, can it? That’d be too good to be true, right?

Wrong.

The traction on the adidas MC80 was up there with the top spikeless golf shoes I’ve tested. In both wet and dry conditions, I didn’t experience any slippage. The traction pattern is made of a durable TPU that has just enough give without being overly soft.

Not everything can be perfect, though. Despite the fantastic spikeless traction performance, I found that the added TORSION system didn’t add enough stability for my liking. I still experienced some twisting of the shoe when making a full swing. I would have liked for the midsection TORSION bar to be a little stiffer for an added layer of protection against instability and ankle rolls.

Leader in the Clubhouse

Color me impressed. adidas went out on a limb with the MC80; a traditional-style golf shoe is pretty far out of their wheelhouse. I’m happy to report that the gamble paid big performance dividends.

For my money, the adidas MC80 is every bit as good as the top spikeless golf shoes on the market and it darned sure earned a spot in my golf shoe rotation. My feelings are that it should earn one in yours, too.