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 FootJoy Quantam golf shoe. It’s supposed to have “out of this world comfort.” Rarely do I find FootJoy shoes comfortable so I’m curious if FootJoy finally cracked the comfort code.
Who Tried It:
Connor. Director of Content and resident sneakerhead. I saw the Quantam make its way to the UK earlier this year and wondered when I’d get a shot at it. I’ve never been more intrigued by a FootJoy shoe so I eagerly awaited my chance and took them straight to the course as soon as they showed up at my door.
A first for FootJoy
I’m not going to pretend I know every FootJoy shoe in existence. But, by my estimation, the Quantam is really FootJoy’s first attempt at what I like to call the “all-day golf shoe.” My definition is simple: Is the shoe so comfortable that you can wear it all day? Then it meets my criterion for an ADGS.
This type of golf shoe is becoming more prevalent. Already this year we’ve seen shoes like the Under Armour Phantom, PUMA ELECTROCAT NITRO and more burst onto the scene with mac-n-cheese type comfort.
How does FootJoy’s first real foray into the space stack up against the other comfortable golf shoes I’ve worn this year?
Spoiler: It’s pretty darn good.
SofFOAM
The FootJoy Quantam is powered by a new proprietary foam that FootJoy is calling SofFOAM. As the name cleverly suggests, the foam is soft. By my standards, it’s still a little firm but when compared to FootJoy’s flagship StratoFOAM, the SofFOAM is decidedly much softer.
I’m not exactly sure what the makeup of the SofFOAM midsole is but to me it feels like polyurethane. It’s squishy yet resilient and seems to have a good amount of rebound. In any case, it feels really good. On first wear, I wasn’t blown away. But the more I walked around, the more comfortable I felt in the FootJoy Quantam.
If you’re looking for the Hoka level of comfort that so many of you crave, you won’t find that here. What you will find is a well-rounded cushion that’s plenty soft without feeling unstable or marshmallow-y.
Status quo
The rest of the FootJoy Quantam is status quo. A synthetic waterproof upper, a slightly wider toe-box and a full rubber spikeless outsole. It’s nothing to be stoked about but nothing to be ashamed of, either. I found the traction plenty serviceable and, while I prefer a leather FootJoy upper, the synthetic does just fine.
The star of the show is comfort so I’m not mad at the rest of the shoe taking a backseat to that sweet SofFOAM midsole.
Out of their comfort zone
The FootJoy Quantam is undoubtedly my favorite FootJoy golf shoe on the market. I can confidently say that by stepping out of their comfort zone and into …. well, the comfort zone, FootJoy has finally made a shoe that I feel good about walking 36 holes in.
There’s no other FootJoy shoe I would take over this one right now. And that’s saying something considering how vast the product line is.
I’ll say it again. FootJoy FINALLY made a golf shoe that I feel comfortable walking 36 in. And that’s a huge win for a notorious brand snob like myself.
Good for you, FootJoy.
I miss, I miss, I make
2 years ago
Golf shoes. Walking? I don’t get it. The longest walk any golfer makes during a round of golf is to go behind a bush to rid himself of all the beer he drank trying to impress the beer cart lady. The fat old guys with skinny pale legs I’ll cut some slack (maybe) but all the 20 somethings are the ones buying the “sneaker golf shoes”. But better get them now because next year they will have a 100% tariff.