Best spiked golf shoes: These 5 stylish spiked golf shoes will give your game some traction

By: Sean Zak

July 8, 2020

When it comes to finding the best golf products, every golfer needs a little guidance. Don’t sweat it, we got you covered! For our new Best of Everything series, we’ve canvassed the golf accessories, apparel and game-improvement space to identify the very best stuff for your game. Think of us as your personal shopping assistant.

Best spiked golf shoes

For many years the criteria for golf shoes was simple. Do they have spikes? Do they come in white or black? Check, check? Sounds good, give me a pair. The shoe game was too simple, and it led manufacturers down a path of bulkiness. Think about the shoes Tiger Woods wore when he first signed with Nike. They weren’t exactly designed with the golfer (or their swing) in mind. Or for the runway. How times have changed.

Today’s golf shoes are made to be an extension of the golfer, and a platform for their swing. In the new age of long, bendy players using “ground forces” to launch tee shots 300+ yards in the air, those forces are useless without a properly performing golf shoe. The base for their swing is relied upon just as much as yours, making your kicks choice an important one.

Sure, color and spikes are still important, but where are those spikes placed? How many of them are there? Does that agree comfortably with your foot shape? How about your gait? Would you rather wear a low-profile shoe that keeps your toes basically on the turf? These are all important questions.

Players looking for a “gamer” pair of shoes they’ll wear in all weather conditions will want to ensure their cleat of choice is a waterproof design. No one likes a squishy walk up the 18th fairway. Remember that when making your selection.

Best spiked golf shoes for year-round wear

Adidas Tour360 XT

There’s a reason Dustin Johnson has been wearing these shoes for his entire career. Yes, that’s more than 10 years now. The Adidas Tour360 line work for the most consistent man on Tour, and he’ll probably never quit them. DJ, with his big-time swing speed, uses the ground beneath him to generate more power than just about anybody else on Tour. These kicks offer eight spikes and a full leather upper. They are a classic design that has grown even more flexible over the years. If the spiked version is too sturdy for you, try the spikeless. They’re just as good.

Best spiked golf shoes for classic style

FootJoy Icon Black

FootJoy considers this their iconic shoe, and not just in namesake. The sleek, dress-shoe design is quite simply the easiest shoe to pair with any outfit. Full stop. You’d have a hard time finding a pair with a more sturdy, low-profile sole. That might make these shoes a bit rigid, so they might not be your everyday pair, but their versatility in adding to any outfit means you probably should have a pair in your locker. The fashion-forward Justin Thomas wears Icons almost every round he plays. He even rocks custom colors to remind us that the colorways are endless.

Best spiked golf shoes for sleek power

Nike Air Zoom Victory Tour

You might have noticed these shoes strutting to a Players Championship win in 2019. Wearing his Arnold Palmer gold pants, Rory McIlroy also had these gold-plated Nikes to go with them. It was a powerful look that defined McIlroy’s season. These shoes were with him nearly every step of the way. The four spikes on the forward half of each shoe line the outer edge of the sole, helping you to stay balanced. The added traction will help you launch forward and upward through the ball — McIlroy does this better than anyone — when hitting your tee shots. The rest of the sole is hard-plated plastic, a new Nike trend, that makes this shoe as sturdy as they come.

Best performance golf shoes for all terrain

Puma Ignite PWRADAPT

This shoe’s base is incredibly flexible. With seven cleats spaced out sporadically on the rubber outsole, the shoe adjusts to whatever terrain is beneath it. The leather upper keeps your feet from feeling any type of moisture during those dew-sweeping or rainy rounds, and a little slice of heather up top adds a little flavor to each of the three basic colorways. Bryson DeChambeau is an Ignite believer — what else do you need?

Best spiked golf shoes for free swingers

Under Armour HOVR Drive Woven

When you look beyond (or beneath) the fashionable (and comfortable) woven upper part of the shoe, you notice two types of cleats positioned in different areas of the outsole. UA calls them Silver Tornado Spikes and Rotational Resistance spikes. The former look like and act like traditional cleats, the latter keeps your foot from pushing too hard in one direction during the rotational movement of your swing. Jordan Spieth, who has one of the more rotational swings in the pro game, uses these spikes. If your swing is similar in form, these might be the shoes for you.

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Sean Zak

Golf.com Editor

Sean Zak is a writer at GOLF Magazine and just published his first book, which follows his travels in Scotland during the most pivotal summer in the game’s history.