Fit For Purpose: Skechers 36 Hole Challenge

Can the right pair of golf shoes help you play better golf for longer? It might be a bold claim, but is having the right pair of shoes on your feet is as important as having the right set of clubs? To put this claim to the test, we teamed up with Skechers to put four Golf Monthly readers through the ultimate test of walking on the golf course: a 36-hole match on the International Course at the London Club. Skechers is the brand of choice for golf's newest Major winner, Matt Fitzpatrick, who wore the Skechers Go Golf Pro 5 Hyper en-route to his US Open title. Each of our players tested two pairs of the 2022 Skechers Go Golf range to truly get an understanding of how important a comfortable pair of golf shoes are to playing your best. 

Decked out in the new Skechers range, our four participants, Caroline Cruse (Hcp 8), Ben Dillon, (Hcp 15), Steve Wilson (Hcp 15) and Simon James (Hcp 7), played in a better ball match across the day to really understand how a comfortable, reliable pair of golf shoes can keep them playing their best golf right to the very end.  The teams for the match would pit Caroline and Ben against Steve and Simon and all four were confident that they would come out on top. 

Team Caroline and Ben were excited for their match and had high expectations for the shoes after their first impressions. “My first impressions out of the box were great,” Caroline commented, who was testing the Go Golf Walk 5 and Go Golf Elite Tour SL. “They’re both really lightweight, I slipped straight into them out of the box and I’m impressed with the support too so I think they’ll be great for a 36 hole walk. I love the contrasting colours in the women’s shoes and its nice to have some good colour instead of just the classic white.”

Ben was similarly impressed with his two pairs, the Go Golf Drive 5 and Go Golf Elite 4 Victory. “I can’t wait to play 36 holes, my first impressions of the shoes is that they look fantastic, I love the overall styling of both pairs. The spikeless outsoles look like they’re really going to give a comfortable but grippy walk out there too which is something I prioritise in a shoe.”

With first impressions high amongst the group, it was time to head out onto the course. It’s a significant walk around the hilly London Club and it was a perfect day for golf too. After testing their first pairs of Skechers shoes across 18 holes, Steve and Simon found themselves 2up in the match. 

Steve was wearing the spikeless Go Golf Drive 5 and was amazed with how immediately comfortable they were on course. “I’ve not played as consistently as I’d have liked to on the first 18, but my partner is keeping us in it! The Drive 5 shoes I wore were really comfortable and they felt like an old pair of shoes after just one hole of walking - no breaking in whatsoever.”After 36 holes of golf and eight pairs of shoes tested, there was one stand-out feature noticed by our group. Skechers Arch Fit technology is an insole system with podiatrist certified arch support and all four players got to experience this. 

Simon, who also wore the Drive 5 as well as the Go Golf Torque Pro, loved how the technology felt as soon as he put the shoes on. “While they felt initially strange to begin with, I thought Arch Fit was brilliant. I tend to collapse the inside of my foot and Arch Fit really helped support that and kept me comfortable. I felt a lot more fresh after 36 holes that I thought I would.”

Caroline was similarly impressed with Arch Fit, “Not only were my Walk 5 shoes really breathable and lightweight but the Arch Fit added a new level of comfort. It really supports the arches on your feet and kept fatigue at bay. It’s a strange feeling at first but one I’d highly recommend people trying.” In the end, Simon and Steve were our winners and beat Caroline and Ben 3&1. It was an excellent match in perfect conditions and all four of our players were able to play their very best golf right to the end thanks to their new Skechers Go Golf shoes.