I’ve got beef.
And no, I’m not talking about the beef I learned about while working at Arby’s as a junior in high school. I’ve got beef with NIKE, adidas, FootJoy and every other golf shoe brand you can think of.
Golf does most things right: a twilight nine, a hot dog at the turn, a 40-footer for birdie and a trip with your buddies.
Golf does one thing very, VERY wrong.
Where are all the signature shoes?
I played a lot of basketball growing up and wore a lot of signature shoes. My favorite basketball shoe of all time is the “adidas Marvel x Harden Vol. 3 Heroes Among Us” collaboration. When you mix blue and red paint, you get purple. What do you get when you mix a beloved superstar athlete and a high-performing shoe? You get off-the-chart sales and lifelong nostalgia.
Where did the signature shoes go?
NIKE blessed us with more than 20 years of Tigers Woods’ signature “TW” line but hasn’t created another signature golf shoe since Tiger’s split with NIKE.
You won’t be too surprised by this but the resale price for “TW” models is still significantly high. It just goes to show you what Tiger brought to the table.
Scottie Scheffler has won 17 times (counting his Olympic gold) since Tiger left NIKE and still hasn’t been given his own signature shoe.
If NIKE released a signature shoe with Scottie’s name on it, they’d fly off the shelf. NIKE isn’t just missing out on extra money, they’re depriving loyal fans like me a deeper connection to the game of golf. It might sound dramatic but I’ll sit on this soapbox until all the big names have signature shoes.
We occasionally see collaborations branded to specific golfers but it’s usually a one-off situation. For example, take NIKE’s recent version of their “Free Golf.” This shoe was made specifically for Nelly Korda but it’s now only available through resellers. Shocker.
The culprit
My hypothesis is “duration of relevance.” Golf is a game of ebbs and flows. A golfer might be extremely good one year and nearly irrelevant the very next. The ups and downs of golf make it hard to predict in whom you should invest.
That being said, the easy picks are consistent winners like Rory, Scottie, Hideki, Jon Rahm and even the young gun, Akshay Bhatia. These players alone could produce a fleet of signature shoes.
Hundreds of golfers play on the PGA Tour and in major championships every year. There are only a handful of guys that are a “lock” for multiple wins every year. This makes it difficult for brands when they are deciding whether to make a signature golf shoe.
The solution
I’m speaking to the industry as a whole with this statement: Grow some thicker skin and take some risks. The 10- to 35-year-old demographic will make it worth your while.
When my “Harden Volume 3s” were nearing the end of their high-performing days, I upgraded to the “Harden Volume 4s.” It’s not a coincidence that James Harden is my favorite basketball player.
Scottie Scheffler is my favorite golfer and I’m confident the scenario would be the exact same all these years later. There would most likely be a new model released every year and I’d be begging my wife to let me buy more shoes that I don’t necessarily need.
One brand needs to take a leap of faith. If FootJoy announced a signature shoe with Justin Thomas, other brands would be tempted to follow suit. There’s too much revenue and opportunity for growth being left on the table with the absence of signature shoes.
For goodness’ sake, give me a signature golf shoe!
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