After years of suffering, I finally found a great pair of golf shoes

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Why These Golf Shoes Are the Best Thing I’ll Use in 2024

Among happiness, there is also pain.

pain. Pasty. With the latter, I also bleed, although some of it was self-inflicted because I should have been a more vigilant toenail trimmer. Too much information, I know. But I want you to fully understand where I've been.

That said, I don’t like golf shoes.

Honestly, I hate them.

Of course, there are bigger concerns, but Google tells me I'm not alone in its effort to tell you the “best golf shoes.” We just want to get mad at three-putts, chip shots, and the lack of good beer in the beer carts in this sport we all love. Our feet should be an afterthought, used primarily to keep us upright during a round.

And of course, there's kicking the ball around the table on the 19th hole, which is where the breakthrough comes. I discovered that I was still wearing “the best stuff I’ve ever worn in 2024” — let’s call it this little end-of-year collection — and they didn’t pop off my feet immediately after cleaning the 18th hole, as usual .

I don't no Just hate these Allbirds golf shoes – I wanted to write this short ode to them too.

To me, these colors are fashionable (although, full disclosure, I'm no fashion expert) – my pair is tan and gray, although I also like the navy and tan combo, and the brown and white mix . The shoe does its job, too—the rubber grip provides traction, and its fabric provides protection from the elements. What about the price? I think the price is affordable, at least compared to some of the competition. Two of the models are currently on sale for $145; three of them are on sale for $87.

But most importantly, they're damn comfortable, which is no surprise since wearers of other Allbirds shoes—myself included—swear by their cushion-like feel. This may be their greatest charm. Still, I'm skeptical. Years of scarring can do this to you. Granted, I haven’t tried every golf shoe out there—and I’m sure there are other shoes out there that can match or even surpass the feel of the Allbirds—but I’ve worn them enough to temper my expectations.

But here I am, waxing poetic about them. And wear them. Actually now.

To keep my spirits up, I chose to tie them up while writing this story. Here’s the photo of my happy feet (and my couch) at the top of this post.

Allbirds Golf Sprinter

$87

This natural golf shoe features a roomy forefoot and full-swing stability. This lightweight style transitions seamlessly from course drinks to post-game drinks and will get you through any drizzle (or sand trap).

Buy it now

But before you sign off, I want to share that I have one more thing that’s “the best thing I’ve ever used in 2024.” I know, I know, best means one, but more is better, right? Anyway, the second “thing” is the Cobra Darkspeed 3-wood, which I actually wrote about earlier this year. The link to the article is here , or you can scroll directly below to view 3-Wood's specific text.

***

I don't like Miki.

I feel like this is a safe, friendly, and understanding space to confess. I just don't like Miki. Of course, this has zero to do with the club itself. When it comes to three-pointers in other sports—three-pointers, three-pointers—I'm actually a huge fan.

No, no, this is “my” problem. Flash right. Hook left. And gorgeous tops. Have you ever wondered how some of these YouTube instructional videos get thousands of views? Well, if you tagged “How to make good contact with fairway metal” in there, you'd get half a million cool hits from me, most of them while lying in bed or even looking for birds chirping before the goal.

So this is a good place to start describing me. I'm “close” but there are still some unresolved issues. I was hitting nice hook shots off the tee about 230 to 240 yards, but my ball would suddenly go low to the left. I hit a nice 155, 160 yards with the 7-iron – but sometimes I'd knock it down. I'm crafty on the greens and usually just use one wedge – but I'm prone to thinning.

And then there's the whole Miki thing. To be honest, I had completely put the club on hold. I took the path of the 7-wood. All in all, I'm in a weird, almost Goldilocks place with 14 disorders like mine: good, not bad, but not just right either.

Then the golf equipment team wanted to know if I could test Cobra's latest and greatest products, and I accepted.

Then Cobra shipped the goods, their 2024 Darkspeed line of woods, hybrids and irons that give off some serious Batman vibes. They include a driver, a 7-wood, hybrids 4 and 6, 5, 7, 8 and 9 irons as well as a wedge and two putters (blade and mallet).

And, I can't forget, Miki, I'll discuss that at the end.

…

Now it's the 3-wood.

I got my first shot on the par-5 second hole at Pelham Bay.

I conceded the second goal.

I hit the ball high on the pin, about 10 yards to the right of the green, and it bounced 230 yards.

OK

On the fourth hole, a tight dogleg right, I teed it up. It finished about 225 yards.

OK

On No. 14, a dogleg left, I hit a shot left into higher rough and hit it to about 230 yards out. The green sits atop the beautiful blue of unprecedented late autumn. There isn't any noise. marvelous.

Then I hit the 3-wood.

It goes up. It hangs. It fell off. The flagpole is high and just outside the green.

I stood there for a second. With all this in mind – I think I might like a 3 wood again, or at least my Darkspeed X 3 wood.

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