Spiked or Spikeless Golf Shoes?
The honest difference between spiked and spikeless golf shoes, which one suits Kenyan courses, and how to size a golf shoe so it still fits at the 14th.
Buy spikeless. That is the right answer for most golfers reading this, and the rest of this page explains when it is not.
What the two actually do
Spiked shoes have removable soft plastic cleats that dig into turf. They grip better on a slope, on wet grass, and on the tee box in morning dew. They also wear out and need replacing, and they are uncomfortable on a cart path or a clubhouse floor.
Spikeless shoes use a moulded sole with dozens of small lugs. Slightly less grip in the worst conditions, considerably more comfort, nothing to replace, and you can drive home in them.
Which suits golf here
Most rounds here are played in dry conditions in the middle of the day, on kikuyu grass that grips well. Under those conditions the difference between the two is small enough that comfort should decide it.
The exception is the rainy months and early tee times. If you regularly play at seven in the morning when the dew is still down, or through April and November, spikes will keep you upright on a sloping lie in a way spikeless will not.
Plenty of people here own both. If you are buying one pair, buy spikeless.
Sizing, which matters more than the sole
Golf shoes are the item people most often buy in the wrong size, because they try them on the way they would try on any other shoe.
Three rules:
- Fit them at the end of the day. Feet swell. A shoe fitted at ten in the morning is a size too small by the fourteenth hole.
- Wear the socks you play in. Thickness varies more than people think.
- Leave a thumb’s width at the toe. Walking downhill for four hours pushes your foot forward. Without that gap you will lose a toenail, and we are not speaking hypothetically.
On dial closures
Dial systems tighten evenly across the whole foot rather than in the places your fingers pull hardest, and you can adjust them mid-round without bending down or handling a wet lace. They cost a little more. Most people who switch to one do not switch back — see the BOA-dial shoes on the wall.
Waterproofing
Almost every golf shoe claims to be waterproof and almost all of them are, for about a season. The membrane degrades with flexing and UV. Assume two good wet seasons from a mid-price shoe, and do not pay a large premium for a waterproof claim on a shoe you will mostly wear in the dry.