Golf Apparel

Since my good friend, whom I’ve never met, Freddie Couples is now pimpin’ ECCO golf shoes, I’m gonna look at ‘em for 2007.

I love my Etonic golf shoes with the G>SOK Technology, but a guy needs lots of options for his golf shoe collection.

If you’re a woman and you need some golf apparel, you might want to check out LIJA.

” We are constantly seeking ways to enhance customer experiences and working to cater to the uniqueness in every woman, ” says Linda Hipp. ” The revised website portrays the fun, fashion-forward look of the line in a way that is easy and natural to navigate. It’s a valuable tool for interacting with consumers around the world and we’ll continue to add new features in the coming months. ”

LIJA recently premiered its Spring 2007 collections, which will be available to purchase both online and in stores throughout North America in January.

The latest styles - showcasing innovative textures, superior styling, unique prints and functional fabrics across 296 pieces - are inspired by fun, flirty and vivacious colors, and feature tasteful, yet animated prints from plaids to mini rosebuds that are further enhanced with unique buttons, snaps and stitching.

LIJA is a staple in finer golf and non-golf retailers across North America, including world-renowned resorts like Pebble Beach, Doral, Kiawah Island and Kapalua.

I just found this Tony Stewart/Home Depot racin’ orange pair of golf shoes. Now all I have to do is find someone big enough to wear ‘em !

My wife’s a big time Tony Stewart fan, but I’m gonna stick with the black and white version of this pair.

To see the better looking version of this style, check out their website.

I just bought a new pair of golf shoes from my buddy Tom Howard, owner of Tom Howard’s Golf Superstore in Evansville, IN. I got the Etonic G-Sok in White/Bomber Brown.

The new footbed in these shoes makes these the most comfortable shoes I own period, not just golf shoes. I will be ordering another pair or two to try and I’ll let you know how they hold up and wear. I’ve only played 3 rounds in them so far, but I do like them a lot. A whole lot.

UPDATE : Played 31 holes today in Leitchfield, KY, at Legacy Golf Course. These shoes are great ! No pain, my gain !

Check out their website and let me know which one’s to try next. I’m thinking the ST-GT in White/Teak.

Anybody know where I can find some size 13’s ?

Just in case you didn’t know, all the real Travelling Golfers are wearing silk Tommy Bahama shirts again this year.

Some of us are getting them off eBay and then sometimes I find them on sale in a few selected retail stores.

I love the feel of silk, but it’s a pain to launder. Make sure you get a solid white and a solid black one, as they’re classy enough to wear to some semi-formal outings, as well as the casual instances.

I walked 18 holes yesterday at Christmas Lake Golf Course.

My good friend Rob Condo, from Louisville, called and was dying to play a round. The fact that it was 40 degrees, 32 with the wind chill, cart path only and a little wet was of no concern to him. He had to play !

Let me say now, if you’ve got bad ankles and feet, like me…weigh 245 at 6′2″, like me….and have 2 pairs of golf shoes at the end of their life cycle ( 1-2 seasons ), like me…..then you better not try walking a little over 5 miles, like we did. Up and down those rolling southern Indiana hills, lots of side to side slopes….not a flat lie anywhere.

My left ankle and both feet are miserable today and last night was worse.

Here’s some links to some shoe tips that I previously did….and should have listened to !

Don’t go cheap…

More tips…

Tips Volume 3…

Here’s a pair I want…

I wore out both of my pairs of golf shoes this year. Both. I guess I played a lot..or the 245 lbs was more than they wanted.

I did a post in the past about one of the pairs I want to try next year and now I’ve found the other pair I want. And I want them badly !

They are the Etonic ST-GT Gore-Tex and I want them in White & Teak.

From Etonic’s site :

” The ST-GT combines a superior outsole featuring Etonic’s biomechanically designed Stabilizer Technology™ with the premier waterproof system, Gore-Tex®, to give the serious golfer a performance shoe that will enhance their overall playing experience. ”

” The ST-GT is available in two styles for men: a sleek saddle with two colorways and a sporty style with three colorways. The suggested retail is $139.00 and will be available mid-October. “

There’s just no reason to not get them, that I can find.

For more info on them, here’s a link to Etonic’s page that will give you all the details.

For more golf shoe tips, go HERE and HERE and HERE.

It’s been a rough week, cleaning up after the tornado, so bear with me.

Rather than steal their idea, or wait a couple of weeks and then attempt to do this subject justice, why don’t you just click thru and read an awesome review done by Donald MacKenzie, over at The Sand Trap.

The Sand Trap is on my Blog Roll and is worthy of your time.

Tell ‘em Mike sent you !

Here’s the third installment of golf shoe tips.

It’s hard to have comfortable shoes without dry feet. And to have dry feet, you’ve got to have good socks.

There’s just no way to wear your everyday socks and get away with it. Get some good golf socks that wick away moisture and are padded to protect your feet.

Feet that are cushioned, comfortable and dry are happy feet.

Use shoe trees to keep your golf shoes in their proper shape despite your throwing them in your trunk and forgetting them for a week.

Cedar shoe trees are the best you can get. I let my golf shoes dry and then put my cedar shoe trees in them. This is one of the reasons I have several pairs of golf shoes. To let one dry completely while I wear a different pair.

Finally, keep your receipt and warranty handy. Golf shoes have been known to fail and if they do, the manufacturers should have to stand behind them.

You can’t play underwater golf and expect the manufacturer to replace the shoes, but under normal conditions, you should get your money’s worth.

If you buy your golf shoes from a local golf shop, talk to the sales rep about the warranty BEFORE you leave the store.

There are more than enough reasons to buy good golf shoes than there are to go cheap. Do your research before you buy, keep your receipt and know your warranty and you’ll be happy that you did.

I noticed more golf sandals this year. For me, it ain’t ever gonna happen.

The golf swing *can be* a violent action. Deep rough, in a divot, big tree in the way, ball buried in the face of a bunker, all types of situations where force might be needed. To me, those little leather straps across your toes don’t look like they provide enough support to hit it like a big dawg. Could be wrong, I guess.

If you have a slow, syrupy swing and never get in the hay, then you might give ‘em a try. I don’t really want to see your feet, so just don’t do it in my foursome. You’ve got to wear socks with them and when you do, you look like Mike Brady playing golf with Ward Cleaver.

They’re just a bad idea, for me, so I’ll let it go there.

When you go to try on a new pair of golf shoes, go late in the day when your feet are at their largest due to swelling. Better, for me, to have them be a tad large, than a tad small.

Someone recently said that they thought the quality of greens had improved due to soft spikes. Not where I play, they haven’t. The quality of the greens has to do with a greenskeeper with a little common sense about water, mowing heights and sand. But that’s for another post on a nother day.

Soft spikes are a little easier on the greens in some cases, but if you get a poorly designed…read into this a knock-off of a quality soft spike…..spike and you get someone who’s 6′2″ and 245 lbs., like me and I could leave imprints worse than any metal spike ever dreamed about.

I’ve recently switched over to Stinger’s, away from Black Widow’s and have been impressed with their grip when I have to power thru a swing. Easy to walk with and seem to leave less of a mark on the greens.

( I’ll try to do a post on them a bit later. )

Also, try to keep a whole set of extra spikes in your bag. Who know’s when you might need them and be in a position of having 30 minutes to wait before you can tee off. Why waste that time putting on a practice green that’s not anything like the greens out on the course. Again, another post for another day.

You might even be able to save a buddy who needs some replacements and doesn’t have access to any.

That’s all for today. I’ll wrap up our tips on golf shoes with one more post and we’ll move on to another area.

Go by and visit the sites of the major manufacturers and get some idea’s about your next shoe lust.