Women's spikeless golf shoes: grip without the spikes

What it solved on the course

Spikes grip, but they are a small number of hard points on the sole. A spikeless sole spreads grip across many molded contact points, and the shoe works as well in the clubhouse as on the course.

History

The long story of nails, metal spikes and soft plastic spikes is on the golf shoes page. This one starts at the end of it.

In November 2009 a friend who was the pro at The Palms Golf Club in Palm Desert, California, told Fred Couples to come by the shop and try Ecco's Golf Street. He wore a pair to the 2010 Masters, sockless, and at 50 opened with a 66 to lead the tournament. It was the first time a golfer had led a major in spikeless shoes. "I'm getting more attention for my shoes than making pars and birdies," he said. That week "Fred Couples golf shoes" was the fourth most-searched term on Google. Pairs were going for $500 on eBay within days, four times what they cost new, and Ecco reckoned his TV time had been worth some $55 million in publicity.

Ecco's later E-DTS sole shows the idea: 100 molded contact points, where a spiked shoe has 9 to 11 soft spikes. Adidas and Puma make spikeless shoes too. Before Couples, they were about 1% of global golf shoe sales. Now about half of all golf shoe models are spikeless, and around 80% of tour pros wear them.

On the women's side GOLF.com's list of top sellers includes the Ecco Women's BIOM Hybrid 2, Nike Women's Roshe, Puma Women's Monolite Cat and FootJoy Women's Superlites.

Who wore it best

Fred Couples
Led the first round of the 2010 Masters at 50 in sockless, spikeless Ecco Golf Streets, the week now seen as the start of spikeless golf shoes, which were nearly obsolete until then.^{[3, 2]}

How to wear it now

Shop in the afternoon, when your feet are bigger after a day on them, and walk around the store before you pay.
Keep a spiked pair for wet winter golf and hilly courses. Spikeless is at its best on firm, dry turf.
Brush out the tread after a round. A sole packed with mud and grass has lost most of its grip.
White goes with skorts, dresses and pants alike. If you tee off in morning dew, a darker upper hides the grass stains.
Match the shoe to your bottom half, not your top. A navy skort with navy or white shoes looks calmer than shoes that match a bright polo.