Back
Disclosure: We may receive a commission when you purchase products through our links at no additional cost to you. This helps support our content and allows us to provide you with the best information on products and services. All opinions expressed here are our own.
I’ve never been the camping type. I love the outdoors, but I usually prefer to do my exploring with a golf club in hand. For me, "roughing it" means missing fairways.
Golf shoe camp, though...I think I can get behind that.
I recently spent a couple of days “camping” at McLemore Resort in the north Georgia mountains, invited by ECCO, the Danish shoe company that, in 2010, ushered in arguably one of the few true turning points in the history of golf equipment when Fred Couples made a run at the Masters wearing a pair of their spikeless golf shoes. A decade and a half later, traditional spiked golf shoes are now in the minority, with a casual, almost sneaker-like aesthetic now the norm.
Camp ECCO was as civilized as "camp" gets. It started with a light hike in ECCO hiking shoes and included dinners - featuring some of the best food I have had at any resort property, thanks to Cloudland, McLemore's onsite Hilton Curio Collection hotel - a round of golf and an information session about the company and its latest offering: the new ECCO Biom H5 golf shoe model.
Biom H5 is ECCO through and through, an attractive and sturdy statement of the company's values that put materials and performance well ahead of marketing. I liken ECCO to PING in that regard; flashiness is almost something to be avoided in favor of reliability. The Biom H5 combines a leather upper and waterproof membrane with one of ECCO's FluidForm injection-molded soles that takes comfort and stability to a deeper level than many other peer brands. That sole's slightly rocky-looking outer skin acts as a subtle but noticeable nod to golf's essential earthiness.
In testing the shoes during a round at The Keep, McLemore's brand new golf course, I found them solid and sturdy but slightly narrower than other ECCO shoes I have tried. Removing the cushioned standard insole - which ECCO builds into their shoes to accommodate people with wider feet (like myself) enabled them to fit better, but overall, I think folks with narrower feet will find the Biom H5 most comfortable. - Tim Gavrich
ECCO Biom H5 golf shoes: $228 [Amazon]
A1 Bushnell Slope rangefinder
Big things can come in small packages. The new A1 Bushnell Slope is the brand's smallest rangefinder ever. It literally fits in the palm of your hand. Such a compact unit has definite advantages. It stores so much easier ... in your golf bag, luggage or even a pants pocket. (Remember we never recommend flying with a rangefinder in checked golf bags or luggage). It's got a lot of the premium features of Bushnell's high-end $600 rangefinders - On/off slope mode for tournament play, magnetic bite, Pinseeker with JOLT technology, 6x magnification up to 1,300 yards, a weather-resistant cover - at half the cost. It might be perfect for your junior golfer. Price: $295 - Jason Scott Deegan
Reebok's return to Golf
Reebok's splashy return to golf in March coincided with the release of a new line of golf shoes worn by Bryson DeChambeau. The Nano Golf Shoe ($130) features a responsive Floatride Performance Foam in the midsole, a lightweight and breathable Flexweave Upper and an underfoot TPU Torsion Shank for stability. In layman's terms, they're just darn comfortable and another step in modernizing the street shoe that's revolutionizing golf. The leather Question Golf shoe, which pays homage to the legendary Allen Iverson and his Question basketball silhouette, and the OG Pump Golf shoe are also available. A full series of first-edition golf apparel, including pants, polos, shorts, T shirts, pullovers and a vest, will someday showcase co-branded collaborations with DeChambeau. Price: $130-$200 - J.S.D.
Holderness & Bourne Airation golf shirts
There is no way to hide from the heat in Florida in the summer. But there are ways to mitigate it a little bit. The key is to find the lightest-weight golf shirt you can and hope for the best. Most upscale golf shirt brands have a lightweight option; for Holderness & Bourne, it's their Airation line of polos, whose slightly porous fabric does a solid job of wicking moisture, especially when there's at least a little bit of a breeze. I personally like their Davenport shirt, with a subtle scalloped pattern. After running quite small in their early years, I am pleased to see H&B's golf shirts now running much truer to size, though I find they are cut slightly narrower than peer brands like Stitch, B.Draddy and Peter Millar. Price: $115 -T.G.
Sunday Swagger
As golf gets younger, so does its fashion. Bolder colors and patterns are starting to adorn the fairways as brands like Sunday Swagger get more popular. Don't worry, though. Sunday Swagger pieces can still be worn by an older generation once in a while, too. As someone who grew up in the 1980s, I was immediately drawn to the new "Purple Rain" polo. Whenever brands throw a nostalgic nod for us old guys - RIP sweet Prince - we show up with our credit card in hand. The polos are designed with a 4-way stretch, UPF 40 sun protection and moisture wicking technology. Price: $64 - J.S.D.
Public Rec
The boundaries of style and comfort continue to be stretched when it comes to what's acceptable to wear on the golf course. My new Gamechanger 5-Pocket Pant from Public Rec feel so much like sweats, I almost feel guilty about wearing them to the club. They're super soft and stretchy and wear nothing like traditional pants, even though they still look like golf attire in every way. No country club snob looking to throw you off the course for the slightest violation of the club's dress code would be able to tell the difference. Public Rec's new Medinah series offers a Workday Pant 2.0 for a similar price ($128) with a more traditional, sturdier feel, and pairs nicely into an outfit with a matching Silver Made to Move belt ($58) and the Deep Navy All Fore It Polo ($88). Check out the entire new spring line here. - J.S.D.
Comments (0)