The best golf shoes you can buy

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The Insider Pick:

• Although it’s easy to focus on the spikes and traction design in golf shoes, don’t forget about comfort. After all, you’re going to be on your feet and walking for four or five hours while playing. The Skechers Go Golf Elite 2 golf shoes will give you an incredibly high level of comfort, regardless of whether you’re walking or riding around the course.

Golf shoes have come a long way over the past few decades. For most of the 20th century, golf shoes looked like dress shoes and had hard metal spikes that were molded into the incredibly stiff soles. As hard as it is to believe, they were typically even less comfortable than I just made them sound.

But in the past couple of decades, golf shoes have undergone a significant transformation. The metal spikes are gone in favor of plastic spikes that aren’t as sharp but have more contact points with the ground. The dress shoe style still exists, but golf shoes that look more like athletic shoes are now the norm.

When you consider golfers could be walking the equivalent of almost a 10K road race each time they play 18 holes, the fact that golf shoes are borrowing design elements from more comfortable shoes, like running shoes, isn’t all that surprising.

Now that there are so many great and stylish golf shoes available, it can be hard to find the right pair for your needs. We've done the research to find the best golf shoes you can buy.

Read on in the slides below to learn why the Skechers Go Golf Elite 2 golf shoes are our top pick and why you might also like the Ecco Biom Hybrid 2 golf shoes, the Adidas Adipure Flex golf shoes, the New Balance Minimus golf shoes, and the Puma Ignite Pwradapt golf shoes.

SEE ALSO: 8 stylish men's golf shoes to wear on the green this season

The best golf shoes overall

Why you'll love them: The Skechers Go Golf Elite 2 golf shoes provide a high level of performance and support while you golf, and they’re also extremely comfortable.

Regardless of whether you’re walking the golf course or riding in a cart, you will be spending a lot of time on your feet. That makes comfort very important in your golf shoes.The Skechers Go Golf Elite 2 spikeless golf shoes are our top pick because they're so comfortable, waterproof, and breathable to wear on the course.

The shoe has a leather upper segment that’s fused to the sole, providing strong waterproofing. One Amazon reviewer named Joe likes the water-repellant construction of the Go Golf Elite 2 shoes, because they are perfect for playing early in the morning on dewy grass.

The midsole gives you a good level of support and comfort, so you can wear the shoe all day. In fact, Plugged in Golf says the Go Golf Elite 2 shoes are so comfortable that you could play sockless. The shoe’s midsole provides just the right mix of comfort and support to keep your feet happy as you play all 18 holes.

In its review, National Club Golfer says these Skechers shoes are the most comfortable shoes the reviewer has ever worn. Such a high level of comfort makes these Skechers shoes great for walking the course.

You’ll receive a perfect level of breathability with the Go Golf Elite 2, according to the Golf Influence review. However, these shoes don’t offer quite the same level of grip and traction as a spiked shoe, so that's important to note.

A few Amazon reviewers say the Skechers Go Golf Elite 2 sizes seem to run a little tight, especially in the toe box, so you may need to size up.

You can buy the Go Golf Elite 2 in multiple color combinations, sizes, and in men’s and women’s designs.

Pros: High level of comfort for a full round of golf, provides strong waterproof capabilities, perfect shoes for those who will walk the course, will give you a nice level of support in the midsole

Cons: Spikeless design doesn’t have quite the traction of a spiked shoe, toe box is a little tight

Buy the Skechers Go Golf Elite 2 Men’s Golf Shoes on Amazon for $50+ (price varies by size and color)

Buy the Skechers Go Golf Elite 2 Women’s Golf Shoes on Amazon for $45+ (price varies by size and color)

The best spikeless golf shoes

Why you'll love them: The Ecco Biom Hybrid 2 golf shoes are comfortable for walking, but they also have an innovative sole that will give you more traction than most spikeless shoes.

Spikeless golf shoes certainly feel comfortable when you're walking on the course, but traction is a hit and miss proposition with them. Ecco has made traction a priority with its various spikeless golf shoes, culminating in the Biom Hybrid 2.

Ecco spent a lot of time designing the sole of its Biom Hybrid 2 golf shoes to help you with traction on the course. It uses Traction Bars to give you the grip that you need to have a sturdy swing.

With the recently released Biom Hybrid 2, Ecco has extended the Traction Bars around the heel of the shoe to improve the balance of its spikeless shoes even more, tweaking the design of the popular original Biom.

The redesigned pattern of the spikeless sole on these golf shoes helps you maintain a better level of traction during your swing while allowing you to walk naturally.

You’ll especially appreciate the two-piece sole, which creates a mixture of extra firm support for your golf swing on one side of the sole and a softer part for more comfort when walking on the other side of the sole. The placement of the two parts matches the different movements you make when swinging the golf club versus when walking. 

The Biom Hybrid 2 has 800 points of contact with the ground, which gives you a high level of traction. Yet, these shoes are comfortable enough to wear away from the course, too, according to Independent Golf Reviews.

Critical Golf says the Biom’s design in the sole gives you support without affecting your ability to walk or swing the club naturally. The new design makes the Biom Hybrid 2 the most comfortable golf shoes around, according to Amazon reviewer Thomas Reed.

The upper portion of the shoe consists of a durable yak leather, which is also breathable. Ecco uses Hydromax technology to keep the yak leather pliable and to give it waterproof capabilities, according to Golfalot. However, you will pay a little more for these golf shoes than typical spikeless shoes.

A few Amazon reviewers say the Ecco Biom Hybrid 2 shoes tend to run a little small, so size up. You can select between multiple color combinations, sizes, and men’s or women’s golf shoes.

Pros: Impressive spikeless design of the sole creates hundreds of points of contact with the ground for a smooth swing and extra support for walking, highly comfortable shoe, waterproof leather construction

Cons: Price point is a little high for spikeless shoes, sizes tend to run a little small

Buy the Ecco Biom Hybrid 2 Men’s Golf Shoes on Amazon for $153.02+ (price varies by size and color)

Buy the Ecco Biom Hybrid 2 Women’s Golf Shoes on Amazon for $98.50+ (price varies by size and color)

The best spiked golf shoes

Why you'll love them: The high-quality construction and good price of the Adipure Flex spiked golf shoes will put Adidas on your radar for golf gear.

If you feel more comfortable playing golf with a spiked golf shoe, rather than a spikeless version, the Adidas Adipure Flex golf shoes offer an excellent mixture of performance, comfort, and affordability.

The Adidas shoes are waterproof, which is helpful when playing in wet conditions early in the morning or after a rainstorm. If you’re wearing a spiked golf shoe, you’re probably already concerned about keeping your traction in wet conditions, so the waterproof capabilities in these shoes are important.

With seven spikes on the sole of the Adipure Flex, you’ll receive good traction. Three of the spikes are tightly bunched in the heel area, giving you extra traction for generating power. These shoes perform especially well in cold and wet conditions, according to Golf Magic.

These shoes give you a nice level of comfort, too, as they each feature a sock liner that molds to your foot.

Golf Shoes Info likes the low price point of these Adidas golf shoes, as well as the great traction and waterproofing. However, low handicap golfers may find the Adipure Flex lacking in features to help with balance for high-speed swings.

Amazon reviewer CHollrah says Adidas has improved its construction quality in recent years, resulting in an impressive level of golf shoes with the Adipure Flex.

The Adidas shoes may not perfectly fit golfers who have wide feet, warns Amazon reviewer Maxwell Tucker, but they still will perform well. However, Amazon reviewer Mapeel says the arch supports in the Adipure Flex shoes aren’t as strong as they should be.

Adidas sells the Adipure in a few different colors and sizes.

Pros: Great price point for spiked golf shoes, extra grouping of spikes near the heel helps to deliver good traction for power, waterproof design works especially well in cold and rainy weather

Cons: Low handicap players may want more traction in the toe area, arch support could be better

Buy the Adidas Adipure Flex Men’s Golf Shoes on Amazon for $99.99+ (price varies by size and color)