Affordable Style from Footjoy

You’ve probably noticed this, but the millennial golfer looks very different to his older-school counterpart. Brighter (sometimes garish) colors, sleeker styles, and more technically-advanced materials and fabrics are all the rage now, while the more reticent, reserved, look of yesterday has been pushed out rather. And it’s as true of footwear as it is with apparel.

Footjoy has long been at the forefront of golf shoe technology, in recent years launching space-age models such as the HYPERFLEX, DNA and FreeStyle – shoes that some of the more mature golfers you know might reject. But the Fairhaven, MA shoemaker (part of the Acushnet Company which is set for its IPO this week) hasn’t excluded the traditionalist altogether. Last week, it (re)introduced a long-established, but slowly-disappearing, design it insists remains popular with more seasoned players.

If you’ve ever been called fogey, geezer, fossil, gramps, senior, mossback, codger, elder, veteran, dotard, duffer, squire, dodo, crone, graybeard, longbeard, golden-ager, or oldster, the chances are you own a pair of saddle golf shoes. You may be so stuck in your ways, you’d rather struggle in your old saddles (I have two pairs – don’t you judge me) that not only look ancient but have started letting in water than be seen in a pair of neon yellow kicks with go-faster stripes and all manner of elaborate add-ons, and which typically cost two or three times more than what you paid for your old shoes.

Footjoy has got your back (and feet). The new FJ Originals are available in a classic saddle style, are very reasonably priced, and feature a number of modern innovations that make them comfortable, stable, durable and waterproof.

“The younger player is looking for something a bit more modern-looking and athletic-inspired,” says Footjoy’s Director of Footwear Marketing, Mike Foley. “But we have heard from a large contingent of players that skew slightly older who are looking for a more traditional look.”

Foley says the demand was so significant, in fact, development of the Originals was fast-tracked. “Projects tend to take 18-36 months,” he says. “But we bought this shoe to market in 12.”

Though the look is definitely classic, the Originals aren’t to be confused with the Footjoy Classic shoe which was replaced by the Icon as the company’s top-of-the-line, flagship product in 2009. The Icon, described by Foley as a ‘pure performance shoe made for, and chosen by, the best players in the world’, is also available in a saddle design…but for $220 more than the Originals.

If you can afford the Icon, then have at it. But if you just dropped a grand on some new irons that ate up a huge chunk of your golf budget, and now need something affordable – but still stylish – for your feet then the Footjoy Originals are definitely for you. “With a traditional look, one-year waterproof guarantee, and a very reasonable price tag, we expect there will be a solid following for these shoes,” says Foley.

$80
footjoy.com

Photos of the FootJoy Originals: 

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