Pumas Perform

Nitrogen-infused foam and newly-designed cleats are the key features of the company’s new spiked shoe

By Tony Dear

Puma Golf added to its impressive line-up of shoes last week with the PHANTOMCAT NITRO, saying it was the company’s most advanced shoe ever. You have to wonder if the statement is perhaps a little redundant these days – why would any company launch a product that wasn’t its most advanced ever? – but, in the case of the PHANTOMCAT NITRO, the embellishment is probably warranted.

In March of last year, the Carlsbad, CA-based manufacturer, which had purchased Cobra Golf in 2010, released the ALPHACAT NITRO featuring the highly-acclaimed, nitrogen-infused foam the mother company (Puma’s roots go back to 1948 when it was founded in Bavaria, Germany) had first added to its running shoes in 2021, and which promised cushioning with stability. But while the PHANTOMCAT wasn’t the first Puma Golf shoe to add NITRO to the heel, it is the first to come fitted with FLEXSPIKE (yes, more capital letters).

Rather than fit the PHANTOMCAT NITRO with removable Softspikes, Champ, or some other manufacturer’s cleats, Puma developed its own. The company says the four hourglass-shaped FLEXSPIKE cleats are designed to increase surface contact with the ground providing greater grip, and also improve weight distribution to improve stability. “They also feature multiple traction elements,” says Puma Golf, “providing increased grip as the foot moves in different directions during the golf swing and while walking.”

The fact the cleats are not removable means that, once they wear out/down, the shoe effectively becomes a spikeless model. That may dissuade some potential buyers who play so much golf they wear their shoes out quickly, but for most, we suspect that won’t be a problem.

Besides the cushy foam and uniquely shaped cleats, the PHANTOMCAT NITRO also has full-grain, leather uppers and comes with a one-year waterproof guarantee. The TPU outsole has ridges to add to the shoe’s traction, and a molded heel panel that, Puma Golf says “locks the foot into place for improved control and stability”.

This year, Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, Justin Suh, and JJ Spaun will be wearing the PHANTOMCAT NITRO which is laced, comes in four colorways, and is built around a new, anatomically-shaped last with a generous toe box shape. The PHANTOMCAT NITRO is also available in a Wide version.

$180
Sizes – 7-13, 14, 15
Colors – Puma White/Deep Navy/For All Time Red
Puma White/Puma Silver/Feather Gray
Puma White/Puma Black/Fluro Green Pes
Puma Black/Puma Silver/Yellow Sizzle

pumagolf.com

 

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Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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