The Makeover

Tiger Woods’ new athleisure golfing brand is big news, but it’s not the only collab in town. The sport is getting itself a whole new look

Golf shoes aren’t supposed to be cool. They’re meant to be built for traction, stability and comfort – the sort of features your mum looked for in a pair of school shoes. People aren’t normally queuing around the block to get their hands on the latest golf kicks; but that’s what happened when Nike and US rapper Travis Scott dropped their shoe collab late last year.

In October 2023, Nike launched the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low OG Golf. Scott’s trainers are always popular. Shoe retailer Laced claimed that his reworked classics were ‘some of the most soughtafter pairs of all time’, while GQ noted that the rapper’s Nike collabs ‘have become so enormously popular that selling them is hazardous to stores’.

But a Travis Scott golf shoe? That would surely only appeal to the limited number of people in the mid-point of a Venn diagram between hypebeasts and golfing fanatics.

In order to ensure the shoe made its way into the hands of proper players, instead of resellers and collectors, one retailer – golf-fashion brand Trendygolf – devised a plan. It would only sell its limited stock to customers who were able to drive a ball 200 yards (150 yards for women). Roughly 1.8 million people signed up to compete for the 150 pairs.

‘There was a guy I know who’s played on all the top courses across the UK and a few in Europe,’ says Chris Collick, head of content at Trendygolf and the man behind the Travis Scott launch. ‘He said he’s never been more nervous on a tee shot than he was trying to get that pair of shoes.’

Although golf and fashion have always been linked – think Gary Player, Arnold Palmer or Tiger Woods combining baggy trousers and polos – courses haven’t always accommodated trends. Even after Tyrrell Hatton won the BMW Championship wearing an Adidas hoodie, there are still stories of players being denied access due to what they’re wearing. Collick himself remembers being kicked off a driving range in 2012, at the age of 18, for playing with an uncovered tattoo.

But that’s changing. Adidas has a dedicated golf department. Then there’s Tiger Woods’ collaboration with equipment brand TaylorMade for his Sun Day Red clothing line. All of these fuse style and performance – and aren’t just popular with younger players. ‘We find that our middle-aged customers still love their Jordans,’ says Collick.

‘Some golf clubs are still a little bit stuffy, where you’ve got to have your polo tucked in,’ says Collick. ‘But I’ve played some of the best courses in the UK, where I’m allowed there in a T-shirt. I think the Travis Scott shoe would never have happened unless [Nike] could see this change happening.’