Fred Couples may be old, but he’s not old-school. One look at his golf shoes tells you that.

The Champions Tour stalwart made quite a statement at the Masters, and we’re not talking about his sixth-place finish. Remarkable as it was, Couples’ play drew only slightly more commentary than his footwear.

Trodding Augusta National’s hallowed fairways in pursuit of a second green jacket, Couples belied his 50 years, greying temples and aching lower back in his ECCO Street Premiere golf shoes. In fact, his bag may as well have had “Sk8r Boi” stamped on the side, so casually cool was Freddie’s look.

ECCO, already known for its fashion-forward approach to golf shoes, took things a step further (sorry) with the Street Premiere. The company describes the model as “street inspired” and encourages buyers to wear the shoes “both on and off the course.”

Try that with your grandfather’s tassled metal spikes.

ECCO’s Street Premiere features distressed-leather uppers, a removable Cambrelle-covered insole, and pre-molded traction bars. Pre-molded traction bars? It means that despite the absence of spikes – metal, soft or otherwise – these babies grip the turf like honest-to-goodness golf shoes.

The Dutch company, one of the world’s biggest shoe brands, isn’t the only manufacturer pushing the style envelope. In their never-ending quest for youthful consumers, companies like Nike and Puma offer shoes that would look right at home in a half-pipe.

A quick glance at these industry giants’ unconventional products:

Nike Air Anthem

Unlike ECCO, Nike’s entry is outfitted with spikes. (So much for the bowling alley.) But the Air Anthem kicks tradition to the cart-path curb with a low-profile setup reminiscent of tennis shoes. Built for comfort and waterproof, to boot, the Air Anthem is made from soft synthetic leather, with a full-length Phylon midsole and… suffice it to say you needn’t worry about blisters.

Or looking like a geezer.

Who wears ’em: Spain’s Pablo Martin, winner of the 2010 Alfred Dunhill Cup

Puma Cell Fusion

We think these shoes are ultra-hip, but don’t take our word for it. Puma’s marketing department ups the cool quotient by stating, “If James Bond played golf, he’d wear this shoe.”

Guess the lads at Puma never saw Goldfinger. But we’ll give them a pass on this one, because the Cell Fusion is quite cool indeed.

Puma trumpets its shoes’ state-of-the-art SmartQuill spikes and the optimum traction provided by “directional locking technology.” The Cell Fusion is available in black-white and white-snorkel blue.

Who wears ’em: PGA Tour rookie/heartthrob Rickie Fowler

(Note: Tour pro Ryan Moore wears Puma’s C-Hopper golf shoes, the precursor to ECCO’s Street Premiere. At the moment, however, the C-Hopper is unavailable through traditional retail venues.)

Aside from ECCO, Nike and Puma, companies defying stodgy tradition include adidas, Callaway and Asics, a newcomer to the golf shoe wars. Even old-guard brands like FootJoy and Etonic offer youth-skewing models, while upstart Brisole has quickly gained a foothold in the market.

Ironically, the ageless Fred Couples has given this youth-centric golf shoes trend renewed traction.

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Category: Sports
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