Home » Sports » Golf » Equipment Failure

Equipment Failure

© Bill Howard

While thoroughly enjoying a round of golf this past Sunday, I suffered a catastrophic equipment failure. It was completely unexpected and without precedent. In my decades of playing golf, I've neither seen nor endured anything like it. It altered every aspect of my game.

I know what you're thinking. No, I didn't wrap my putter around a tree or break it to teach it a lesson. It seems I blew a tire. My right shoe separated into two distinct pieces. I was left with a ballet slipper and a cleated flip-flop with no straps.

My examination of the failed footwear revealed that today's golf shoe manufacturers invest considerable, and in this case unfounded, confidence in the durability of their adhesives. The industry move toward lighter and cheaper "soft" spikes has made the leather golf shoe a rare thing. Especially so for golfers on my type of limited budget. Our golf shoes aren't stitched together these days. Most of us trod the links in shoes that are only as good as the glue that binds them.

My shoe departed this mortal realm as I walked from the tenth green towards the eleventh tee. I was walking on a moderately steep slope and heard a muffled popping sound. As any gracelessly aging athlete would, I assessed the structural integrity of my legs. All was well. Then I noticed the shoe.

Half the sole was dangling in an awkward fashion perpendicular to the rest of the shoe. The sole was still clinging to the top portion of the shoe courtesy of a bit of more stubborn glue near the toe. I took another step to test it and immediately realized that all was lost.

After carefully considering my options, I decided to go barefoot for the rest of the round. This amused my playing partner, Paul, to no end. It may have had something to do with the lack of a suntan on my feet. I'm not sure and didn't really care to delve into it at the time. My shoeless condition also gave me some explaining to do when we joined a twosome a few holes later.

For the record, I played just fine after ditching the golf shoes. There was one ugly incident with some fire ants on the tee of a par-3, and it takes a minute to get the sand from between your toes if you stray into a bunker. I enjoyed the feel of the grass under my feet. It feels just as cool and soft as it did years ago when we played football on the course as kids. This unexpected bonus did little to buffer my disappointment in the maker of the shoes.

The copyright of the article Equipment Failure in Golf is owned by Bill Howard. Permission to republish Equipment Failure in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.