The Loop

I wish my favorite golf shoes didn't leak

October 29, 2015

I learned about True Linkswear golf shoes at the PGA Golf Merchandise Show in 2011. The pair I tried on at the show was too small -- the company's reps had sold out of my size -- but they were still the most comfortable golf shoes I'd ever worn. I now have a dozen pairs, and I wear them even when I'm not playing golf, and many of my friends have switched to them, too. Tim even bought a True golf bag:

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My only beef, until now, has been that the pairs I own that are supposed to be waterproof aren't really -- and other golfers who wear and love Trues have told me the same thing. My favorite model ever is one they don't sell anymore, called "lyt/dry," which I wear in preference to other shoes even when I'm not playing golf. They are definitely lyt but they've never been truly dry, even though the word "waterproof" is printed right on the side:

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I've dealt with that issue by wearing wool socks when I play in the rain or when the grass is wet, and I've dried wet pairs between rounds by using the hairdryer in my hotel room, and I've persevered because even when my Trues were leaking they were way more comfortable than any other golf shoes I've ever worn. But during the Sunday Morning Group's recent golf trip to Atlantic City my latest pair, called True motion, didn't just leak -- they basically came apart:

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Now, True doesn't claim that motions are waterproof, and this particular pair had been in my golf-shoe rotation for more than a year. Still, we were playing in dew, not rain, and I had subjected them, cumulatively, to less wear and tear than I have to my very first pair of Trues, which is four and a half years old and which I still walk the dog in. Yet they didn't hold up:

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I complained to the company, and a representative assured me that a new model coming in early 2016, called True elements, will really and truly be "breathable & waterproof." And I hope he's right, because even when they're wet I really, really love these shoes.