50 Words or Less
The Heathlander Golf Shoes are classically styled but built for more comfort than a traditional golf shoe. These seemingly simple shoes hide a lot of clever features to make the long walks a bit more pleasant.
Introduction
We recently reviewed a modern, forward-thinking golf shoe from Parlinx (review HERE). The entire purpose of that product was to create a super shoe out of all the tech available in the industry. The result was an engineering-forward shoe with a very untraditional appearance.
The Heathlander Golf Shoe is nearly the polar opposite of that. This seemingly simple piece of footwear is undoubtedly a traditional style golf shoe. However, it has just enough modern design and engineering to address the main flaws of the classic style offerings. Can you make a traditional golf shoe that has the comfort of a modern athletic shoe to walk all day long without losing anything in the process?
Looks
At first glance the Heathlander Golf Shoe is just another classic “dress shoe” style golf shoe with a splash of pink. That’s the idea: don’t reinvent the wheel, but improve in thoughtful ways.
Of the nine color options, my Heathlander Golf Shoes came in a pebbled white leather upper with a dark teal and Surrey/Pink sole. This seems to be their signature look – there is nary a single color option that doesn’t have at least some splash of color. For those afraid of a bit of pink on their feet, there are a few options that are more subtle. The dark teal sole of my pair matches both the dust sack and carry bag included with my shoes.
The Heathlander Golf Shoe is all but devoid of extra styling elements making for a sleek and clean look. Most of the leather upper is entirely one piece starting at the heel and wrapping around the front of the foot. There is only a tiny, round, embroidered logo below the laces.
The super clean style with a bit of visual flair here and there looks great to me. They aren’t wild enough (depending on your color preferences) to turn away somebody looking for an old school style shoe, but add a fun modern element that should still appeal to a wide audience. They also sent a second pair of laces in matching pink that I may swap out soon for a bit more flair. Any initial negativity I had with the pink coloring faded fast. I really like the way these shoes look. [See Price / Buy]
Comfort
The overall style of the Heathlander Golf Shoe is extremely traditional at first glance. However, look a little closer and there are some non-traditional tweaks that pay off big in terms of comfort. There is a thick padding area with fabric (as opposed to leather) on the inside of the heel. A secondary padded flap extends upwards protecting your Achilles tendon area from discomfort. There is a subtle pull tab in that same area that helps to put the shoes onto your feet as well. These are features not usually found on classic golf shoes, but they are very welcome as this is usually my first area of discomfort in leather dress-style footwear.
These full-leather shoes also didn’t require any break-in period for me. They may have felt a tad stiff when I first tried them on, but they felt perfectly worn in by the time I teed off on the first hole.
The insole is a firm foam that offers lots of support but is not what I would call overly cushy. It definitely adds a bit of soft bedding but without feeling squishy or unstable. Underneath appears to be a thin cork-style lower to provide a stable base atop a non-traditional rubber sole. This blend of old and new straddles the line of classic and modern in the comfort department, and the result is a nice blend of the two ideologies.
The spikeless soles are the most unique element of the Heathlander Golf Shoe both visually and technically. While I will discuss performance later, they do offer a unique feel underfoot. The sole is covered in a pattern, something of a round sun-array with a small narrow spike in the middle. The combination of a thinner-walled tread that provides cushioning laid out in a very dense array along the sole makes for a soft, stable impact.
Walking in the Heathlander Golf Shoe is an interesting experience with different sensations depending on the terrain. On the golf course, they feel pretty normal. They are likely the most comfortable dress style shoe you’ll ever play in. The mostly rubber sole makes a much less rigid platform during the five mile walk, and fatigue at the end of the day is noticeably less than similar-looking shoes.
When you get on pavement, the unique array of soft spikes makes the Heathlander Golf Shoe feel a bit strange. Without the turf to bite into, you’re left standing up on top of the soft tread pattern, 9mm tall. Unlike a screw-in soft spike that carries all of your weight on 5-7 small round areas on pavement, you “float” on top of the Heathlander sole.
The tread is so thin-walled that it flexes a small amount with your movement. It’s nearly silent, a bit squishy, and kind of weird at first. Similar to a bed of nails, there are so many tiny surfaces that it’s enough to hold you up without any one area taking enough strain to buckle. It’s far less harsh than walking in the plastic/polymer soles of most golf shoes. It’s not such an odd sensation that it would put you off, but a few paces on concrete is the one situation where the Heathlander Golf Shoes remind you that they’re doing something a bit different.
Performance
I am somebody who walks nearly every round I play, and prefers the more modern style of golf shoe. Regardless of how much more comfortable they claimed to be than a traditional shoe, I expected the spikeless Heathlander Golf Shoe to be both less grippy and less comfortable than I prefer.
I was mostly wrong. The obvious part – classic shoe strength and stability – was instantly apparent. My biggest concern was the grip offered from the soles. It cannot be stated enough that the real magic that Heathlander is conjuring is in their sole design.
The Heathlander Golf Shoe has more functional grip and traction than any other I’ve ever worn. They probably can go up against the old school metal spikes in terms of stability and traction. The “U” shaped edges are not only present in large amounts, but the array of them pointing in all angles is the key. These serve as many small bites into the turf no matter which direction forces are coming from. The 9mm height of the tread patterning goes through deep rough, mud, dirt, sand in the dry or wet to really lock you in no matter what.
The Heathlander Golf shoe officially has my favorite tread design in golf at the moment, full stop. As mentioned earlier, it also creates a soft padding underfoot while walking making this a win-win scenario and a huge achievement in golf footwear all just using clever design and imagination.
The rest of the shoe performed as expected. The Heathlander Golf Shoes aren’t huge on tech, but have all of the stability and firm hold on your feet that their style suggests. The best thing about them is that they’re so good without fuss, you quickly forget about them and just focus on playing golf in grippy comfort. [See Price / Buy]
Conclusion
Innovation can come in different forms. You can follow the path of modern drivers – pushing the needle forward annually with tech, materials, engineering and cutting edge design. Or, in the case of the Heathlander Golf Shoe, innovation can take what we know and improve in small ways that add up to huge benefits. They leapt over every expectation I had about them.
The fact these shoes won best new product at the 2025 PGA Golf show initially seemed strange to me, but just a few rounds wearing them makes me feel it was well deserved. Anyone who prefers traditional looking golf shoes owes the Heathlander Golf Shoe a hard look. They aren’t leaving my main rotation anytime soon. [See Price / Buy]
New Product at PGA Show 2025. Engineered for unmatched comfort, stability, and all-season performance.
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