adidas Ultraboost Golf Performance Review

When it comes to choosing golf equipment – be it balls, clubs, or shoes – it’s easy to get caught up on what the players on Tour are using. I know I’m not the only one who knows someone using a Driver or golf ball that isn’t meant for them, but they’re using it because they see it on TV. I’m a firm believer you need to find what works best for you. For or my money, there might not be a better example of that than the adidas Ultraboost Golf.

This might come as a shock to you, but I am not a professional golfer. I’m just someone who loves this game and tries to play as much as my schedule allows. What I’m looking for out of my golf equipment is way different than someone like Collin Morikawa, who is an adidas athlete and currently the 19th-ranked player in the world.

Everything that Collin uses was specifically designed or dialed in for him, from the hat on his head to the shoes on his feet (there’s a funny clip from Netflix’s documentary “Full Swing” where Collin shows just how particular he can be about things). With that being said, if you pay close attention to the shoes that Collin wears on Tour, you won’t see the adidas Ultraboost Golf and I think there’s a reason for that – they aren’t made for him, they’re made for you and me.

Over the past couple of years, my relationship with the game of golf has started to evolve. The days of super early (sometimes wagered on) hypercompetitive Saturday morning matches have gone and they have been replaced by leisurely range sessions with my kids. Now that’s a trade I would make all day and twice on Sunday, but there’s also a trade-off with the equipment that I’m using – and that’s a place where the adidas Ultraboost Golf thrives, and I will tell you why!

Style

More and more the style of spikeless golf shoes has merged with the world of running shoes and that is certainly the case with the adidas Ultraboost Golf. From the thick white midsole to the PRIMEKNIT upper, this shoe looks like it’s running-focused cousin, which is a look that I really love. A lot of spikeless shoes talk about being able to be worn in different settings other than the golf course, but few can back it up like the adidas Ultraboost Golf can. 

Traction

If I had to find fault in the adidas Ultraboost Golf, this is the category I would go to, but I don’t think adidas is losing sleep over that fact either.

This is a shoe that is designed with comfort first and foremost and you can tell that, just based on the marketing material adidas has on their website. There are multiple paragraphs dedicated to the tech in the midsole and outsole, but when they mention traction all you’ll find is “golf-specific traction”. In most cases, there is a tradeoff in traction when you go to a spikeless shoe unless you’re talking about the UA Charged Curry Spikeless, but that shoe is more of the exception than the rule.

Cushion

If traction is where I go to find fault, then cushion is where I come to sing praises. If the adidas Ultraboost Golf isn’t the most comfortable shoe I’ve ever played golf in, then it’s in a tie for first. Adidas debuted their Ultraboost technology in 2015 and it immediately became a go-to option for running and casual wear. It still is to this day.

After wearing these shoes, it’s easy to see why. I’ve seen where a lot of shoes talk about things like “energy return” but I can say I’ve never truly felt it until wearing these. The boost in the midsole combined with the plush insole of this shoe made me feel like I was walking on clouds.

Support

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the same could probably be said about the adidas Ultraboost Golf and the support that it offers. It’s important to remember that these are based on a running shoe and those types of shoes don’t typically require a ton of lateral stability.

Adidas has tried to counteract that in the golf version though by adding some TPU overlays as well as reinforcing the heel cup and I think those additions are helpful to an extent, but I would say that this is definitely a shoe that needs to be tried on before purchasing.

adidas Ultraboost Golf Summary

The adidas Ultraboost Golf was one of the hardest reviews I’ve ever done. These might not be the shoes I would wear if I were playing in a high stakes match – that would go to a shoe like the FootJoy Hyperflex Carbon or the UA Charged Curry Spikeless, but that doesn’t mean I still didn’t love these shoes. So if you’re someone like me, whose main focus with golf isn’t always about the score anymore, I think these are pretty close to perfect.