Mike Foley is the director for product management at FootJoy and a self-confessed shoe geek.
He’s been working at FootJoy for nearly 20 years and played a key role in designing some of the most popular and best-performing golf shoes over the past two decades.
Foley also works closely with players on the PGA Tour when it comes to testing and seeding prototypes.
Can you imagine how many pairs of shoes he must have knocking about at his house?
His wife isn’t happy, let’s put it that way.
We caught up with the man himself at the PGA Show in Orlando…
Where did you grow up?
Just outside of Boston, Massachusetts.
When did you first get into golf?
It was actually after high school, just playing with some friends for something to do in the summertime. Me and my friends started off together so we were at the same level.
It was good fun and we all caught the golf bug right away.
What was your first job in golf?
My first job in golf was with FootJoy, 17 years ago, and I’ve been here ever since.
I did some work in footwear before then – I worked for Converse.
When I first stared with FootJoy I worked in the golf glove division with Maria Bonzagni.
I learned the ropes from her as far as product management was concerned. Then I moved right back into shoes which was my comfort zone.
I’ve been a shoe person my whole life – I was a bit of a sneaker freak so to speak growing up so I had always wanted to work with footwear.
The last 14 years with FootJoy have been in footwear.
What was the best decision you ever made?
It’s tough because a lot of the decisions we make are group decisions. But one of the best things that I helped to pioneer was on the women’s side of the business.
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We found ourselves selecting women’s styles with a group of 15 to 20 men and I realised quickly that guys making these decisions weren’t wearing or buying the shoes so I switched gears and we started doing a ton of research with women.
We travelled around the country getting feedback from women players and buyers. That was about five years ago and we’ve really dialled in the process now and it’s really reflective of the products.