It was a quiet day in the office when Hannah lobbed a small carton in my direction. “Wanna review these?” she queried idly. As I looked at plastic container housing some golf shoe spikes, I can’t say I was thrilled. But, as I said, it was a quiet day in the office so I agreed. What I had agreed was to review the Tour Flex Pro, the latest soft spike from Softspikes.
Little did I realise that I was embarking on a journey of discovery and enlightenment. Read on to join me on this journey.
Let’s start at the beginning. Softspikes were invented 30 years ago, in 1993, when a winter metal spike “ban” campaign was endorsed by several U.S. State Golf Associations. They have gone on to be one of the most popular golf inventions of the 20th century. No less than 82% of current tour players wear Softspikes. 75% of tour winners in 2023 have trusted Softspikes. The reason for this is that soft spikes allow for enhanced control of ground forces, forming a stable base, which helps to create more consistency and clubhead speed.
Softspikes offer a number of different styles of spike. With names like “Cyclone”, “Stealth” and “Silver Tornado” they sound more like stars from Gladiators, than bits of plastic on the bottom of a golf shoe. They all have particular characteristics. They also come in a range of colours, with some interesting names. I particularly liked the greenish tinged Pulsar cleat called “slime”.
