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It is fair to say Steve Carroll absolutely loves the New Balance 574 Greens V2 Golf Shoes – carry on reading to find out all the reasons why…
I can’t help but suppress a chuckle when I see a draconian golf club dress code banning trainers. I mean, honestly, how can they tell? More and more golf shoes look like the sneakers many of us have worn for decades. Whether it’s Nike dropping Air Jordan 1s, or Adidas with their Superstar shoe, what we wear on course is looking more and more like what a lot of us also wear off it.
So it goes with the New Balance 574. Pick them up and you’d be hard pressed to separate them from the company’s trademark runners.
But what makes them suitable for golf and what’s going to keep club management from raising an eyebrow? The New Balance 574 Greens V2 golf shoe review will tell you all you need to know…..
New Balance 574 Greens V2 golf shoe review: NCG Summary
NCG SUMMARY
You’ve got to be a golf traditionalist not to fall in love with the iconic styling of these 574s. I’m probably going to wreck them quickly, but these might be worn as much on-course as off. Ultra-comfortable out of the box, there’s still plenty of tech under the hood to make them great for golf.
Well, these don’t look like golf shoes at all, do they? I deliberately avoid wearing anything now that feels it was purposely designed for fairways and the 574 Greens V2 are about as far away from that as they can possibly be.
But it’s actually a measure of how different golf shoes have always looked that these would raise the eyebrows of anyone. The 574 was first introduced by New Balance in 1988. That’s right. They’re actually classics in themselves.
You’re buying these because you’re going for comfort and, oh my god, these are good straight out of the box. It feels more like you’re popping on a pair of slippers than a shoe that’s going to get you through hundreds of hours of twisting, pivoting, and walking.
But while they look the part – at least in my eyes anyway – and while they also feel great, the key is how they will perform when hitting shots. It’s here where New Balance have a couple of surprises in store.
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On Course Testing
Running shoes are designed to give. They’re meant to flex rapidly as you move at speed. The golf swing is an entirely different motion. Yes, you need adaptability, but you also need stability. There’s no point in getting to the top of the swing and feeling the ground beneath collapsing.
I think that fear might be what could put some golfers off these sort of shoe styles but there’s nothing to be concerned about with the New Balance 574 Greens V2.
Let’s go through the technical stuff first and then we’ll get to how that works in practice. Ready? Right. Dynasoft cushions, while Absorb brings the comfort. A 10mm drop midsole aims to provide a comfortable walking experience and a lightweight NDurance outsole is engineered to “move with the natural motion of the foot during the swing”. The CUSH+ insole promises “incredible comfort”.
Still with me? Good. Now we’ve got through the essentials, let’s get down to the all important stuff.
They are incredibly comfortable. I am partial to a superlative, it is true, but it does feel like you’re setting your foot into padded air when you slip them on.
Getting the right shoes is always a big problem for me. I’m average enough in length – about a 9 – but, to put it bluntly, I’ve got duck feet. I trend to the extra wide, something manufacturers don’t often cater towards. I’m forever having to buy a size up just to get them on. Not great when you’re wielding a golf club at around 100mph and need everything to stay in place.
But the 574s feels great right of the box. You see this especially when the upper flexes as you take a step. They are soft. They are cushioned. They are glorious.
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If comfort is your primary concern, stop reading now. You’ve just found your shoe.
So they’re great to walk in – no rubbing, no blistering, no pain. They’re also great to play shots in too. There may be plenty of give when getting to the ball, but these are sturdy when they need to be.
When you’re swinging a club the tread plants but it doesn’t stick. There is a little resistance but, as New Balance promise, there is also that complementary movement as you go through the swinging motion.
That won’t feel like a hard-shell model, but it does give you growing belief that everything is going to stay where it should.
I tested these during the glorious spring sun. There wasn’t a raindrop in sight and there is always the fear a spikeless shoe is going to struggle when there are downpours.
I’ll come back to you if it’s any different but the varied tread – and particularly towards the centre of the sole – gives me confidence I won’t be sliding around when it gets a little slippy underfoot.
Aside from chucking a bucket of water over them, I’m still none the wiser as to the 574’s waterproof qualities but will report back if they’re anything other than faultless.
19th Hole – Final Verdict
Let there be no doubt. These will be my go-to golf shoes for 2025. They look great, particularly the red, white and blue model I tested, and they feel great too.
This is the big thing for me. If you’re going to be walking six miles during round and you’re going to do that dozens of times a year, comfort has to be king. You can’t have anything on your feet that’s going to bring any discomfort.
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These New Balance 574s prioritise that. It’s dead easy to say, ‘these are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn’, and internet sleuths will no doubt find various other reviews where I’ve said the same in the past.
But the standard is getting better with every single year. You don’t have to stand for a rigid style and a model that makes your feet sweat like a swimming pool. You can have performance and you can have incredible comfort at the same time. You can have both with these 574s.
