Azinger - "You couldn't pay me a million dollars a day to wear soft spikes."

[glcoach]

Metal is way better. I still sneak and wear them on occasion, I'm just paranoid all day.

FJ classics are the best shoes ever made. I scour eBay looking for pairs of them. I currently have 14 and always looking for more, so that I never run out. I refurbish the rough ones I find.

Seriously. If anyone has 10D FJ classics you are now too cool to wear. Message me.

[eagle1997]

[quote name='Bingo1976' timestamp='1437464703' post='11990634']
[quote name='Harry Longshanks' timestamp='1437411992' post='11984940']
You could pay me a million dollars to wear SoftSpikes.



No, seriously. Anyone want to pay me a million dollars to wear SoftSpikes?
[/quote]

I'd wear lacy panties and a push up bra for a million bucks a day
[/quote]

Bruce? That you?

[nochct1]

Sounds like a lot of you have swing issues, not spike issues.

[Shilgy]

[quote name='15th Club' timestamp='1437409828' post='11984604']
I regard this as a "Tour Equpment" thread because the Tour seems to be the last refuge of metal spikes.

Many of you will have heard Paul Azinger watch Zach Johnson slip on his second shot at the Road Hole. Zach; wearing softspikes. Azinger commented that he couldn't be convinced to wear soft spikes even with "a million dollars a day." He went on; "I don't know how this new generation can do it."

If I were a tour player it would be a no-brainer for me. Leather-soled traditional shoes and metal spikes. Like Mickelson and I don't know who else. (About 25% to 35% of the field in any week.)

I wonder if someday soft-spiked (or unspiked) soles will become so common that courses and clubs will no longer feel the need to enforce a soft-spike-only rule. I'd go back to metal as fast as the wrench could turn.
[/quote]The guys on tour are not wearing the "leather soled metal spikes" your refer to. Why wear the smooth, heavy soled shoes if you don't have to? You can get metal that fits the new Icon black, for insurance, and get the best of both worlds. That said, I was a big vocal opponent of the change 20 years ago and now I wonder what all the fuss was about. If a guy with the swing speed of a Couples can use the smooth soles I find it hard to believe anyone "needs" metal spikes.

[Musky]

I like spikeless. When you wear spikeless you can go right from the course to the dance floor and never miss a step.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

[quote name='playa' timestamp='1437479415' post='11991018']
[quote name='Bingo1976' timestamp='1437464703' post='11990634']
[quote name='Harry Longshanks' timestamp='1437411992' post='11984940']
You could pay me a million dollars to wear SoftSpikes.



No, seriously. Anyone want to pay me a million dollars to wear SoftSpikes?
[/quote]

I'd wear lacy panties and a push up bra for a million bucks a day
[/quote]
I'd wear stillhetos, a mankini and a gimp mask for nothing if it meant just playing one Open. You don't want to know what I'd do for a million bucks.
[/quote]

I wouldn't recommend the mankini--it restricts your club's swing.

[Illest]

I go out and play in boat shoes sometimes without balance issues. The shoes I have now are spikeless and before that I had soft spikes which were certainly enough to grip just about any surface known to man.

[XYB34A]

[quote name='TheLobeck' timestamp='1437504599' post='11993642']
[quote name='justaman5' timestamp='1437503550' post='11993520']
and if you are a golf pro and say that the carpet isnt the reason. then your arent that old a golf pro. 35 years ago, you would walk into the pro shop and the carpet, would be all spiked up. YOU DIDNT see hardwood floors. the first golf spikes sucked pure D sucked. New ones are OK. just make them last as long as metal ones did.
[/quote]

Like I said, metal spikes are banned at my club because it DOES make the greens bumpier around the hole, and they're dangerous on wet pavement. I understand alot of guys who have used them in the past think they're better ("the glory days"), but there is a reason so many PGA Tour players use soft spikes or spikeless shoes. I would venture to say a lot of metal spike amateurs have a bit of an ego lol
[/quote]

pro's get paid to wear some companies golf shoes. you think Fred Couples plays the shoes he does for Free. Think again. He used to be the big leather sole, all white, metal spike guy. He advertised ceramic tipped Golf shoes. I had a huge swing speed back in the "glory days", I was in the 300 range or more with a balata golf ball. And new balata would be 30 yards shorter than a new Prov1. I was born when Eisenhower was President. Slipping and hurting a knee that I hurt in the Army was not a think I liked to do. I would wear spikeless shoes in the evening after work when walked a quick 9 holes. And for everyones's info. Kmart sold shoes with the spikeless bottom on them for 7 bucks back in the day. I kept them behind the seat of my truck or trucks as it was. Because leather golf shoes dry and crack in extreme heat. The Kmart shoes that sell for 7 bucks now sell for a 100 or more. Kmart shoes wear only good for dry afternoons in the summer. Not some dewy morning that the grass shined for all the water

[TheInfidel]

This lost some credibility at the word Azinger.....

Speaking first and loudest doesn't make you right all of the time, someone should tell him that.

[TheInfidel]

[quote name='martinbns' timestamp='1437475289' post='11990860']
[quote name='sverrehaug' timestamp='1437414403' post='11985460']
The norwegian commentator said it was because of back pains people changed away from them
[/quote]

OR knee and hip pain.

I wear Adidas Adicross shoes with soft spikes and very aggressive soles and I can't ever remember my flat soled metal spiked shoes of yesteryear providing more traction on wet turf.
[/quote]

I can't comment for the whole world but in Ireland and Scotland it was as a result of spike marks. There were two main types of spike mark caused by single spike metal cleats. These were seen by other players and greens keepers to be a problem for maintaining good green surfaces. 1. The first type would occur when the spike would penetrate the ground and when pulled up in damp or wet conditions would catch and pull mud or grass with it, causing raised blades or spikes of mud. This is as a result of a small vacuum effect on the wet grass or subsoil. Obviously in dry conditions all that is left is the spike indent. 2. The second type was ripping or tearing of the green surface when lengthy metal cleats were dragged over the green. UK golfers tended to wear spikes that were much longer than a conventional plastic spike now is with more points of grip.Just some info I got at the time from course managers. Circa 6 years ago.

[15th Club]

[quote name='Shilgy' timestamp='1437536100' post='11997100']
[quote name='15th Club' timestamp='1437409828' post='11984604']
I regard this as a "Tour Equpment" thread because the Tour seems to be the last refuge of metal spikes.

Many of you will have heard Paul Azinger watch Zach Johnson slip on his second shot at the Road Hole. Zach; wearing softspikes. Azinger commented that he couldn't be convinced to wear soft spikes even with "a million dollars a day." He went on; "I don't know how this new generation can do it."

If I were a tour player it would be a no-brainer for me. Leather-soled traditional shoes and metal spikes. Like Mickelson and I don't know who else. (About 25% to 35% of the field in any week.)

I wonder if someday soft-spiked (or unspiked) soles will become so common that courses and clubs will no longer feel the need to enforce a soft-spike-only rule. I'd go back to metal as fast as the wrench could turn.
[/quote]The guys on tour are not wearing the "leather soled metal spikes" your refer to. Why wear the smooth, heavy soled shoes if you don't have to? You can get metal that fits the new Icon black, for insurance, and get the best of both worlds. That said, I was a big vocal opponent of the change 20 years ago and now I wonder what all the fuss was about. If a guy with the swing speed of a Couples can use the smooth soles I find it hard to believe anyone "needs" metal spikes.
[/quote]

I want to reply to this comment carefully, because it is partly true and in a way, I misspoke in my post.

If I were competing, my choice would indeed be a shoe like the old FootJoy Classic, with metal spikes. That was my starting point. I say that because I began my golfing life playing with those shoes, and there is nothing better in my view. I say that, knowing about and having used old style metal spikes (The Best!), the original Softspikes (the worst), the new generation Black Widow style (much better) and Champ Stingers (which are really good spikes but mostly a curiosity to me since they are in fact "metal" and presumptively a violation of every "no metal spikes" rule. I have tried them all; I know what they are like. It is no fault of theirs, of course, but a lot of young players who have never worn metal spikes (and who under the age of thirty has?) just don't know.

And while I am right about the number of tour players (25%-35%) who wear metal spikes, I should not have declared so forcefully the number of them who wear old-style leather-soled shoes. That is a decidedly smaller number. And the reason for that is simple; manufacturers just aren't making many of those shoes anymore, and Tour players are being paid to wear the current retail models. There is a tension there, but it naturally gets resolved in favor of marketing forces (driving the kinds of shoes to be made and sold to a new generation) and endorsement fees (putting current retail shoes on the feet of Tour pros).

Tiger Woods is a very interesting story. He wears nothing but metal spikes. Meanwhile, Nike is making lots of new-style shoes that are designed for and marketed to a new generation of golfers who like to put on one pair of shoes at home, get into their car and drive to the course, play 18 holes (in a cart of course) and stop off at the mini-mart on the way home. Nike can do that, with rubber-sole-gym-shoe-styled designs that have little molded bumps and ripples and perhaps some receptacles for soft plastic spikes. And they look very much like running shoes. But increasingly, those designs work less well for an old school equipment throwback like Tiger Woods who wants and needs his metal spikes. Put a set of metal spikes in those shoes and it feels like you are walking on gravel in your slippers.

So what have we seen this year? On those rare occasions when Tiger Woods plays on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, he wears his old(er) Nikes. The ones that don't feel so bad with metal spikes. Rest assured that if Tiger designed a shoe, it would look like the shoes that Nike made for him in 2000, not 2015. (We might say the same about designing a golf swing, but that's a different thread.)

In any event, modern shoe design is catering to casual golfers to a great extent, and Tour players are "catering" to their endorsement contract counterparties.

[15th Club]

[quote name='TheInfidel' timestamp='1437570948' post='11998656']
[quote name='martinbns' timestamp='1437475289' post='11990860']
[quote name='sverrehaug' timestamp='1437414403' post='11985460']
The norwegian commentator said it was because of back pains people changed away from them
[/quote]

OR knee and hip pain.

I wear Adidas Adicross shoes with soft spikes and very aggressive soles and I can't ever remember my flat soled metal spiked shoes of yesteryear providing more traction on wet turf.
[/quote]

I can't comment for the whole world but in Ireland and Scotland it was as a result of spike marks. There were two main types of spike mark caused by single spike metal cleats. These were seen by other players and greens keepers to be a problem for maintaining good green surfaces. 1. The first type would occur when the spike would penetrate the ground and when pulled up in damp or wet conditions would catch and pull mud or grass with it, causing raised blades or spikes of mud. This is as a result of a small vacuum effect on the wet grass or subsoil. Obviously in dry conditions all that is left is the spike indent. 2. The second type was ripping or tearing of the green surface when lengthy metal cleats were dragged over the green. UK golfers tended to wear spikes that were much longer than a conventional plastic spike now is with more points of grip.Just some info I got at the time from course managers. Circa 6 years ago.
[/quote]

Straight-up questions about the UK:

At what percentage of UK courses do they ban metal spikes? Further, is it possible to say that any particular type of course in the UK is banning metal spikes? Any particular region, or segment?

I ask because it has always been my presumption that while many UK golfers have gravitated to soft spikes, few if any courses/clubs banned metal spikes.

Do you know if metal spikes are banned at Muirfield? The Old Course? Other St. Andrews Links Trust courses? Gullane? North Berwick? Dornoch? Prestwick? Troon? Turnberry? Royal St. George's? Wentworth? Sunningdale? How about the smaller local clubs and courses?

[15th Club]

[quote name='justaman5' timestamp='1437569218' post='11998496']
[quote name='TheLobeck' timestamp='1437504599' post='11993642']
[quote name='justaman5' timestamp='1437503550' post='11993520']
and if you are a golf pro and say that the carpet isnt the reason. then your arent that old a golf pro. 35 years ago, you would walk into the pro shop and the carpet, would be all spiked up. YOU DIDNT see hardwood floors. the first golf spikes sucked pure D sucked. New ones are OK. just make them last as long as metal ones did.
[/quote]

Like I said, metal spikes are banned at my club because it DOES make the greens bumpier around the hole, and they're dangerous on wet pavement. I understand alot of guys who have used them in the past think they're better ("the glory days"), but there is a reason so many PGA Tour players use soft spikes or spikeless shoes. I would venture to say a lot of metal spike amateurs have a bit of an ego lol
[/quote]

pro's get paid to wear some companies golf shoes. you think Fred Couples plays the shoes he does for Free. Think again. He used to be the big leather sole, all white, metal spike guy. He advertised ceramic tipped Golf shoes. I had a huge swing speed back in the "glory days", I was in the 300 range or more with a balata golf ball. And new balata would be 30 yards shorter than a new Prov1. I was born when Eisenhower was President. Slipping and hurting a knee that I hurt in the Army was not a think I liked to do. I would wear spikeless shoes in the evening after work when walked a quick 9 holes. And for everyones's info. Kmart sold shoes with the spikeless bottom on them for 7 bucks back in the day. I kept them behind the seat of my truck or trucks as it was. Because leather golf shoes dry and crack in extreme heat. The Kmart shoes that sell for 7 bucks now sell for a 100 or more. Kmart shoes wear only good for dry afternoons in the summer. Not some dewy morning that the grass shined for all the water
[/quote]

You make some really great points.

Yes, Fred Couples has a huge endorsement deal with Ecco. But my recollection is that he started wearing them by choice. Still, Couples is an unusual case. As we all know, Fred has a weird balky back that is very nearly too wrecked to play competitive golf. For some reason, as I understand it, the soft, lightweight shoes are easier on his back. It is a problem I don't have, and would not wish upon my worst enemy.

Your observations about cost are spot on. It is a lot cheaper to make shoes like running shoes, than all-leather stitched FootJoy Classics. And people like cheap.

I don't agree with you about shoes wearing out, although I totally get your point. My numerous pairs of FootJoy Classics last 10-15 years each. Because I take care of them, use shoe trees, rotate them, and clean them religiously. Certainly, a lot of people don't care to do that. They'd rather treat all their shoes like tennis shoes. Wear them a couple of years without concern for maintenance, and then get the latest model shoe in the newest color combo, and throw away the old ones.

[TheLobeck]

[quote name='justaman5' timestamp='1437569218' post='11998496']
[quote name='TheLobeck' timestamp='1437504599' post='11993642']
[quote name='justaman5' timestamp='1437503550' post='11993520']
and if you are a golf pro and say that the carpet isnt the reason. then your arent that old a golf pro. 35 years ago, you would walk into the pro shop and the carpet, would be all spiked up. YOU DIDNT see hardwood floors. the first golf spikes sucked pure D sucked. New ones are OK. just make them last as long as metal ones did.
[/quote]

Like I said, metal spikes are banned at my club because it DOES make the greens bumpier around the hole, and they're dangerous on wet pavement. I understand alot of guys who have used them in the past think they're better ("the glory days"), but there is a reason so many PGA Tour players use soft spikes or spikeless shoes. I would venture to say a lot of metal spike amateurs have a bit of an ego lol
[/quote]

pro's get paid to wear some companies golf shoes. you think Fred Couples plays the shoes he does for Free. Think again. He used to be the big leather sole, all white, metal spike guy. He advertised ceramic tipped Golf shoes. I had a huge swing speed back in the "glory days", I was in the 300 range or more with a balata golf ball. And new balata would be 30 yards shorter than a new Prov1. I was born when Eisenhower was President. Slipping and hurting a knee that I hurt in the Army was not a think I liked to do. I would wear spikeless shoes in the evening after work when walked a quick 9 holes. And for everyones's info. Kmart sold shoes with the spikeless bottom on them for 7 bucks back in the day. I kept them behind the seat of my truck or trucks as it was. Because leather golf shoes dry and crack in extreme heat. The Kmart shoes that sell for 7 bucks now sell for a 100 or more. Kmart shoes wear only good for dry afternoons in the summer. Not some dewy morning that the grass shined for all the water
[/quote]

Trust me, I know how endorsements work. Freddie is not forced to play in spikeless...Ecco makes a ton of great shoes with spikes on them. Also, you're saying you'd hit it 330 in this day & age? That's impressive!

[NoTalentLefty]

[quote name='richbryce' timestamp='1437445781' post='11989618']Miss the sound. Played Mizuno spikes in high school with the lifetime warranty ceramic spikes. We use to drag them all over the course to ware them down and get a new pair every year.[/quote]

Does anyone know if ceramic spikes are banned at most golf courses?

[15th Club]

[quote name='NoTalentLefty' timestamp='1437576524' post='11999272']
[quote name='richbryce' timestamp='1437445781' post='11989618']Miss the sound. Played Mizuno spikes in high school with the lifetime warranty ceramic spikes. We use to drag them all over the course to ware them down and get a new pair every year.[/quote]

Does anyone know if ceramic spikes are banned at most golf courses?
[/quote]

"Yes," is the routine answer. Few clubs/courses ever say, "No metal spikes." Rather, they say, "Soft spikes only." And Ceramic isn't soft. I don't understand anybody who thinks they can get away with Champ ProStinger spikes either. ProStingers aren't all-metal. But they have a metal tip. Which isn't "soft."

Don't get me wrong; I don't oppose ProStingers. In fact, they are a fantastic product and I have purchased them. Very, very happily. I just don't expect to get away with wearing them at a soft-spikes-only facility.

[TheInfidel]

[quote name='15th Club' timestamp='1437575314' post='11999144'][quote name='TheInfidel' timestamp='1437570948' post='11998656']
[quote name='martinbns' timestamp='1437475289' post='11990860']
[quote name='sverrehaug' timestamp='1437414403' post='11985460']
The norwegian commentator said it was because of back pains people changed away from them
[/quote]

OR knee and hip pain.

I wear Adidas Adicross shoes with soft spikes and very aggressive soles and I can't ever remember my flat soled metal spiked shoes of yesteryear providing more traction on wet turf.
[/quote]

I can't comment for the whole world but in Ireland and Scotland it was as a result of spike marks. There were two main types of spike mark caused by single spike metal cleats. These were seen by other players and greens keepers to be a problem for maintaining good green surfaces. 1. The first type would occur when the spike would penetrate the ground and when pulled up in damp or wet conditions would catch and pull mud or grass with it, causing raised blades or spikes of mud. This is as a result of a small vacuum effect on the wet grass or subsoil. Obviously in dry conditions all that is left is the spike indent. 2. The second type was ripping or tearing of the green surface when lengthy metal cleats were dragged over the green. UK golfers tended to wear spikes that were much longer than a conventional plastic spike now is with more points of grip.Just some info I got at the time from course managers. Circa 6 years ago.
[/quote]

Straight-up questions about the UK:

At what percentage of UK courses do they ban metal spikes? Further, is it possible to say that any particular type of course in the UK is banning metal spikes? Any particular region, or segment?

I ask because it has always been my presumption that while many UK golfers have gravitated to soft spikes, few if any courses/clubs banned metal spikes.

Do you know if metal spikes are banned at Muirfield? The Old Course? Other St. Andrews Links Trust courses? Gullane? North Berwick? Dornoch? Prestwick? Troon? Turnberry? Royal St. George's? Wentworth? Sunningdale? How about the smaller local clubs and courses?[/quote]

At the advent of plastic or rubber spikes some courses did go as far as to say that they banned metal spikes. For the reasons I alluded to before.

This had the added benefit that some clubs could then allow soft spikes in their informal Lounges. This however is not the case for courses like Gullane, North Berwick, Muirfield, Royal Burgess, and Turnberry. I believe that the St Andrews Links Clubhouse for the Jubilee etc does permit soft spikes. I wore mine with no issue. The New and Old clubs do not. You also want to add a jacket and tie to that equation for the latter.

Due to the fact that so much time has passed since clubs explained the virtues of soft spikes and there was a "ban" of sorts then, those who now use metal spikes are a very small minority. I think it's worth checking with the starter or pro shop for those courses you wish to play.

Its prob worth noting that players like Darren Clarke, Jiminez, and GMac have all worn leather shoes with full metal spikes on tour in recent years. So clearly European Tour venues don't take issues.

I can't see that there is a marked performance benefit of them now given the advancement in plastic cleats.

[golfortennis]

It's not the plastic cleats, it's everything in the sole of the shoe now. I have Nike Lunar Controls, which are great shoes, but there are six cleats, but at least 30 nubs and "bars" that are nearly as deep. I just don't see how nails would be any worse.

And just to clarify, when you say Old and New course do not permit, are you saying it's metal spike only?

[drn92]

[quote name='RookieBlue7' timestamp='1437436370' post='11988442']
[quote name='15th Club' timestamp='1437431613' post='11987900']
[quote name='RookieBlue7' timestamp='1437421180' post='11986608']
...
I wear metal now. I've got 4 or 5 packs of them in a cabinet currently and am about to order even more. Champs Pro Stinger.
[/quote]

Where are you allowed to play with those spikes? Or don't they know you do it?
[/quote] The GM nor the course pro says anything. The Pro actually asked me to order him some at my home course. Wear them everywhere I play in North Georgia. Some of my shoes, I just replace two on each shoe with them, some are all metal. Just depends on the shoe I wear. On my TW's, the inside 2 spikes in the toe box on my left foot and outside 2 spikes in the toe box on my right foot are metal with the rest being softspikes. In my Tour Premiums, they're all metal (those don't get worn near as much because I need to stretch them more with some stretchers). And on several other pairs, I have the spikes set up depending on comfort as well.
[/quote]

So, you are above the law and better than everyone else? Rules do not apply to you?

drn92

[hayzooos]

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1437536819' post='11997166']
I like spikeless. When you wear spikeless you can go right from the course to the dance floor and never miss a step.
[/quote]

True, but then you can't cut a rug either.

I'll show myself out.

[RobotDoctor]

While I can agree on leather soled shoes, I disagree with Azinger on the softspikes. I wore metal spikes and FootJoy classic leather soled golf shoes in the past and loved that combination. I went on to play leather soled golf shoes and softspikes and did well with those. Today I play composite soled shoes and softspikes and have no problems with traction. I am thinking of getting a pair or two of leather soled shoes and am sure they won't have traction issues with softspikes on them. I prefer the Black Widows classic.

[jons1]

[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1437412470' post='11985062']
If you are in balance when you swing, it doesn't make a lick of difference whether the spikes are metal or rubber. I would rather see less wear and tear on the course with the softer spikes, but that is just my opinion.
[/quote]

True, however, in wet conditions, long rough, etc. your feet will slip. I've played golf in sneakers many times... not even soft spikes... but the ground was perfectly level and very dry. When it gets wet, it changes things. I personally would prefer they slip to prevent knee damage from twisting. I think the pros want every edge they can get.

[carrier street]

I played behind someone wearing metal spikes today. It would have been very easy to map every putt he had.

[granite45]

It was a country club that took my metals. I walked in as a guest and before I knew it my metal spikes were swapped out for the first generation soft spike.

I felt oddly violated but wanted to play that day so that was the end of that... but yes it began at a private country club.

[15th Club]

[quote name='carrier street' timestamp='1437618842' post='12003782']
I played behind someone wearing metal spikes today. It would have been very easy to map every putt he had.
[/quote]

Where? I'm curious where in Michigan anyone plays with metal spikes. I might want to play there.

[carrier street]

The course (L.E. Kaufman) doesn't allow them. Homeboy went rogue.

I feel like anyone who says that greens aren't markedly better now that metal is banned don't remember what it was actually like when everyone wore them.

[nochct1]

For those of you who sneak on with metal spikes....what's wrong with you?

If the rules state that you can't wear metal spikes, why do you just ignore those rules? They are there for a reason.

My guess is that you are the first to complain when ball marks aren't fixed, divots not replaced, bunkers not raked.

[15th Club]

[quote name='nochct1' timestamp='1437624579' post='12004254']
For those of you who sneak on with metal spikes....what's wrong with you?

If the rules state that you can't wear metal spikes, why do you just ignore those rules? They are there for a reason.

My guess is that you are the first to complain when ball marks aren't fixed, divots not replaced, bunkers not raked.
[/quote]

Hmmm. Let me think about that. Yes, I think I would complain, if I saw a large pattern of that sort of bad etiquette. I can't help but think that at some point, I have overlooked or simply not been aware of a ball mark I've made, and failed to fix it. And so I have a personal rule to always fix my mark when I can find it (and I look pretty hard to find them), and then uncomplainingly fix at least one more mark, presuming somebody else with good intentions like me missed it in good faith. I play a lot in the evenings, and I see a lot of marks wit the setting sun. I often end up fixing three or four marks. Six is a pretty good limit, for fear of slowing up play. Replacing divots is not a real peeve of mine; lots of divots should not be replaced anyway, but should be sand/seed-filled instead. Unraked bunkers are almost unforgiveable.

Now, back to spikes; there is no good reason to presume that spike marks are only caused by metal spikes. Soft spikes, combined with foot-dragging, can cause some of the worst spike marks imaginable. And there is also no reason to presume that anyone who does wear metal spikes causes spike marks.

As for the old controversy involving Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh at the Masters. There is a lot more context to that story. First, Mickelson is an intensely competitive guy who inspires a lot smack-feelings if not smack-talk. Second, that was a very wet week at Augusta. And the greens at that time were unusually susceptible to spike marks (they have been, for a long time, although the current grass seems very good). And it was the 12th green where Vijay got ticked off, and that has always been some of the thinnest green surface on the course. Due to shade and the construction of the green. Finally -- this is the big one -- recall that at that time, Mickelson was doing the "Clock" routine prescribed by Dave Pelz in which he practiced a putting stroke from the fall line before lining up and making his own putt. Phil self-created about triple the amount of foot traffic around the cup that would otherwise have been needed.

[oregongolfguy]

Every study that I could find with a 10 minute lookup showed that spiked shoes caused more damage then unspiked shoes on average. It does get a little grey after that though. It obviously depends on the design of the tread or spikes of the individual shoes as to how much damage they actually do or don't do. The original Adizero shoe for example it both studies I read rated as the worst shoe for greens damage tested. It also noted that with a few exceptions metal spikes were worse then soft spikes. But that would obviously change year to year depending on the design of the individual shoe

It seemed that the design of the shoe, spikes etc all play a role in it...

Personally I wear spikeless shoes. I just find them more comfortable. I have not had any slipping issues personally but would naturally assume that I am probably giving up some traction. I just haven't had a problem or noticed it.

[stage1350]

[quote name='NoTalentLefty' timestamp='1437428425' post='11987584']
[attachment=2864872:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1437428412.838926.jpg]
[/quote]

I miss the ceramic spikes. Truth: even though they are soft spikes, they were eliminated because when they fell out or broke, they would nick the mower blades. So don't tell me that it's about the greens. It was about replacing floorboards and carpet. It was a huge money grab for the courses and will continue because you have no choice unless you are at a private club.

I'd kill to find a stash of ceramic spikes again. I've taken to alternating Champs and Grippers in my Classics because I'm running low on them.