I was confused about this shoe, until I walked in them | I Tried It

Welcome to I Tried It, a GOLF.com series about golf items — apparel, gear, accessories, etc. — that we’ve recently taken out for a spin. We’’e here to give our honest, no-frills takes on the latest and greatest golf or golf-adjacent items. So, scroll down to read about what we love about golf’’ newest (or new to us) products.

***

TRUE linkswear recently reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try out some of their gear, and I said yes under the stipulation that they only sent me spikes if they were going to send shoes. I am a very staunch believer that not wearing spikes on the golf course is a cardinal sin, and they were happy to oblige, seding me a brand-new pair of their TRUE Lux2 Player model. I’m really glad they did, because I learned a lot about these shoes in two rounds of wearing them on the golf course.

They were also kind enough to send me a pair of pants and a nice crewneck. Thanks, TRUE team.

Preconceptions

I had heard a ton about the brand from friends who love their gear, and Johnny Wunder is also a fan of the brand. The things I had heard were all good. Mostly that the sizing is appropriate, the layering is really nice and they have a very understated style that matches up with the Dead Golfer logo. The combination puts you in control of your look, and lets your performance do the talking.

One specific comment I heard about the shoes was “there’s plenty of room in ’em.” A pretty straightforward quote from a friend of mine. The problem with that statement is that if you aren’t somebody with huge feet, that can actually feel like an issue. So, I took the shoes straight from the box to the course to walk 18 holes and make my own observations.

TRUE Linkswear TRUE Lux² Player Men’s Spiked Golf Shoes

Finally, a spiked golf shoe that puts comfort first: Meet the Lux² Player —Designed to deliver exceptional performance without sacrificing the natural comfort TRUE is known for, the Lux² Player offers the perfect balance of flexibility and stability where it matters most. With its naturally wide fit and unparalleled comfort, it redefines what a spiked golf shoe can be. Featuring our next-generation spiked FlexBolt outsole, it seamlessly combines TRUE’s iconic fit and feel with cutting-edge performance. Comfort and performance, perfectly united: this is the Lux² Player.

View Product

Testing by walking

When I am evaluating any new pair of golf shoes, the first thing I want to do with them is walk holes and play. I want to know how they feel right out of the box. Unfortunately, that’s left me with plenty of blisters on my feet. Fortunately for the TRUE Lux2 Player, no feet were harmed during the making of this review.

The shoes DO have a ton of room in the toe box. It’s very wide. I would even dare to say that when I first slipped them on, it looked a little like a clown shoe. Not that it’s obnoxiously big or that other people are even going to notice, but lacing them on and then staring down at them for the first time compared to what I have been using was quite funny. To me they just felt so huge.

Typically when you increase the size of the toe box you’re inviting instability in the front half of the shoe. The golf swing is so dynamic that you really want to feel locked in with your feet, and any movement of your feet separate from the movement of the shoe, and the spikes can cause problems making consistent contact. The biggest thing to worry about is rotation within the shoe while the golf swing is happening. I’m not sure exactly what they did to make them fit the way they do, but it hasn’t been an issue. It feels like the foot is really locked into the shoe, using the tongue as a very comfortable way to pressure the foot down from the top. You can feel that there’s room around your foot on the front side, but not so much that it feels “loose.”

I walked a total of 36 holes with the shoes at a golf course that has plenty of ups and downs, times where you have to walk across a long cement bridge and more leaves and mud spots right now in the heat of fall than I can count, and the shoes performed great.

Understanding where stability comes from

The TRUE Lux2 Player comes standard with Tour Flex Pro spikes to give you tour-level traction out of the box. If they hadn’t come with Tour Flex Pros, I would have swapped them out anyhow, so it’s nice to not have to spend an extra $20 to do so. The pair I got also came with a navy color Tour Flex Pro, which you can’t just buy at retail, so that’s sorta cool.

The shoe has a seven-spike pattern on the bottom that provides ample traction for the golfer. I personally wish more companies would go with a nine-spike pattern that included two more spikes on the heel of the shoe, but that’s just me. I tend to play in soft, wet conditions a lot here outside of Chicago, and I’ve noticed a bit more stability with more spikes in the heels. That being said, my test runs were played in soft, wet fall conditions stomping through leaves, and not once was I remotely worried about slipping during my swing.

The shoes also have a well placed toe spike for that last ditch effort when you’re standing on a sidehill trying a baseball swing to hit your ball because you golf gods didn’t want to let you have that birdie.

The secondary traction on the shoes also does a really good job at clearing debris out of the way. This secondary traction is just as important as the spike layout, because it’s going to help when heavy debris is in play. The spikes are there to get through the debris, but the secondary traction is there to make sure that you have enough surface area pressure coming down on the ground in general. This is great if you’re on really soft turf, or you’re searching through the leaves for the sixth ball you’ve lost to the fall weather.

Performance is key, but comfort still matters

I get pretty in the weeds about the performance aspects of my golf footwear, but that doesn’t mean that I want to be uncomfortable. Luckily for me, after taking these straight out of the box and into walking 18 holes, the shoes held up.

They have a VERY wide toe box. It’s sort of their thing. Aside from the stability we discussed earlier, the comfort that that gives the foot is definitely noticed. Having just a little bit of room for my foot to breathe resulted in finding pain points I didn’t even know I had. There’s a spot on your foot just before your toes that has a little bit of a bone that juts out for most people, and normally there’s a varying amount of pressure in that spot. With the TRUE Lux2 Player: no pressure point.

The extra room also allows players to get better sized up into the footwear. Lots of times golfers, including myself, will size up a shoe to try and feel a little bit of wiggle room for their feet. This can cause stability problems, and it also causes some bad blisters, because in that case the foot is physically moving around in the shoe causing friction between the skin, sock and material of the shoe. You can go to a wide shoe in the proper size, but then you’re risking movement in the heel, which causes even worse blistering. With a standard heel and a wider toe box you get all of the stability you need, but with the comfort that helps relieve any unwanted pressure during the round. Definitely a unique silhouette looking down at your feet, but you get used to the comfort really quickly.

Would I wear them again?

Yes, absolutely. They were a pleasure to walk in, and just like any other shoe they are only going to get more comfortable as I wear them more, so I look forward to that. I love that I’ve gotten to try them out, because it’s another shoe that I can add to my list that helps solve a problem that other shoes don’t solve. That’s what I love about the game of golf in general. There are so many options.

The Lux2 Player may not be the best shoe for every golfer I meet, but there is a very specific golfer who needs this shape of shoe and doesn’t want to sacrifice stability. I can now recommend this pair to someone when the situation demands this solution.