Golf Shoes: Why Fit Matters, Part One

Golf shoe brands have come and gone over the decades with FootJoy maintaining its number 1 position despite tremendous competition from Nike, Ecco and Adidas.  Callaway and Etonic are also tough competitors, especially on price. 

Aside from style, weight or price, however, the most important factor in choosing golf shoes is fit.  Fit in a shoe is determined by the way it is molded around the foot.  A shoe mold is called a last, and represents the anatomical information of the foot that particular mold—or last--is designed to fit. 

All golf shoes are patterned after specific lasts.  When you find a shoe that fits it makes sense to find out what the LAST of that shoe is so you can get it again when you have to replace the pair.  However, this information is hard to come by since it is often not published in the catalogs. 

FootJoy is the number one golf shoe in the industry NOT because of price or style, but because this company offers fourteen different lasts.  This means you are virtually guaranteed to find a FootJoy shoe that will fit you. 

FootJoy publishes descriptions of its shoe lasts in each catalog, which are duplicated below:

Classics Laser Last:  Full rounded toe character, standard fit across forefoot and instep, with a slightly narrow heel.

The Laser last is a composite of thousands of digital scans of men’s feet by the Footioy Laser Fitting System

Aintree Last:   Rounded toe character, standard fit across the forefoot, instep and heel.

Grant Last:  Slightly square and sleek toe character, standard fit across forefoot, instep and heel.

Rex Last   Narrow toe character, narrow fit across forefoot, high instep, with a slightly narrow heel.

Laser Last:   Full rounded toe character, standard fit across forefoot and instep, with a slightly narrow heel.

LaserPlus Last:   Full rounded toe character, standard fit across forefoot and instep, with a slightly narrow heel. The last bottom has been contoured to closely match the shape of the foot.

Men’s LoPro Last  Full rounded toe character with a slightly shallow forefoot and a slightly narrow heel. Standard instep.

Contour Last  Full rounded toe character, full across the forefoot, standard instep and heel. The last bottom has been contoured to closely match the shape of the foot.

Victory Last:  Full rounded toe character, full fit across forefoot, fuller instep and narrower fit in heel. Athletically sloped from instep to toe.

Austin Last:  Fullest rounded toe character, fullest fit across forefoot, standard instep and heel.

Competition Last Full rounded toe character, fuller fit across forefoot, full instep with a slightly narrow heel. Athletically sloped from instep to toe.

Olympic Last Full rounded toe character, fuller fit across forefoot, full instep, with a slightly narrow heel.

Towne Last:   Narrow toe character, narrow fit across forefoot₁ low instep, with a slightly narrow heel.

Erickson Last:  Standard fit in the heel and instep with a slightly shallow forefoot. Oblique toe character for sport comfort.

Every shoe in FootJoy’s catalog includes its last in the description.  The most popular styles sold in the U.S. have the Contour, Austin or Olympic lasts, which all provide a lot of room in the shoe for one’s foot.