Those reading from the USA might be more familiar with the Sqairz brand than those of us here in the UK. Sir Nick Faldo’s close association with the brand and the regular commercial slots Sqairz fills on the Golf Channel leave the brand with a much bigger footprint in the States than on this side of the Atlantic.
The unique part of Sqairz golf shoes is undoubtedly the square toe box. This deliberate design choice has been made to open up the toe box and allow the toes to spread more naturally, creating a better balance and more ground connection. I was fascinated to give this a go and see how close such a unique design could get to the best golf shoes on he market right now.
Sqairz make some very dramatic claims about the performance increases golfers can expect in these shoes, which piqued my interest. On its website, the brand claims these shoes will deliver an average increase of 12 yards in distance, a 3.9mph swing speed boost and 30% dispersion tightening. These are very bold claims, ones that are backed by two studies, one out of Utah Valley University and the other focusing primarily on the brand’s baseball shoes. Both of these studies, however, have limited independence verification and are both promoted heavily on the Sqairz website (I can’t find the studies published elsewhere). All of this means we have to take it with at least a little pinch of salt.
Best picks for you
From the player’s view, the square toe is a noticeable visual difference
(Image credit: Future)
I haven’t got the resources to conduct a fair, independent study to back these claims or compare them to the studies Sqairz have conducted. I’d likely want a few days, and at least a dozen different participants to get anywhere near a proper test, so I’ll leave these tests linked here for you to read to ponder over and decide for yourself whether a golf shoe can offer 12 yards more distance with no swing changes. I’ll touch on my anecdotal evidence later in the review.
Taking the performance claims away, I’ll spend some time doing what I always do with shoe reviews, and talking about the comfort, grip and support on offer to let you get a better understanding of whether this is the right golf shoe for you. Alongside the square toe box, this shoe really is packed with impressive features.
The square toe box was fascinating to test. Firstly, it visually offers something completely different when you address that ball in these shoes. Impressively, the design means that, from the side, the square toe box is almost completely unnoticeable. So, if you’re worried that these shoes will be something of a fashion faux pas, it’s only your own view from address that is really altered by the unique design.
You can barely notice the square toe from the side angle
(Image credit: Future)
The shaping certainly does give your toes far more room to breathe, and allows your foot to sit more naturally without having to squeeze your toes together, which occasionally happens in more traditionally shaped toe boxes.
Sqairz recommend those who wear FootJoy, Skechers, Puma or New Balance to stick with their normal size, despite the extra room in the toe box, while those who traditionally wear Adidas, Nike or Ecco shoes to go half a size down. As an avid Adidas wearer, I can corroborate these claims, as I felt I wanted just a little bit more security around the foot.
The outsole is well designed, offering excellent grip that certainly keeps up with the likes of the Adidas Tour360 24 or FootJoy HyperFlex Carbon. There are over 290 points of contact with the ground, thanks to a combination of six Pivix Softspikes as well as a cleverly designed traction system that runs between the soft spikes. Stability was impressive, too. There is a TPU heel stabiliser that runs all the way to the arch of the foot, which offers a real sensation of full foot support as you work through the swing.
Image 1 of 2
The outsole is comprehensive is provides great grip. (Image credit: Future)
I liked the concept of the Sta-Put lacing, even if it hasn’t been executed in quite as premium a manner as the rest of the shoe. (Image credit: Future)
Another clever and unique feature is the Sta-Put lacing system. Here, Sqairz has printed small pieces of silicone onto the laces, which stop them from loosening as you walk the course. It creates a much tighter, more secure fit when you first lace them up, which also lasts the course of a full round. Though a few of the silicone pieces started falling off after only a few times wearing these shoes, there were enough printed on the laces that it made no difference. Though not a full-grain leather upper, the grain-texture microfiber upper is reasonably premium, soft to the touch and, most importantly, fully waterproof.
Overall, this is an impressive shoe, one that was slightly marred for me by the bold and brash performance claims the brand insists on making. Study or no study, I can tell you for a fact I wasn’t 12 yards longer on any golf shot during the two rounds I tested these shoes and my dispersion and swing speed weren’t noticeably different either. If I can find a big enough study group to give these shoes a go, perhaps I’ll test Sqairz’s claims out myself, but for now, we just have the brand’s own testing and my anecdotal evidence conflicting quite dramatically against one another.
Ignoring these claims, and analysing the shoe for what it is, this is an impressive, comfortable, supportive and grippy golf shoe that will suit a wide range of golfers looking for a performance-based golf shoe. The extended toe box will be helpful for those with wider feet (or massive toes), and it offers something tangibly different and unique to the golf shoe market, which is certainly lacking a bit of variance and real innovation nowadays. Sqiarz offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, one that should give any doubters no reason to at least give these shoes a try and find out for yourself if the performance claims can be substantiated in the real world.
