Nike is not a brand that needs the help of a paltry reviewer to sell golf shoes. It’s among the biggest-selling sportswear manufacturers in the world, with a roster of apparel endorsees that has included just about every World Number 1 to grace the turf in the last 30 years.
As such, the performance of its gear has never really been called in to question. After all, if it’s good enough for Rory, Scotty, Tommy and (formerly) Tiger, why shouldn’t it be good enough for the average golfer?
This is the mindset I went into when the good folks at American Golf very kindly provded me with a pair of the brand’s signature shoe, the Tour Victory 4, for a review. This is the shoe Scottie Scheffler wore winning two majors this year, and Tommy had on his feet when claiming his long-awaited maiden PGA Tour victory. Surely it must be pretty good on the feet of the average hacker, right?
What I found when putting them on surprised me somewhat, and with the likes of Adidas, Under Armour and Puma constantly innovating in the space, led me to think more broadly about Nike’s golf output in the last few years.
So just what is the Tour Victory 4 like to play in, and more importantly, is it time for the most recognisable brand in sport to give its golf department a shot of fresh energy? Here are our thoughts.
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Nike Victory Pro 4
Looks and features
The Tour Victory 4 is one of four flagship shoe models in Nike’s roster, and probably the closest thing the brand has to a real all-rounder of a shoe. Some people have referred to it as a ‘takedown’ model given retails for £40 less than the Victory Tour 4, but I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. It’s more of an all-rounder: not the most sporty or trendy looking, nor is it as traditional as Rory’s preferred Nike Victory Tour 4. It’s not high-tech in the manner of the Infinity Tour 2, but not particularly minimalist, either.
Really, it feels very Scottie Scheffler: an inoffensive, modern-looking golf shoe for the modern player, and not much more. I think it looks way better in one of its white colourways (the black leather just makes the whole thing look a bit school shoe-ish).If you want something more fashion-forward, there are plenty of Nike sneaker-turned-golf shoes out there to choose from.
The shoe’s list of features matches the look, delivering plenty of help for aggressive swingers without presenting as overly tech-y. The main selling point is its Fly Wing: effectively a plastic plate that rests under foot and gives you an additional platform to push off for more effective power transfer in the golf swing.
Outside of this, the Victory Pro 4 a fairly run-of-the-mill spiked shoe, with a Cushlon foam midsole for comfort, a waterproof synthetic leather outsole, and a high-grip spiked traction system. There’s certainly nothing missing here that an elite golfer could miss, but surprisingly for Nike, nothing that really leaps out to make you want to buy it either.
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Performance
We’ve established the Victory Pro 4 is a passable enough package viewed on the shelf, but I have to admit I was, in typically Nike style, expecting to be blown away once I got them on my feet – especially given this is the shoe two of the world’s very best players wear. Unfortunately, I really wasn’t.
Let’s make one thing particularly clear: the Victory Pro is a solid performer in just about every area. It’s comfortable, sturdy, grippy and blends well into just about every type of golf outfit. But as an entire package, it left me wanting more.
The main positive with the Victory Pro 4 lies in its stability. It’s clear that this is a shoe engineered to stand up to players with motions as rapid as Scottie Scheffler himself, and playing in muddy conditions I found the shoe gave me ample grip.
The fit is also great and perfectly true to size, with a roomy toe box and added sneaker-style padding in the collar for a feeling that’s locked in and comfortable. The Flywing platform, meanwhile, really helps you feel grounded and locked in when committing to swings on unstable surfaces.
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Nike’s Cushlon foam is one of its older cushioning systems. It’s serviceable, but a little bit on the firm side compared to some of the more comfortable golf shoes we’ve worn this year. It may just be new shoe syndrome, but I found that my feet felt pretty tired after 18 holes of walking in these. While softer, bouncier foams aren’t to everyone’s tastes, for a company with so many highly advanced foams at its disposal, I’d expect a top-end Nike golf shoe to feel much more exciting underfoot.
The upper, meanwhile, is soft enough in the hand and stood up well to playing in muddy conditions, but felt a little bit stiff out of the box. It may break in somewhat as you play more rounds in it, but I wouldn’t expect the Victory Pro 4 to soften up as much as a traditional leather shoe.
All of this, combined with the platform that your feet rest upon, makes the Victory Pro 4 feel quite heavy and clompy as an overall package – once again, not two traits you’d typically associate with a Nike shoe.
Should you buy the Nike Victory Pro 4?
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A lot has been made of Nike’s standing in golf in the post-Tiger era. While it’s still undoubtedly capable of making very cool golf shoes, the progressive, disruptive feeling the brand had a decade ago seems to have left it. In many ways, the Victory Pro 4s feel a little emblematic of this.
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On the surface, it’s a solid all-round performer with an inoffensive, broadly athletic look that should appeal to a huge range of golfers. The downfall of the Victory Pro 4, however, is that you can very easily name a bunch of golf shoes that do what this model is trying to do, but in far more innovative ways.
The Nikes are stable and grippy, but so are models like the Adidas ZG, Ecco’s BIOM H5 and G/FORE’s MG4+ O2. All of these look better, have nicer uppers and use advanced foams that feel much more responsive cushioning under foot. All in all, they just feel a bit forgettable.
If you truly value stability underfoot, and want a shoe that has instant recognisability as being worn by the world’s best, you’ll find the Nikes a solid performer. I just wish, given the Swoosh on the side and the players that wear them, that they were a bit more exciting.
Shop now: £134.99 from American Golf
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