I have to admit that when I first saw the FootJoy DryJoys Casual shoe when it was launched last year that I was not entirely sold on the idea.
It is towards the top end of the price scale, quite conservative in its looks and did not look like a shoe you could wear casually off the course, which seemed to defeat the purpose a little.
However, it has been a slow burner on me and here is why.
We have reviewed a lot of spikeless shoes over the last year and as the sector evolves it is growing in variety. You have spikeless shoes that are fashion shoes with a golfing flavour for casual day to day wear off course.
You also have some very good golf specific versions that work as well on the course as off it, but the uppers tend to soften up quickly which can affect the stability.
Then you have golf specific spikeless shoes for on-course only, which are closer to the structure of traditional spiked shoes and this is where the FootJoy DryJoys Casual comes in.
Based on the same Laser Plus last as the successful DryJoys Tour shoe, I was drawn to trying it after my FootJoy Fitting session fingered me as perfect for this style of shoe.
As you may have read in our review of the spiked FootJoy DryJoys Tour, it is a great shoe, but I wanted something lighter and more comfortable for the firmer ground of links golf and that is what the Casual version offered.
The fit is virtually the same as the spiked shoe, which is perfect if you are going to use them both in a shoe squad rotation system. The tongue opening is a U-shape rather than the V-shape in the laced DryJoys Tour, but it is narrower than the U-shape on the BOA version so it is a good half way house between the two.
The upper is made from very good quality Pittards leather that is treated to be waterproof. Even though it feels soft, it still takes a few rounds to fully break in. However, that means that the DryJoys Casual will have better longer term rigidity than most other spikeless shoes.
The key to the Casual's comfort is the sole as it combines 3 elements.
The first is the spikeless TPU sole at the bottom of the above image, which features lots of little spikes right across the sole and the grip from these is very good. Their size and design means that so far I have hardly had any grass clogging them up in soft conditions either.
The middle and upper layers are made from FootJoy's FTF or Fine-Tuned Foam. The lighter softer layer on top cushions your foot and its centre spine protrudes through mid layer, which is slightly firmer to add stability. I like golf shoes with a flexible channel that runs the length of the sole as I feel it helps the foot move laterally during the swing and this ticks all those boxes.
The whole combination is much lighter than the spiked sole version and on harder surfaces you can really feel the FTF cushioning your foot as you walk. The edges of the sole design around the shoe go beyond the edge of the shoe, like minature versions of the 'outriggers' on the DryJoys Tour sole, to give you very good stability during the swing.
The styling is a little understated, particularly if you use the same colour laces as the upper, so I did like the option of a second pairs of laces that comes with each shoe to change the look a little.
The DryJoys Casual is an out and out golf shoe that doesn't have spikes,
so you are unlikely to be wearing them to the pub. However, that's OK as
these are designed as golf shoes first and as a result the long term performance is better.
After a few false starts, FootJoy has created their best spikeless shoe to date by a distance. You can see that a lot of thought has gone into the construction, especially the sole and this combines well with the upper to create a shoe that I think will stand the test of time on the course.
And now I am sold on them.