Traction Could be a Factor at Open Championship

(BRENTWOOD, Tenn.) - When the 2018 Open Championship tees off this week at Royal Birkdale, weather – and conversely traction – will more than likely factor into the equation based on history. In 2008, the last time Royal Birkdale hosted the major, players had to endure pouring rain and gusts of wind up to 50 mph.

These conditions put traction and stability at a premium for the world’s leading golfers as they seek to etch their name into history. Based on this year’s PGA TOUR season, it’s almost a certainty that the winner of the Open Championship will be wearing footwear with replaceable cleats.

Through the John Deere Classic, 35 of 36 of the individual events have been won by players who chose the stability and performance of cleated shoes. In fact, this past weekend, winners of The John Deere Classic on the PGA TOUR, the Aberdeen Asset Scottish Open on the European Tour, the Utah Championship on the Web.com Tour and the Women’s U.S. Open were all wearing shoes featuring Softspikes/CHAMP, the world’s best-selling golf cleat brands and the companies with the #1 Cleat in Golf.

“Over the last several decades, the technology in golf equipment has continued to evolve and this is evident as players are constantly tinkering with their clubs, putters, balls and more,” said John Hohman, Vice President of Marketing for PrideSports. “This is also occurring with footwear where we’ve seen players experimenting with spikeless footwear.  In most cases, they return to a cleated product as they realize the importance of stability and maintaining traction on the varying surfaces a golfer faces during a round.

“At a major like the Open Championship, a player simply cannot afford to slip. On Saturday at the Scottish Open, multiple players near the lead who were wearing spikeless shoes slipped causing poor shots,” he added. “That could have been the difference between them winning and losing. These same principles also apply to recreational golfers.”

Shoes that allow for players to replace their cleats are versatile and provide superior traction on any surface of play versus “cleatless” products. In addition, as cleats wear over time, golfers can simply replace the cleats giving them the traction of essentially brand new shoes at a fraction of the cost.
PrideSports is the undisputed leader in the golf cleat segment with its CHAMP and Softspikes brands. CHAMP’s PiviX, Zarma and Stinger cleats, as well as Softspikes’ Pulsar, Silver Tornado and Stealth dominate both the OEM and secondary market in terms of performance and sales.