Tiger Woods leaving Nike still feels a bit weird, but now his Sun Day Red brand have become more established over the last few years, it has begun (at least for me, anyway) to feel a bit more normal. Launched in May 2024, they've now got a wider range of shoes available for us to buy - the Pioneer Cypress have proved to be one of the best spiked golf shoes, whilst the newly released Osprey golf shoes were described as 'outstanding' by Sam Tremlett, who awarded a rare five stars out of five review. It was my turn to see what the brand was all about, so to say I was excited to get out onto the golf course with the premium Pioneer Magnolia shoes.
One word came to mind when I took these shoes out of the box - luxury. To begin with the looks, I think these are the prettiest shoes I've ever laid my eyes on. Sun Day Red sorted me out beautifully with the navy and blue colorway and as a man who wears navy during 99.9% of my rounds, it's maybe no surprise I fell in love at first sight. For those that aren't as keen on navy, fear not, there are currently seven different colorways you can choose from. Because of this, I'd argue that these shoes look even better than the Pioneer Cypress shoes, and those look fantastic!
The build is one that enhances the luxurious feel - the Premium Full Grain waterproof leather feels as good as it look and will keep your feet dry when those unexpected showers roll in. You also get two different pairs of laces to choose once the box arrives at your door, one waxed for maximum tie-down performance, the other with a splash of color to elevate your style further.
Once on your feet you'll feel the blucher throat construction which SDR claim enhances both adjustability and comfort. My feet felt secure and at home in these shoes as I walked down the fairway of the first hole during testing, something I can't say about every shoe I've tested. A combination of supple calfskin leather and textile line the inside of the shoe a keep your feet nice and comfortable.
Now, these are premium-style of shoe which means underfoot they're a lot more firm than the majority of other golf shoes. I'll admit, these shoes do require a while to fully break into them. I had the honor of testing them at the fabulous Sunningdale Golf Club in which I was invited to play two round, one on the New Course and one on the Old. I wore these shoes for the first time on the New in the morning and after 9 holes, my feet were a little sore. I'm also prone to blisters, so I was anxious that they would cut my heels up and leave me in pain for the second round. Thankfully, they didn't, but I did change out of them for the second round.
Having now worn them for just over half a dozen rounds, they feel a lot more comfy under foot, but I'd recommend wearing them for a quick 9 holes a few times before committing to a round of 18 holes in them (go up at least half a size if you have wide feet, also).
The proprietary EVA foam with a 6mm heel-to toe-drop, once broken in, provides nice levels of comfort and is complimented by the high-density TPU full-ground contact plate outsole, which brings me onto my next point of praise - the grip on offer here is top notch.
I've been a big fan of some of the best spikeless shoes this year. I love the versatility and simplicity on offer, but wearing these shoes and feeling the grip on offer makes me want to go back to spiked shoes every week!
The aforementioned TPU outsole paired with the 9-cleat configuration featuring removable Pulsar Soft Spikes provided as much grip and security under foot as you could ever ask for. At both Sunningdale and my home course, Royal County Down, I played a number of times in wet weather and didn't come close to slipping once.
I wouldn't recommend these as a shoe to wear every day, unless you're prepared for them to get a little beaten up, which I am not. Instead, I'll be using them as more of a special occasion shoe in which I'm playing a course I've either been lucky enough to be invited to or if I'm playing an important competition. My first experience with Sun Day Red shoes was a really positive one and I'm excited to see what they have in store in the future.
