Gregor Graham, Davis Riley and Laurie Canter have all won huge career titles in the past couple of weeks and have paid tribute to the importance of wearing correctly fitted performance footwear.
Graham and Canter trusted the advanced traction, stability and comfort of the all-new Pro/SLX for their victories at the Brabazon Trophy and European Open respectively. Riley relied on Premiere Series Field, the #1 shoe on tour, for his win at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Graham became the first player from Scotland to win the Brabazon Trophy in 19 years to join the likes of Lloyd Saltman and Sandy Lyle on the list of winners after securing a
one-shot victory at the prestigious Hollinwell Golf Club.
Playing a monumental role in helping him secure victory was his footwear after Graham received the full FJ FitLab treatment on the Monday prior to the event at his home club in Scotland.
FJ FitLab offers the ultimate shoe fitting experience using state-of-the-art technology to help golfers find their correct shoe size in a model best suited to their game.
Data shows that playing in a correctly fitted pair of performance golf shoes can automatically increase club head speed by 2-3mph equating to an increase of 7-9 yards of distance.
Graham had been playing in FJ Traditions in a size UK10.5 which despite not causing him any major problems, FootJoy Product Specialist, Blair Taylor, noticed that there was some clear creasing at the front of his shoes, strongly suggesting that he was in the incorrect size.
After a 3D scan on the Volumental Scanner that is able to pick up on the unique characteristics of a golfer’s feet such as the length, width, arch, instep and heel width, it was confirmed that Graham was in a shoe size too big and was advised to look at alternative options.
“As detailed from the scan, Gregor is very flat footed which causes a tendency to measure out that bit longer,” said FJ Product Specialist, Blair Taylor.
“Once you are in a FootJoy model and you have that arch support from the shoe itself as well as from the Ortholite insoles, the length of the foot can often change to be a little shorter.
Gregor Graham’s 3D foot scan from the Volumtental Scanner.
“After Gregor conducted some testing in a few different models from our extensive FootJoy range, we agreed that the new Pro/SLX golf shoe in a UK10 was the best option for him going forward.
“Gregor also discussed with me how he is putting in a lot of work in the gym and when I emphasised the importance of wearing a properly fitted pair of shoes in order to maximise ground forces to help create extra club head speed as well as sharing the performance benefits Pro/SLX has to offer, he was really positive about what his new footwear could do for his game.”
This came into fruition on the golf course winning in his first outing wearing his newly fit FootJoy golf shoes in which Gregor himself admitted played a huge par t in his win and now looks at footwear as a key piece of performance apparatus.
“The biggest improvement I found recently was to have a proper shoe fitting which I should have done years ago,” said Graham.
“I was fitted for the Pro/SLX shoe at my home club, Blairgowrie GC at the start of the week and wore them for the first time at the Brabazon Trophy.
“This was definitely a learning curve for me, not really understanding the importance of a well-fitted golf shoe and how it can really help with your performance on the course.”
It was not just Graham who trusted the #1 Shoe in Golf at the event, with FootJoy once again dominating the shoe count with 75% of players opting for an FJ shoe model, with the nearest competitor coming in at 7%.
Recent winners on the professional Tours, Davis Riley and Laurie Canter also noticed major performance gains once put into a correctly fitted pair of golf shoes after realising that they were both playing in the wrong size.
For Laurie Canter, he got to experience the FJ FitLab at a local fitting event at North Hants Golf Club where the Volumental Scanner picked up that he was in a whole shoe size too big. Once he was put into a correctly fitted shoe, the 34 year-old stated that it was a “gamechanger.”
Laurie Canter experienciing the FJ FitLab at North Hants Golf Club.
Similarly to Gregor Graham, the recent Porsche European Open Champion had recently converted into the new Pro/SLX golf shoe after noticing the performance attributes the model had to offer.
Pro/SLX has had 6 top 10 finishes across the DP World and PGA Tours in the past two weeks alone, validating that it is one of the top performing golf shoes on the market, trusted by the best players in the game.
FootJoy recognises the importance a properly fit golf shoe has on performance and are leading the way in the industry by having three full-time product specialists on the road since the start of 2022, who have so far fit around 6500 golfers across the UK and Ireland.
This is just one example of the investment FootJoy are putting into the game, alongside providing the largest collection of performance footwear in golf, offering both half sizes and multiple width options in order to make sure every golfer has a shoe option that will gaurentee to help them improve their performance on the course.
If you are interested in having a FJ Product Specialist come and host a shoe fitting event at your golf club/facility, please contact your regional FootJoy Area Sales Manager.
