Equipment
Puma takes crown for lightest shoe with Faas Lite Mesh
There’s a new champ in the race to have the lightest golf shoe on the market.
Starting in June, Puma Golf’s newest shoe, the 6.5-ounce Faas Lite Mesh, will be available for purchase. The launch date for these shoes — which will be sold for $90 — is June 5, and they will be the lightest footwear option on the market.
“The new, spikeless footwear style is designed to take you from the street to the course in lightweight, maximum comfort and trend-setting style,” said Tom Manthe, global marketing manager for Puma Golf.
The Faas Lite Mesh embraces the barefoot movement, something that has been a driving force in a number of releases in 2013. It got started back in January with Adidas announcing its 10.6-ounce adiZero shoe (full review can be found here) and continued later that month with Oakley’s 9.2-ounce Cipher 2 (full story can be found here).
Since then, barefoot golf shoe originator True linskwear released its new PROTO (full story can be found here) and FootJoy went minimal with its M:Project golf shoe (Full story can be found here).
Puma will also start selling its slightly heavier, but still incredibly light, Faas Lite waterproof shoes which check in at 8.7 ounces. The waterproof versions contain all the same barefoot benefits as the Mesh version and will sell for $100.
The benefits of a barefoot shoe include a zero-degree drop from the heel to the toe, keeping the foot level in the shoe. That is supposed to give a more natural stride and promote better posture while swinging.
Puma is also promoting its use of corrugated flex grooves that move with the foot for a more natural movement, provide optimal flexibility and more ground contact while swinging.
There will be a women’s version of Faas Lite Mesh ($80) and the Faas Lite waterproof ($90) starting June 5 as well.
A new Puma release wouldn’t seem complete without a Rickie Fowler-inspired edition, and the Faas Lite comes through with one. Taking inspiration from Fowler’s 2010 “Golf Art,” a special-edition shoe, the Faas Lite Splatter ($110), will feature a paint splatter design on a white outsole with an orange (no surprise there) foam stripe.
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- Kris Kim what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 60 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (15 degrees @13.5)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (2, 4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX (2), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120 X
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-09SB, 56-12SB, 60-11TW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 WV 125
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Check out more in-hand photos of Kris Kim’s equipment here.
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TaylorMade is continuing its UDI/DHY series with the successor to the Stealth UDI and DHY utility irons: PUDI and PDHY (which the company styles as P·UDI and P·DHY). TaylorMade is folding the designs in with its P Series of irons.
TaylorMade outlined the process of developing its new utilities this way. The company started with the data on utility iron usage. Not surprisingly, better players — i.e. those who generate more clubhead speed and strike the ball more precisely — were found to gravitate toward the UDI model. DHY usage, however, covered a wider swath than the company might have expected with six-to-18 handicappers found to be bagging the club.
TaylorMade also found that the majority of golfers playing UDI or DHY utilities were playing P Series irons at the top of their iron configurations.
Can you see where this is going?
Matt Bovee, Director of Product Creation, Iron and Wedge at TaylorMade: “As we look to the future, beyond the tech and the design language, we are excited about repositioning our utility irons into the P·Series family. P·UDI is an easy pair for players that currently play P·Series product and P·DHY is an extremely forgiving option for players of all skill levels. It is a natural fit to give these players the performance in this category that they are looking for.”
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TaylorMade PUDI
TaylorMade PUDI technology cutaway (via TaylorMade)
Crafted with tour player input, TaylorMade sought to develop a confidence-inspiring utility iron that blends with the rest of the P Series irons. Also of note: Interestingly, the PUDI has a more compact head than the P790.
In comparison to past UDI products, the PUDI has a more traditional iron shape, slimmer toplines, and less offset with a little of the backbar visible at address.
TaylorMade PDHY
TaylorMade PDHY tech cutaway (via TaylorMade).
Larger in profile than the PUDI, the PDHY seeks to position center of gravity (CG) lower in the club for ease of launch. The toe height is larger and the profile is larger at address — roughly five millimeters longer than PUDI — the sole of the club is wider for improved forgiveness.
Club Junkie’s take
Golfers who feel like they are missing something at the top of the bag could find the PUDI or PDHY a great option. The look of the PUDI should fit the most discerning eye with a more compact look, less offset, and a thinner topline. If you want a little more confidence looking down the P-DHY will be slightly larger while still being a good-looking utility iron.
For being small packages both models pack a pretty good punch with fast ball speeds, even off-center. The feel is soft and you get a solid feel of the ball compressing off the face when you strike it well. Your ears are greeted with a nice heavy thud as the ball and club come together. The PDHY will launch a little higher for players who need it while the PUDI offers a more penetrating ball flight. Both utility irons could be the cure for an open spot in the top end of the bag.
PUDI, PDHY, or Rescue?
TaylorMade offers the following notes to assist golfers in filling out their bags:
- PUDI has mid-CG right behind the center face to create a more penetrating mid-to-low ball flight
- PDHY has a lower center of gravity to produce an easier-to-launch mid-to-high ball flight.
- Both PUDI and PDHY are lower-flying than the company’s hybrid/Rescue clubs.
- PUDI is more forgiving than P790.
- PDHY is the most forgiving iron in the entire TaylorMade iron family
Pricing, specs, and availability
Price: $249.99
At retail: Now
Stock shafts: UST Mamiya’s Recoil DART (105 X, 90 S and 75 R – only in PDHY)
Stock grip: Golf Pride’s ZGrip (black/grey)
PUDI lofts: 2-17°, 3-20°, 4-22° in both left and right-handed
PDHY lofts: 2-18°, 3-20° and 4-22° in both left and right-handed
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (5/3/24): Scotty Cameron Champions Choice 2.5+ putter
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Scotty Cameron Champions Choice 2.5+ putter
From the seller: (@wwcl): “Has been gamed as pics show. 33.5 includes original h/c and grip. $575 includes shipping and PP fees.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Scotty Cameron Champions Choice 2.5+ putter
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Dustyn
Sep 4, 2013 at 10:13 pm
There light and comfy till you swing, No protection on the front of toes and no grip!!
Santiago
Aug 5, 2013 at 1:03 am
These shoes are awful. I love how confortable they are but durability is a big issue. I am on my second pair and both lasted 3 rounds until the sole separates from the shoe in the left side of left foot (right handed golfer), exactly where they get most do the stress. My second pair lasted a week and is going back to the store tomorrow. Really bad quality!!!!!
Chad
May 28, 2013 at 8:05 pm
I run in Puma Faas shoes and they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. So much so that I bought a few pairs for running and a few for casual wear. Puma already has a Faas golf shoe, I believe, but it was leather and only came in white/black and black/orange. These new ones may make it into my lineup, depending on the color selection.
Eagle006
May 28, 2013 at 4:45 am
Golf shoes are now running shoes. The two things have essentially merged and are barely indistinguishable from each other. If someone had suggested this 15 years ago, they’d have been rightly ridiculed.
I welcome increasing comfort and decreasing weight in golf shoes, but it seems to be being done at the expense of grip. Sorry, but a few small knobbles on the sole isn’t really going to cut it. Surely it’s not beyond these companies to produce a light shoe which still offers exceptional grip and traction? Either way it’s a far cry from Hogan ordering shoes with extra metal spikes, because he gripped the ground so much through his swing.
Justin Quirke
May 20, 2013 at 11:30 am
This article deserves a good proof reading before it got publicized. In graph 3, barefoot movement got started by adidas? then the next sentence says barefoot originator True Linkswear? Which is it, was the barefoot movement originated by the adidas or by the true? And Faas Lite waterproof are listed as $100, then $90? University of Richmond must not have taiught how to outline a story. This is awful.
Zak Kozuchowski
May 20, 2013 at 2:15 pm
Justin,
Adidas launched its adizero shoe in January 2013, which was extremely light and had barefoot elements. Then we learned of Oakley’s Cipher at the 2013 PGA Merchandise show, which was even lighter.
Now Puma has gotten into the mix with its Faas Lite Mesh, which is even lighter than that. But the first company to bring barefoot to golf was True, which is why they are mentioned.
The mesh version of the Faas Lite (6.5 ounces) is $90, while 8.7-ounce waterproof version of it is $100. In women’s, the prices are $80 and $90, as Andrew states in the ninth paragraph.
It’s not Andrew’s fault, or the fault of his university, that you chose not to comprehend the information he provided.
– Zak