I’ll be honest. I came into this expecting to be a little bored. The FootJoy Pro/SL has been the default “safe” spikeless golf shoe for years, and safe usually means dull. So I wore a pair for six rounds, a couple of soaking range sessions, and one very long walking week to see if the reputation still holds up in 2026. Short version? It mostly does. There’s one thing that annoys me, and I’ll get to it.
If you just want the headline: the Pro/SL is a low-profile, wide-platform spikeless shoe built around stability rather than flash. It’s the shoe you forget you’re wearing, which is the highest compliment I can give footwear. Want to skip straight to colours and sizes? Here’s the current Pro/SL line-up at FootJoy.
The good: stability you can actually feel
The thing the Pro/SL gets right is the bit most people only notice when it’s missing. It sits low to the ground. The outsole is wide and flat, and there’s a firm spine through the middle that stops your foot rolling when you load into the ball. On a sloped lie, that matters. I never once felt like I was fighting the shoe to stay balanced, and for a spikeless design that grips through tread alone, the traction held up far better than I expected on damp morning grass.
Comfort out of the box was the other surprise. No break-in drama, no hot spots. FootJoy has been making shoes since before most brands existed, and you feel that heritage in the fit. If you’ve had the older Pro/SL, the 2026 platform feels a touch softer underfoot without going mushy. Check the sizing and width options here before you commit, because the fit runs true but the width choice is where people slip up.
BOA or laces? A quick word
There’s a Pro/SL BOA version with the dial-and-wire closure instead of laces, and it’s worth thirty seconds of thought. The BOA gives you micro-adjustment mid-round, which is genuinely nice if your feet swell on hot days (mine do). It costs a bit more. Laces are cheaper, lighter, and honestly fine for most people. I lean laces, but I get why someone would pay up for the dial. You can compare both on the Pro/SL product page.
Quick verdict
Best for: golfers who want all-day comfort and rock-solid stability without spikes. Pro/SL sits around the £160 mark; the BOA version costs a little more. Spikeless means you can wear it from the car park to the course and back. See the full range and colours.
The flaw I keep coming back to
Here’s the honest bit. The Pro/SL is brilliant in the dry and merely good in the wet. The spikeless tread is fantastic on firm or lightly damp turf, but on a genuinely soaked, hilly course it gives up grip before a spiked shoe would. That’s physics, not a FootJoy failing, but if you play a lot of wet winter golf on slopes, you’ll feel it. For most of us playing spring-to-autumn rounds? Non-issue.
If you want something sportier and a bit cheaper, the FootJoy Fuel is the athletic-trainer alternative in the same spikeless family. Lighter, more cushioned, a younger look. It doesn’t have quite the same planted feel as the Pro/SL, but it’s a great shout if comfort and a modern silhouette matter more to you than maximum stability. Both sit side by side in the FootJoy spikeless range.
So, should you buy it?
If you play mostly in dry-to-damp conditions and you want one shoe that’s comfortable from the first tee to the nineteenth hole, yes. The Pro/SL earns its reputation. If your golf is wet, hilly and stubborn all year, look at a spiked option instead. For everyone in between, this is still the spikeless benchmark, and I don’t say that lightly. Have a look at the current Pro/SL colours and sizes and grab your width while it’s in stock.