F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a famous line in The Great Gatsby:

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall".

But what about when the first 70 degree day in March perfectly coincides with the sun setting at 7pm?

We’ve had an influx of new readers over the past few weeks, and have officially crossed the 5000 subscriber mark.

Thank you all for reading. Growing this community organically over the past 10 months has been a joy.

With peak country club golf season approaching, there will be no slowing down. The articles will continue weekly, helping you get prepared for Invitational season along with various club tournaments. Stay tuned.

If you have any feedback or want me to cover a specific topic, please either respond to this email or DM me on X.

If you missed the first buyer’s guide last week, check it out here: What to Wear in 2026

My philosophy for buying clothing: Pay up for quality and take care of it. It’s no different with shoes. Many of the options here are on the pricier side, but buying high quality items and taking care of them over many years is cost-effective in the long term.

The core features of what a golf shoe is have changed drastically over the past few years. Many “golf” shoes are now closer to sneakers than proper golf shoes. It’s best to stick with the classics, in my view.

FootJoy. The King of golf shoes. Although the brand is slowly evolving into golf sneaker company, they still produce the best shoe on the market, the Premier. We’ve lost the DryJoys and Icons, but the Premiers continue to outperform the rest of the market.

Lambda. Based in Portugal, the company makes an excellent looking golf shoe. If it weren’t for the oddly-placed button on the sole of the shoe, they would be firmly in my rotation.

Adidas. I like the Tour360 if the look of it is your style. Like Footjoy, a lot of their stuff skews toward the sneaker end of the spectrum, but the 360 is a rock solid golf shoe.

GFore. The leather Gallivanter is the only option here. The “Disruptive Luxury” tagline on the website was almost enough to make me delete this entirely. Tread with caution. The Gfore golf shoe can be a gateway drug…

I’m drawing the line between “formal” shoes and loafers/drivers as shoes that you can wear to a formal wedding in a suit, vs. shoes you would wear more casually. It’s important to have different shoes for different occasions. The formality of the shoe will dress up or dress down the outfit.

If you don’t believe me, go watch SportsCenter and tell me what you think of the guys walking around in Suits wtih Jordans.

Alden. Made in America, with some of the better-looking tassel loafers I’ve seen in a long time. The tassel loafer is an underrated look.

Baudoin & Lange. I like the unique and distinct look of the Sagan loafers.

Belgian. Long time readers of this publication know I am a huge fan of the Belgian shoe. Versatile and more comfortable than you’d expect.

Rubinacci. If you want a slightly elevated and “euro” look, I’d look at Rubinacci. They also produce Belgian-style shoes that look great.

I love a good penny loafer or driver for casual daily wear. The below are best worn to clubs before a round, as they will seamlessly transition to drinks or dinner after.

Oak Street. A personal favorite of mine. Made in the USA, and I’ve owned a pair of their bit loafers for 5 years. Once you have a pair that is properly worn in, you’ll never want to take them off. Perfect to bring on an overnight golf trip.

To Boot New York. TBNY makes a great daily driving shoe. Outside of casual sneakers, I think every guy should own a pair of well-worn drivers that you can slip on at a moments notice. It’s a quick and easy way to elevate a casual outfit.

J. Crew. They make a proper penny loafer, and it’s probably the best bang for your buck.

New Balance. I like the 997, not to be confused by the 997 golf shoe, which they also sell. I’m not a huge fan of gluing spikes to the bottom of sneakers and magically calling them golf shoes. There’s a beauty in wearing a shoe that is designed to be worn for a specific event or sport. Let’s get back to that.

On Cloud. The tech folks reading this just let out a massive sigh of relief. The cloud 6 is a solid shoe for daily wear.

Clark’s Wallabees. Versatile boot. Best worn if you want to avoid buying lace-up boots that could make you look like you sell coffee in Brooklyn.

Rainbows. The gold standard of flip flops. For beach wear only.

A few folks have reached out to sing the praises of La Rossa shoe repair. I figured I’d pass this bit of “alpha” along as I will be sending my pair of old DryJoys to them immediately.

Piping is the rare club where the clubhouse and logo feel like they were made for each other. Simple, yet elegant. Timless and unbothered by modernity. It speaks to a time where logos were not seen as status symbols, merely insignias. Cool place.

The best club menus will be a single page, two at the very most. Even if you’re a guest at a club where you’ve never been, your host has probably clued you in on what to order, and you won’t even need to open the menu.

The best club menus will “play the hits”. Nothing too fancy that could put you in trouble before or after the round, so to speak.

I’ll expand upon the above tweet to illustrate what a top-tier menu would look like:

House-made potato chips.
Two soup options (Tomato Bisque, Chowder, etc)
Cobb Salad.
Caesar Salad.
House Salad.

Club Sandwich.
House Buger. (Will vary depending on geography)
Specialty Sandwich (Will vary depending on geography)
Chicken/Tuna/Egg Salad Sandwich
Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Grilled/Blackened Fish

Ice Cream.
Cookies, to go.

When did golf hats become billboards?

The modern performance cap is a walking sponsorship deck. Full front logo, side hit, back embroidery, contrast underbrim. Guys at your club look like they're auditioning for a sponsor tent at Waste Management. The hat used to communicate taste. No longer.

Call me old fashioned, but I love a simple white or navy hat with an insignia the size of a dime. Nothing beats a well-executed club crest on a quality hat. Small, embroidered, slightly worn in. It tells the room everything: where you play, that you've been there long enough to have the hat, and that you didn't need to announce it with font size 48. Aspirational hats are fine. Subtle ones are better.

Maybe that makes me a “boomer” or whatever, but I think the TOUR has lost the plot and is at this point just chasing money. No reverence for decency!

At least we have the Cocktail Circuit, chalked full of properly-dressed ams.

The best Mid-Ams in the country will tee it up this week at The Snedeker in Alabama.

The tourney runs March 12–15, 2026 at the historic Lakewood Club's Dogwood Course in Point Clear, Alabama. An invited field of mid-ams will compete in a 54-hole individual stroke play championship with a simultaneous two-player team component.

Designed by Perry Maxwell in 1947, the Dogwood Course is a 7,104-yard, par-72 layout that winds through pines, magnolias, and ancient oaks. It has hosted three USGA championships.

The tournament honors Larry and Candice Snedeker, whose love of golf helped shape the careers of sons Brandt — a nine-time PGA Tour winner and incoming 2026 Presidents Cup captain — and Haymes, the tournament chairman. The Snedeker Memorial Family Foundation supports youth development programs along the Gulf Coast.

Last year's champion, Nate Smith of Tetonia, Idaho, won by six shots with rounds of 70-68-67 (11-under 205), earning exemptions into the Palmetto Amateur and the 2026 Gasparilla Invitational. The week kicks off with a practice round and tournament gifting, followed by a cocktail party after Round 1 — a format that leans into the social fabric of the cocktail circuit as much as the competition itself.