PAYNTR Reserve Classic Golf Shoe Review: Classic style never felt this good

A couple of months ago, we were finally given the chance to test out PAYNTR's Eighty Seven SC golf shoes, developed with (and made famous by) endorsee-turned-brand-investor Jason Day. Like many other reviewers, they bowled us over almost immediately and we instantly declared them the best golf shoes you can buy in 2026.

PAYNTR is one of the few brands in golf that garners near universal praise and, almost without fail, manages to live up to the hype. Tour pros are flocking to wear their shoes even when they haven't been paid to, and the only challenge that seems to face the brand now is whether it can keep that momentum going.

Designed to add a mid-range option to PAYNTR's growing footwear catalogue is the Reserve Classic line, a traditionally styled shoe that borrows many of the styling cues from the Eighty Seven, while stripping away some of the flagship model's most expensive tech in the name of affordability. Depending on what features you opt for, the Reserve Classic will set you back anywhere from £120 to £170 – in contrast to the Eighty Seven, which tops out at around the £200 mark.

Even so, PAYNTR is at pains to stress that even this more affordable model is more than worthy of the world's best golfers. Min Woo Lee switched into the model upon his signing with the brand, and indeed helped develop his shoe.

But does the Reserve Classic carry through enough of the charm that made the Eighty Seven our favourite golf shoe you can buy right now? We had to get it out on course to find out for ourselves.

Looks and features

As we mentioned, the Reserve Classic is designed to function as something of a takedown model from the Eighty Seven, carrying over the modern-meets-classic looks and varying degrees of tech which you can elect for depending on your favoured price point. 

As such, the Reserve Classic range comes in three distinct models, all of which have the same PMXFoam midsole for comfort as well as a PMXSpeed plate for added ground force and stability through the swing. 

The Reserve Classic Tour RS, which we tested, tops the range at £169.95 and with a premium Clarino™ Trivela microfiber, lush ARIAPRENE internal lining, a bouncy PMXNITROGEN+ footbed and a TPU Outsole with Fast Twist spikes. 

The Reserve Classic RS is the first step down from the Tour, priced at £129.99. This gets you a less premium microfibre upper and forgoes both the ARIAPRENE lining and the PMXNITROGEN+ footbed, however the spiked traction system and TPU outsole remains the same.

Rounding out the range is the Reserve Classic SL, which as the name suggests swaps out the Fast Twist spike system for a spikeless traction that's more wearable off course.

All three models look great, hitting the blend of classic styling and slightly sporty profiling that made the Eighty Seven such a popular debut model. We also love how the three distinct options cover a range of options without sacrificing too much key tech, and the chance to get a plated golf shoe for less than £120 is a true rarity.

Performance

The fact that the Reserve Classic sells for anywhere between £30 and £70 less than the top-end model means that some trade-offs are going to be inevitable, but PAYNTR have done an outstanding job of ensuring that the Reserve Classic still feels and performs like a tour-ready shoe all the same.

The main difference between the two is the cushioning system. While the Eighty Seven sits on a midsole of responsive, slightly bouncy PMXNITROGEN+ foam, the Reserve Classic instead has a PMXFoam midsole which has lower profile and and feels slightly firmer underfoot. 

This gives it more of a traditional feel that players who want to feel lower to the ground might actually prefer, but it's not quite as exciting to wear as runner-like foam of the Eighty Seven. Even so, the Reserve Classic still provides more than enough comfort to see you through a walking round without any issues, and the decision to include a PMXNITROGEN+ footbed in the Tour RS model goes a long way to restoring that more luxurious ride.

The other key difference between the Eighty Seven and the in the form of the propulsion plate. While the flagship shoe has a CARBITEX carbon fibre plate, the Reserve Classic makes do with a plastic PMXSpeed plate to help you harness ground forces and deliver stability throughout the swing. Whether or not you really need a plate underfoot really depends on how fast and hard you swing, but for the vast majority of players we don't think the transition from carbon to plastic will make a huge amount of difference. 

Even so, the combination of the plate and outsole platform does a great job of providing a stability throughout the swing without making the overall package feel too stiff, while the traction in both the spiked and spikeless models is excellent.

Should you buy the PAYNTR Reserve Classic golf shoes?

Once again, PAYNTR have knocked it out of the park with the Reserve Classic, delivering a range of shoes that look outstanding and provide a strong blend of comfort and stability across a strong range of price points.

The additional comfort options make the more expensive Tour RS model much more luxurious to wear on long walking rounds, and we feel that if you can spare the extra £40, it's easily the pick of the three. 

If you're on a slightly tighter budget however, both the RS and SL models instantly enter the conversation among the best affordable golf shoes money can buy, offering outstanding cushioning, great looks and plated stability that's extremely rare at its price point.