PUMA Royale Golf Shoe Review: FootJoy better watch out

Key Features:

• All-leather construction with stitched TPU welt
• Promold sock liner and Profoam cushioning for a trainer-like step in
• Flexspike outsole provides balanced grip

For time in memoriam, if you wanted the best golf shoe combining a classic look with modern technology, FootJoy was the brand you'd inevitably turn to.

But with old-school golf fashion coming increasingly back into vogue, more and more brands are releasing footwear that capture the old-school essence of traditional golf shoes while dialling up the comfort factor in subtle ways. J. Lindeberg released their own late last year with the Fairway Brogue, while brands like G/FORE have made reinventing the quintessential golf shoe a new task unto itself.

PUMA are the latest brand to embark on this undertaking, having launched the Royale: a golf shoe that boasts a distinctly premium look and feel (and price tag) for a brand that traditionally operates at a more .

But while the £120 outlay is slightly more than we've come to expect from the German brand, the Royales will still set you back significantly less than a FootJoy shoe of equivalent look and feel—as well as many of Nike and Adidas's more expensive models.

And as GolfMagic Equipment Editor Tom Usher found out when he took them out on course as part of our 2025 shoe test, the PUMA Royale golf shoes provide a lot of bang for your buck if you want to work a more classic golf shoe into your rotation. And they may well give some of the more up-market brands something to think about.

Here's what he found.

Watch our full golf shoes test here:

Suffice it to say that the Puma Royale is the cleanest golf shoe to roll off the company's production line to date. In fact, if it weren't for the subtle branding and the company's distinctive stripe embossed into the side, we'd have no problem believing these were made by a brand like FootJoy or G/FORE. 

Like their more expensive rivals, the Royales have a full-grain leather upper, fused with a classic wide platform base and a crisp monotone colour scheme. They come available in a range of classic colourways, including the simple white and black we tested, an all-white variant and off-white offset with some icy blue.

The Flexspike outsole sitting underfoot continues the classic golf shoe feel, with a distinct pattern of spikes presented in a smart blue colour scheme that pops out at the viewer at the end of your swing.

Technology & Features

But while the Royales lean purposefully into the minimalist aesthetic, the technology these shoes subtly hide is anything but low-key. Rather, it incorporates as many elements from PUMA's more sport-oriented golf shoes in a variety of clever ways.

The Promold sockliner, incorporated in conjunction with a trainer-style padded collar, gives excellent lock-down and comfort straight out of the box—an important feature where many traditional leather golf shoes are often prone to causing blisters before they break in.

PUMA has also borrowed the ProFoam midsole for all-day running-inspired comfort, giving the shoes a distinctly modern feel upon step-in. The midsole is naturally thinner than that you'd find in a trainer-like shoe, but provides the classic feel underfoot to provide a stable base and great feedback on the greens.

Performance & Durability

To say the PUMA Royale impressed us once we got out on course would be an understatement. In fact, for our money, it might be the best value traditional golf shoe on the market right now.

In terms of all-round comfort, build quality and performance on a range of shots, very few shoes we've tested this year have come close to how this endeared itself to us as a total package. Only the trainer-style ECCO BIOM H5 could top it in our extensive test as the best shoe of the year so far.

Tested directly against the traditionally-styled G/FORE Gallivan2r, we found the PUMA to be the superior value proposition, delivering a similar level of build quality and performance—as well as the balanced grip you'd expect of a spiked golf shoe—at a far more appealing price point.

Whether or not the Royales deliver the amount of raw grip you'd want from a spiked shoe comes largely down to personal taste. While we enjoyed the fact that the Flexspike cleats provided grip while also allowing you to twist your feet on more powerful shots, they don't deliver the super locked down feel other spiked shoes do.

At the same time, however, because the cleats are less pronounced, the entire platform makes for excellent feel on the greens.

Should you purchase the PUMA Royale Golf Shoes?

In our opinion, the PUMA Royale Golf Shoes represent one of the best all-round packages you can get in a golf shoe right now.

The quality and technology hidden away in its traditional design is outstanding, while the value is unmatched given that this shoe competes directly with shoes way above its pay grade.

If a smartly engineered, classically-styled golf shoe is what you're after, these should be right at the top of your list.