Adidas ZG21 Golf Shoe

The Adidas ZG21 is the top-of-the-line model in the extensive Adidas golf shoe lineup. It has been seen on the feet of top Adidas staffers such as Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia. Designed for comfort and premium performance, the ZG21 utilizes a Boost midsole and an upper comprised of recycled materials for a more sustainable product. I always love an environmentally-friendly product, and love to support that approach whenever I can. But when I’m buying a golf shoe, I still need it to deliver for me on the course.

The Looks

Adidas currently offers the ZG21 in four different colorways. For the traditionalists and more moderate tastes, there are your standard basic black and white options. Should you want to take a slight step up in your look, there’s a grey/silver/”screaming pink” option. Of course, if you really want to add some color, there’s the white/acid yellow/blue oxide variation pictured here. Adidas calls it blue oxide, but I’d say it’s more of a green-ish hue than blue. Has a slight Masters feel to it in my opinion.

In terms of overall style, the ZG21 is fine. It’s a fairly generic athletic-styled golf shoe. It’s supposed to be low profile, but to my eye, the look is a little on the thicker side. Admittedly, I don’t think think they looks super chunky or puffy, but they certainly don’t have a thin, low profile. If you’re looking for modesty on the course with a contemporary athletic feel to it, the ZG21 has that look covered.

Comfort Level

There are two very distinct components of comfort with the Adidas ZG21. Let’s start with the Boost in the midsole. Adidas has utilized Boost in many different sneaker and golf models for quite a few years. In fact one of my favorite shoes overall of the past decade, the Adidas NMD, uses Boost in the midsole and it’s super comfortable. Boost is a proprietary foam that Adidas developed to be extremely lightweight, supportive of your foot, and super comfortable. Unsurprisingly, the Boost in the ZG21 makes for a very comfortable wear for the bottom of your feet. Add in the INSITE sockliner and you have a real comfortable fit around your foot as well.

However, there’s the ankle portion of this shoe which severely impacted my comfort experience. This is an area that left a lot to be desired for me. The plastic “heel wrap” provides good structure in the back of the shoe, however, that structure is so solid that after three holes walking in the ZG21, I had a fresh blister on my Achilles. For such a lightweight and comfortable shoe, it was fairly disappointing how much the collar of the shoe chewed up my ankle. Before anyone inevitably asks or points out, yes, I was wearing socks with adequate coverage. This was really the only big miss of this shoe and a notable one for a $180 spend heavily based on comfort.

On-Course Performance

When it comes to performance in a golf shoe, so much of it goes right back to comfort. I would be lying if I said that the blister issue from above didn’t affect my feelings of the ZG21’s performance. In terms of the basics, the ZG21 is absolutely waterproof. I brought these out in a day of heavy snow/ice melt, plenty of mud, and big puddles. In the interest of testing how dry these shoes would keep my feet, I walked through everything like it wasn’t even there, and I couldn’t even tell I was walking through inches of water. Bone dry after 18 holes.

The six cleats and “Thintech TPU outsole” provide good traction as well as stability. I felt comfortable in any lie (except on sheets of ice, but that’s on me and my poor decision making) and had good ground feedback. Overall, balance and control are solid in the ZG21 and will get the job done if you have the right fit.

Final Thoughts – Adidas ZG21

As I told my playing partners while testing these shoes, the Adidas ZG21 are fine. They aren’t terrible, they aren’t great, they’re an adequate golf shoe. I will admit that the shoe is impressively comfortable on the bottom of your feet, but it sort of all goes out the window for me due to the shoes ankle collar. I don’t know, it’s totally possible I just don’t have the right anatomic fit for this shoe and we aren’t meant to be. That is very much an actual “thing” when it comes to shoes, especially in golf. But aside from that, the ZG21 left me feeling it was just an adequate golf shoe that will get the job done. Which is fine, not everyone needs a golf shoe to blow their mind for them to consider it good. Different strokes, for different folks. (Pun very much intended.)

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