Puma Phantomcat Nitro Shoe
I thought this line from Puma Golf about the new Phantomcat Nitro was pretty good; “Groundbreaking. Not ground-breaking.” The idea being that the new Puma Phantomcat Nitro golf shoe is taking a whole new approach to golf shoes and performance while still being comfortable. As in, they’re so comfortable that they won’t break the ground when you’re walking on the course. This is achieved through the use of Puma’s new Nitro foam in the midsole and the innovative Flexspike. Flexspike is a new cleat system with a unique shape to increase surface contact for much better traction while swinging as well as walking.
The Looks
The Puma Phantomcat Nitro golf shoe is available in four standard colorways. There’s the white/silver pictured here, white/navy/red, white/black/fluorescent green (my favorite), and black/silver/”sizzle yellow”. At the time of writing this, there are also two pretty slick limited edition colorways for the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players.
As far as “general aesthetic”, the Phantomcat Nitro has a solid modern hybrid sneaker/classic golf shoe look. They’re subtle and clean with moderate branding and look good with both shorts and pants. When you flip the Phantomcat Nitro over, you might think the brightly colored soles may be the first to grab your attention, but your first glance at the unique Flexspikes is what really catches your eye. Especially the sizzle yellow ones on the black shoe!
Comfort Level
My first exposure to Puma Golf’s new Nitro foam came via my review of the Alphacat Nitro. They call it Nitro foam because there is nitrogen infused with the shoe’s foam midsole to make the shoe lightweight and comfortable. It also makes the midsole more responsive with good rebound. So far, I’ve found the Nitro foam to deliver a comfortable walking and playing experience. The Phantomcat Nitro is a comfortable and easy walk over a long, tough 18 holes.
Also aiding in the Phantomcat Nitro’s comfort is an anatomically shaped, full-grain leather upper. This only makes the shoe more comfortable around your foot, but it also provides a better fit and more overall support. Puma gave the Phantomcat Nitro a wider toe box to better fit a wider range of players as well. In my opinion, I thought this made the shoe fit a little more true to size. Speaking of wider fits, Puma is also offering the Phantomcat Nitro in a wide-fit option.
On-Course Performance
I don’t know if it was just because I was looking for it and paying extra close attention, but I really thought the Puma Phantomcat Nitro’s Flexspike was the real deal. Puma understood that your traction needs change throughout the golf swing. A single, traditional, spike will only be so effective for a certain window of time during the swing. The idea is that the Flexspike will provide increased traction in multiple directions. Not just while swinging the club, but also as you’re walking the course. I found the Phantomcat Nitro to have exceptional continuous grip on the ground that felt very natural. What I mean is that I felt the Flexspike gave me an incredibly solid connection to the turf, but I didn’t feel overly stuck like I was suction cupped or had thirteen metal spikes in each shoe.
In a way, the Phantomcat Nitro reminds me more of a spikeless golf shoe in terms of “feeling natural underneath your feet”. That said, the Phantomcat Nitro with its Flexspike gave me much better grip than almost any spikeless shoe. I found this level of grip from Flexspike really gave me reliable stability and allowed me to make my “natural movements” without ever losing a strong connection to the ground.
Final Thoughts – Puma Phantomcat Nitro Shoe
The Puma Phantomcat Nitro is a solid all-around golf shoe that’s both comfortable and performs well on the course. Without question, however, the star of this shoe is the introduction of the Flexspike. This is some of the most unique traction I’ve ever seen in a golf shoe and I was really impressed with how well it worked on the course. One can only imagine the Puma will roll out Flexspike in more models in the future, and I firmly believe we’ll see similar concepts show up across the industry. Flexspike is that good.
