Nike Air Max 270 G (Golf) Performance Review

 The Nike Air Max 270 G is money.

One of the most popular lifestyle shoes of this era, the Nike Air Max 270 has made its way to the golf course, and it’s glorious. It’s got the tooling we’ve come to love about the AM 270 with some useful upgrades that make this a compelling golf option; but how will it perform?

With that being said, here’s my detailed performance review of the Nike Air Max 270 G.

First Impressions:

Right away I knew I had to have these. Admittedly, I never bought into the Air Max 270 hype, but I’ve always loved how they look.

A clean upper, a big air bubble, and a multitude of eye-catching colorways were all that was needed to convince me to take the plunge and try these out.

Right away, the traction stood out as the biggest difference between these and their lifestyle brother, but a deeper dive into these bad boys shed light on a few more changes that make these course ready.

Materials

Nothing crazy here. According to Nike, the Nike Air Max 270 G is pretty much a “stitch-for-stitch reconstruction” of the OG AM 270. The upper is made of mesh just like the OG’s, with the addition of a flexible, neoprene-like layer to make these more water-resistant. The added layer also makes these much easier to clean, something I love since I picked up a lighter-colored pair.

These did their job. My feet stayed dry, and the upper was plenty breathable. Plus, they stayed remarkably clean, something I didn’t expect. Big win.

Traction

My favorite part of the shoe was the traction. The spikeless traction pattern is very similar to the one found on the Nike Air Max 1 G, and it performed flawlessly. The raised spikes and added perimeter traction make for completely slip-free rounds.

I was in Flagstaff my first time playing in these, at a course that’s always a little wet. The added moisture would surely give some shoes trouble, but not these. They performed exactly as I needed them to and provided plenty of rotational grip.

Cushion

Air Max reigns supreme. The foam midsole is nicely complemented by a massive heel air max unit, making these quite comfortable. I’m of the opinion that you don’t want too much cushion in a golf shoe because you need to be able to feel the ground and remain stable through the swing.

This setup was a win for me. The heel unit made walking around awesome, all while maintaining enough ground feel and underfoot stability.

Speaking of stability…

Stability

The Nike Air Max 270 G is outfitted with a plastic external heel counter to keep you stable. It does its job, and I didn’t once feel shaky or slick. Unless you’re confident in the stability of your shoe, you aren’t going to feel confident swinging at your max.

One thing I did notice, however (and this is really personal preference) that due to the large volume Air Max unit in the heel, the heel-to-toe drop feels rather exaggerated. For me, this was no issue as I try to keep pressure more forward in my swing anyways, but it’s something to keep in mind. Regardless, the drop isn’t drastic enough that I’d call it a problem, just know that it’s there.

It might sound weird, but I almost forgot I was wearing these. I guess that’s the sign of a solid performer, I wasn’t the least bit worried about them causing any mishap.

Fit

My biggest (and really only) gripe about these shoes is the fit. These things were tight, almost too tight. Hard to get on, hard to take off, these things didn’t have nearly as much flex as I thought they should, especially being made primarily of mesh.

I went true to size here, and without a doubt should have gone up at least half a size. Besides the upper feeling restrictive, these things are pretty narrow too. Those of you with wider feet are definitely going to benefit from a bigger size.

Summary

Outside of how they fit, the Nike Air Max 270 G was a solid performer that benefits from great tooling and an easy-to-love silhouette.

If you can grab a pair in a half-size up, you’re looking at a great performer that looks great too.

As with most golf shoes Air Jordan produces these days, it seems the best quality of a good golf shoe is availability; you can still pick these up now in multiple colorways – something that can’t be said for some of the other popular models.