At 48, I Was About to Quit Golf Over My Feet. Then My Old College Teammate Asked Why I Was Still Playing on Insoles Never Made for Golf.

Two years later, I got my pro card at 50. Here's what he showed me one day in the parking lot, and why golfers who walk or take a cart feel the difference from their very first round.

When I was 22, I had one shot at turning pro.

I missed it by two strokes.

My name is Kevin. I'm 50 now.

I played four years of college golf in North Carolina...

And back then, I could walk 36 holes in a day and still go hit balls after.

After I missed, I told myself I'd try again next year.

But next year, I got a job.

Then I got married...

Then we had two kids.

And my clubs spent most of the next 20 years in the garage.

So When I Came Back at 45, I Had Something to Prove

Once the kids were older, I started playing again.

And honestly, the swing came back faster than I expected.

Within a year, I was back to scratch.

So I signed up for everything...

The member-guest. The mid-am qualifier. The club championship.

I was finally competing again.

And for the first few holes, I felt like I was 22.

But my feet didn't.

By the Back Nine, I Wasn't Thinking About My Swing Anymore

It usually started around the 12th hole.

A dull ache in my heels...

Then a burning in my arches.

By the 15th, I'd be standing over a 6-footer thinking about my feet instead of the putt.

And in competitive golf, that's all it takes.

The worst one was the club championship two years ago.

36 holes on the final day.

I was 3 up with 6 to play...

And I lost by one.

I three-putted 16 and 17 because I couldn't stand still over the ball.

I sat in my truck afterward with the door open...

Pulled my shoes off...

And didn't start the engine for 20 minutes.

And I couldn't help but think...

The guys I was losing to were 30.

I figured that was it...

I'm not out-training 30.

But I did what every golfer does first...

I bought new shoes. FootJoy Premieres, $200.

They felt great in the store.

But by the 15th, nothing had changed.

That's when I told my wife this was my last season.

At 48, I was about to quit golf over my feet.

But a few nights later, I was in the garage cleaning my shoes...

And something didn't sit right with me.

The shoes were great. You could feel why they cost $200.

So why were my feet done by the 15th every time?

So I pulled the insole out.

Then I Saw What I'd Been Standing On for 36 Holes

It was a thin, flimsy piece of foam.

Barely thicker than a scorecard.

$200 on the outside...

And almost nothing on the inside.

No wonder my feet were done by the back nine.

So I Tried to Fix It the Only Way I Knew How

So I figured the fix was easy...

Just swap it out.

So I went to a running store and got fitted for insoles.

$60.

The kid working there watched me jog on a treadmill for 30 seconds...

And said I had "a little overpronation."

They felt firm and supportive in the store.

But by the back nine, it felt like standing on a board.

Then I tried gel inserts from the drugstore.

Soft. Great on the putting green.

But they went flat before the turn...

And I felt like I was sliding around in my shoes on every swing.

I even tried the Superfeet a guy at my club swore by.

Same story.

Fine on the front nine...

Gone by the 15th.

Next thing I knew, I had more insoles in my garage than gloves in my bag.

So I started playing around it.

I'd take a cart on weekdays just to save my feet for the weekend events.

But that barely helped...

Between the range, the practice green, and walking from the cart to every shot, I was still on my feet for hours.

And every tournament round went the same way.

I'd play great for 11 holes...

Then spend the last 7 just trying to hang on.

My wife asked me why I kept doing this to myself.

I didn't have a good answer.

Then one day that spring, I ran into an old college teammate in the parking lot...

"Why Are You Still Playing on Those?"

Tommy and I played four years of college golf together.

He was the one who actually stayed in the game.

He's been teaching at a club outside Pinehurst for almost 20 years.

I hadn't seen him in a while.

And there I was, sitting on my tailgate, pulling the Superfeet out of my shoes like I did after every round.

He took one look and laughed.

"Why are you still playing on those?"

So I told him everything.

The 15th hole. The club championship. The garage full of insoles.

He just nodded like he'd heard it a hundred times.

Then he walked to his car and came back with a pair of his own.

My first thought was:

"Tommy, I've got a garage full of these, man."

He didn't argue.

He just said:

"Every one of those was made for runners, or guys standing in a warehouse all day."

"Nobody ever made one for golf."

"These are."

That one stuck with me.

Because I'd played golf my whole life...

And I'd never once asked who any of those insoles were actually made for.

So that night, I put them in my FootJoys.

And the next morning, I went to the range to see if Tommy was full of it.

By the time I'd hit one bucket, I understood two things:

Why nothing else had worked...

And why these did.

Golf Asks Your Feet for Two Opposite Things. Every Insole I Tried Only Did One.

The first thing I noticed was on the range.

Swing after swing, my feet felt planted.

Not stiff. Just set.

Then that afternoon, I walked nine holes in them.

And they were comfortable on every step.

I'd never had both in the same pair.

Every coach I ever had told me the same thing...

"The swing starts from the ground up."

But I'd never really thought about what was under me.

Think about what a round actually asks of your feet.

You're on them for 4+ hours.

Walking the fairways, standing on tee boxes and greens...

Getting in and out of the cart...

For that, your feet need cushion.

But when you swing, your feet take a fast, twisting load in a split second.

For that, they need something firm to keep them set.

Golf needs both. In the same round.

Now look at what was in my garage...

The stock insole in my FootJoys was a thin piece of foam.

It gave me neither.

The running-store insoles were firm, made for running in a straight line...

Steady over the ball, but like standing on a board by the 15th.

The gel inserts were soft, so walking felt good at first...

But they gave way under my swing and went flat before the turn.

And the Superfeet were fine for nine holes...

Then they felt just like the running ones.

Tommy was right. Every one of them was built for a different job.

It wasn't my age.

It wasn't that the guys beating me were 30.

I'd been trying to compete on a foundation that was only half built for golf.

And every time it gave out, it took my back nine with it.

So the real question was...

How did the pair Tommy gave me manage to do both?

Why These Finally Did Both

I'm a competitor. I don't trust anything until I know why it works.

So that night, I looked up the company behind them...

A small golf company called Back9Relief.

They'd built these around something they call the 18-Hole Support System.

It's five layers, and each one has its own job.

(You can tap the numbers on the image above to see them.)

The base and the top layer are what make them so comfortable to walk on...

They soak up a lot of the pounding from all those steps, so your feet aren't paying for it on the back nine.

The heel pad and the arch are what kept me planted on the range.

And those little pods up front take pressure off the ball of your foot...

Which is right where I'd feel it standing over a putt on 16.

So they're soft enough to walk on for 18 holes... but still keep you set when you swing.

Every insole in my garage did one of those things.

These did both.

But a range session isn't a tournament...

So I signed up for the next club event.

And for the First Time in Years, I Played the Back Nine Like the Front

I figured I'd feel it around the 12th, like always.

But the 12th came and went...

Then the 15th...

And on 17, I realized I hadn't thought about my feet all day.

I was thinking about my yardages again.

My lines on the greens.

The guy one shot behind me.

I won that event by two.

That July, I won the member-guest.

And that fall, I was back in the club championship.

36 holes on the final day. Again.

3 up with 6 to play. Again.

This time, I closed it out on 16.

That's when I knew these Golfer's Comfort Insoles by Back9Relief were the real deal.

After the trophy, Tommy called me.

He said, "You know you're good enough to take the test now, right?"

He meant the PGA's Playing Ability Test.

36 holes in one day.

The same kind of day that used to end with me sitting in my truck with my shoes off.

This spring, I passed it.

I turned pro at 50.

28 years after I missed my shot.

And I'm not special.

I'm a 50-year-old guy with a mortgage and two kids in college.

I just finally had something under my feet that was made for golf.

Since then, half the guys at my club have asked me what's in my shoes.

And here's what golfers like them are saying:

You Don't Have to Be Chasing a Pro Card for This to Matter

Most golfers I know aren't trying to turn pro.

They just want to beat their buddies on Saturday.

Or finally break 80.

Or play 18 without counting down the holes.

So picture your next round.

You lace up the same golf shoes you already love...

And for once, you're not wondering if your feet will make it to 18.

On the first tee, you feel planted over the ball.

The front nine flies by.

Then you make the turn... the part of the round where things used to fall apart.

But this time, nothing creeps in.

Whether you walk or ride, you're on your feet for over 4 hours...

And you barely think about them.

You're thinking about the putt.

The bet.

The guy who owes you a beer.

You walk off 18 feeling like you could play another nine.

And the next morning, you're already texting the group about next week.

Bernhard Langer won the U.S. Senior Open at 65.

You don't have to be him.

But don't let your feet be the reason you play less golf than you want to.

Right Now, You Can Get 3 Pairs for the Price of 2, Plus 3 Free Bonuses

Here's the part that got me the most.

Look at what I'd already spent trying to fix my feet:

And I was still losing on the back nine.

The Golfer's Comfort Insoles are normally $59.99 a pair.

But right now, Back9Relief is running a Buy 2, Get 1 Free deal...

Which brings it down to about $27 a pair.

That's less than most club event entry fees.

And on top of the 3 pairs, they throw in a few free bonuses:

And if you want to stock up, the Buy 3, Get 2 Free deal gets you 5 pairs for about $24 a pair...

Plus 2 free pairs of Golfer's Recovery Socks on top of everything else.

That's what I did.

One pair for my golf shoes, one for my practice shoes...

And a few extras, because my wife stole a pair for her walking shoes.

You Won't Find These on Amazon or eBay

Back9Relief only sells them on their own website.

No middlemen. No retail markups...

Which is how they keep the price this low.

It also keeps the cheap knockoffs out.

So if you see something that looks similar somewhere else, it's not the real thing.

And They Don't Stay in Stock for Long

Since they're built specifically for golf, they're made in small batches.

And with more golfers buying extra pairs for their friends and family...

Popular sizes can sell out fast.

When that happens, it can take a few weeks to restock.

So if you're reading this, there's still a good chance your size is available.

And the Buy 2, Get 1 Free deal is part of a Black Friday Sale that won't be around forever.

Try Them for 90 Days. If Your Feet Don't Feel Better, Get a Full Refund.

Competitive golf teaches you one thing fast...

You only trust what holds up under pressure.

So test them.

You get 90 days.

Wear them every round. Walk 18 or ride 18.

Trim them to fit your shoes. Even if they're used or trimmed, they're still eligible for a return.

And if your feet don't feel better, just email their support team for a full refund.

So either you're finally playing the back nine like the front...

Or you get your money back.

The only way you lose is if you never try them.

So Now, You've Got Two Choices to Make

Picture yourself six months from now...

I spent 20 years thinking my shot was gone.

Turns out, I just needed something made for golf under my feet.

Now you know there is.

Try them for 90 days, risk-free.

I'll see you out there.

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