[Update 10 Jul 2023] Mark your calendars for 17 July as the Nike Air Max 1 Golf “Play to Live” is slated to arrive via Nike Japan and select retailers with a retail price tag of 24,200 JPY (~US$170).

Golf shoes have always carried a type of austerity to them but a revolution is in motion. A revolution by one who’s well-accustomed to it. Nike, with their latest offering of golf shoes, overhauls not only the entrenched definition of what they should be, but redefining what they could be.

On top of Jordan Brand’s own offering of golfing footwear like the Air Jordan 1 High Golf “Panda”, the Swoosh is doing their own as well especially on the Air Max 1. Recent ones seen are the peach-colored Nike Air Max 1 Golf “Always Fresh”, and the “Panda” treatment of it.

Next in line: the “Play to Live” colorway. It adds vibrancy to the collared shirt and chinos aesthetic of the sport, by taking inspiration from arguably its antithesis: Flower Power.

The AM 1 G sees white making up the twill base layer, laces, tongue, and collar, before retiring on the midsole below. That’s as far as the muted elements on the pair go. Starting from the mudguard, the hippie-inspired floral graphics traverse through its circumference with hits of color on the tongue tag, topmost eyelet, and the outsoles creating a unified dynamism.

For its other most notable features, come the words “Play to Live” on the lateral Swoosh and through the translucent outsole, stylized in ’60s typography. The motif reemerges disparately on the heel counter with the aforementioned phrase debossed on the the right, and “Live to Play” on the left. They make one final showing in the same arrangement on the footbed as a final flourish.

There’s no release date yet at the time of writing but they’re expected to go for US$160 when they emerge on Nike’s brick-and-click down the road.

Worth considering too, check out the Nike Air Max 1 Premium “Denim Leopard”.