There's a real thrill associated with buying new golf equipment. The shiny new driver, with its siren call of more distance off the tee. The gleaming putter promising a chance to sink all those 5-footers.
Even the golf shoe gets some credit for being a fun purchase. There's something nice about a new pair of shoes, still sparkling white, guaranteed to be with you through every shot and every inch of the course.
But spikes don't hold the same appeal.
In fact, not so long ago, most amateur golfers only noticed their spikes when there was a problem -- they needed to be tightened, or perhaps when one went missing. Over the last decade, the status of spikes has raised considerably with the advent of plastic spikes and the opportunity to choose from between different offerings.
Plastic spikes, often called alternative or soft spikes, offer golfers more brands and options than their metal predecessors. Touted for causing less damage to greens, alternative spikes won favor from golf course superintendents everywhere.
A 1999 study at Michigan State University found that alternative spikes' traction compared satisfactorily to metal spikes during the golf swing and when climbing a dry slope. Only when climbing a wet slope did the metal spikes significantly improve over alternative.
Coupled with the high reduction in damage to greens, the coming of alternative cleats that provided equal traction spelled the end for metal spikes.
The same year that the study was done, 1999, was the first year that the PGA Tour reported more golfers wore alternative spikes than traditional ones. Some professionals continue to wear traditional spikes in tournament play, but the number is decreasing. In fact, it can be next to impossible for an amateur golfer to even find them for sale.
Interestingly, spike makers are starting to come back with a combination spike that incorporates metal into an alternative design.
Earlier this year, Champ introduced its Pro Stinger spike, a plastic-metal hybrid that gives golfers more stability like old-fashioned metal spikes but is better for the greens like the new alternatives.
This month, Champ reported that at least 20 golfers in the field at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, including winner Chris Couch, used the new spike. Phil Mickelson, who wore the Pro Stinger spikes in his shoes for his Masters win, is another one of the pros using this new hybrid spike.
Right now, Champ is making these solely for professionals, and aiming them at pros who have not yet switched from metal spikes. It's unknown what kind of damage these spikes would do to greens in comparison to other plastic spikes, and therefore not a product that golf courses would promote to their members.
Most plastic spikes are also marketed as being more comfortable for wear, because they bend with a golfer's foot as he or she walks the course.
Softspikes' Pulsar is at the forefront of this trend, with Reactive Comfort Technology -- a curved design that improves foot comfort and flexibility through flexible points on each of the spike's eight legs. Pulsar also features webbing between the legs of each cleat that reduces clogging with mud and debris.
Another trend in spikes: Marketing to women.
Champ has introduced a colored spike called the Lady Stinger that incorporates the company's Stinger technology and Visible Wear Indicator that shows when the spike has worn down and needs to be replaced.
"With more than 80 percent of LPGA players choosing Champ, it only makes sense that we create a product for the growing female golf market," said Harris MacNeill, company CEO.
The Lady Stingers currently are available in pink and blue.
While spikes will never get the "oohs" and "ahhs" of more flashy -- and expensive -- golf equipment, manufacturers are branching out beyond the initial features that the soft spikes offered to bring golfers more choices and personality in the spikes they wear.
