By Brian Sommer
It is a melancholy truth of the modern golf industry that durability of thought and durability of product are rarely found in the same place. Brands now appear with the lifespan of a mayfly, propelled briefly by venture capital, influencer enthusiasm, and the illusion that a louder colorway constitutes innovation. Most vanish as quickly as they arrive, leaving behind little more than surplus inventory and a trail of breathless press releases.
So, when a niche golf brand demonstrates actual staying power when it survives not by hype but by restraint it deserves attention.
I first encountered Carnahan Golf some 15 years ago, when its founder, Chris Carnahan, was still personally stewarding a small but principled operation devoted to wedges and putters. These were not the grotesque, over-engineered implements that today resemble horticultural equipment more than sporting tools. They were forged wedges that looked like wedges, and putters whose elegance suggested that the designer had once seen a golf club before attempting to improve upon it.
Blade putters and compact mallets milled, honest, and refreshingly free of alien geometry stood in quiet defiance of the then-approaching era of spacecraft-inspired monstrosities. Carnahan’s work understood a truth many manufacturers now
seem determined to forget…that refinement is subtraction, not accumulation.
Carnahan eventually moved on, but not before embarking on what might best be described as a reclamation project. He acquired Jones Sports Co., resurrecting the unstructured, single strap carry bag familiar to anyone who came of age playing competitive golf in the 1970s or 80s. It was an inspired act of cultural archaeology. The Jones bag clean, functional, unpretentious did not pretend to improve one’s score. It simply respected the game.
As a loyal Jones customer myself (I confess a weakness for products that value elegance over explanation), I was intrigued to learn that the same team had undertaken another revival this time of Forresters, a mid-century outerwear brand whose very name evokes wool, weather, and the Pacific Northwest rather than launch monitors and lifestyle jargon.
Names and color palettes, of course, are cheap. But Forresters’ initial offerings suggest something more serious is underway. The brand’s recent collaboration with PAYNTR Golf a company previously unknown to me, though evidently familiar to PGA Tour viewers via Jason Day produced a golf shoe that manages the increasingly rare feat of being distinctive without being ridiculous.
The RAINSHEDDER shoe does not shout. It suggests. It adheres to the same principle that has guided Jones’ best work: timeless form married to modern function, without the usual carnival barking about “revolutionary” features.
I put the RAINSHEDDER shoes into play during a recent round, anticipating based on the previous day’s rain a suitably damp proving ground. That expectation was cruelly denied by an almost indecent 75-degree, cloudless South Florida afternoon. Still, the test proved illuminating.
Despite being conceived in the rain-soaked mythology of the Pacific Northwest and equipped with what Forresters calls RAINSHEDDER technology, the shoes did not punish me in dry or warm conditions. My feet neither overheated nor protested, an outcome that cannot be taken for granted in modern golf footwear, where breathability is often sacrificed at the altar of waterproofing.
Comfort, stability, and appearance all passed muster. The RAINSHEDDER shoe looks like something designed by adults for adults another rarity. It neither demands attention nor apologizes for itself.
And now, a confession.
I have wide feet. Not outrageously so but enough that many golf shoes regard them with suspicion, if not outright hostility. The RAINSHEDDER shoes accommodated them without forcing my foot into the humiliating role of Cinderella’s stepsister, hacking away at bone to fit into a dainty slipper clearly designed for someone else’s anatomy. There was no pinching, no bargaining, no quiet suffering over the final holes. This alone deserves commendation.
Performance-wise, traction was excellent, stability assured, and comfort consistent throughout the round.
A full confession must wait. I intend to walk in them, and to test them under genuinely hostile weather, before rendering a final verdict. But early indications are promising.
Jones, it seems, understands that heritage cannot be manufactured but it can be respected, restored, and allowed to speak for itself. With Forresters, they appear to be doing precisely that.
In an industry obsessed with novelty, there is something quietly radical about restraint.
Photo Courtesy of PAYNTR Golf
Brian Sommer holds a Ph.D. in Leadership from Concordia University Chicago, where his dissertation: “A Paradigm Shift in Teaching and Learning Golf”, reflected his commitment to presence-based learning. His academic background also includes degrees in History, Political Science, Business Administration, and Finance (Cornell University, University of Miami, and Lynn University).
As a Partner at CDI Global, Brian has advised clients across the aerospace, defense, construction, technology, and energy sectors, supporting transformational growth in companies ranging from startups to multinationals.
In each of his roles – coach, professor, strategist, and partner – Sommer brings people back to the ground of being. He invites them to look beyond technique, narrative, or image, and return to the source of authentic performance.