Interviews with a Golf Weirdo: The Florida golf shoe obsessive
Are you a golf weirdo? Do you know one? If you have a weird habit/collection/superstition/whatever relating to our great sport and would like to see it featured here, we want YOU. Be in touch at shane.spr8@gmail.com.
The email from Brian came with an enticing headline: "Perfect guy for your article." His buddy Hank Green, he explained, was "funny, a little bit strange at times, completely unashamed of his obsession, and genuinely one of the most entertaining and likable personalities in our golf circle." That obsession? Golf shoes. Lots and lots of golf shoes ... enough to outfit an entire company of golf soldiers. He connected us, and Hank, who is 67 and works in the power industry, was just as unashamed as advertised while I figured out what made him tick. The interview below is edited for length and entertainment.
Hank, hello. What makes you a golf weirdo?
It really started when we moved here five years ago. I live in Ft. Myers, in a community called Verandah, and our two courses are Old Orange and Whispering Oaks. Originally we weren't going to be golf members, because even though I'm obsessed, she was done with being a golf widow. But there's a big group of women who play here, and they convinced her to try it, she became addicted, and then I could become a member.
It sounds like your chance to become a golf weirdo was really on a knife's edge.
It worked out good for me.
And this is where the shoes come in?
So when we got here, we went to a party at my friend's house. His name's Lew Bennett. And Lew Bennett had about 40, maybe 50 pairs of G/Fore golf shoes. And I always had a number of golf shoes, many years ago it was mostly FootJoy, but at the time I had two or three pairs. And I'm like, 'there's no way that Lew Bennett can out-shoe me.'
I didn't expect this to be a classic rivalry story.
He had this shoe setup in his garage, and it's basically the same shoe, but every different color and every different design. And I'm just looking at these goes and I'm like, man, I really like golf shoes. And we kind of joke around, he dresses well, I like to dress well, we would go back and forth with a little bit of banter about who's dressed better, so I just decided that if I had an outfit, I had to have a pair of shoes that matched that outfit. And I just decided that Lew Bennett was not going to have more golf shoes than me.
Has he kept up at all? Should I be talking to Lew Bennett right now? Are you the Frazier to his Ali?
Oh no, no, no. He could if he wanted to, he could leave me in the dust, but he doesn't. He picks a particular style, and he'll wear them until he finds a new style.
A true moderate, with just his 50 pairs.
Yeah, absolutely.
So what's your raw shoe total now?
Probably approaching 130 for myself. [Update: Hank later counted, and he has 137.] And then my wife has another 50, and I've probably given away two dozen.
Incredible. Before we get into those details, do you have a favorite brand?
I have around 17 different brands. I like to find unusual golf shoes. I actually have a couple here in my office to show you. For example, this Christmas I just got a new pair of Royal Albert Ross that were—I don't know if you're familiar with many golf shoe brands...
I'm ashamed to admit that I own just one functional pair.
So Royal Albert Ross, they're headquartered out of the UK, and handmade in Portugal and Italy. Duca del Cosma's another one that I have, they're headquartered out of the Netherlands, and also made in Portugal and Italy. Then I have a pair of Lambdas there, they're also European, a pair of Veccis, and then of course I have G/Fore, everybody knows G/Fore. And then of course I'm really big on FootJoy Premieres as well. So I have this variety, but they all have to look unusual. Let me turn the camera around for you.
[turns camera around]
So the light blue suede ones are brand new just from under the tree, and the ones in the middle there, the black ones with the gold cap on the toe, those are Veccis. They're kind of a tribute to Payne Stewart. He used to wear the toes out of his shoes, so they started putting those metal caps on them, and they're really cool looking shoes.
Do you actually wear all these?
Oh yeah, you've got to be able to wear them. They've got to be functional. I've got a system. The process starts with my wife, she has a rotation for my golf polos. She puts them in the closet on the right hand side, and I have to pick one. So this one today, it's kind of blue, it's got a little blue stripe on it, and I've got on a pair of gray slacks because it's a little cool today. So if I were playing golf, I'd go into my closet, and I'd start looking at which shoes I have that matched up. And then I'd look at which shoes I haven't worn within the last three or four months. Today I'd probably pick those blue and white cap toes, they'd go.
What's the most you've ever paid for a pair?
Probably $300. And that's retail price, probably for one of my Royal Albert Ross pairs. But I don't buy many on retail. I wait for a sale and I look for deals, for holidays or when they're clearing out their inventory to bring in new styles. I'm on a lot of mailing lists, and I'm constantly, in my idle time, just on the internet, going back and forth with customer service, and I've actually corresponded directly with the managing director of Duca del Cosmo.
It's not inexpensive. If we added up between my wife's shoes and my shoes, you're probably looking at 170 pairs of shoes. And even if I paid a hundred dollars for them, you're still talking $18,000 worth of shoes, I guess. And they probably average north of a hundred.
Not to mention the ones you've given away. Who's getting these shoes?
Well, you know Brian.
Yes, the friend who called you "a little bit strange at times," but also, to be fair, "entertaining and likable."
So we have this group of friends. We call ourselves the "Broke Eight," because our wives are trying to spend us broke, going on trips and things like that.
This coming from the man who has spent $20,000 on golf shoes in five years.
I know, I know. So, Brian had literally one pair of golf shoes, and I said, you can't have one pair of golf shoes. Because if you wear them twice, you've got to let the leather breathe. There are things you've got to do for shoe care. And he's a bit rough on shoes.
I could tell something was off with that guy.
But Brian and some of my other friends, they thought they had enough shoes.
Outrageous.
They don't have near enough. So I'm the guy who makes sure they do. In fact, right now I'm bidding on a pair of brand new golf shoes for Brian, even though he has two pairs on order that he hasn't received yet. Sometimes I get them so inexpensive that if it doesn't hurt my pocket, I'll just walk over and hand it to him. And other friends, if I see something in their particular style, I'll just buy them and say, you owe me a beer.
By the way, if you want to know if I have a nickname, I do.
Oh?
They call me Moe, from The Godfather. Like Moe Green.
Are you Italian? [Note: I briefly forgot that Moe Green is Jewish in The Godfather]
No, I'm not. My mother is Cuban and Bahamian.
So why do they call you Moe, just because of the last name?
Well, they're Italian and Sicilian, and if you remember the movie, Moe was a flashy Las Vegas guy.
Got it. In any case, you sound like a good friend to have, a sort of golf shoe Santa Claus. Do you ever send shoes to your favorite golf writers, perhaps one who lives in Durham, NC and wears a size 13? You don't have to answer right away. Moving on, is it weird to ask what size shoe you wear?
No, that's not weird. I wear a size 10, or a 10 and a half. I know most of my friend's sizes. [Here, he went on to list the shoe size of several friends.] And I know their wives' size, which is even stranger.
Are they okay with that? You knowing specific details about their wives' feet?
Yeah, they're okay with that. They know I'm the shoe guy. And it's almost like ... one of the guys recently texted me, sent me his wife's shoe size and said, she's looking for this particular brand of shoe and this particular style, can you find them for her? They know I can find a deal for them.
So you're like a consultant, too.
I guess so.
Speaking of women, you've mentioned your wife. How does she feel about all this?
You want to ask her?
Sure.
[Hank brings the computer to his living room, where we meet his wife]
He wants to know if you're accepting of my shoe habit.
Hello, how are you. I'm Shane. Are you okay with all this? Blink twice if you need help.
Hank's wife, who is named Nicole: Well, I'm a shoe person, and in my previous life I used to say shoes and pocketbooks never made me feel fat, frumpy, or old. I always had a lot of shoes myself, so I kind of have to suck it up. There's worse problems I could have.
It sounds like you benefit a little too.
Nicole: I put in my orders. Every so often I get a shoe that I didn't ask for, but usually I"ll see a shoe and say, 'hey, I kind of like this one.' And I'll let him do the rest of the work. Now I just make sure that he doesn't repeat the shoes, because otherwise it's a waste.
Too true.
[Hank returns to his office.]
Let's get a little deeper on this. What's the most satisfying moment in the process? Is it when you buy it? Receive it? Put them on for the first time? What's the biggest rush for a shoe fiend like you?
There are three different answers to that. If I get a deal, like I did on these blue suede ones, that part is great, but then you get them, and you can't even appreciate how pretty they are unless you hold them. When you wear them, though, and someone notices them on the tee box or out on the range, that's special.
And this all becomes part of your identity, doesn't it?
Yeah. They know I'm the shoe guy. Like I said, people know I can help them with their own shoes,, and that's awesome. And when I go into the pro shop, that's the first thing anybody in the pro shop looks at, is what shoes I'm wearing. In fact, we have a great merchandising person here at Verandah, Brittney, and if there's a new style of shoe coming out, or a new polo, she'll put them aside and come to me. She knows I'm good for a purchase.
Sounds like easy money for Brittney. Beyond that, where does the urge to get so many come from? What is it that spurs you on past owning a sensible amount of shoes? Say, five?
I've actually sat and thought about that, and I don't know. I grew up on an island, Key West, and I want to say my closet was probably four feet wide. And I had chest of drawers, but everything I had was in that closet, and we were by no means poor, but I don't know, I had maybe three, four pair of shoes.
Hank, this sounds exactly like my upbringing, and I still own three pairs of shoes.
Yeah. I don't know, I just like having nice shoes and I like having nice things. And I'm at a stage of my life where I can afford them. I wish I could give you a better answer as to why, but I'll do the same thing with hats, and belts, but I've just got to have them. And I've got to have a deal, too, that's the other obsession.
Last question for you—who are the pros with really top-notch shoe game? Also, what's your handicap? Beyond owning too many shoes.
Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gary Player for the pros question. And my index is currently eight.
Hank, you're the man, thank you again for sharing all this. Where's the best place to send you my address?
[Hank does not respond]
Previously on Interviews with a Golf Weirdo: