Andy DevaneyThe Adare Manor and G/FORE golf shoe has arrived at a rather useful moment. With the County Limerick resort preparing to host the 2027 Ryder Cup, G/FORE has created a limited-edition shoe carrying unmistakable touches of the estate — including its bear emblem, bespoke artwork and, for anyone who feels white laces lack sufficient Irish conviction, a second pair in Adare Irish Green.
It costs €350 through the Adare Manor online store and is being produced in limited numbers.
This is not, incidentally, being presented as some miraculous breakthrough in footwear engineering. It is something rather more straightforward: a premium golf shoe made for one of the sport’s most conspicuous luxury destinations at a time when the eyes of golf are beginning to wander towards Limerick.
Adare Manor has a rather large date in the diary
Adare Manor will host Europe and the United States from 13–19 September 2027 in the centenary staging of the Ryder Cup.
That matters to the timing.
A Ryder Cup host does not suddenly become interesting on Monday morning of tournament week. Its identity is built in the months and years beforehand, through the course, the hotel, the imagery, the stories and, inevitably, the things golfers decide they would quite like to own.
The new G/FORE shoe slots neatly into that picture without actually dressing itself up as Ryder Cup merchandise.
That distinction is probably sensible.
The bear gets a walk around the golf course
The most distinctive touch is the Adare Manor bear emblem on the side of each shoe.
Inside, custom insoles feature artwork inspired by the estate, while the interchangeable laces come in white and Adare Irish Green.
None of it is particularly noisy.
Golf fashion has endured enough giant logos to qualify as an optical examination, so restraint is welcome. From a distance, it is an elegant leather golf shoe. Look closer and the Adare details begin to reveal themselves.
That feels much more in keeping with the place.
Built for golf rather than merely being photographed beside it
Beneath the decorative touches is a fairly serious specification.
The upper is made from waterproof full-grain leather, with a soft polyester lining. The outsole combines 60 per cent TPU with 40 per cent rubber and is designed to provide grip and stability during the round.
Those are specifications rather than findings from a test, but they at least demonstrate that the collaboration extends beyond changing the laces and applying a crest.
Waterproof leather also seems a sensible starting point for a shoe carrying the name of an Irish golf destination. No further meteorological commentary is required.
G/FORE and Adare Manor make a logical pairing
There is little mystery to the commercial thinking.
G/FORE operates in the part of golf where performance apparel and conspicuous style have become increasingly comfortable bedfellows. Adare Manor occupies similarly rarefied territory at the destination end of the game.
Put the two together and the result feels less like an opportunistic licensing exercise and more like two brands speaking to much the same golfer.
The Ryder Cup only sharpens that proposition.
Adare Manor is already selling a growing collection of 2027 Ryder Cup merchandise alongside its wider golf range, while the limited-edition G/FORE shoe gives the estate another product carrying its own identity rather than simply that of the tournament.
Limited numbers and very deliberate timing
There is no supplied production figure, so “limited edition” will have to do the heavy lifting on scarcity.
At €350, this was hardly destined for the supermarket middle aisle anyway.
The likely attraction is as much emotional as practical: somebody who has played Adare Manor, plans to visit, follows the Ryder Cup or simply likes G/FORE gets something that belongs specifically to this moment in the resort’s history.
And unlike a commemorative ball marker, you can actually walk 18 holes in it.
Adare Manor still has more than a year before the Ryder Cup arrives. The build-up, though, is already gathering pace.
Apparently even the shoes have started early.
