« It's TRUE, you won't want to take these shoes off »

There they sit, Chapeau Noir's TRUE Tours from TRUE Linkswear. Click to shop.juxtaposed beside a ridiculously oversized Callaway tour bag, patiently waiting to be put back in their natural environment -- the golf course.

Chapeau Noir's TRUE Tours arrived four weeks ago, the day after winter provided a hint as to what's to come, coating the local fairways with five centimeters of snow, postponing Chapeau Noir's much anticipated premier outing in the most anticipated golf shoe of 2010.

Fortunately, the early snow of late October gave way to warmer temperatures in early November, affording Chapeau Noir the opportunity to squeeze a final round in between his delayed pre-winter garden clean up and the never ending stream of trips to the local hockey rinks, where Chapeau Noir Junior puts in many hours as a goaltender for the local peewee side.

Speaking of Chapeau Noir Junior, the heir apparent now nears his 12th birthday, and accompanied Chapeau Noir on this day to play nine holes under the fading light of a cloudless sky.

As per the well orchestrated pre-launch mythology built by the savvy TRUE Linkswear team instructed, Chapeau Noir did not place the TRUE Tours in his trusty shoe bag and transfer them to the trunk of the car -- nooo. Instead, Chapeau Noir donned the spikeless (Ergo-Traction Treaded) TRUE Tours in the mud room of Chez Chapeau Noir, and wore them like he would any other manner of footwear -- from the doorstep, outwards.

Initial impressions of the TRUE Tour golf shoe, as has been written by other influential golf writers and will be reiterated here, is that the TRUEs are noticeably wider through the toe box, and yes, it does take some getting used to, as it is a bit of a different look. It's important to note however, that Chapeau Noir's initial impressions also included how wonderfully soft the TRUEs felt, both under and around the foot -- that was TRUEs Sock-Fit Liner in action. Mmmmm. Sock-Fit Linerrrrr.

As time was of the essence if nine holes were to be completed before dark, Chapeau Noir found it to be a distinct pleasure not to have to change into his golf shoes upon arriving at the club. As Chapeau Noir Junior tees it up in his Vans, we were kindred spirits from the get-go, as if we needed to find another reason to be. A quick check-in at the pro shop and we were off to the first tee.

As any father who has ever played golf with his son can attest, you are often startled at how much the offspring has grown, and how quickly the years have passed.  Elasticity personified, Chapeau Noir held his tongue as he witnessed a driver move so far past parallel it bordered on the vertical during the back swing before swooping back through the ball with a swift, though unguided release.

But, back to the shoes.

If there were any concerns over performance, put them aside for good. Though on this day we played under clear skies, the previous days were rain filled, and the course was holding water in lower lying areas -- areas where my ball seem to consistently choose to lie. Not one drop of moisture was to penetrate the TRUEs, grip was second to none.

While Chapeau Noir cannot say without equivocation that he garnered a relationship with the course that was previously unknown to him in his TRUEs, he can attest to the TRUEs wonderful level of comfort.

The best sign of all for any new shoe, is that Chapeau Noir didn't give them a second thought after traversing the first 100 yards of the first hole -- a statement that could not be made with many other shoes that are out-of-the-box new, for blistering, pain, cramping, and foot fatigue tend to rule the day.

No sign of such unpleasantness were detected over the course of nine holes on this day -- in fact, Chapeau Noir kept the TRUEs on not only for the post round refreshments of soda and chips, but for the car ride home, and for a coaching stint behind the bench that evening at Chapeau Noir Junior's hockey game.

Like Chapeau Noir, you won't want to take these shoes off.

TRUE Tour golf shoes from TRUE Linkswear are available now.