Every pair of spiked golf shoes comes with the spikes (or cleats) pre-installed on the shoe. That's the beauty of golf shoes: Golfers can wear them right out of the box and start playing golf.
However, at some point after purchasing golf shoes, the spikes start to wear down. They have to be replaced. How often you should replace your golf spikes depends on how often you play, but replacing golf spikes is inevitable -- that is, unless you just buy another pair of shoes every time your spikes wear out.
Now that you have to replace your golf spikes, you have to go to a sporting goods store, a brick-and-mortar pro shop or an online store to find replacement spikes. With so many different options for golf spikes, it can be confusing, and you might be wondering if golf spikes are universal -- meaning you can buy just any pair of golf spikes.
Are golf shoe spikes universal and interchangeable?
Golf spikes are not all the same. They are not interchangeable, and they're not universal. Each golf shoe uses spikes selected by the manufacturer for that specific shoe. They could have picked spikes meant for comfort or more traction or somewhere down the middle. Regardless of the performance benefits selected for the stock spikes, the reason they're not universal.
There are a variety of different types of insert systems for golf spikes. Insert systems are the receptacles that are located in the middle of spikes on the other side from the spikes themselves. This is how the spikes screw into the soles of the shoes. There are nine different insert systems on the market, and they have different sizes, thread widths and other different characteristics.
How to find the right replacement golf spikes
Fortunately, it's not difficult to find the insert system used for the golf spikes in your golf shoes. Softspikes produces an easy-to-use graphic that can help you figure out which insert system you need.
Based off of this chart, you can find the insert system that you need for your replacement golf spikes. The insert system should also be available with an online search for your shoe model or included with the shoes you purchased. With this info, you can then pick spikes that will be guaranteed to fit, selecting based on the performance characteristics you want.
