A GOLF shop has hatched an ingenious method to prevent a limited-edition Air Jordan shoe from being purchased by resellers – by asking punters to drive a golf ball 200 yards.
Trendy Golf has put the task in place for anyone looking to buy Nike’s latest sneaker collaboration – the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low Golf shoe.
Anyone attempting to buy the shoes will be presented with the golfing challenge at the two Pitch London stores in the City of London and Soho later this week.
Prospective buyers won’t be able to buy the shoe unless they can prove – in only two attempts – that they can successfully drive a golf ball 200 yards, or 150 yards for women.
The move comes as an attempt to combat “scalpers” – people who bulk purchase limited edition releases like this with the intention of reselling them for a much higher price than RRP.
The challenge involves taking a drive on a golf simulator, to weed out those trying their luck from actual golfers.
To even get that far, would-be shoe buyers must enter a raffle draw which will see only 72 people offered the chance to attend the event.
Once any customer has completed the challenge, they will then be able to acquire the limited-edition golf shoe.
The shoe itself is olive and white, with Travis Scott’s trademark backwards black Nike swoosh on the sides.
The embossing on the heel of each shoe is lime green, with the right shoe featuring the Air Jordan logo and the left shoe boasting Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack logo.
News of the golfing challenge was shared online last week by a social media user writing: “A golf store in London is trying to stop resellers from purchasing the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low golf shoes.
“By requiring buyers to drive a golf ball 200+ yards (150+ for women) in two attempts, that’s an awesome idea.”
Trendy Golf’s own post reads: “Enter this raffle draw to win one of only 72 spots to attend our exclusive in store event at an exclusive London location on 13.10.23 (official launch day).
“There will be a welcome drink upon entry as you make your way down to Pitch’s exclusive members only area, where the event will be taking place.
“To qualify to purchase the Travis Scott Nike Jordan shoes, you will have to make two attempts to drive the ball 200 yards or more (150 yards or more for ladies).
“This is to ensure that the shoes are being purchased by golfers rather than resellers.”
The posts received over 11,000 likes and hundreds of comments from golfers seemingly driven by the unique idea.
One said: “Great idea to solve a problem in a unique way – there’s much simpler ways to solve this but at least it’s a start to try and reward actual fans.”
Another added: “They should do this to get tee times at some courses.”
A third joked: “Just ask the buyer if they enjoy playing golf, if they say ‘Yes of course’ they’re not a golfer, if they laugh and sarcastically say ‘Yeah, I love it’ then give them the shoes.”
Another replied: “This is a genius idea, even though even the average resellers should be able to drive a ball 200 yards.”
A fifth commented: “I’m confused both by why a golfer would want Travis Scott shoes, and also why Travis Scott would care anything about golfers.”
Travis Scott has now released over 20 sneakers in collaboration with Nike, with over half of these being Air Jordan 1 models – although this shoe is his first foray into the world of golf.
