On Wednesday, the star-studded pro-am at The Annika was the place to be. Caitlin Clark was teeing it up for the second straight year — and had Indiana Fever teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull caddying for her — and Kai Trump, the President’s granddaughter, was also on the course, having secured a sponsor’s exemption for the week.
And then there was Nelly Korda, with whom Clark was paired. That power group had a massive following all day — which was also great advertising for Korda’s new kicks.
The two-time major champ debuted her new Nike golf shoes Wednesday — the Nike Free Golf “Nelly Korda” — and talked about the inspiration for them after her round. The shoes are white with red and yellow features (symbolic of a Leo, Korda’s zodiac sign), including the Nike swooshes.
Although the most unique part of her shoes might be what’s dangling off the outside of each heel: golden charms of special significance to Korda, including a smiley face, tennis racket and Nike swooshes.
Korda’s parents were tennis stars, and her brother, Sebastian, is also a pro tennis player, so the sport has been a big part of her life. She wanted to make sure it was represented in her shoe.
“When I was growing up I had so many amazing role models but they were in tennis,” Korda said Wednesday. “They all wore Nike. They all had their kits. At grand slams Maria Sharapova came out in her dress kit. You had Roger Federer, Nadal. We watched tennis a lot in our household, so I had tennis players as role models. My dream at that point was I want to be a Nike athlete. That’s now you know you made it, you are a Nike athlete. All the greats were wearing Nike. So that to me is like a really pinch-me moment that I was able to sit down with a design team and go through what means the most me in my life, family, tennis, golf, whatever. Those are what play a part in the charms.
“And then the Leo energy because I am inspired by lions. I love lions. There is just so much that I pull from that to myself,” she continued. “But I think that’s like the coolest thing about what we do, is like the girls in the crowd right now, they’re looking up to all of us. We’re their role models. They could be dreaming of being a Nike athlete and doing what I’m doing right now. It’s really cool to see, and it’s probably the best part of what we do, is kind of inspiring the next generation, hoping that they love the game of golf or the sport that we love as much as we do.”
Korda also gifted a pair of her signature shoes to Clark, joking they are “guaranteed” to make her play better.
While Clark has her pair, you will have to wait a little longer. The Nike Free Golf “Nelly Korda” goes on sale on Nov. 20 for $155. You can sign up to get notified of the drop here.
“If you told me this, I don’t know, 10 years ago when I was in the crowds that I would have my own shoe and be here playing in front of everyone and inspiring the next generation I would tell you you’re crazy,” Korda said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
