In February, Tiger Woods and Taylor Made announced the launch of Sun Day Red. The standalone brand previewed its upcoming apparel to athletes and fans in an eye-catching invitation-only event in Southern California.

Meanwhile, legendary performance footwear designer Charley Hudak and his team were diligently working behind the scenes to create the brand’s first-ever high-performance golf shoe: the Cyprus Pioneer.

The footwear product creation team worked very closely with Woods to get this shoe to his exact specifications – down to the stitch count. Woods gave Sun Day Red the blueprint to make the best performance and comfort-driven golf footwear for the masses.

Together, they obsessed over every material, every detail and with Woods’ insights, the Pioneer Collection was born. His love of the game and his famously fierce competitiveness is woven into every component of Sun Day Red’s Pioneer Cypress.

Background

“The process was 24/7, no weekends, blood, sweat, and tears. Three weeks in Asia, multiple times, just nose to the grindstone,” said Hudak.

“We had two different prototypes we thought were viable options. He ultimately landed on the one that we suspected, and we were able to fine-tune it to his exact specifications.

Then, two weeks prior to The Masters, I sent him a pair of the Pioneer Cypress almost-final version, but with Tiger, it’s always relentless pursuit of perfection.”

One of the primary desires for Woods was to ensure that this product had superior comfort while walking the course. Utilizing the modern shoemaking manufacturing process, the product creation team, along with Woods, exceeded his expectations.

The Pioneer Cypress comes with two different sock liners-one with a massage footbed (inspired by a coral reef because of Woods’ love of diving and spearfishing) as well as a flat sock liner giving the user a choice to customize their footwear.

“I think we did 19 different iterations and prototypes, and we got the drop down to six. Each time we changed the drop, you had to change measurements to account for the volume of the foot. And, with some of his injuries that lingered from the past, we had to account for those, we continued to fine-tune it for him.”

Performance

Throughout the design process, Hudak and his team spent time with Woods on several secluded golf courses and driving ranges. The 15-time Major champion uses complex jargon that requires a high understanding of golf, mechanics, and physics.

“He’s very performance-driven, and it’s very nuanced,” remembered Hudak. “He almost has like his own language of speaking, and I needed his manager to act as a translator for me.”

Woods philosophized on the concept of “banking” when achieving a smooth transition as he attacked with long irons. Similar to a performance motorcycle on a track, Woods did not want a hard edge but a soft edge. So, the design team incorporated a radius on the outside perimeter to help Woods transition smoothly.

After months of grueling work, Hudak received a call came from the Big Cat himself. “He called me up and said, ‘Go get yourself a beer; you guys killed it.’ He played at The Medalist and was like, ‘These are everything I could hope for.’ So it was a pretty meaningful day in my history, I’ll never forget it.”

Design

In addition to performing at the highest levels, the model is second-to-none in style. The Pioneer Cyprus pays homage to a more heritage classic silhouette that golf community has fully embraced but added a modern twist with the execution of the pattern and styling.

A premium full-grain leather upper pattern is accented by a French cord detail that frames the micro-perf quarter panel, and a signature Tiger Stripe deboss pattern is on the heel counter of the shoe.

Woods’ signature is hidden in the sock liner along with two motivational expressions that embody his persona: “Do the work” and “Put in the time.”

The spike design provides a tiger-like claw effect in the ground.  Three concentric circles around each hexagonal-shaped lug which leans into the idea of the rule of thirds, four claw marks in the front and one in the heel mimic a tiger’s footprint.

Hudak recalled, “He’s pretty conservative. He likes white. He likes black. But he expressed interest in having grey because of the grey days, like the days when it’s tough to get to the range or practice your putts. So we came up with a marketing name, ‘Grey Days.'”

With a retail price of $250, the Pioneer Cypress launches in five colorways: Black/Silver, White/Silver, and Grey/Navy. Sun Day Red will also launch a limited-edition Pioneer Cypress shoe, which Woods himself selected, featuring a red tread plate along with other red detail hits – Black/Red and White/Red (Retail $275). 

The Pioneer Cypress is available on December 4 at sundayred.com, just ahead of Tiger’s Hero World Challenge tournament in the Bahamas.

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