True game changers

[revkev]

Between Callaway’s ball claims and now Cleveland’s wedge claims I’m over it. If you’re really a game changer you don’t have to tell people about it, IMO. It just happens.

 

I would say that the real game changers in my golfing life time have been:

 

Ping with its Putter and then Eye 2 iron. Real technology jumps with both that caused large number of players on tour to use them and also that had a carry over impact for the rest of us.

 

Taylor Made’s original one - yes the Big Bertha was a great advance after that because it proved that bigger was better but the move to metal was insured with that Pittsburg persimmon driver. For all of us.

 

The Pro VI will forever be the ball that changed the ball in my lifetime. In two weeks everyone had to game it on tour. I’ve never seen anything else like that.

 

There have been any number of great clubs, balls or other advanced but to me each of these were true trend setters and permanent game changers.

 

Reactions? Have I left something out?

 

Again this is I my golfing life time - going back to the mid 60’s.

 

 

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[DiscipleofPenick]

Between Callaway’s ball claims and now Cleveland’s wedge claims I’m over it. If you’re really a game changer you don’t have to tell people about it, IMO. It just happens.
 
I would say that the real game changers in my golfing life time have been:
 
Ping with its Putter and then Eye 2 iron. Real technology jumps with both that caused large number of players on tour to use them and also that had a carry over impact for the rest of us.
 
Taylor Made’s original one - yes the Big Bertha was a great advance after that because it proved that bigger was better but the move to metal was insured with that Pittsburg persimmon driver. For all of us.
 
The Pro VI will forever be the ball that changed the ball in my lifetime. In two weeks everyone had to game it on tour. I’ve never seen anything else like that.
 
There have been any number of great clubs, balls or other advanced but to me each of these were true trend setters and permanent game changers.
 
Reactions? Have I left something out?
 
Again this is I my golfing life time - going back to the mid 60’s.
 
 
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The original Odyssey 2-ball. Everybody that didn't have a Scotty bagged that thing when I was a caddy. I also think the TaylorMade R7 drivers because those were the first with adjustable weights.

I agree with you 100% on the original Pro V1 because that solid core ball changed everything.

Let's just be realistic. The USGA hasn't changed ball or club specs in a decade plus. Wasn't the last major change them rolling back wedge grooves? My point is everything is maxed out to those specifications already. When manufacturers talk about revolutionary changes, realistically we're looking at things like making the cover of golf balls tenths of a millimeter thicker or thinner or moving the CG half a centimeter deeper in a club head. Without major USGA changes or the development of a truely revolutionary material for club construction this is as good as it's gonna be.

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[revkev]

I like the R7 call - yes adjustability is a huge change.

Was the two ball really something new or an enhancement? It certainly had a good, albeit short run.


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[PMookie]

For me, the advent of the introduction of steel to golf. First with shafts, then with drivers/fairways, etc.

Then balls in the 90s.

[DiscipleofPenick]

I like the R7 call - yes adjustability is a huge change.

Was the two ball really something new or an enhancement? It certainly had a good, albeit short run.


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Was there something before that accomplished the same type of visual aid? The early 2000s was when I got into golf so I don't recall putters that weren't in the Anser-type head shape, Bulleye, or Zebras. Even if it wasn't the first it still led to the alignment aid boom in mallet putters that's still going with Triple Track.

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[cnosil]

2 hours ago, DiscipleofPenick said:

Was there something before that accomplished the same type of visual aid? The early 2000s was when I got into golf so I don't recall putters that weren't in the Anser-type head shape, Bulleye, or Zebras. Even if it wasn't the first it still led to the alignment aid boom in mallet putters that's still going with Triple Track.
 

 

2 hours ago, revkev said:

Was the two ball really something new or an enhancement? It certainly had a good, albeit short run.
 

I Kam going to say enhancement.  the Pelz 3 ball was in 1986

 

[cnosil]

A couple of things that might be considered game changers would be the advancement of materials in woods: persimmon, steel, titanium, and now the incorporation of carbon;  the use of milling machines over forgings which allowed for more precision in manufacturing. 

In the fitting world,  it would be the use of shaft adapters/club connex to allow people to try club combinations without fitters having to have glued clubs in stock.

Callaway's AI for design will become a game changer; as well as 3D printing.

[cnosil]

I'll also add Broadie's work for strokes gained;  it has changed the way people play/strategize golf.  

[DiscipleofPenick]

A couple of things that might be considered game changers would be the advancement of materials in woods: persimmon, steel, titanium, and now the incorporation of carbon;  the use of milling machines over forgings which allowed for more precision in manufacturing. 
In the fitting world,  it would be the use of shaft adapters/club connex to allow people to try club combinations without fitters having to have glued clubs in stock.
Callaway's AI for design will become a game changer; as well as 3D printing.

We could also say the rubber grip. Hand wrapping leather had to be so difficult and precise.

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[revkev]

I'm really looking for stuff that we can remember as opposed to stuff that we know happened historically.  For example I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that PMookie was not around when steel shafts first came out.

 

I knew there was something before the two ball - had forgotten that it was Pelz - why not?

 

I agree with the AI stuff although it seems as if a number of companies were there about the same time - it certainly will be the wave of the future.  

 

Beyond a doubt Brodie and his type of statistical analysis are huge game changers - great call there.  It amazes me still when I hear an older announcer wondering if a guy were better off laying up to a "favorite" yardage or hitting it so close to the green.  It's like asking if you'd rather have a 230 hitter who bangs 40 dingers or a guy who hits 10 and bats .300.  The object in golf at the professional level is to shoot the lowest score and the object in baseball is to score the most runs.  If research suggests a different way of thinking, I'll go with the research every time.

 

 

[DiscipleofPenick]

I agree with you on the research@revkev but for me it needs to be definitive. For example I was eating through the Shot Scope books the other day and found contradictory data, or at least thier conclusions.

In their driver section the data suggested hitting driver all the time no matter what. But in their approach shot section they state that it is paramount importance to be in the fairway as that is the best way to get it close to the flag. Wellllll which is it? Rip driver to have a shorter approach or make sure one is in the fairway to give the best chance to knock it close? There is no real conclusion here and one has to decide what approach is best based on their own skills and confidence.

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[juspoole]

Movable sleeves and weights in drivers I think is huge from a fitting standpoint and letting average golfers enjoy the game more if properly fitted. 

The push for hybrids have been very big as well.  From 2005 to now, the amount of players using them is staggering.

 

[fixyurdivot]

On 3/6/2021 at 9:13 AM, revkev said:

 

Between Callaway’s ball claims and now Cleveland’s wedge claims I’m over it. If you’re really a game changer you don’t have to tell people about it, IMO. It just happens.

 

I would say that the real game changers in my golfing life time have been:

 

Ping with its Putter and then Eye 2 iron. Real technology jumps with both that caused large number of players on tour to use them and also that had a carry over impact for the rest of us.

 

Taylor Made’s original one - yes the Big Bertha was a great advance after that because it proved that bigger was better but the move to metal was insured with that Pittsburg persimmon driver. For all of us.

 

The Pro VI will forever be the ball that changed the ball in my lifetime. In two weeks everyone had to game it on tour. I’ve never seen anything else like that.

 

There have been any number of great clubs, balls or other advanced but to me each of these were true trend setters and permanent game changers.

 

Reactions? Have I left something out?

 

Again this is I my golfing life time - going back to the mid 60’s.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

+1 on PING's Anser putter and Eye 2 irons.  Karsten Solheim is to golf what Nikola Tesla was to electricity.  More recently I would add Henri Johnson's introduction of ball launch monitor technology and the significant advances of these system in the subsequent few decades.  The ability to move from static club fitting to dynamic fitting is huge.

[silver & black]

I don't think anything other than what Rev named, is an actual game changer. AI, materials, tech, etc ... are all game enhancers, IMO. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by silver & black
spelling

[aerospace_ray]

Agree most definitely with Ping . Especially attention to club fitting (color codes for lie angle), perimeter weighting cast clubs and the Anser.

Maybe not a game changer, Maybe not well known with current generation golfers that only buy OEM off the rack but As a long time club builder/fitting hobbyist I appreciate Tom Wishon and his research regarding golf shafts. Major influence within clubmaking/fitters community and in my opinion impacted many golf shaft designers. To me he demonstrated truth testing in his research/efforts to help fit golfers to a proper golf shaft. To me that body of work is a lot like the MGS drive & commitment to gathering quality measurable data sets to find truth in which clubs, products work/fit best to a golfer.

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[JohnSmalls]

Forums like this where we can all support each other's club hoe-ing ways

[Thin2win]

I guess from tour adoption, nothing is going to compete with the ProV1. 

But... Graphite shafts in drivers comes pretty close. They went from non-existent to 98% adoption in a very short time frame. I remember Tiger's first wins were with a 43" steel shaft. That extra 2-3" of controllable club has done as much as anything to add distance. 

Taylormade Spider putter. Honorable mention (yes, I did just get one). 

 

 

[TBT]

The switch to metal drivers was pretty significant, I can still hear Peter Allis saying “ he’s hitting a “metal wood” during telecasts. But after a short time they were all metal.

Oversized putter grips is another and that one wasn’t that long ago....there were a few guys adding Superstroke grips as an after market customization and then in a very short time it’s hard to find a putter sold without one.


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[Lakeeriegolfer]

5 hours ago, TBT said:

Oversized putter grips is another and that one wasn’t that long ago....there were a few guys adding Superstroke grips as an after market customization and then in a very short time it’s hard to find a putter sold without one.

I remember when the fat Tiger Shark grips came out, and some of the guys at the club I caddied at got them.  It was so weird, and honestly a pain to handle the larger grip when double-bagging and trying to get two of them into two different overstuffed golf bags.  Lots of grip sticking issues with bags with those and the really tacky Winn grips. 

[MaxEntropy]

On 3/9/2021 at 10:21 AM, DiscipleofPenick said:

For example I was eating through the Shot Scope books the other day and found contradictory data, or at least thier conclusions.

You must have been HUNGRY!

[DiscipleofPenick]

You must have been HUNGRY!

I DEVOUR a ton of golf content this time of year. Mostly it's eating out of boredom waiting for the season to start.

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