Confession Corner - Admit Your Golf Equipment Biases

[null]

I know we all try to say that any club that can help us has an equal shot of making our bag. 

But lets cut through the bullshit.  We all know that isn't true.  

This doesn't mean you think that other clubs suck compared to the brands you like, it just means you know you have an internal bias that will push you into the brands you like if all things are equal during a fitting

Call it what you want

Bias

Allegiance

Fanboyism

Preference

We all have them

Well this thread is where you can admit it without getting any crap.  You don't need a scientific or tangible reason.  This is about admitting our internal biases in a safe space

[null]

I can get us started.

Positive Bias

Anything that Ping, Titleist, Mizuno and Evnroll make, I will do my due diligence on. I like how their clubs look, I like the brands' messaging, and like the options within their brands that can preform for multiple levels of golfers. 

TaylorMade and Srixon are a notch below.  "Brands of my past" as most of my clubs from HS and College were Taylormade and then Srixons were some of the first clubs I really started getting into when I started getting involved on golf forums in the early 2000s

Cobra will always have a soft spot in my mind because, like Srixon, I really started enjoying their clubs when I was first getting into internet golf stuff.  Particularly their woods.  

Negative Bias

Not going to peel back the onion too much on this, but I don't think I will ever game another Callaway club in my life

PXG - I am sure they perform great, but the marketing and brand image is just something I don't jive with

New Level - I have interacted with their owner multiple times and it was all negative experiences

Indifferent

I don't dislike any of these other brands' they just do nothing for me.

Wilson, Bridgestone, Tour Edge, Cleveland, Sub 70, other DTCs

 

And let me be clear - my biases do not influence what I say on this forum or to other friends or golfers I meet.  I don't think their is bad equipment, only poorly fit equipment.  These are simply MY biases when I look to buy equipment for myself

[Jim Shaw]

my equipment bias is the amount of focus companies put on what goes into developing the heads of their products, from 10,000 feet, as a consumer, I feel there are very few "innovations" but once there is then "best practices' take over and all the top brands copy in some way the innovation, so after a very short time all the top brands are basically the same. I believe more time and energy should be put into the "engine" of the club and that is the shaft. When I get fitted this coming fall it will probably be 75% shaft and 25% type of construction of the head and I am thinking particularly of the irons. For example the tailor-made 790 irons, from what I see they definitely go further than blade type  irons but when they hit the green they dont stop, they have less spin so you have to take that into consideration. 

I know the feedback I get from all the posts on this site will help me wade through the decision making process for new clubs which can be daunting, and I appreciate the help.

[Bag Ratt]

I played Henry Griffits for over 30 years ..I wanted to get into something more modern..

I got fit at Golf Tech with Mizuno which i didn’t like at all.. I played with them for about 5 years 

About 4 months ago I went to a PXG fitting and picked up about 10 extra yards I ordered the Ccore irons that look like a muscle back club. Very happy with the clubs and driver.. I also play a callaway 5 and 7 wood from a few years ago .. I like the head design..

i haven’t tryed any of the offerings from any other manufacturer..but iam extremely happy with PXG … 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Love this thread and for me I think I certainly have some bias towards varies brands for various reasons and even within the different areas of their lineups. Example Callaway I have always liked and enjoyed their drivers, but not so much their irons or wedges. I have tried them, but just didn't really get on with them.

Ping - Love it all and would happily play a full bag.
 
Sub70 - Irons I am a huge fan of and can say I am a sub70 fanboy. 

Cobra - Another brand I really like and there is very little they come out with that I am not super excited for. 

Mizuno - Falls in a similar category, however irons more vs woods. The woods I am very meh on. 

Titleist - They are slowly taking over my bag. I had not really got on with many of their clubs and felt very neutral about them. However got my Tsi3 and my whole perception flipped to falling in love with them.

Taylormade - Honestly pretty neutral. I like the P760 and p770 and I have wanted to like their long clubs, but in the end it feels like a lot of hype so I am pretty selective in my love for them. 

Wilson honestly is a meh. They don't excite me so I don't have any strong feelings or opinions on them. Similar can be said for Tour Edge. 

Putters are a different world. Huge fan of Odyssey, Evnroll and Ping... but I am more shape specific and I will be honest Scotties don't do a whole lot for me. 

Srixon - I love the golf balls. Irons I haven't hit and I am more impressed based off all of your opinions vs my own. 

I really like DTC brands. They have hit a sweet spot with me and I want to try and own them all. 

There are few brands I would say I have a bias against, but if there was one that it would be the most against it would be TM as for the bias towards without question I am in favour of Ping clubs above all. 

[Jnoble89]

I can sheepishly admit that I am somewhat of a Taylormade fanboy. I have no other reason than I was gifted a full used set of older TM clubs by one of my uncle's friends when I started playing. I do have a Titleist driver now, but every other club, at the moment, is Taylormade. There is a good chance of that changing when I get a new irons set as I want to hit the new Sub70 offering badly. 

But I can say that even when I did a driver fitting and the TSi3 fit me best, I was still tempted to go with the Sim 2 even though it didn't perform quite as well as the TSi3. 

[Middler]

I guess I am not typical in that I will only use whatever clubs help me from a limited number of brands. Could change some day but I wouldn't even look at any club not made by Titleist, Mizuno irons, or PING over the past few years. When I get fit, I won't even swing other brands. I've allowed Callaway in the running, but refuse TM or Wilson (even though I used to hold Wilson in very high regard). Some Srixon irons look nice, but I haven’t tried them.

For putters it's Evnroll all the way ***, Scotty's are truly beautiful but I don't like their feel at all. I expected to want a Scotty, but I’ve never liked any I’ve tried out.

I've had Callaway woods but I much prefer Titleist. I had TaylorMade Burner Bubble woods a long time ago, they were OK but I will never buy from TM again. I doubt I will ever buy anything Cobra, but just my opinion. I've thought about PXG but can't get past the annoying advertisements. The other brands are just background noise to me, but I don't expect or want to influence anyone else.

As for other golf equipment brands, see sig line.

*** As an aside, we recently had an outing where we had to use clubs, including putters, from anyone else in our foursome on all par 3's (couldn’t use our own). The other guys had a Scotty, a Rossie and a LAB putter - ALL three of them used my Evnroll on every hole. They must have liked it, since they reached for it every time...

[David Leighton Reid]

For many years I only played Mizuno irons, but a couple of years ago I switched to PXG irons because of the price.  Imagine that.....PXG being less expensive than Mizuno.

For my woods, I have played Ping for several years, but last year, I picked up a PXG driver, 3 wood, and 7 wood, because of the price.  

Now I own, 2 sets of PXG irons, plus the woods mentioned above, but I do not care for the PXG TV ads.

I have also owned clubs from Cobra, Tour Edge, Titlelist, Hogan, MacGregor, and Callaway and all were quality clubs.  

Brand and model selection is very personal....I have to like what I'm looking down at.  My putter for instance, I really like the way my TM Spider X looks behind the ball.  

Edited January 18 by David Leighton Reid

[tony@CIC]

Interesting thread - but I'll go beyond just clubs that are in the bag. 

Positive Bias

TM only because my SIM 2 MAX D driver outshines my 410 along with previous drivers.  Because of that I'm tempted to replace my 410 hybrids even though they have performed well in the past. 

Cobra Fairway Woods and Irons. - I was fitted for both and my Speedzone irons which are a few years old they work better than other OEM's current offerings and look great after 300 + rounds. 

Mizuno - when I got fitted last time they had just stopped production of the  919HM. Ended up ordering the Speedzones because the 921 weren't available yet. 

Volkey Wedges - you can't prey those from my hands, They were well worth the extra $$ over my RTX wedges. 

Shotscope because their support is superior to other golf tech companies

Precision Pro: same as above for support. I had an initial problem with NX7, they immediately sent out an upgraded NX9HD no charge even before I sent the old one back. And what can't you like about free batteries for life. 

Odyssey O Works Putter. - I'm afraid to try anything else - it's just too good. 

Snell & Vice both are more economical and seem to have the same results as my previous gamer - Pro V1

Neutral Bias

Ping - I think of them as a competent engineering company that puts out solid products. I still have the 410 SFT driver (in my spare bag) and the 410 hybrids and even have an older set of G20 irons. Overall solid but not exceptional.

WIlson Staff - I still have my C300's in my spare bag. They work well but look terrible - especially next to my Speedzones with the same number of rounds. 

Negative Bias 

Callaway: even though my wife was fitted for their irons they just didn't work for me. The GBB driver I had was a POS - can't even remember what I did with it after I got the 410 SFT (which has been replaced by the SIM). 

PXG - I've heard used car commercials that are better the ones Mr. Parsons does. And don't get my wife started on the older ones that emphasized how sexy they were. Seems like they started out as a premium product and now they're a heavy discount brand.  

ARRCOS; Never could get their technology to work without a lot of editing. My original LINK was replaced and still didn't work right plus I hate subscription services. 

 

[null]

7 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

Interesting thread - but I'll go beyond just clubs that are in the bag. 

Positive Bias

TM only because my SIM 2 MAX D driver outshines my 410 along with previous drivers.  Because of that I'm tempted to replace my 410 hybrids even though they have performed well in the past. 

Cobra Fairway Woods and Irons. - I was fitted for both and my Speedzone irons which are a few years old they work better than other OEM's current offerings and look great after 300 + rounds. 

Mizuno - when I got fitted last time they had just stopped production of the  919HM. Ended up ordering the Speedzones because the 921 weren't available yet. 

Volkey Wedges - you can't prey those from my hands, They were well worth the extra $$ over my RTX wedges. 

Shotscope because their support is superior to other golf tech companies

Precision Pro: same as above for support. I had an initial problem with NX7, they immediately sent out an upgraded NX9HD no charge even before I sent the old one back. And what can't you like about free batteries for life. 

Odyssey O Works Putter. - I'm afraid to try anything else - it's just too good. 

Snell & Vice both are more economical and seem to have the same results as my previous gamer - Pro V1

Neutral Bias

Ping - I think of them as a competent engineering company that puts out solid products. I still have the 410 SFT driver (in my spare bag) and the 410 hybrids and even have an older set of G20 irons. Overall solid but not exceptional.

WIlson Staff - I still have my C300's in my spare bag. They work well but look terrible - especially next to my Speedzones with the same number of rounds. 

Negative Bias 

Callaway: even though my wife was fitted for their irons they just didn't work for me. The GBB driver I had was a POS - can't even remember what I did with it after I got the 410 SFT (which has been replaced by the SIM). 

PXG - I've heard used car commercials that are better the ones Mr. Parsons does. And don't get my wife started on the older ones that emphasized how sexy they were. Seems like they started out as a premium product and now they're a heavy discount band.  

ARRCOS; Never could get their technology to work without a lot of editing. My original LINK was replaced and still didn't work right plus II hate subscription services. 

 

Great callout on Arrcos!  Negative for me as well.  Subscription service is a cancer.

[Middler]

I have also noticed among the 20-60+ seniors that I play with regularly:

• Almost none have ever been fitted though they spend plenty on equipment. The one guy who did a full bag fitting at CC and spent $5K on clubs there, has not improved one iota - if anything his HI has gotten worse even though he practices and plays more than ever. He’s been trying to make his CC custom fit clubs work for well over a year.
• Most tend to limit their purchase/selections to whatever they can buy brick-n-mortar, or even restrict themselves to what the home pro shop carries (mostly Callaway clubs, FJ or Ecco shoes, etc.). Some never drive to GG or PGASS even though they're in our metro area!
• Most buy what looks good and they fully believe marketing BS, or buy whatever another player bought and liked recently.
• I am only one of two (senior) guys I know who uses or has even tried anything DTC, e.g. Snell golf balls, Evnroll putters (rare in BnM), Payntr shoes. 

[Micah T]

Brands I’m all in on:

Titleist - quality, innovation, performance. Not to mention instant bag credibility. Current clubs I’m gaming: (4) U505 2iron, 3 vokey wedges.

Ping - quality, innovation, performance, integrity. No bullsh*t,  their clubs work and they don’t do hype. Current clubs I’m gaming: (8) g410 LST 3 wood, i210 4iron, i59 5-PW.

Mizuno - quality, performance, aesthetics. Another instant cred club you can game. Mizuno irons scream “player”. Currently clubs I’m gaming (1) M-craft IV putter.

Cobra - innovation, performance, underdog. Those in the “know” know cobra clubs are legit. Never seen anyone gaming cobra clubs that didn’t know how to use them. Current clubs I’m gaming: (1) LTDx LS driver.

Brands I’m on the fence about:

Srixon - top tier balls and legit irons, not so sure about the woods.

Cleveland - never gotten along with their wedges.

PXG - make good drivers, don’t really care for Bob. Too much hype for the product.

Brands I’m unfairly biased against:

Taylormade - they make product as good as anyone else’s: but I can’t stand all they hype and marketing. All I could do was roll my eyes when stealth came out. I hit all their products well, but game anything from them? Nope.

Callaway - Another company that makes my eyes roll: from the ball debacle a few years back to all the marketing hype. No thanks. Never hit their clubs well, except for last year’s Max LS, and was so glad when the cobra proved to be better, so I didn’t have to confront my bias.

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, Jim Shaw said:

my equipment bias is the amount of focus companies put on what goes into developing the heads of their products, from 10,000 feet, as a consumer, I feel there are very few "innovations" but once there is then "best practices' take over and all the top brands copy in some way the innovation, so after a very short time all the top brands are basically the same. I believe more time and energy should be put into the "engine" of the club and that is the shaft. When I get fitted this coming fall it will probably be 75% shaft and 25% type of construction of the head and I am thinking particularly of the irons. For example the tailor-made 790 irons, from what I see they definitely go further than blade type  irons but when they hit the green they dont stop, they have less spin so you have to take that into consideration. 

I know the feedback I get from all the posts on this site will help me wade through the decision making process for new clubs which can be daunting, and I appreciate the help.

The shaft isn’t the engine 

 

Shaft Myth #1 – The shaft is the engine of the golf club 

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard this statement, I might not be rich, but I definitely would be able to go to a nice restaurant and enjoy a good dinner with a good bottle of wine! It is far more truthful to say that “the golfer is the engine,” while “the shaft is the transmission of the golf club.” 

A shaft does not create energy during the swing. It is simply the component that takes the energy generated by the golfer and transmits it to the clubhead to hit the ball. It is true that if certain elements of the shaft are not properly fit to the golfer’s specific swing characteristics, the golfer can lose distance by experiencing a lower clubhead speed or more off-center hits than he could generate from using a correctly fit shaft. At the same token, if the shaft is accurately fit, the golfer has a much better chance of fully optimizing his/her potential to hit the ball to the best of their ability. 

Performance wise, the shaft, 1) can affect the dynamic loft of the clubhead at impact within a narrow range of 2 to 3 degrees, but only for those golfers with a later to very late release; 2) will chiefly control the total weight of the club, which in turn can have an effect on the golfer’s clubhead speed, 3) can affect some golfers’ (not all) confidence and swing consistency by displaying a “bending feel” during the swing that is either more preferred or less preferred by the golfer. That’s it, that’s the full list of what the shaft can do.

[russtopherb]

I don't care for Taylormade clubs across the board, they just never seem to work for me. And I've tried.

I loathe PXG's marketing and Bob Parsons in general so I will never pay a penny for their stuff. 

Everything else, I'm open to trying and buying. 

[Lacassem]

Like it, Ill jump in. I dont have to many negative bias but just very neutral, could care less for stuff that comes out. Just doesn't excite me

Positive Bias

Titleist-For me you cant talk golf and not have the first word after Tiger that comes to your mouth not be Titleist (ok maybe Arnold Palmer). For me if I was on tour I would probably want to be gaming all Titleist. 

Cobra-For me there is very little that they do that I am not pumped up for. I have even changed out my Nike hats for Puma ones.....That's saying something

Taylormade-For me they are coming across as Titleist, offerings top to bottom including balls. I just have never agreed with their equipment outside of my SIM 3W....Couldn't tell ya I don't but I still want to try everything they offer

OGIO-I put OGIO as expert golf bags

Bushnell-Top tier range finder for me. I will always go to Bushnell first just because of the top tier name in that industry

Neutral Bias

Ping-Have never really agreed with their equipment. Nothing really excites me when they have equipment coming out. Love their bags though

Mizuno-This is slowly becoming Positive but its one of those ones that has never been a top pick for me. Still stuck in neutral but the 221/223/225's really peeked my interest last year

Callaway-Just middle of the road for me, could care less

Negative Bias 

These have no real substance as to why its just how I feel about these specific ones initial thought. Would never not consider equipment if it worked but I definitely don't seek to try this equipment really.

PXG-In a word? Gimmick. Feel like everything is a sales pitch, I don't need my golf club to tell me how manly I am....That's what my car is for

Wilson-I feel like for my generation, its just one of those companies that is bottom barrel.....No other reason than that really

Srixon-For me it just feels like a knockoff, but that's all I have

[Hobert]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Sub70 - Irons I am a huge fan of and can say I am a sub70 fanboy. 

 

I still maintain that a Sub70 fanboy badge should be created… 

[RickyBobby_PR]

Titleist, Ping, Mizuno, Srixon, PXG and Miura are really the only place I look at for irons. TM gets a peek but it’s rare I’ll buy.

Ive tried other brands and they just aren’t my cup of tee.

Drivers/woods/hybrids are going to be Ping, Titleist and TaylorMade. They always come out on top. I will rarely hit or try anything else unless my fitter wants my thoughts on a club.

Wedges I am a vokey fan and will rarely look anywhere else. I still have some Wilson wedges from 6 or so years ago that were custom stamped by Nick when he was running around with their tour van pushing a new line of clubs. I have some TM mg2 wedges that are nice and stay in a second bag, but if it came down to it vokey will always be my go to

Putter is always open to miura, scotty Cameron (mostly circle T models) Ping and seemore.

Ive tried Callaway on several different releases and never got along well with anything long term other than the gbb mini driver. Between that and how much I was not a fan of their marketing team and some other platforms they will net get a look from me for anything. Toulon selling out to them and hearing one thing from Sean himself and another from Harry on their in house show sealed the deal as well

[Hobert]

I used to have a heavy bias towards Callaway. That bias has lessened over time, but it is still there. Having worked with Sub70 and purchased multiple Sub70 products, I am also a fanboy especially in terms of irons and wedges. When looking for something new, I think Sub70 first. I have a favorable bias towards Cobra, Ping, and Mizuno as well. I know that Titleist makes great equipment, but given the vast amount of Titleist fanboys out there, the contrarian in me tends to avoid buying anything Titleist. Finally, I am anti-PXG for some of the reasons mentioned above and am indifferent to Taylormade, Srixon, New Level, and many others.

[Jim Shaw]

11 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

The shaft isn’t the engine 

 

Shaft Myth #1 – The shaft is the engine of the golf club 

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard this statement, I might not be rich, but I definitely would be able to go to a nice restaurant and enjoy a good dinner with a good bottle of wine! It is far more truthful to say that “the golfer is the engine,” while “the shaft is the transmission of the golf club.” 

A shaft does not create energy during the swing. It is simply the component that takes the energy generated by the golfer and transmits it to the clubhead to hit the ball. It is true that if certain elements of the shaft are not properly fit to the golfer’s specific swing characteristics, the golfer can lose distance by experiencing a lower clubhead speed or more off-center hits than he could generate from using a correctly fit shaft. At the same token, if the shaft is accurately fit, the golfer has a much better chance of fully optimizing his/her potential to hit the ball to the best of their ability. 

Performance wise, the shaft, 1) can affect the dynamic loft of the clubhead at impact within a narrow range of 2 to 3 degrees, but only for those golfers with a later to very late release; 2) will chiefly control the total weight of the club, which in turn can have an effect on the golfer’s clubhead speed, 3) can affect some golfers’ (not all) confidence and swing consistency by displaying a “bending feel” during the swing that is either more preferred or less preferred by the golfer. That’s it, that’s the full list of what the shaft can do.

wow, that is interesting and I like the idea of the shaft being the transmission... makes sense. I am interested how you arrived at these thoughts? 

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, Jim Shaw said:

wow, that is interesting and I like the idea of the shaft being the transmission... makes sense. I am interested how you arrived at these thoughts? 

I didn’t arrive at these thoughts. This is from an article Tom Wishon route for wrx about a decade ago. It’s the first of 10 myths he covered in that article. 
 

He’s not the only one that feels that way. The vast majority of high level fitters think the same way. It’s why when one goes to a place like TPI, ECPC, The kingdom, TXG to name some highly reputable places and fitters who deal with the best fit the head first and shaft is used to fine tune the results. Shaft has two roles weight and feel