What determines your golf equipment purchase?

[Javs]

In another post a conversation sparked my personal interest. When you decide to purchase new golf equipment ( clubs, balls or accessories) what has the most influence on if you purchase?

1. The equipment is played on tour? If so, which tour has the most influence if any?

2. Equipment reviews from this site or others online?

3. An actual fitting and personal performance gains?

4. Combination? 

[revkev]

I'd have to be daft to be influenced by what's played on any tour.

 

Certainly product reviews, accessibility through a demo day also helps.  A bad shot at the wrong time that ticks me off and makes my eye roam towards something else sometimes is a huge influence.  Having some mad money will do it.  Seeing a good sale on gloves or shoes or apparel that I like.  

[Javs]

12 minutes ago, Javs said:

In another post a conversation sparked my personal interest. When you decide to purchase new golf equipment ( clubs, balls or accessories) what has the most influence on if you purchase?

1. The equipment is played on tour? If so, which tour has the most influence if any?

2. Equipment reviews from this site or others online?

3. An actual fitting and personal performance gains?

4. Combination? 

For me:

1. Never

2. I read the reviews especially on equipment I am interested. 

3. This is the main driver (see what I did there) if any equipment makes it in my bag.

4. My personal combination is usually a certain loyalty or trust of brands (PXG, Ping and Titleist) and a fitting. 

[GolfSpy_BNG]

What’s played on tour means nothing to me although that is where you usually see the non-off the rack stuff. 
 

If something catches my eye, I will check out reviews on YouTube as well as any forum that may have a thread. 
 

Drivers and putters are my weakness although I have better with putters having the same one in the bag for about a year or so.  
 

I have never been professionally fit only self fit for many years but someday I’ll do a driver fitting where I can hit them all and commit to the best one until another new one comes out lol

[cnosil]

3 hours ago, Javs said:

In another post a conversation sparked my personal interest. When you decide to purchase new golf equipment ( clubs, balls or accessories) what has the most influence on if you purchase?

1. The equipment is played on tour? If so, which tour has the most influence if any?

2. Equipment reviews from this site or others online?

3. An actual fitting and personal performance gains?

4. Combination? 

1.  The only "influence" a tour player has on my is that they get the new equipment early and I like the WITB pictures to see what manufacturers are releasing and what looks like it might be fun to try.....generally it is everything that looks fun to try.

2.  If I am interested in equipment, I will look for reviews to see what people think about the product.  

3.  I wouldn't say an actual fitting, but my actually trying the equipment to see if I like it.   I measure against my current clubs.   I am fortunate that I get access to most new equipment and can do comparisons on a GC Quad.  

4.  I generally am swayed by in hand evaluation.  

[Middler]

Aren’t we all creatures of habit to some extent?

‘Influence of tour’ is thought provoking. While most will say it has no influence, subliminally I’m not sure we all really know, and it’s not something most people are likely to readily admit. I know the converse is true for me, I’m not likely to play brands of players I don’t respect. And lots of people do buy what their favorite pros play, brands aren’t spending millions on ads and promotions for zero return. Like it or not advertising and endorsements work. Nike sold a lot of golf equipment through promotions until people finally realized it wasn’t that good, that took years.

I prefer Mizuno, Titleist and PING clubs - though the reasons are part tech, part personal experience, part brand image and maybe part irrational? I don’t like Callaway or TaylorMade because of their over the top marketing claims/hype - we should all be driving the ball 320 yards by now. Won’t use anything Bryson or Sergio represent period. Fittings have been helpful for me, but I will only try brands I respect in the first place - e.g. won’t even swing Callaway, TaylorMade, Cobra, Wilson…

For golf accessories and putters, everything other than clubs, MGS reviews are highly influential for me. Shows in my sig line.

I think the OP left out some key influences. Many of the people I play with are influenced by ‘what their buddies use’ and ‘what the home club pro shop carries’ IME. They don’t buy online and they don’t read reviews…this audience is not the mainstream (yet).

[GolfSpy_APH]

Going to take a slight different take on this, but my influence is related to my bias towards certain brands and their products. 

PGA Tour doesn't influence me, videos like the Titleist one that was just released does. 

Fittings play a big role and my curiosity for new brands (DTC brands mainly) also influence my purchasing habits.

More importantly the current state of my game has the biggest influence on my golfing purchases. Playing well with irons then they stay in the bag a lot longer. Play poorly with driver then my eyes start to wander. However determining which product again goes more towards my bias of products and sadly in many cases aesthetics for better or worse. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

I would say my biggest influential factor is reviews. My wife would attest to the fact that I get annoyingly obsessive about any new purchase, and spend hours and hours reviewing and comparing products before picking one and then changing my mind a couple more times before finally landing on one. Fittings also play a role, but I did learn that it was dependent slightly on the fitter as well. I did a TaylorMade fitting at my local club a couple summers ago and thought the Sim2 was the driver for me, and then did another fitting later on that year and ended up in TSi3 because it gave me tighter dispersion. To that point I had only played TM clubs, so I will agree with what @GolfSpy_APH said in that brand bias plays a role in my decisions as well.

[russtopherb]

I do not care at all what's played on tour. My game looks nothing like theirs, nor does my bank account. 

I freely admit budget is a big factor, whether new or used. Reviews from regular golfers, not single digit handicaps on YouTube trying SGI clubs, mean a lot to me as well. I also, like many others, have brand biases. Callaway drivers always seem to just work for me, so I gravitate there. I enjoy W/S irons because they work well for me and the price is right. I'll give a lot of brands a look if and when I'm in the market but I start in a few places and go from there. 

[Headhammer]

I'm almost positive that I've never bought a club based on tour player using it. I also don't put much stock in the Blogger-du-jour reviews, as 95% of them are not going to stop the gravy train of free equipment by giving a club a negative review. Amateur reviewers, with games like my own, are more likely to get me interested in a specific club. Hence, why I spend most of my time here.

[tony@CIC]

My simple answer: That depends. It depends on the type of equipment along with my needs. 

Am I influenced by Pros? Not in the least I could care less what's in their bag. Am I influenced by club manufacturer's claims - nope. If I was I would be buying an entire bag every 6 - 12 months. PXG take note I could care less how 'sexy' your clubs look, or your name on Pro's hats.  

Clubs; I continue to evaluate my golf performance and success by reviewing data over the long term. To paraphrase an old adage; We trust in God but every else bring data. So when it comes to clubs or a specific type, I'll see where the holes are and then check in with a competent fitter. As an example, a few years ago I had both a distance and dispersion problem with my GBB driver. Reviewing the need (at the time based on feel) I did the Official test for 410 driver which resulted in a definite performance improvement in both areas. Still not satisficed after a year of solid performance (data by Shotscope) I went to Club Champion for a driver fitting and while I didn't buy the SIM 2 there ($900.) I did eventually buy it after the Stealth intro (for a lot less). Again nice distance and dispersion gain. As a caveat I am definitely influenced by Forum Official Testing but that influences me to take it to the next level which is my own test.  

Balls: Data first and then feel. I have enough data from Shotscope over three years (150+ rounds a year)  along with notes on the different balls I used. Combine that with the MGS ball lab, feel on the course and then lastly price. Note I play enough rounds a year and lose enough balls that it does make an economic difference. 

Everything Else: My go to source is Forum Official and unofficial  reviews for LRF's and other distance measuring equipment along with the wide range of accessories; shoes, etc. Note I'm positively swayed in this category by Forum tests vs. Most Wanted or other resources. 

[NM01]

Tour presence for me has no influence. I only look at your players for witb because I’m curious about their setups.

I purchase clubs for 2 reasons. First is possibly a blind buy or quick self demo on the range for a new release I’m curious about and just want to test it out and see how it performs. I’ve spent a lot of money doing this and it’s fun. I don’t care if it works out or not since it’s just an experiment of testing new gear whether it’s a club or a shaft.

The second is thru a fitting of some sort. This is when I’m looking to replace something in my bag. The fitting is to make sure I have the right combo for my swing and will perform how I want it to on the course.

I haven’t read or watched a review from any forum or online personality in several years. I do like to read threads about equipment from forum members who are using a club(s) or shaft(s) to see people’s experience with them, but they have no influence over my purchase or testing.

As for tour presence there are a lot of people that will buy based on what they see on tv, if there wasn’t the companies wouldn’t spend multi millions every year paying their tour staff to use the equipment or using their tour staff in commercials 

[vandyland]

18 hours ago, Javs said:

1. The equipment is played on tour? If so, which tour has the most influence if any?

2. Equipment reviews from this site or others online?

3. An actual fitting and personal performance gains?

4. Combination? 

1. Equipment that is played on tour is usually an indicator that I don't need to be playing it. Especially irons and wedges. My current bag has clubs that I doubt have ever been played on tour except for maybe some version of my driver. 

2. Equipment site reviews and others online have a much larger bearing on my options that I look into. I generally look for players that describe their game close to mine and I look for "help" more than "control." It's how I found the LAB putter that I am using and the Ben Hogan and New Level Irons that I play now. None of those companies have major advertising budgets so I compared them against big OEMs and found their products were equal in build quality and performance (for me).

3. Actual fitting is quite important but I have gotten to where I enjoy testing stuff out myself. A fitter knows more than me for certain but I also doubt that a fitter would have put me into a senior shaft which I am currently playing in my driver (Otto-phlex). Plus it is fun to test equipment, I tested out 8 different demo 7 irons over 3 trackman sessions off grass a few years ago and it was great. I felt very confident about my purchase from doing that. 

4. Always a combination, I think the only club in my bag I bought without testing was my LAB putter and it has worked out. I did read through about 100 pages of forum reviews and discussions on it before. 

[GolfSpy TCB]

6 minutes ago, vandyland said:

1. Equipment that is played on tour is usually an indicator that I don't need to be playing it.

Perfect answer Vandy! 

[GolfSpy TCB]

1. no

2. yes as a part of the overall equation

3. yes as a part of the overall equation

Because there are so many quality choices on the market... I start with narrowing my decision based on aesthetics.  It has to be appealing to my eye.  I don't feel I am limiting the performance options by playing something that looks good to me.  From there it is all about feel and performance.  Numbers, solid strike feedback, non-solid contact feedback, Turf interaction, does it hit my window, or if it doesn't... is it because it is out performing my window expectations (in a good way). 

I enjoy seeing what the tour players are bagging, but that is just curiosity.  it doesn't impact what goes in my bag in the slightest. 

[tdroma98]

18 hours ago, Javs said:

In another post a conversation sparked my personal interest. When you decide to purchase new golf equipment ( clubs, balls or accessories) what has the most influence on if you purchase?

1. The equipment is played on tour? If so, which tour has the most influence if any?

2. Equipment reviews from this site or others online?

3. An actual fitting and personal performance gains?

4. Combination? 

Great questions!  
#1 - Not really influenced by tour players equipment knowing often times their equipment is tweaked vs amateur.  However, I did just purchase an Aerotech steelfiber shaft, because Freddy Couples uses the Aerotech steelfiber shaft in his irons & in the same age bracket!LOL.  Primarily found the specs of Aerotech suited my swing.  Recently purchased a PXG 0211 driver. Price was the "driving" factor for the purchase - $199.  Did look into what PXG offered for standard shaft & to see what would best suited me. They had what I was looking for in the 0211.  There was no tour influence in the purchase of the driver.  $199 vs $599 was a no brainer (plus how can you not like the owner of the PXG commercials, that gruff Marine voice, LOL.  it was a good time to try them out). 

#2 - Equipment reviews: Yes, it does play an influence and MyGolfSpy has been the biggest influence for me.  MGS does a fantastic job in breaking down the reviews. Whether it's clubs, shoes, pull carts or golf balls.  The Golf ball review is awesome and provides outstanding information (in my opinion), MGS is objective in their reviews. I've tried the Taylormade Tp5 & Tour Response, Bridgestone BRX & BRXS & recently the new Maxfli ball. Still primarily play the ProV1's & thanks to MyGolfSpy for providing info on the ball compression.   

#3 - Actual club fitting does help confirm whether I would buy a brand or not, in most cases. Current 3w, I had been looking at the Tour Edge clubs. Did a fitting & ended up leaving with a Callaway Maverick 3w. Numbers were better with the Callaway. Fittings do help when uncertain.  Other case, I've tried different brands of wedges, but always go back to the Vokey's and a brand I'll stick with. 

[chisag]

On 2/8/2023 at 2:37 PM, Javs said:

The equipment is played on tour? If so, which tour has the most influence if any?

 

... I am a little surprised it seems everyone says the Tour has no influence. While Dustin Johnson playing a Sim2 Max and not the standard Sim2 with an x flex super tip stiff shaft has no influence on what I play, when most of those on staff switch to the new clubs it gets my attention. Almost the Titleist staff members putting the new TSR in their bags as soon as it was available tells me it made an immediate impact on a wide range of players and again certainly gets my attention. What head or shaft they play is not a factor. 

... The other interesting thing about all the responses is so far "tour" evidently means PGA Tour. I am influenced by the LPGA Tour because their game is more similar to mine. And I do mean similar not the same.    Seeing the top 5 players in the world all play Steelfiber shafts tells me they are great shafts and I demoed them to compare to my Recoils and Steelfibers became my favorite iron shaft. I have also seen quite a few playing KB Tour TGi shafts on the LPGA Tour but I did not get along with those shafts. So again it isn't about wanting to play what any individual plays, but if many trust a given product I will look into it's performance. 

... And type of club can be interesting as well. Since many very good LPGA ball strikers trust a hybrid in their bag as opposed to a long iron, I became curious and started demoing hybrids and found a 4 hybrid was a good club for me. 

... So exactly what any given Pro plays isn't of interest to me, if many put new offerings in their bag and I am in the market for that kind of club it goes on my radar. And individual clubs or shafts played by those with swing speeds similar to mine that again are played by a majority, it gets my attention. All that said, my attention means I will certainly demo one and see if it is right for my swing, not go out and buy one or even want to play one because a Pro does. 

 

 

 

 

 

[GolfSpy TCB]

31 minutes ago, chisag said:

I am influenced by the LPGA Tour because their game is more similar to mine.

Good point.  I am not sure I'm driven to use the same clubs as the LPGA players... but I certainly more resemble their games than the PGA tour players (not to say I can compete with the LPGA tour players AT ALL... remember that old PGA commercial..."These Guys Are Good!!"... well that goes for the Women's tour too... ).  But because Hannah Green or Jin Yung Ko is using a certain driver models or Lydia Ko or Georgia Hall uses specific models of irons (are my LPGA Tour fav's showing?), that doesn't really entice me to play the same equipment.  Maybe it should.

 

[chisag]

25 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

But because Hannah Green or Jin Yung Ko is using a certain driver models or Lydia Ko or Georgia Hall uses specific models of irons (are my LPGA Tour fav's showing?), that doesn't really entice me to play the same equipment.  Maybe it should.

 

... Yea it gets a little tricky. If JY Ko can hit 63 greens in a row with some CB's (a record I don't ever see being equaled considering Tiger is 2nd with 29 ) it certainly tells us we don't need MB's to be accurate. And the fact that she plays Steelfiber shafts suggests it would be a good idea to demo them if you are interested in graphite irons shafts. But what specific models they play probably has little to no bearing, especially since almost all of them have a contract to play certain clubs. But the kind of clubs, shafts, grips they play can be something we should look into when we are in the market. 

[cnosil]

1 minute ago, chisag said:

 

... Yea it gets a little tricky. If JY Ko can hit 63 greens in a row with some CB's (a record I don't ever see being equaled considering Tiger is 2nd with 29 ) it certainly tells us we don't need MB's to be accurate. And the fact that she plays Steelfiber shafts suggests it would be a good idea to demo them if you are interested in graphite irons shafts. But what specific models they play probably has little to no bearing, especially since almost all of them have a contract to play certain clubs. But the kind of clubs, shafts, grips they play can be something we should look into when we are in the market. 

I agree with everything you are saying with your posts about Tour influence.   I guess  it comes dow to interpretation of the question.   I views the question as an I play specific club or component simply because a pro plays that equipment…. The walk into a store and buy x club(s) simply because my flavoring player plays them.  Like you I advocate for Getting ideas on bag setup especially from LPGA players.  

[GolfSpy TCB]

5 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Yea it gets a little tricky. If JY Ko can hit 63 greens in a row with some CB's (a record I don't ever see being equaled considering Tiger is 2nd with 29 ) it certainly tells us we don't need MB's to be accurate. And the fact that she plays Steelfiber shafts suggests it would be a good idea to demo them if you are interested in graphite irons shafts. But what specific models they play probably has little to no bearing, especially since almost all of them have a contract to play certain clubs. But the kind of clubs, shafts, grips they play can be something we should look into when we are in the market. 

+1

[NM01]

3 hours ago, vandyland said:

1. Equipment that is played on tour is usually an indicator that I don't need to be playing it. Especially irons and wedges. My current bag has clubs that I doubt have ever been played on tour except for maybe some version of my driver. 

Interesting take. That means every major oem shouldn’t be in your bag. 
 

Let’s just look at some clubs on tour that are would be in most amateurs bags. Ping g series max drivers that have been played by the Iikes of Finau and champ.

Ap2s and now T100 have been the most played irons. Ping i20,210,230 are the most popular among Ping tour staff.

Sim and sim2 max drivers player by DJ and others. Many play a 10.5 driver.

There a large amount of ts/tsi/tsr2 drivers on tour

i think too many get tied up in the tour players don’t have the same game/swing as me so I can’t play what the tour plays. Yes more than likely the shafts they play won’t fit the average golfer, most amateurs shouldn’t play blades. But from an overall equipment standpoint there’s not many clubs on tour that’s not what is going to fit amateurs. We have had people on get fit for driver and end up in a head and/or shaft they weren’t expecting to work

[vandyland]

4 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Interesting take. That means every major oem shouldn’t be in your bag. 

I don't think that is entirely correct. For example, New Level which has some (limited) tour usage is confined to their players irons whereas I am in the Gi22 which no tour player would ever play. Or if I was to use TM irons, I wouldn't be in the blades or players cavity, I would be in the P790 which I think only tour players use for their longest iron (which I use a hybrid for). So I would push back on that. 

But yes, drivers are  probably different. But I didn't buy my current Cobra driver because it had tour usage, I was actually fit into it. I tried the Sub 70 driver (which I don't think anyone on tour uses) and a few component drivers but the Cobra was the best for me at the time (albeit I got it used and a year after it was released). 

[tdroma98]

58 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Yea it gets a little tricky. If JY Ko can hit 63 greens in a row with some CB's (a record I don't ever see being equaled considering Tiger is 2nd with 29 ) it certainly tells us we don't need MB's to be accurate. And the fact that she plays Steelfiber shafts suggests it would be a good idea to demo them if you are interested in graphite irons shafts. But what specific models they play probably has little to no bearing, especially since almost all of them have a contract to play certain clubs. But the kind of clubs, shafts, grips they play can be something we should look into when we are in the market. 

Chi, I have to agree with you concerning the steelfiber shafts. I'm amazed.  I've only installed the shaft into one club as a trial, it's only been a week, however, I'm impressed. The feel is really good.  I've been apprehensive to go graphite in irons, felt it would be too light of shaft. Read Fred Couples using Aerotech steelfiber shaft, so after reading about the shaft & it's specs, I purchased aerotech i110cw stiff for 5i. I'm going to order 6-8 now. 

[alfriday101]

My set up has been majorly influenced by one pro.  I play single length irons.  The pro is Bryson.  

 

The irony is that I really don't like him.  But I love my single length irons.  

 

Let me explain.  I tried single length irons years before I had ever heard of Bryson.  I ordered a set from 1irongolf.  While I liked the single length concept, I couldn't get used to the clunky, super game improvement heads.  I sent the set back at the end of the 30 day trial period.  But, I said that if a company ever came out with more of a player's set of single lengths, I would try them.  

 

Fast forward a couple of years and Bryson comes on the scene.  Cobra, Sterling and Edel come out with single length sets.   I played the Cobra F7s for a couple of years (the were great) and then moved to the Edel single length set (even better). 

 

If Bryson hadn't succeeded, I doubt there would be a variety of single length sets available today.  

 

So thank you Bryson, but I still won't cheer for you.  

[KOG]

23 hours ago, Javs said:

In another post a conversation sparked my personal interest. When you decide to purchase new golf equipment ( clubs, balls or accessories) what has the most influence on if you purchase?

1. The equipment is played on tour? If so, which tour has the most influence if any?

2. Equipment reviews from this site or others online?

3. An actual fitting and personal performance gains?

4. Combination? 

1. Not at all. Im not a tour player and while its nice to see confirmation when pros are using equipment I also like, I am not a tour level player. My aim is to get better and find the tools that work best for me in my current stage. I also dont watch much golf and play more than I watch.

2. Yes. I value objective information and subjective. The latter with a grain of salt but Im always suspicious of youtube bloggers that need to force reviews for content. I feel Mark Crossfield is one of the more honest ones but I also like watching the fitting videos and the golf spy stuff and as someone who played the Adams 9064 LS driver for a decade, I was so glad to see the rave reviews on golfspy confirming what I was feeling. 

3. I dont always get fitted when I get new clubs. Every few years or a little more often now that I get a free fitting every year from joining the Golfcave. I have access to trackman so I kinda tune in my stuff accordingly. My fittings show little variation with irons and wedges with loft and lie. Wedges you kinda cant test that well off turf.

4. I am one of those who also really value the looks of a club. The look of a club will be the first thing that interests me, then I dive into specs and research and finally hitting them. If I dont like how they look, I wont be happy in the long term. However, I also value price and will not pay over $650 for 6-pw, I often buy lightly used clubs or heads only.

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by KOG

[GolfSpy TCB]

So, in response to some of the comments above... tour use is a factor... but so is incessant advertising (which could work for or against... strong opinions about the advertising campaign that PXG uses is a good example... you love it or you hate it... but regardless... you know PXG in large part because of it). 

When I say that what a tour player uses doesn't impact my decision... that is true.... partially.  BRAND is huge no matter who you are.  So maybe I over generalized my assumption of the question asked by the OP.... 

I DO play a driver head that tour players use.  Do I use that head BECAUSE I saw it on tour?  no.  I use it because I like the results it gives me with my swing, and it is PURTY!!  

I DON'T play irons that are used on tour.  But do I play a BRAND that is HEAVILY featured on tour... yes!  Does that factor?  maybe consciously... probably most likely subconsciously.   

Would I have a Titleist driver in my bag if it was a DTC brand.... or would I be leaning on a TM Stealth Driver, or a Callaway Driver with all the marketing to go with it.  (Funny to consider Titleist a start up DTC brand isn't it.... I almost flushed even typing it...but you get my point).  The Big Names are more prevalent... on tour, in advertising, on the shelves at the store, in the bags of the guys at my club.... it is difficult to tell what exactly drives my decision... Performance and Looks... as I said... absolutely.... taking the effort to pick up EVERY available option... not so much.  I know I am getting tour tested Quality (well, I guess I assume)... so one could argue I do play my clubs because of what I see on tour... maybe not the specific model, but certainly the brand.

So when I break out my new MacGregor MT86's later this year.... will it be because of the tour?  Not the current tour haha.  But because of the tour in the 1960's/1970's  ok... you got me there.   

[tdroma98]

13 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

So when I break out my new MacGregor MT86's later this year.... will it be because of the tour?  Not the current tour haha.  But because of the tour in the 1960's/1970's  ok... you got me there.   

Uh oh, your wife is not going to be happy with you, buying another set of irons! 

[NM01]

2 hours ago, vandyland said:

I don't think that is entirely correct. For example, New Level which has some (limited) tour usage is confined to their players irons whereas I am in the Gi22 which no tour player would ever play. Or if I was to use TM irons, I wouldn't be in the blades or players cavity, I would be in the P790 which I think only tour players use for their longest iron (which I use a hybrid for). So I would push back on that. 

But yes, drivers are  probably different. But I didn't buy my current Cobra driver because it had tour usage, I was actually fit into it. I tried the Sub 70 driver (which I don't think anyone on tour uses) and a few component drivers but the Cobra was the best for me at the time (albeit I got it used and a year after it was released). 

Exactly my point. Clubs that are on tour can be used by the every day golfer.

Whether something is used because someone on tout uses it or not is a different situation and some buy for that reason and some don’t, but saying they it shouldn’t be in a bad is an incorrect statement 

[vandyland]

4 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Exactly my point. Clubs that are on tour can be used by the every day golfer.

I'll try another line of logic. Tour players are on tour because of their swings and not their equipment. If Collin Morikawa played Wilson Staff CB/Blades instead of P760s or whatever he plays for TM these days....he is still probably going to be one of the best iron players on tour (just maybe not quite as wealthy). So, I like to think, that I am not really influenced as to what clubs I should buy based on what Collin Morikawa is playing (or Jon Rahm or Justin Thomas on down to someone who is struggling but still elite like Gary Woodland). I don't see these guys flagging their iron shots and thinking "man those new elite players blades from [insert company name] must be really good, I NEED those." 

But if I see someone on one of these threads that is extolling the virtues of a new game improvement iron, that is going to sway me a lot more. Mainly, because the people on this forum have a game that is more similar to mine. Most people on here need some help rather than need to fine tune their spin by a couple hundred revs. So when I was looking for some REALLY easy to hit irons I looked for reviews on here and another golf forum. Led me to New Level Gi22 and Maltby KE4 max irons....those are not irons I would likely see on tour.