Who plays what? Forget the Darrell Survey. It's the Duffer987 Survey!

[duffer987]

After reading a few posts on here last year about clubs it got me wondering, so I decided to start keeping track of who was using what amongst the people I golfed with in 2014. Thought it might be of interest to at least one or two other pedants/anoraks/golf nerds out there :)

 

I've played 50+ rounds to this point. Just over 20 with friends and the rest as a single. Mainly in Northern California, but with some New Englanders as well. Mainly modest, to slightly better than modest public courses, with a few higher end rounds thrown in.

 

Of the 89 different golfers I've played with to this point, here's what I've seen.

 

January 1 to June 30 2014

 

 

Anyone else notice an OEM (apart from TMAG drivers) being particularly dominant in your neck of the woods?

 

*UPDATED with year end totals in post 37.

[spiffdogxl]

Damn near everybody in my club plays Callaway.

[RedDevilWheezy]

Tons of TMag, Callaway and Adams among the usual hackers around here. Lots of Titleist, PING and Mizzy on the nicer courses, which is pretty standard I would guess.

[duffer987]

[quote name='RedDevilWheezy' timestamp='1404325802' post='9624617']
Tons of TMag, Callaway and Adams among the usual hackers around here. Lots of Titleist, PING and Mizzy on the nicer courses, which is pretty standard I would guess.
[/quote]

Ya I have definitely noticed that with the Titleist and Ping drivers more than anything else. The 'better' players seem to gravitate to them, but with irons it seems pretty spread out.

[eppey]

Interesting experiment. Are all these unique people or did you play with the same friend(s) five times and counted their irons and driver five times?

[masamitsu]

Just my observations: I play with a few groups of friends. the guys who are better (single digits) play Titleist/Nike/Callaway drivers and Mizuno/Ping/Titleist irons (most have Vokey wedges). My other buddies who are 10-15 handicaps almost exclusively play TM. Again, just my observations.

[duffer987]

[quote name='eppey' timestamp='1404326441' post='9624679']
Interesting experiment. Are all these unique people or did you play with the same friend(s) five times and counted their irons and driver five times?
[/quote]

No no they only count once, that would kind of skewer the results otherwise
89 unique golfers.

And a note on 'Others' they were typically component clubs, knock-off brands, and a couple neat JDM sets.

[Golf64]

We are mostly TM and Ping here. A few Titleist with the 'better' players.

[Schick]

I have only seen Mizuno in others' bags a few times. Maybe it's just where I play, but I've always been surprised I don't see more.

[duffer987]

[quote name='Schick' timestamp='1404329551' post='9625059']
I have only seen Mizuno in others' bags a few times. Maybe it's just where I play, but I've always been surprised I don't see more.
[/quote]

I think where we play has a big impact. I alluded to it in my OP - and one of the things that got me thinking was someone saying they rarely see Mizzy irons and I knew I saw them fairly frequently. Being in Cali, with a larger Asian population (I am assuming) than the Great Lakes region, more people may be aware of, interested in, and inclined to go the Mizuno route.

[PDoN]

Around here, it seems like TMAG has the driver count by a wide margin, with titleist a distant runner up. Same with fairways and hybrids. Irons and wedges are owned by titleist. As far as putters, I'd say odyssey narrowly edges out Scotty cameron.

[MtlJeff]

just for the sake of the data i play with 20-25 or so different guys and almost all of them are A players

I really haven't noticed many crazy trends, my club seems to follow the general market share percentages and stereotypes. A lot of TMAG woods, a lot of Titleist stuff from the guys who have a bit more money, a couple of the real feel players use Mizuno players clubs....but really it's a wide range of stuff

actually come to think of it, i think only 1 guy uses Ping stuff. So a small number there, which is pretty strange

[Jsjones]

Most of the guys I play with play some cheap older "x" series callaway irons and a surprisingly large number of cobra amp cell drivers. Of my small group of 12 or so, 4 amp cell and 1 bio cell.

[Medic]

Almost everyone I play with use one of three brands of driver:
Callaway, TMAG, or Nike.

And they use one of only four brands of irons:
Titleist, TMAG, Callaway, Mizuno.

But it is also interesting to see the various types/models and brands of putters:
Ping, Odyssey, and Scotty prevail. I am one of the few who use a TMAG.

And then there are the wedges:
Cleveland and Vokey are in almost every bag.

Finally, the balls:
Titleist, Nike, Callaway, and TMAG are in most bags. One member plays Bridgestone and a couple of others play Srixon.

[CactusGolf]

I'm using Callaway irons, TaylorMade woods and wedges, and a Scotty Cameron putter.

A few reasons I'm using what I'm using are that the Callaway's are last year's model (X Hot Pros) that I picked up for $239 new. I use the TaylorMades because I can use pretty much the latest technology (JetSpeed and R1) quickly compared to other companies. They release new versions faster than anyone else. Also, they can be had for really great deals. I got the R1 Black for $125 and JetSpeed fairway wood for $100 brand new.

I'm not surprised with the Bridgestone or Wilsons showing zero on your chart because they have absolutely no presence in any retailers in my area.

[duffer987]

[quote name='MtlJeff' timestamp='1404343371' post='9626429']
just for the sake of the data i play with 20-25 or so different guys and almost all of them are A players

I really haven't noticed many crazy trends, my club seems to follow the general market share percentages and stereotypes. A lot of TMAG woods, a lot of Titleist stuff from the guys who have a bit more money, a couple of the real feel players use Mizuno players clubs....but really it's a wide range of stuff

actually come to think of it, i think only 1 guy uses Ping stuff. So a small number there, which is pretty strange
[/quote]

I know you've said before you and the Golftown employees know each other pretty well but do your golfing partners also buy there or get equipment through the club's pro shop? Maybe not in your instance, but I've wondered if a club's professional being associated with a certain OEM impacts what members play.

[MtlJeff]

[quote name='duffer987' timestamp='1404345570' post='9626671']
[quote name='MtlJeff' timestamp='1404343371' post='9626429']
just for the sake of the data i play with 20-25 or so different guys and almost all of them are A players

I really haven't noticed many crazy trends, my club seems to follow the general market share percentages and stereotypes. A lot of TMAG woods, a lot of Titleist stuff from the guys who have a bit more money, a couple of the real feel players use Mizuno players clubs....but really it's a wide range of stuff

actually come to think of it, i think only 1 guy uses Ping stuff. So a small number there, which is pretty strange
[/quote]

I know you've said before you and the Golftown employees know each other pretty well but do your golfing partners also buy there or get equipment through the club's pro shop? Maybe not in your instance, but I've wondered if a club's professional being associated with a certain OEM impacts what members play.
[/quote]

Our pro is a titleist guy, but we have demo days from every OEM and you can order all of it through the pro shop. Most guys i would say do it that way which is to order it through our pro shop and i'd bet the demo days generate a big portion of the sales. I've ordered a few things and i've never felt pressured to buy Titleist. Our pro is a super nice guy, and the teaching pro is a former Canadian Tour player. I think both have Titleist deals but i've never heard them push it on anyone.

I hit the MP54's at our Mizuno day and mentioned i wanted them, and it's not like he said "well just hit the AP2's first"

Not a lot of "club ho's" at my club though, most guys have been playing the same stuff for 2-3 years. Actually me and 1 other guy have a rep for changing the most, and going by guys on this site, i'm a major lightweight

[GoIrish17]

Great thread, OP. When I saw the title, I was expecting something completely different. Well thought out, and great point of discussion. I look forward to watching this count as the season goes on. I hope you keep track the rest of the year!

[duffer987]

[quote name='GoIrish17' timestamp='1404348964' post='9627001']
Great thread, OP. When I saw the title, I was expecting something completely different. Well thought out, and great point of discussion. I look forward to watching this count as the season goes on. I hope you keep track the rest of the year!
[/quote]

Thanks.
It really was just reading threads on here got me wondering and since I see a large cross section of golfers throughout the year I figured why not.
I only hope at least one person this year shows up with a set of Wilsons or Bridgestones, haha.

[duffer987]

[quote name='CactusGolf' timestamp='1404344929' post='9626599']

I'm not surprised with the Bridgestone or Wilsons showing zero on your chart because they have absolutely no presence in any retailers in my area.
[/quote]

I was positive I played with a few guys who had Bridgestone clubs last year and now I am not so sure. Much like I see folks playing old Hogans I thought the chance of seeing some old ones or a department store starter set of Wilsons might have shown up. I am sure in the UK the Wilsons would have a genuine showing.

[scomac2002]

There really aren't any unusual equipment trends at my course. Most of the players I see that come through the starter's hut are playing older clubs, especially irons. Taylormade is the hands down winner in drivers/woods which is no surprise based on sales figures although you'll still see quite a few older Callaway fairway woods. Irons are a real menagerie. I'd say it's fairly equal between Ping and Callaway with quite a few Adams and Cobras in the mix, but anything goes really. Wedges most often will match the irons, whatever is being played. I've seen everything under the sun in terms of putters, but Anser type putters of various ilk are the overwhelming favourite.

[bladehunter]

around here 9 out of 10 are TM drivers and titleist irons are by far what I see the most....second would probably be callaway for drivers and irons....wedges of course are vokey and fairways and hybrids usually titleist or callaway

[TRheezy]

I play on a split course in Korea where the members are service members and Korean nationals. For the service members most of the bags are pretty mixed, Nike, Ping, and TMaG probably being the most popular. When I get paired up with the Korean members it is normally something from Japan, Honma, Fourteen, Phyz, and XXIO are probably the most popular.

[playa]

In Australia there seems to be more Mizuno irons than other brands, particularly amongst low caps. Cally, Titleist and Tmag are also well represented in irons. In drivers I would guess Titleist with low caps and Tmag and Cally up there with them overall. Ping also has a dedicated following with irons, and a decent slice of the Driver pie. I would say these 5 OEMs would dominate market share here. Nike, Cleveland and Bridgestone are still boutique brands.

[beaney]

Great thread.

My club is quite a traditional club, with an older average age of membership. Because of that, the members don't tend to change their clubs that often, but when they do they tend to go to the pro. The pro has been a loyal Ping stockist for a number of years, with the odd dabble into Tour Edge, so they are the brands that you see most often.

That said, the younger guys have a much wider range of stuff, because they have embraced the online world a bit more, so they will buy from there as well as the pro.

[jol]

Tons of Ping G25s at my club, followed by TM R1s, but these seem to be slowly replaced with SLDRs.
As for irons, older Pings, Mizuno and Titleist seem to dominate, but I've seen all kinds here.
Head pro is a Ping guy, so there is a preference towards Ping by the members (I don't own any though).

[philcski]

Mizuno seems to be the choice in my area for irons. Having recently switched to Titleist irons after over 15 years with Mizuno, I feel like I "let down the team"!

[Lexicographer]

Lots and lots of TMAG and Ping. Titleist is pretty well represented too.

[martinbns]

Mostly TMAG and Callaway at my club.

I see Mizuno irons occasionally, some Ping drivers, small number of Nike products. I don't play much with the A players at our place, but I see Titleist a fair bit in their bags.

[oregongolfguy]

Cool question really.......I am going to start paying a little closer attention as well just to see what I see.

I play muni's, middle of the road popular one's. I have only played a couple rounds in my life with low single digit cappers....So I mostly play along side the weekend warrior masses so to speak. Not the hardcore club 4 days a week person..

Most of the irons I see are older. A lot of callaway x series and a lot of cobra. Drivers I seem to recall a lot of older nike, callaway and Taylormade. Taylormade seems to be absolutely dominate in the driver category. Also cobra. Funny enough I see a lot of older gents playing newer cobra drivers.
Putters its odyssey by a mile, then probably tmag, a lot of the older gents I get paired with roll older pings...I have never seen a scotty on the course, at least that I can recall.

I have also never seen a ping driver that I can recall. Some older ping eye series irons but no newer ping irons....
I know of one guy that has a titleist 913 driver, he bought it last summer at a demo day while I was there...And that's the only titleist club not a wedge that I have ever seen on the course.

I am the only person that I have ever seen playing anything mizuno...

But this is just off of memory, and I really never paid a lot of attention. But I am going to now, just to see what I see.