Brands You Won't Play

[BForrester]

I gotta tell ya, some of the reasons for not playing certain brands are truly classic.

 

"Don't like the other guys playing that brand's stuff", "Hate it for some reason (don't know why)", "Don't like brands that are suing other brands (or is that being sued by other brands ?)".

 

And that's on just this one page,,,,,,,, :D

 

You do realize that the costs of those lawsuits get passed to us consumers, right? When Titleist sues SmallCompany A over their $20 per dozen kick-Word not allowed golf ball and said company folds because they can't afford the legal bills whether Titleist has a case or not, the consumers (we) lose, too.

 

Well, the water company raises out rates so the golf course has to raise theirs. Same thing with the electric company. Course gets sued by a golfer for no valid reason. We should hate all of them too, right ?

 

The gubmint sues/oversees/regulates major corporations all the time and that gets passed onto us consumers as well.

 

So what do we do about that ?

 

Oh, right, I see your point now. We hate the gubmint, the electric company, the water company,,,,,,,, and that litigious golfer, too,,,,,,,,,,,,, :)

 

I can choose whether or not to patronize Titleist whereas public utilities are regulated monopolies that cannot raise their rates without regulatory approval. Besides, water and electricity are necessities; ProV1 are not. Your analogy is flawed.

 

We can go back and forth on government regulation, but regulation is largely in place to protect the public/consumer and help offset the social costs associated with industry. Are some regulations unnecessary or overly burdensome? Sure, but their intent is to protect and not to harm the consumer. Your argument would indicate that you think we should go back to leaded gasoline and 10 mpg mileage standards cause, damn it, safety and efficiency cost us more.

[RodrigoNicely]

I don't play anything else then Ping.

 

I'll never touch another Ping product in my life. One of the courses I play at lost their account for selling a Ping driver for $10 below what they were supposed to sell it for. The Pro doesn't advertise he just sells everything for a certain percentage over wholesale and it worked out that for the G400 it was $10 below what he was supposed to sell it for and a secret shopper came in, bought one and reported him.

 

He's had an account with Ping and it was his #1 seller for over 20 years. If Ping is willing to destroy a 20+ year relationship over $10 it's not a company I'm willing to support by buying their equipment. I've carried a Ping bag since I was a kid (never really played their clubs) and now there is a Callaway bag in my trunk and a Ping bag in my garbage can.

 

Long story short, I'm good at holding a grudge so Ping is a brand I will never play.

 

You should actually be happy Ping cares that much about their brand image. Ping clubs hold their value better than any other club on the market for that reason alone. People know they will be a certain price at all retail outlets.

 

I've got no problem with the no advertising below a certain price to protect the brand's image but trying to dictate a business's pricing structure that you've had no problem with for years is too much, especially for $10. You can go on eBay and find several brand new G400s sold for well below their MSP so a company that is willing to shake down a 20+ year old account over $10 before they deal with finding the source of the clubs being sold on eBay has no room in my bag.

 

The private club I play at has a Mill River program where we - only the members are eligible - pay a couple hundred bucks up front and then buy everything at 10% over cost. It's a very private club so there is never any advertising done but Ping still took it upon themselves to cancel the account. That pricing structure was in place for as long as the club has been around and until last year Ping had no problem with it. In fact it was the longest standing Ping account in our state. Our club was actually happy to see Ping leave because Taylormade and Callaway were fighting for the extra sales and it worked out very well in terms of the additional fitting equipment and demo days they gave us.

 

Ping just seems to pick really dumb fights and with them years and years of a loyal relationship means nothing apparently. I get trying to protect their brand by in my eyes some of the moves they've made of late are just idiotic.

 

So by your logic of what should make me happy you think selling a driver in a cash deal at an unadvertised price for $10 below the MSP is worse for a brand than throwing away a 20+ year relationship over $10. That's an interesting notion. In my eyes Ping's actions have done far more damage than our Golf Shop's did.

 

As I said Ping is now a brand I will never play again.

 

I was in the golf business for almost 20 years and never really saw Ping pick and choose. They went after anyone who broke their pricing policy. I understand what you’re saying though. I just appreciate that ping tries to protect themselves. As far as buying new drivers for less than retail on eBay I haven’t seen it. Ping in the past have been all over eBay

[sixtysevensixtyseven]

I don't play anything else then Ping.

 

I'll never touch another Ping product in my life. One of the courses I play at lost their account for selling a Ping driver for $10 below what they were supposed to sell it for. The Pro doesn't advertise he just sells everything for a certain percentage over wholesale and it worked out that for the G400 it was $10 below what he was supposed to sell it for and a secret shopper came in, bought one and reported him.

 

He's had an account with Ping and it was his #1 seller for over 20 years. If Ping is willing to destroy a 20+ year relationship over $10 it's not a company I'm willing to support by buying their equipment. I've carried a Ping bag since I was a kid (never really played their clubs) and now there is a Callaway bag in my trunk and a Ping bag in my garbage can.

 

Long story short, I'm good at holding a grudge so Ping is a brand I will never play.

 

You should actually be happy Ping cares that much about their brand image. Ping clubs hold their value better than any other club on the market for that reason alone. People know they will be a certain price at all retail outlets.

 

I've got no problem with the no advertising below a certain price to protect the brand's image but trying to dictate a business's pricing structure that you've had no problem with for years is too much, especially for $10. You can go on eBay and find several brand new G400s sold for well below their MSP so a company that is willing to shake down a 20+ year old account over $10 before they deal with finding the source of the clubs being sold on eBay has no room in my bag.

 

The private club I play at has a Mill River program where we - only the members are eligible - pay a couple hundred bucks up front and then buy everything at 10% over cost. It's a very private club so there is never any advertising done but Ping still took it upon themselves to cancel the account. That pricing structure was in place for as long as the club has been around and until last year Ping had no problem with it. In fact it was the longest standing Ping account in our state. Our club was actually happy to see Ping leave because Taylormade and Callaway were fighting for the extra sales and it worked out very well in terms of the additional fitting equipment and demo days they gave us.

 

Ping just seems to pick really dumb fights and with them years and years of a loyal relationship means nothing apparently. I get trying to protect their brand by in my eyes some of the moves they've made of late are just idiotic.

 

So by your logic of what should make me happy you think selling a driver in a cash deal at an unadvertised price for $10 below the MSP is worse for a brand than throwing away a 20+ year relationship over $10. That's an interesting notion. In my eyes Ping's actions have done far more damage than our Golf Shop's did.

 

As I said Ping is now a brand I will never play again.

 

I was in the golf business for almost 20 years and never really saw Ping pick and choose. They went after anyone who broke their pricing policy. I understand what you're saying though. I just appreciate that ping tries to protect themselves. As far as buying new drivers for less than retail on eBay I haven't seen it. Ping in the past have been all over eBay

 

If you search the sold listings there are a ton of them with the wrapper on that have sold within the past month. I get going after the accounts who are supply the people who are supply those sellers.

 

I was a PGA pro when Ping introduced the "orange" pricing or whatever they called it. I laughed when our rep came in with the price list in a sealed envelope and told us he was no longer allowed to discuss price with us. A company actually dreamed up a policy that prohibited their sales people from discussing price. Brilliant. That was probably around 2002 or 2003 but they really seem to have ramped up this taking accounts away from really solid country clubs and courses in my area during the past two years, none of which advertise.

 

It's perfect that their #1 brand ambassador is voted the most hated player on the PGA Tour, it suits them well.

 

Ping is a dumb business and I don't support stupid.

[gbartko]

^^^^^^^

 

Show us on the doll where Karsten Solheim touched you ;-)

[sixtysevensixtyseven]

^^^^^^^

 

Show us on the doll where Karsten Solheim touched you ;-)

 

Haha. I sent Ric Flair out to deal with him.

[EmperorPenguin]

It's perfect that their #1 brand ambassador is voted the most hated player on the PGA Tour, it suits them well.

Bubba Watson or Lee Westwood? Or both? Remember to pray for Teddy Scott.

[braincramp52]

^^^^^^^

 

Show us on the doll where Karsten Solheim touched you ;-)

 

Haha. I sent Ric Flair out to deal with him.

 

So Ping sent a "secret shopper" out to a very private golf course just to bust them for $10 ? Something tells me there's more to the story.

[chris975d]

^^^^^^^

 

Show us on the doll where Karsten Solheim touched you ;-)

 

Haha. I sent Ric Flair out to deal with him.

 

So Ping sent a "secret shopper" out to a very private golf course just to bust them for $10 ? Something tells me there's more to the story.

 

No, they really do this. I got my account suspended/pulled for discounting a wedge $5 many years ago to a PING secret shopper. And I know of a $60,000 a year in club sales account that got pulled for discounting PING clubs. That being said, PING is one of my favorite companies to do business with, even with the iron fist rule of not only their advertising price, but what you also sell clubs for. Keeps everything more even between large and small accounts.

[dachtor]

I don't play anything else then Ping.

 

I'll never touch another Ping product in my life. One of the courses I play at lost their account for selling a Ping driver for $10 below what they were supposed to sell it for. The Pro doesn't advertise he just sells everything for a certain percentage over wholesale and it worked out that for the G400 it was $10 below what he was supposed to sell it for and a secret shopper came in, bought one and reported him.

 

He's had an account with Ping and it was his #1 seller for over 20 years. If Ping is willing to destroy a 20+ year relationship over $10 it's not a company I'm willing to support by buying their equipment. I've carried a Ping bag since I was a kid (never really played their clubs) and now there is a Callaway bag in my trunk and a Ping bag in my garbage can.

 

Long story short, I'm good at holding a grudge so Ping is a brand I will never play.

 

Same thing happened at my club right after I joined and get this....... the Ping rep was a member and the entire club played Ping. It was like nothing I had ever seen. We incorrectly priced a wedge from last season, they sent a secret shopper and suspended the account.

 

Unbelievable!

[Hunter991]

PXG or Taylormade. A few years ago the marketing campaign of Taylormade and their drivers was way over the top. Just never lived up to their name. PXG just because its so expensive and I don't think any of their irons are better than anyone elses.

[rawbuffalo]

Of the "main" brands I wouldnt play cobra anything, probably not callaway either. I used to say I wouldnt play TM but got a lot more distance out of M2 compared to my 913 d3

[Lancj1]

Anything Cobra. I just believe they are junk.

[pierso2]

Not to get off track but Volvik golf balls will get $0 from me. I found one and holy moly those things are awful. It's about the only thing I agree with Bubba on lol

[Hogan9]

I will probably never play PXG. I like Mizuno irons and I go back and forth between Callaway and Taylormade for my driver and fairway metals. I also don't like Winn grips.

[Hit em good]

For some reason, I won't even consider clubs by Callaway and Cobra. I don't have any hard feelings toward them, but just don't consider them to be viable options.

My bag is TM, Ping, Titleist, and Mizuno.

[strug'-a-ling]

What's the difference?

 

 

They're probably all made at the same Chinese factory right next to the component knock-offs.

 

 

None of the clubmakers have restricted sales to green grass pro shops for about forty years now. They're all whoring their clubs in stores and online.

 

 

But the "discounted" street prices are higher, even inflation adjusted, than they were when they were all fair traded at FULL LIST PRICE by golf professionals.

 

 

It just occurs to me that the players under sixty don't know what I'm talking about!

[rwl]

To summarize for those who don't want to slog thru 14 pages of posts:

 

1. It is easy to find an equal number of people who love & hate any of the OEM's.

 

2. There is a special place in golf hell for Bob Parsons & PXG.

 

Now go use the time I've saved you to practice w/ the gear you do like!

[TexasRed]

For the longest time I was strictly a Titleist player, but I’ve eased up on that in the past year or so. Now I play a TM driver and swap between PXG, Mizuno, Callaway, and Titleist irons because I’ve turned into a ho. I don’t think there’s a brand I wouldn’t consider now except for the gimmick brands.

[1Mordrid1]

^^^^^^^

 

Show us on the doll where Karsten Solheim touched you ;-)

 

Haha. I sent Ric Flair out to deal with him.

 

So Ping sent a "secret shopper" out to a very private golf course just to bust them for $10 ? Something tells me there's more to the story.

 

Ping is not the only company to do this. Bose is an example of another company that uses the same MAP pricing policies with a Zero Tolerance Enforcement. Because it is a policy and not an agreement the manufacturer is well within its rights to immediately terminate MAP policy violators on first offenses no matter how big or small the violation. If the manufacturer issues a warning instead of terminating, then in the eyes of a court, it could be argued that it is then an agreement rather than a policy, and could fall under anti-trust laws.

[ago33]

Driver- Callaway

3 wood- TEE

Hybrid/Di Adams/TM

Irons- Mizuno

Wedges-Titleist

Putter-bettinardi

 

My backup driver is ping

Probably never play cobra. I don’t know but it just doesn’t feel like a real brand.

I’d never play PXG just because they are trying to be a premium brand when almost all clubs are the same

 

[ago33]

I play a bunch of brands. I used to think I'd never consider Tour Edge "Bazooka" clubs, because they were kind of a bargain club targeted at higher handicaps. Yesterday I got beat by a guy who shot even par using three Bazooka hybrids that were about 20 years old. He's a solid 3 handicap. I might have to give Bazooka another look, and try them out. Prejudice and bias get you in trouble all the time.

 

The tour edge CBX is by far the best fairway wood this year. Super deep and forgiving.

[playa]

Brand new pretty much all OEMs except Tour Edge Exotics and Cleveland/Srixon, purely on price point. Second hand everything is on the table.

 

[RRH]

Volvik, I don't like the name. I usually stay away from Callaway but I have a driver of theirs right now. Might get rid of it soon though.

 

Other than that, I will play anything. I prefer Titleist.

[andrieddle]

For some reason, I won't even consider clubs by Callaway and Cobra. I don't have any hard feelings toward them, but just don't consider them to be viable options.

My bag is TM, Ping, Titleist, and Mizuno.

 

Funny, my two bags only consist Callaway and Cobra clubs, except an Evnroll putter and Nike VFP driver on the 2nd bag.

[BForrester]

I don't play anything else then Ping.

 

I'll never touch another Ping product in my life. One of the courses I play at lost their account for selling a Ping driver for $10 below what they were supposed to sell it for. The Pro doesn't advertise he just sells everything for a certain percentage over wholesale and it worked out that for the G400 it was $10 below what he was supposed to sell it for and a secret shopper came in, bought one and reported him.

 

He's had an account with Ping and it was his #1 seller for over 20 years. If Ping is willing to destroy a 20+ year relationship over $10 it's not a company I'm willing to support by buying their equipment. I've carried a Ping bag since I was a kid (never really played their clubs) and now there is a Callaway bag in my trunk and a Ping bag in my garbage can.

 

Long story short, I'm good at holding a grudge so Ping is a brand I will never play.

 

Same thing happened at my club right after I joined and get this....... the Ping rep was a member and the entire club played Ping. It was like nothing I had ever seen. We incorrectly priced a wedge from last season, they sent a secret shopper and suspended the account.

 

Unbelievable!

 

Looks like I'll be staying away from Ping, also. This kind of thing does the consumer no favors.

[RodrigoNicely]

I don't play anything else then Ping.

 

I'll never touch another Ping product in my life. One of the courses I play at lost their account for selling a Ping driver for $10 below what they were supposed to sell it for. The Pro doesn't advertise he just sells everything for a certain percentage over wholesale and it worked out that for the G400 it was $10 below what he was supposed to sell it for and a secret shopper came in, bought one and reported him.

 

He's had an account with Ping and it was his #1 seller for over 20 years. If Ping is willing to destroy a 20+ year relationship over $10 it's not a company I'm willing to support by buying their equipment. I've carried a Ping bag since I was a kid (never really played their clubs) and now there is a Callaway bag in my trunk and a Ping bag in my garbage can.

 

Long story short, I'm good at holding a grudge so Ping is a brand I will never play.

 

Same thing happened at my club right after I joined and get this....... the Ping rep was a member and the entire club played Ping. It was like nothing I had ever seen. We incorrectly priced a wedge from last season, they sent a secret shopper and suspended the account.

 

Unbelievable!

 

Looks like I'll be staying away from Ping, also. This kind of thing does the consumer no favors.

 

I don’t know how you can say that. They are doing consumers a huge favor, because of their policies you see Ping club values hold higher than most brands.

[longballrips]

I do not like to rule out brands in total, but I will not use a Callaway driver due to the shape of them. Ping Irons because of the feel. Titleist Wedges due to the weigh

[Theryanlaf]

I have a mixed bag, depending on the club..

Driver - TM

Irons - Callaway

Wedges - Everything but vokey (new pings look pretty snazzy though)

Putters - Everything but Ping (been trying to like a buddys Scotty. Might win me over)

[caniac6]

PXG. Can't afford them.

[dachtor]

I don't play anything else then Ping.

 

I'll never touch another Ping product in my life. One of the courses I play at lost their account for selling a Ping driver for $10 below what they were supposed to sell it for. The Pro doesn't advertise he just sells everything for a certain percentage over wholesale and it worked out that for the G400 it was $10 below what he was supposed to sell it for and a secret shopper came in, bought one and reported him.

 

He's had an account with Ping and it was his #1 seller for over 20 years. If Ping is willing to destroy a 20+ year relationship over $10 it's not a company I'm willing to support by buying their equipment. I've carried a Ping bag since I was a kid (never really played their clubs) and now there is a Callaway bag in my trunk and a Ping bag in my garbage can.

 

Long story short, I'm good at holding a grudge so Ping is a brand I will never play.

 

Same thing happened at my club right after I joined and get this....... the Ping rep was a member and the entire club played Ping. It was like nothing I had ever seen. We incorrectly priced a wedge from last season, they sent a secret shopper and suspended the account.

 

Unbelievable!

 

Looks like I'll be staying away from Ping, also. This kind of thing does the consumer no favors.

 

I don't know how you can say that. They are doing consumers a huge favor, because of their policies you see Ping club values hold higher than most brands.

 

When you really think about it, it's kind of silly we care about resale value. It's not a house or a car. The only time we care about resale value of a golf club is when we want to sell something, which means we've found something that performs better.