Brands You Won't Play

[propman]

Northwestern clubs :busted_cop:

Too darn funny I spit tobacco and coffee all over my keyboard and screen-- even though I will truthfully admit I did carry a little Northwestern laminate 6 wood back in the day and I did have a Northwestern blade 3 iron I could mortally kill until the face split wide open hitting a ball one day no joke :taunt:

 

I'm old enough to have played Northwestern clubs and also old enough to not remember if I did or not.

[1puttTUT]

PXG. It's nothing truly special that pretty much every OEM has done at one time or another. Plus, the average joe can't even sniff them without harvesting organs. We can fit anything else for a fraction of the price.

 

Are you against Ferrari, Rolex, Louis Vuitton, .......or hundreds of other brands that the average Joe can't afford. Guess what, PXG is not making clubs for you. And that is absolutely okay because they are flying off the shelves at custom fitters which validates they have found a market niche and are serving it. This may not be the case next year as niche products must continue to evolve. But for now.........

 

You just made me add PXG to my list

[Gman70]

Taylormade, Callaway, Ping, PXG.

[Jagpilotohio]

Callaway irons and Ping woods.

 

I Never seem to care for the actual Overall SHAPE of either of them.

 

Especially the Ping woods. That big old deep V Butt shape and the “turbulators” just turn me off. I like a slimmer butt for sure.

 

My 917 has a beautiful Butt.

[EmperorPenguin]

Northwestern clubs :busted_cop:

When I started playing golf, Northwestern was a set you could buy at Kmart, and you know how kids like to ridicule about buying anything there. However, looking into a few other threads, I learned that Northwestern had premium players played (I recall Weiskopf played them?).

[The General]

The Emperor will chime in and offer his imperial opinion on various brands, some odious.

 

I have been an equipment hoarder and I have seen them all. Let me first say that every company has equipment that is acclaimed or shunned. To me, cosmetics are vital. I believe that in addition to performance, the clubs must look good from every angle. I will share my opinions company by company.

 

Adams

When I first saw the Tight Lies fairway woods in 1995, I thought that the idea of inverting the face so that the top line was narrower than the wider leading edge was innovative, but gradually they transitioned back to traditional designs. Inverted face simply wasn't revolutionary. Their Idea irons are very good, and their drivers are OK, though one of my most reliable drivers is the Redline, which I must add has a square face.

 

Bridgestone

Very good equipment. Maybe Japanese influence?

 

Callaway

Certainly one of the behemoths of the 1990's, their approach to design was initially performance first, cosmetics second. Tradition was thrown out the door and engineering came in first, and the company's first concept of innovation was their S2H2 hosels--or lack of hosels, so to say. The premise was to redistribute weight from the hosel to the face. Quirky, but they hit paydirt thanks mainly to Rich Parente a Dick Delacruz for taking the S2H2 farther by enlarging the head, hence Big Bertha driver. Chi Chi Rodriguez, I recall, first showed the driver to the world at a geezer tour event, and he was passing everyone with it, and everyone had to have one. Woods got bigger and bigger, and their release of the Big Bertha Irons back in 1995 was truly revolutionary. However, the top lines of those clubs were absolutely disgusting to look at, coupled with their severe offset, but the company did not care: performance first, cosmetics last. When Dick Helmstetter came on board and fired Parente and Delacruz, he merely continued and built on innovation and came up with some good designs, most notably the Steelhead Plus 3 wood, which is my favorite today. However, gradually over time, after Helmstetter retired, they shifted from radical equipment to more traditional. You see clubs today that have thinner top lines, less offset, and they even did away with that stupid S2H2 hosel. If they dropped S2H2, the whole concept was hype in the first place? However, kudos to them for getting club designers excited and creative. Will I play Callaway? With the exception of some of their Odyssey putters, not really, because these were the culprits who caused everyone to jack up the lengths and lofts, and their equipment today is still heavily jacked up.

 

Cleveland

Certainly one of the most darling companies of the 1980's with their superb persimmon woods and traditional designs in their Tour Action series. However, Roger Cleveland must have either been desperate or high on drugs when he designed the VAS irons. Even though those "garden tools" won our national Open in 1995, there is no doubt that cosmetics are an important consideration, as sales of VAS irons gradually faded, and soon after Roger sold his company to Rossignol and he started working for Callaway, which he is still doing a great job designing superb wedges. Today, Cleveland is meh, with equipment that is somewhat back to traditional.

 

Cobra

I can't do it, dude. These guys took the same approach as Callaway during the '90's, and they were the idiots who came out with oversize irons. Oversize woods and oversize irons for over-sized egos. Back in the mid-90's, the typical hacker bag was Callaway woods and King Cobra irons. I actually had an unsavory experience in an encounter with Tom Crow. He barked at me for just looking into his bag. He wanted to be left alone, so of course I obliged. This personal encounter is not so much the reason why I shun this equipment as much as their horrid designs of oversized irons and extreme offset (leading edges were behind the right edge of the shaft!). Do you see these features in their equipment today? Of course not! Why so? Because all that crap was hype, and they know it. Gary Biszantz, Tom Crow and Greg Norman made out with hundreds of millions when American Brands (now Fortune Brands) bought them out in the mid-to-late 90's, and they laughed all the way to the bank. Cobra faded away into the sunset after those bandits took the money and ran, but now they are a decent company at best. Will I play their equipment? No way, because their equipment is the most jacked in the industry--don't they have a pitching wedge at 43 degrees? Their game-improvement irons are still offset, but their player's clubs are very good, I must admit.

 

Miura, And Other Japanese Companies

They make great clubs, no doubt, and they know how to make a club. However, they have high price points for their equipment over there, and it is hard to justify paying over a thousand bucks for a used set. They even came out with an iron (Miura Genesis) to compete with PXG, as long as idiots are willing to pay $300 per club.

 

Mizuno

Once one of the darling companies of the 1990's, they are still one of the top companies for irons. How can anyone here not like a good Mizuno forging? Their woods are meh, but they are always known for superb irons.

 

Nike

Phil Mickelson was absolutely right when he called Nike "inferior equipment," and they came out with some God-forsaken abominations. Remember the Sumo² driver, especially the first generation? That horrid driver sounded like a trash can lid when you hit the ball with it. The worst sound ever for a driver, absolutely the worst of all. I would rather hit an old Top Flite driver with a Muscle shaft than that POS. With the remote exception of possibly the Victory Red forged irons, nothing else was good. This company is the lowest on my list, and I am glad they are out of business. Case closed.

 

Ping

Their offset was severe (leading edge in line to the right edge of the shaft), but not as severe as King Cobra. These guys were the innovators of game-improvement irons, and they set the first golf wave in the late 80's that took away most of the tennis players, myself included, as they switched from tennis to golf. After they released their Eye2 irons, everyone made knockoffs and that was how I got started. Hey, these clubs are easy to hit! I must give them credit for their woods because for a long time they refused to shut their faces on their woods up until about the K15 driver, when I started losing respect for them. Their irons were disgusting not so much for their designs, but for their offset. However, my attitude changed when they first released their i3 Blade irons. Today their irons are still offset, but not as bad as their designs from the late-80's thru 90's. Their putters are good, and my favorite putter is a simple Anser 3, which I have sunk many putts from 10' to 15' or so. They set the benchmark with putter design with their Anser putter, and I give them a word of respect for that.

 

PXG

Overpriced! Very much hype with these clubs, and they are for people who earnestly believe that the arrow makes a difference. I would not play these clubs because, quite honestly, I am not willing to pay $300 per club for zero difference in performance. The only thing I can add here is that I don't care about the person Bob Parons is alleged to be, but I have seen him play golf and swing the club. He is not a good golfer, to put it kindly.

 

Titleist

I confess that I am a Titleist guy. I highly praise these guys for not going crazy and releasing radical and stupid designs. I gave them a lot of credit for their woods for traditional shapes and zero face angles. Furthermore, I like their irons for their thin top lines and little-to-no offset. Most of all, I give them credit for designing clubs with the thought of traditional design first before engineering. They did design a few woods I do not like, but their irons are most of the time spot-on with what I am looking for. They brand themselves as "serious clubs for serious golfers," which I agree. Now on the issue of their overpriced putters, I agree with everyone here that Scotty is deliberately gouging his fans, and he is often called "Mr. Xerox" for copying designs, given that some of his original designs (e.g., Futura, Detour) are disgusting abominations that faded in the annuls of Titleist's dark past. Despite that, I give Titleist top marks for sticking with tradition and being the total antithesis to Callaway of old.

 

Srixon

A relatively new company, but their irons I like for their absence of offset. I have not much more to say.

 

TaylorMade

I first fell in love with their woods since I started playing golf in 1990, and I still have their Tour Preferred metalwoods today. They have always been the leader in drivers because, quite simply, they know how to make a driver. This is not to say that all their drivers are the best, because I am a stickler when it comes to face angles; I want a perfectly square face at address or if anything, maybe one degree open. However, they do have their TP series to accomodate face-angle snobs like me, but generally they try their best to help average golfers improve off the tee, even it it means shutting the face. Up until recently, they have never been known for their irons. I happen to have a set of ICW5's that I actually do like to play, but a lot of their irons were not so popular. Today, they have made great strides and their irons are now good. RAC Coin Forged, Tour Preferred, RSI ii are all fabulous designs.

 

Wilson

Once one of the premier companies for a long time, they simply lost out to overwhelming competition. Some of their shameful offerings (e.g., INVEX, Deep Red, Fat Shaft irons, etc.) are evident of desperation rather than innovation. Even their Staff line is not as good as from glory days of old. They may have a few decent woods, and the only thing saving them are their remakes of the FG musclebacks. Putters suck and Joe Phillips isn't around anymore to design their wedges. They are still popular in Europe, though I wonder why.

 

Honorable Mention: Axis1

Absolutely disgusting putters. How can you not throw up when you look down at their Eagle putter? These putters are too loud, and Luis Pedraza even created a softer version in his Tour-S putter, which most Tour Players would still not use.

 

so you're the guy that complains that their steak was over-cooked after you've eaten 3/4 of it. Some people can't be pleased no matter what. What you said about Cobra, dude, you have no idea what you're missing out on. Holding a grudge from a interaction from the 90's, wtf.

[SCOTT4099]

Titleist, Taylormade and oh yeah, titleist......

[ERUddOH]

Callaway - never liked how close together the grooves are on their irons & wedges.

[Togatown22]

I love how worked up people get when other people (strangers!) don't like what they like. Must be January on WRX!

[TRheezy]

Big Brands - probably Wilson, just never owned one or had the desire to own one.

 

Others - Bombtech, lamb putters, snell golf balls

[Browns71213]

Northwestern clubs :busted_cop:

 

My first set of clubs were Northwesterns. I'm not sure I've made more putts over my lifetime than I did for the 3 years I had the putter that came with that set. Alas, they were stolen out of my garage.

[Judge440]

Callaway.

[ssfranny]

well dont have to read any of the posts and I bet majority said PXG haha

[LeftyLuck]

Ping. Clubs seem to "rough" to me. Probably not titleist either. Not a fan of any of their clubs.

[Sir edward of putternut]

Ive never hit a callaway iron i liked since the tour authentic prototype, and even that was kinda meh....i traded for a set of forged 13s and loved the look, but i think we retraded like 3 weeks later...

Have an o works #7 putter....hate it...literally sits in my closet teasing me cuz i love the look.

 

 

I did like that xr hybrid though...fricking monster...but then i realized i didnt have boobs so i tossed it in a sale as a surprise and grabbed my super macho 2 iron

[shifu]

If the clubs were free, I'd play anything! Maybe not top flite clubs.

[Payton1020]

I haven't played anything Titleist since the 983K and have never played their irons. I have my 1st set of Callaway irons in the bag right now and they're 20 yrs old.

[kstateskier]

Taylor Made early in my golfing days. Not so much today however I don't own anything TM.

 

For some reason Ping irons don't do much for me these days. Drivers seem nice though.

[B-Nads]

Not because I have anything against the company, but I've never been a fan of Adams - look, address, or performance.

[Jesse Sanchez]

PXG, can't get pass all the screws.

[zebra2955]

Is it brands you won't play or brands you won't PAY for. I would never spend the money on clubs like PXG, but if you gave me a set. Not a problem

[RockingCPA]

I won't play ANYTHING Titleist. I used to have a full bag of Titleist clubs, but their love of suing anyone and everyone reminds me of what Microsoft did to Apple. They seem to want to crush anyone that makes a good product at a more affordable price, so it's just a matter of principle for me. They do all this under the guise of "protecting their brand", but it seems they will sue anyone that makes a round ball, which is bad for golfers. What I loved about the Costco Kirkland K Sig is that, at $15 dozen, it exposed that Titleist COULD make and sell the Pro V1 for a LOT less, if they wanted to. They would need to control spending better, to keep their profits up with a lower profit margin on their balls.

 

The ONLY time I play a Pro V1 is if I find it. It IS a great ball, but I just won't give them any money to help pay their legal costs to help keep everyone's cost of playing golf up.

[Silicon Valley Dale]

Nike. My hearing has never recovered since the day I hit that square driver on the driving range without my shooting muffs. I used to love loud drivers until I hit that nightmare machine. I still don't know where the ball went because my fight or flight reactions kicked in so hard. I've been scared of the swoosh ever since.

 

Taylormade Irons/Wedges. I do love Taylormade woods and hybrids. I just have never hit anything at demo day from their irons or wedges that blew me away. Good sticks, just not feeling them.

 

Mizuno Woods - I actually demoed a couple that played pretty well. I cannot get over the blue color though. I wanted to put the irons here, but they are fantastic and the only thing keeping me from getting a set is not wanting to spend that much on a set of irons while I still live in a state with a longer snowboarding season than golf season.

 

Any wedge other than Titleist. I'm sure they are fine. But I also am lucky to play once every 2 weeks, so the Titleist wedges I have are predictable and allow me to at least have some sort of idea what they are going to do.

 

As you can see, most of my reasons have nothing to due with the actual quality or play of the clubs, more so appearance and feel. (other than Nike. to my ears since that day).

 

You get a well deserved "like" sir. I thought all the talk about was just that. Then I hit the indoor simulator with a 68 y/o guy that works for me. Great guy, in better shape than any other 68 y/o I know. Hell, he's in better shape than me. No surprise that he's a former (is there such a thing?) Marine and can still hit it close to 250. Looks like he's 48 and I wouldn't pick a fight with him, for sure.

 

Anyways he breaks out this breadbox on a stick thing at the sim. I barely have time to see the swoosh on it before I think someone threw a grenade at us. No one is lying when they say it is loud. If anything they are understating it. If you've ever watched your kids play Call Of Duty, then it's the same thing as when someone throws a close by grenade. Flash of light then everything goes all echo-y and you can hear and feel your pulse. I had the bad idea that I should try to hit it too, fair is fair since I let him hit mine. I'd liken it to being struck by lightning. You'll have no memory from impact until well after. How you could ever find your ball after hitting it is beyond me.

 

I thought, with therapy, that I'd put that incident behind me. Then I just had to buy the Wilson Triton because it had a 300.00 shaft attached. Naturally I felt it necessary to try it out. It's no Sumo Sasquatch (should have known something from that name alone!) but dang if it didn't trigger some PTSD. Pulled the shaft post haste even though for the first time in my life I'd found a 2200RPM combo. Haven't had a chance to test it at length with actual real driver heads, but even if they spin my usual 3k+, my hearing is worth more than a decent trajectory. I've always dealt with drives that stall out at 275 out. I'd like to continue to hear. What to do??

[ChipNRun]

I don't discriminate against any particular brand, but I will say that Ping and Callaway irons have not suited my eye since the very beginning, with the possible exception of some of Callaway's more normal offerings aimed toward better players....

 

I guess I'm your mirror image. I played Ping Eye2 clones from 1994-2008, and have been playing mainly Callaway irons since then. In both cases, the two families seem to fit my eye.

 

For the most part, just about all the main EOMs make a set of irons I could play - as long as they have the right shafts in them.

[sonnygolf]

Nike.

PXG.

I don’t like that Nike tries to buy their way into any sport/ athletic endeavor. Surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding. I’m surprised they don’t make tents or sleeping bags ( or do they?)

PXG is just offensive.....

 

Ummm...that's their business model. They are a sporting company and the aim is to spread their brand as far reaching in every single sport. Same wiith Mizuno. Its like saying you don't like that Samsung is involved computers, TV, Phones and other electrical goods.

[Fubuman]

TaylorMade

[BIG STU]

Callaway - never liked how close together the grooves are on their irons & wedges.

But Callaway did not invent that. I had that discussion with a Cally rep early last year. Go look at an early Wilson R-90 sand wedge or a 80s remake for that matter. A lot of folks do not know the difference on some 2013 X forged either. The Tour issued heads have more grooves than the retail version too but they are deemed "conforming".

[Roody]

Nike. I'm glad they stopped making golf clubs. That Sasquatch driver was awful. The Slingshot irons, terrible. There was a point in time I played some of their TW line of golf balls and thought they were decent, but I've switched to Titleist balls pretty exclusively for the past 8-10 years.

 

Also, any company that advertises by infomercial such as Warrior or Bombtech raises the eyebrows of suspicion with me. I laugh at the latest Warrior golf ball commercial when they offer 2 dozen FREE golf balls ($12.95 shipping and processing fee), and then say it's a $100 value. Now that's funny.

[Spooky67]

PXG.

[duffer987]

The Emperor will chime in and offer his imperial opinion on various brands, some odious.

 

Cobra

...I can't do it, dude...No way, because their equipment is the most jacked in the industry--don't they have a pitching wedge at 43 degrees?...

 

Titleist

I confess that I am a Titleist guy. I highly praise these guys for not going crazy and releasing radical and stupid designs... Most of all, I give them credit for designing clubs with the thought of traditional design first before engineering. They did design a few woods I do not like, but their irons are most of the time spot-on with what I am looking for. They brand themselves as "serious clubs for serious golfers," which I agree.

 

I guess an OEM with two iron lines with 43* PWs is traditional though. Nothing says serious clubs like two set GWs either :russian_roulette: