Is Monoculture the Exception or the Norm?

[DHoch]

So I know it is pretty common on tour because of sponsorships, but how common is it for us mere mortals to have clubs from a single manufacturer in their bag? 

[MattM97]

A decent amount of guys do it, I see zero reason to do it myself, I get fitted I see what club works best, I buy that club. If my bag was 5 different brands so be it. 

[uglande]

A full bag is extremely rare, but I would say that most golfers exhibit a "mono-tendency." It can flip from one OEM to another from year to year, but I think once most people buy into a particular product line they like, they start gravitating toward that company's other products.

Some of this is subconscious, some of it is a style/symmetry thing, and sometimes there are practical benefits -- exchangeability of adapters/shafts, familiarity with stock shafts and how they function, the overall specs that each company tends to stick to in successive generations of products.

 

From a pure performance perspective, @MattM97's approach is clearly the most sensible. But I wouldn't say that a true, top-to-bottom "whatever-works-best" bag is the norma among Wrx-ers. 

[nostatic]

CDO* is a thing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*CDO is OCD but in alphabetical order - like it should be!

[mcounci2]

I don't think so. But, when I see one, it's Ping! Some of them are downright cultists!!!

[scooterhd2]

I've got a completely mixed bag now and have never owned a titleist club, but for some reason want to go to an all titleist bag. 

[GHIN n Juice]

20 minutes ago, mcounci2 said:

I don't think so. But, when I see one, it's Ping! Some of them are downright cultists!!!

You see a lot of Titleist full bags as well. I think the Titleist guys see the pros do it and go full lemming down to the staff bag.

[mcounci2]

1 minute ago, GHIN n Juice said:

You see a lot of Titleist full bags as well. I think the Titleist guys see the pros do it and go full lemming down to the staff bag.

 

Titleist always has the best looking staff bag. So at least they're doing that right! Lol

[DHoch]

Part of what brought this question on is that I’ve slowly added more Ping clubs to my bag this year, and every time I have my life has gotten easier. Now only the irons remain non-Ping.

 

Fwiw, I actually put together an all Titleist bag at the end of last year as a semi-joke, but had all 14 clubs in a Ping Hoofer 14. Now if I go with Ping irons, I’d have all 14 Ping clubs in a Titleist sta-dry I picked up after breaking up the all Titleist bag lol

[btyh]

1 minute ago, GHIN n Juice said:

You see a lot of Titleist full bags as well. I think the Titleist guys see the pros do it and go full lemming down to the staff bag.

Of course. Mine goes way back to titleist tiger. Its a all around preference. I was mixed bag all through my competition years and the more titleist came into the bag and stuck around. Now it's just a trusted brand for me and trust equals confidence. 

[Ghostwedge]

Log of guys are getting faked out by the Tour players then, most equipment contracts are for 10-12 clubs I believe. See a lot of different brand fairway woods, hybrids and putters.

[ChipNRun]

The last decade my bag has been largely a mix of Callaway and Tour Edge, with Ping niche: Since circa 2007, my putter has been of Ping manufacture. (exception: 18 months with a Slotline Inertia experiment.)

 

Calla and TE just seem to make clubs that "fit my eye." If model is within my capabilities (usually GI), I can get general feel of club in a half-dozen shots.

[dropkicked]

Full Titleist bag🖖🏼🙃

[lefthack]

There was a thread a few weeks back about the number of brands in ones bag. Mine is currently at 4.

 

One challenge for me as a lefty is fitting a whole bag from one OEM. I have like 5 to choose from.

 

I tend to match my woods, that might be weird.

 

<edit> I like that most tour contracts seem allow at least 1 club from just about anywhere. Like Ping only requires 10 Ping clubs.

Edited July 28, 2021 by lefthack

[SUPERG]

I’m fully confident with my all Titleist bag but have been known to flirt with the likes of odyssey or a Ping putter lol. I just trust Titleist to play my best, I think Ping and Titleist homers are the majority in regards to the cult like following. 

[DHoch]

So for all of the people in thread with one manufacturer, do you think the bag should match the brand?

[MattyO1984]

10 hours ago, GHIN n Juice said:

You see a lot of Titleist full bags as well. I think the Titleist guys see the pros do it and go full lemming down to the staff bag.

 

I know that I do!! 😂

 

I am definitely in the minority out and about but my reasoning is that I will always give everything a hit. I just feel more confident and comfortable with Titleist. Clubs are so good these days that there is much of a muchness so being confident in what you have in the bag can make a difference.

[MattyO1984]

1 hour ago, DHoch said:

So for all of the people in thread with one manufacturer, do you think the bag should match the brand?

 

Yes! Why would you want to mess up such a nice organised thing by throwing in a different golf bag out of nowhere?!

[btyh]

1 hour ago, DHoch said:

So for all of the people in thread with one manufacturer, do you think the bag should match the brand?

When I first went all titleist I had a black red and white ping j bag. I was never a fan of titleist bag design until the staff stand/premium. Lately I've been wanting a stitch sl2 the full red or grey. 

[Mookieb10]

For gits and shiggles I’ll put all Ping gear in my Ping bag once a year, but on the regular, I only play a Ping driver, 3w and hybrid. Tour edge 5w usually, callaway irons and wedges and ooddeesseeyy putter. 

[dekez]

I've thought about it, but would have a long way to go to get there

[dbleag]

14 hours ago, GHIN n Juice said:

You see a lot of Titleist full bags as well. I think the Titleist guys see the pros do it and go full lemming down to the staff bag.

With Titleist, you can also add balls, gloves, putters, shoes (FJ) and clothes (FJ).

[Lasorcier]

4 brands currently, 6 if we include glove and bag in the mix.  2 (including me) of my playing group are about the same.  We have a couple of ho's, also clearly including me. 

 

Number 3 is pretty Callaway heavy, down to hat and glove.  His is not quite full bag, but substantially full bag. Kirkland putter.

 

Number 4 is a ping adherent down to the hat.  Not the bag though interestingly - he has this sun mountain cart bag on a pushcart.  In addition to being a ping adherent, he is in the pushcart mafia.  It takes darn near a blizzard or major thunderstorm to get him to not walk.  His bag has everything in it that one could ever possibly need from 0-105 degrees in any biome.

 

Most full bags I see are ping and titleist in that order.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Yeah, I'm certainly not mono... Ping driver, Toski 4w, Wishon hybrid/irons, Sub70 wedges, Odyssey putter, Taylormade bag, Kirkland glove and balls. Headcovers for the woods say "Boilermakers" on them, not the brand of the club they're protecting 😉 

 

So I'm not loyal to any particular brand.

[nostatic]

If one is a club ho, then it can be hard to be monoculture. That said, there are different flavors of club ho: brand-loyal and brand-agnostic. The brand-loyal buys the new cycle of anything/everything from one company. The brand-agnostic sleeps around (club wise).

 

Certainly needs for a more rigorous cultural anthropology study. Just need that million dollar grant and elbow patches for my tweed blazer and I'm good to go.

[ShortGolfer]

A Callaway Hyperlight filled with a half set Callaway clubs.  Picked out a 7I at a local store with a big selection of used clubs.  Bought older Callaway clubs on ebay as I planned to cut them down to ladies petite lengths.  Realized that I could swap out the grips and reduce the static weight by 15 grams and bring the swing weight up without lead tape.  Experimented with club lengths and swing weights to figure out what worked for me.

 

Then I bought a Big Bertha 6H from Callaway pre-owned and discovered how much easier it was compared to using an FT Fusion.  For me, the head size makes a big difference.  Went back to CPO to upgrade my driver and fairway wood.  

 

Sticking with a brand meant that I had less to figure out and fewer chances of expensive mistakes--something that tends to get magnified if you are modifying clubs.  

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by ShortGolfer

[Ivyguy]

I have 5 brands in my bag now (Ping, Wilson, Bridgestone, Scor and SeeMore). 
 

I have always wanted my short irons and my wedges to look similar. I loved the Ben Hogan Ft Worth irons and the TK wedges.  I love the iBlades with the Glide wedges.  
 

outside of that, the clubs must perform. Actually, they have to look right to me before they can perform. 
 

Kinda weird. 

[RogerinNewZealand]

Its not like Chevy,Ford,Mopar One Choice.Vokeys and Scottys help your Titleist choice.The 905 era really helped Titleist Full Bags....Ping had G5,Rapture etc,when i had S58 irons i got an 80% bag. 

We have so many options now,so 5 Brands is fine in my bag.Mizuno or Tourstage Irons right now. Play your best!

[Lasorcier]

1 hour ago, nostatic said:

The brand-agnostic sleeps around (club wise).

 

I sleep around.

[Habitual Flipper]

Ping driver then all Titleist down to Scotty