What perception do you have of each golf brand?

[PigPyle]

• Titleist - Whole Foods 
• Ping - Kroger
• Taylormade - Wal-mart
• Callaway - Target 
• Srixon - Publix
• Mizuno - Trader Joe’s
• Cobra - Aldi 

[PARETO]

Titleist - a tad “vanilla” for my liking. The “Patrick Cantlay” of golf brands. 
Callaway - Too “Mickelson” for my liking. I have never liked Phil….. and I detest Good Good. 
Cobra - The kid on the corner with an annoying loud Subaru STi who is actually a great driver. 
Taylor Made - Jack of all trades but master of none. 
Ping - Purpose built. Tools not jewels. Never play a guy with old Eye2’s in the bag for money. 
Mizuno - MP line or don’t bother. Smooth as Cashmere Kieth. 
Honorable mention - Wilson Staff. 
 

[roundersmitty]

11 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

 

The thing is my post wasn't even a joke--it's literally what i think of with the OEMs now. I just won't pay 1000$ for a driver on general principle. 

 

So for a driver , if i was gonna buy new it would be Srixon or Cobra

You don’t need a new driver if you have the 2021 PXG 0211 $250CND driver in the bag.….

[rooski]

• Titleist: Top tier brand who puts out some great clubs and the most consistent golf balls. Not necessarily better clubs than other brands but you can't go wrong here. I think their current player's irons feel a little worse than other brands. Pretty boring though
• Ping: I've always wanted to try a set of Ping irons. Unapologetically their own brand, does things a little different but top tier clubs and innovation in every department. (Wedges aren't for me but I'm sure they're great)
• Taylormade: The golf brand that less skilled golfers think is the best golf brand. The executive that gives you knucks walking through the office and drinks way too much at happy hours. Spends the most money marketing their image. Club durability issues but I'm sure they're fine. Taylormade bit me on the M1 Irons when the faces caved in and never responded when I asked if I could at a minimum just get a small coupon for a new set of irons after mine were useless. I am a Taylormade hater through and through and will not play their clubs. 
• Callaway: Some of the best woods and hybrids in the game, Jon Rahm looks cute with their little hats, I got nothing against their clubs in any spot in the bag. With some of the latest releases they've really upped their game, and on top of this all they've also got Odyssey. My #1 overall
• Srixon: Cleveland wedges are amazing, cult classic irons I'd love to have. Their woods look like they're from Big 5 though.
• Mizuno: I mean the marketing phrase "Nothing feels like a Mizuno" is a bit overdone but it's true. Huge fan. I think their new woods look and perform as good as anything but lets be real this is an iron company.
• Cobra: U n d e r r a t e d. My favorite brand growing up thanks to the original Speed series drivers. Their modern irons are as good as anything else in the game, and their woods are exceptional as well. I think their putters look really bad and cheap though and the one I tried I just did not enjoy.

Edited June 28, 2023 by rooski

[Chopper Dave]

• Titleist, something for everyone, kinda classy. #1 choice for pro golfer cosplay.
• Ping - hit and miss. Drab dystopian feel. Where’s the heart?
• Taylormade - hit and miss. I mean, Led Zeppelin didn’t write tunes that everyone liked. They left that to the Bee Gees.
• Callaway - hit and miss. Their back catalogue could also be featured in a freak show museum.
• Srixon - if they had TaylorMade stamped on them they’d be quaddrillionmilliontrillionaires
• Mizuno - quality, certainly for cork sniffers 
• Cobra - getting away with murder

[cglewis07]

Quick fire first thoughts 

•  Titleist - best golf balls hands down but clubs are starting to lose the classic look they had for a long time.
• Ping - Everything feels like game improvement. Weird feeling like I'm too good to use ping creeps in my mind when I pick one up.
• Taylormade - feels like all marketing hype? Usually surprised when I try stuff though and it works well. 
• Callaway - great drivers but everything else sucks.
• Srixon - Secret club. Ocassionally run into one in the wild when you see a Srixon ball on the green. 
• Mizuno - Nothing feels like a Mizuno. Iron snobs. Blades only or you suck. 
• Cobra - Kids or grown men who still dress like Rickie in his 20s

[JA_357]

So its interesting to read perceptions about what each brand does best, my set actually reflects that somewhat (purely chosen on feel, don't care about brand).

Titleist: Use their balls, Vokey Wedges

Ping: Kushin Putter

TM: Stealth 3 Wood - swear by it.

Callaway: Rogue ST Driver

 

Mizuno: Irons JPX923

Cobra: LTDx 7 Wood

Srixon: No appearances.

[tbowles411]

Titleist - The standard, but the marketing machine does more to keep their names at the top.  They're better than you.  Just ask them.

Ping - Stellar performers, but sometimes lacking in the looks department.  The engineers could care less though.

Taylormade - Hype machine on steroids.

Callaway - Trying to make their way back up the ladder.  Above average offerings that do a lot for a large cross-section of players.  Solid, not spectacular.

Srixon - Scarily underrated and overlooked.  Can run with the rest.

Mizuno - Irons are outstanding, woods are solid, but still need tweaks.

Cobra - Solid, but still hard to take them completely seriously.

[von3jack]

• Titleist - For the most part used by better players, classic, trusted
• Ping - The working mans club manufacturer. They do it their way and don't try to be something that they're not. 
• Taylormade - Marketing, marketing, marketing. Mostly solid stuff but I mostly don't trust the build quality, especially the drivers and putters. More focus on tech than building solid clubs. 
• Callaway - Similar to TaylorMade but they just do a worse job of it. Their staffers are pretty boring which doesn't help.
• Srixon - Most underrated of all of these brands. IMO they make the best irons on the planet for the money. 
• Mizuno - I wish they would try to make their drivers look more like Titleist drivers. Feels like they're stuck between techy woods and classic irons. A trusted brand that should focus on what they're good at.
• Cobra - I feel like they mostly appeal to teenagers and Guy Fieri types. Very hit or miss on which products end up being solid or not. Underrated for irons.

[GooseHook]

If you include Cleveland with Srixon, I'm not sure I would mind playing a wedge from any of the brands listed. Except for maybe Callaway, who makes great looking stuff and then appears to drop acid while designing the address view of 9i-LW. 

[aquapig]

On 6/27/2023 at 11:59 AM, Klubster said:

All-

Hype over function.  In reality, there have not been any major improvements in recent years.  It is mostly cosmetics.

 

Let the flaming begin... 

Not gonna flame, rather agree.

[aquapig]

2 hours ago, von3jack said:

•  
• Mizuno - I wish they would try to make their drivers look more like Titleist drivers. Feels like they're stuck between techy woods and classic irons. A trusted brand that should focus on what they're good at.

I played Titleist drivers and Mizuno irons for year. 

 

Then I test the ST190 and looked and felt the most like a Titleist driver to me. 

 

I've been playing it since it came out years ago and it's rock solid.

[dabohammer]

• Titleist - Chic-fil-A
• Mizuno - Five Guys
• Ping - Subway
• Taylormade - McDonalds
• Callaway - Burger King
• Srixon - Wendys
• Cobra - Taco Bell

 

explanations available upon request 🤣

Edited June 28, 2023 by dabohammer

[Adam B]

On 6/27/2023 at 1:06 PM, JA_357 said:

Not huge differences in reality, most make decent clubs with a few notable exceptions. But perception wise:

• Titleist: Balls and nice wedges, more pros than bros. Make ugly irons and woods, and the pros seem to play them and do fine.
• Ping: Ugly but effective.
• Taylormade: Showy and pushy. Not sure if the new tech is the best idea but will sell it that way in any case. Waiting for the free set of steak knives to drop.
• Callaway: Workmanlike - not showy, but effective and reliable. Kinda like the Makita of the golf world.
• Srixon: Who are these people? Is this a knock off?
• Mizuno: Amazing feeling clubs that people rave about, good looking. Apparently make more than irons, but nobody uses them in the US.
• Cobra: The last brand the guy hands you at a fitting, but play better than all the showy stuff you were handed first. Then you see the advertising and who plays them and wonder if by playing them you've joined the drinking class.

Titleist with ugly irons and woods… now that’s a hot take. 

[von3jack]

1 hour ago, aquapig said:

I played Titleist drivers and Mizuno irons for year. 

 

Then I test the ST190 and looked and felt the most like a Titleist driver to me. 

 

I've been playing it since it came out years ago and it's rock solid.

 

I don't doubt the performance of the drivers. I played an ST-Z 220 for a spell and really liked it. I just wish they would go more traditional in the looks department, like they do with their irons/wedges.

[ciscojaws]

• Titleist - "Move along, peasant."
• Ping - "Buy once, cry once."
• Taylormade - "COCAINE!"
• Callaway - "I got these at Dick's.  Came with iron headcovers." 
• Srixon - "Is it pronounced 'srickson' or 'sricksen'?"
• Mizuno - "Oooh Billy Billy Billy Billy."
• Cobra - "The fenders on my Civic are primer grey."

[Seidinho]

• Titleist: great clubs for good players. average clubs for average players (looking at you, T200, T300)
• Ping: function over form. not sexy, but works. 
• Taylormade: wants to seen as top of class. Have something for everyone, but are missing the Player's Unicorn (P7MC is less forgiving and P770 too techy for the T100, ZX7, MP223 player). 
• Callaway: on a downward trend. Driver designs don't do anything for me and their irons have been ugly for the longest time. (I hate the back of the Apex models).
• Srixon: underappreciated. Their irons are top of class, but can't seem to break through. Their woods aren't. 
• Mizuno: Used to be "nothing feels like a Mizuno". Recently, most models are weird multi-material mixes with inconsistent gapping. 
• Cobra: Can't figure out what they want to be / where they want to be positioned in the market. The recent King irons seem to indicate they want to step away from their "fun" profile- let's see if it sticks.  

[Mrgreen36]

On 6/26/2023 at 8:03 PM, LimaSierra said:

 

• Titleist  they make golf balls, hats an accessories 
• Ping. The putter that started all blade style putters, cool logo finally playing their irons. 
• Taylormade marketing giants, tried to like their clubs, can't. 
• Callaway.   Warbird and old people. 
• Srixon.   Owned by Sumitomo. 
• Mizuno. Blades and Nick Faldo 
• Cobra  low key great clubs, puma power

 

[KGolfCT]

Lets say the brands are 

• Titleist - prima donna
• Ping - remind me of the science nerd who stayed after school to tutor, and now has a 7 figure salary at Google
• Taylormade - all of our stuff breaks, but we sell a lot of it, so who cares
• Callaway - if our stuff breaks, we will do everything possible to take care of you
• Srixon - our stuff is some of the best you can buy, but we have a weird name so your friends who play twice a year won't think you're cool 
• Mizuno - it's all about the "feel", or is it...
• Cobra - kind of like Srixon's older brother, might make the best drivers on the planet that nobody is playing

[ae1985]

I am laughing at the perceptions of cobra. I am furthest thing from that. 

[jacob7071]

• Titleist
  • Market share leader by far for golf balls, although I don't know why.  Surely the TP5 or Chromesoft is just as good.
  • You'd better know what you're doing if you want to hit these clubs.  You're either a player or poser
• Ping
  • Designed by engineers who know how to design golf clubs
  • Not the prettiest, but damn do they work!
  • They were the Scotty Cameron before Tiger started using an actual Scotty Cameron
• TaylorMade
  • Buy all the tour pros and then the masses will buy our clubs
  • I feel like their distance claims are akin to car companies claiming 60mpg - yeah, but you tested it on what's essentially a treadmill at 40 mph with no wind resistance.
  • Market share leader for drivers, but for good reason.  They work.
• Callaway
  • Designed by engineers who know how to talk to computers, and marketed by engineers who think it's cool to know how to talk to computers
  • Seems to have an inferiority complex now, but they were the TaylorMade of drivers before the non-conforming driver and that first all carbon one that flopped.  
  • My travel bag (the one I use when I fly because I won't cry so hard if the airlines lose it) has 13 Callaways thanks to CPO
• Srixon
  • The next Mizuno - great irons but basically no market share with anything else.
  • If we're lumping Cleveland in here, they were Vokey before Vokey came around.  Ev-er-ry one had the RTG wedges in their Ping stand bag in the 90s.  
• Mizuno
  • The sweet spot on their clubs may as well be called the g-spot.  Feels great when you can find it, but doesn't happen often enough
• Cobra
  • They're the little brother always begging to let me play too!
  • Does anyone remember what driver Tiger played before the 975D?

 

[jacho22]

• Titleist:  Understated design.  Least technology until recently.
• Ping:  Ugly, but forgiving.
• Taylormade:  Most technology whether needed or just marketing
• Callaway: Wanna be like TaylorMade
• Srixon: Great irons, but woods less appealing
• Mizuno: See Srixon
• Cobra:  Opposite of Srixon/Mizuno:  Great woods, but irons less appealing. 

[ChipNRun]

Big Four

• Titleist - Solid golf clubs; for some reason, many golfers unjustly view them as elitist. Vokey gives most variety in wedges.
• Ping - Developed custom club-fitting for everyday golfer; other OEMs have followed. Led way in a number of tech enhancements.
• Taylormade - Of all the abrasive, rude OEM players reps in golfdom, half work for TM.
• Callaway - Innovative in drivers and irons; personal note - last cycle of irons has low wow factor.

Scrappy Three 

• Srixon - Clubs for the more serious (?) golfers; don't forget brother Cleveland, solid irons for recreational golfers, plus three models of wedges for all.
• Mizuno - Excellent mix of irons; solid gear overall.
• Cobra - The upstart that keeps getting better. Excellent hybrids, I used for three years. Loft overlaps in fairways and hybrids excellent for maximizing bridge clubs.

You Forgot About...

• Wilson - This sporting goods company founded its Wilson Staff golf division in 1914 the wake of American pro Walter Hagen's victory surge in golfdom. The USA wanted an American company that produced golf clubs. Later, WS pro Gene Saracen would invent the heavy-flanged sand wedge, and the R90 would production model would sell 500,000 units in its first year. In 1983, Wilson was top club on pro tour. Wilson Staff had falloff in popularity in the 1980s, using market share of upstarts such as Ping, TaylorMade and Callaway. The past two decades, Wilson has resurgence among recreational golfers.
• Tour Edge - One-time club pro David Glod founded TE in 1986 in the suburbs of Chicago. He and brother Gordon worked to design quality clubs that could be sold for less than the name brands. Secret: no tour pro sponsor fees in the early going, and TE club had a lifetime guarantee. TE made a name for itself for innovative head design in Exotics hybrids and fairway woods, fostering cup-face technology to increase distance in the bridge clubs.

Along with his Tour Edge holdings, Glod spent several years as an operations director with the Web.com Tour. When Web.com transitioned into the Korn Ferry Tour, Glod shifted his focus to reinvigorating TE. The past few cycles, TE has greatly increased the stock shafts available with its club models. And, TE now equips a number of top players on the Champions Tour. 

[the bishop]

• Titleist - makes me want to punch Jim Nantz in the FACE
• Ping - in another language this translates to CULT
• Taylormade - for no rational reason at all, I just f*cking hate them
• Callaway - see Taylormade
• Srixon - Sumitomo rubber something, something, onward or some sh** like that
• Mizuno - Someday they'll realize that people just want their driver heads black
• Cobra - not quite desperate enough to let IJP back

[PuffyC]

I’ll use a school analogy:

• Titleist: These are your preppies. They wear Ralph Lauren but only because you’ll know it’s Ralph Lauren. They’re snobs who live on mommy and daddy’s money while thinking they’re better than everyone else.
• Ping: These are the nerds who can’t get a date. They play DnD and are in the math club. On paper they have everything girls say they want but really don’t.
• PXG: These are your rebels who are mostly concerned with being contrary because you just don’t get it man. If you were as smart as they were you’d play PXG as well, you conformist.
• Taylormade: This is your bro/jock crowd. Backwards hats, joggers, and a BT speaker blasting craprock while playing grabass in the showers.
• Callaway: These are the nerds who also like to party, as long as they’re home by 10. They’re by-the-books but also have a bit of personality. A little expensive, a little blingy, and a little boujie, but also down to Earth with something that appeals to just about everyone.
• Srixon: These are the quiet kids who have friends in all cliques and shockingly get straight As. They fly under the radar, never go to the library or dances, yet breeze through every assignment and always have a date.
• Mizuno: These are the same as the Srixon crowd, it’s just they’re in college now and things aren’t as easy as they used to be. They keep reminding everyone how great they were back in high school but no one cares.
• Cobra: These are your heads. Being loud and Fighting The Man(tm) are what they’re all about. Kinda like your outlaws/punks but with more flair. You ask them to turn it down and they turn it up to spite you.

[Port and Starboard]

The listed companies all make good clubs and I'm not loyal to any one of them. 

 

My bag has always been made up of clubs that feel good and work for me.   

[dekez]

Titleist, Ping, PXG - Premium brands

Callaway, Taylormade - Mass market brands

 

Mizuno, Srixon, Cobra - Niche brands

[me05501]

On 6/26/2023 at 8:03 PM, LimaSierra said:

Will be interesting to see what WRX has to say on this

Lets say the brands are 

• Titleist
• Ping
• Taylormade
• Callaway
• Srixon
• Mizuno
• Cobra 

 

 

• Titleist:  Mercedes Benz
• Ping: Volvo
• Taylor Made: BMW
• Callaway: Cadillac
• Srixon:  Mazda
• Mizuno: Lexus
• Cobra: GMC

[bcjim]

On 6/26/2023 at 8:03 PM, LimaSierra said:

Will be interesting to see what WRX has to say on this

Lets say the brands are 

• Titleist
• Ping
• Taylormade
• Callaway
• Srixon
• Mizuno
• Cobra 

Titleist: For high end posers, bluebloods, 20-something trust funders, and anyone named Biff. Great golf balls.

 

Rest has been adequately covered. 

[Ghostwedge]

Titleist / Fan of all their stuff except the drivers.

Ping / All their stuff works - period.

PXG / Player or poser with their clubs.

TM /  I would play some of their clubs if I didn't  play others.

Call / I'll play the Super Soft when I'm 80, that's about it.

Srixon/Mizuno / see PXG.

Cobra / see TM.

TE / Bo used to know.....