biggest OEM golf club "flops"

[alumfoil]

Chippers are meant to replace harder-to-hit lob wedges.

[mat562]

Chippers are meant to replace harder-to-hit lob wedges.

 

I'm not sure that's right.

[alumfoil]

i get it. you like your set up. every club has a purpose and you can't think of what to get rid of. you can get on a variety of ways from the bump and run with the 7-i to the masterful flop with an opened up lob wedge. heck, you can even use the toe of the putter when called for.

 

i am talking about the average golfer who gets greenside and either starts with their military golf routine or struggles just to get on and hopefully 2 putt for the bogey. the chipper can save them significant strokes. isn't that what it's about? what do they need four wedges for, especially that lob wedge?

 

I don't carry one, but can't stand the condecension.

[alumfoil]

Chippers are meant to replace harder-to-hit lob wedges.

 

 

by that, i meant most people would do well not to chip with their lob wedges. I've seen this silliness plenty in people who have no business carrying a lob wedge.

[KevCarter]

i get it. you like your set up. every club has a purpose and you can't think of what to get rid of. you can get on a variety of ways from the bump and run with the 7-i to the masterful flop with an opened up lob wedge. heck, you can even use the toe of the putter when called for.

 

i am talking about the average golfer who gets greenside and either starts with their military golf routine or struggles just to get on and hopefully 2 putt for the bogey. the chipper can save them significant strokes. isn't that what it's about? what do they need four wedges for, especially that lob wedge?

 

I don't carry one, but can't stand the condecension.

 

 

Chippers are meant to replace harder-to-hit lob wedges.

 

 

by that, i meant most people would do well not to chip with their lob wedges. I've seen this silliness plenty in people who have no business carrying a lob wedge.

 

Hey man, you have to use whatever works for you. It's all about what gets it in the hole the quickest! One trick I have found as well, I don't know if you have tried it, the hybrid makes a great chipper! It makes the ball glide just on top of short grass, and you can't stub it like a wedge. If your buds are giving you a hard time because of the chipper, learn to chip with your hybrid. You could throw a lobber in your bag just for looks. :lol:

 

Kevin

[mat562]

Regardless of the whys and wherefors of chippers and attitudes towards them, my answer was simply a disagreement over your sentiment that a chipper is designed to replace a lob wedge.

 

I don't think it is; the two are entirely dissimilar in both design and purpose and there is no way that the average 30-odd degree chipper can be employed in the manner of a lob wedge - nor to replicate many of the shots that you can hit with a very lofted wedge.

 

My understanding is that it effectively makes an easy-to-play and hard-to-mishit replacement for something like a 7 iron and allows a golfer who struggles with the conventional chip and run to hedge their bets a bit. The blunted leading edge and wider sole reduce the likelihood of a duff, and the shorter shaft and upright lie angle allow the golfer to employ what essentially amounts to a putting stroke and yet still produce a running chip when the situation demands.

 

I always advocate that a person should play whatever works for them, regardless of whether it's the latest and greatest or whether it's a bit eccentric in its design. I wouldn't play a chipper myself, but that's as much to do with my existing short game abilities with my current set-up as it is with any embarassment I might feel at pulling one out of the bag.

 

That said, a bog-standard chip and run with a medium or short iron isn't that hard to master and I would always advise someone to practice until they can achieve a measure of consistency with the regular method before resorting to a chipper. Constructive practice is never wasted and negating the fallback option of a chipper frees up another spot in the bag for another useful club - importantly, one that isn't duplicating another club that's already in there as a chipper is doing in the case of a 7 or 8 iron. If a person genuinely sees a benefit from carrying one, despite my above missives, then they should carry the club that allows them to score better.

[longballguy]

Anything with the name PureSpin. The drivers were like baseball bats and the wedges were like golf ball shredding machines.

[6thFairway]

Hybrids are meant to replace harder-to-hit long irons. What are chippers meant to replace?

 

Putting a chipper in your bag means you have to take something else out. If this doesn't create a gap in distances, then go for it if you can't learn to chip with any of the other clubs in the bag, most of which are perfectly suited to chipping as designed. To each his own. But most people aren't going to sacrifice a wedge or a wood or even a long iron/hybrid for a club that does ONE thing that can already be done by several other clubs if you practice, as you would any other shot.

 

I'm kinda confused why this is even in this thread. If you could start a company that made chippers, and it sold a bunch of chippers, I'd recommend you do that. Profit is nice.

[obsessedgolfer]

Come on guys we had a sweet thread going here before the chipping debate hijacked it

[alumfoil]

sorry. i think Prince golf equipment were a colossal flop.

[mat562]

Fair comment.

 

I offer any products from either Fila or Nicklaus Golf by way of recompense. And the Titleist 775.CB. I've never even seen a set of the latter in play. Ever.

[rainkingjr]

Callaway C4 was definitely bad. I actually played in a scramble with a co-worker last year and he is still gaming one. Needless to say, he plays about three times a year.

 

Others for me would be the Cleveland VAS irons.

 

More recently would be the Wilson Spine driver.

[JHoward2010]

Speeder 757

 

 

:jester:

[obsessedgolfer]

Callaway shoes, man I tried them on they are absolutely terrible.

[dmac4g]

Anyone remember Browning irons. They may make great gun's, but there irons were awful! :black eye:

 

The entire Lynx Black Cat line. I think that officially sunk the company. :russian_roulette:

[mat562]

I carried a Browning for a while and it was pretty good.

 

It was a 9mm Hipower though - not one of their abysmal golf clubs.

 

It's a mystery why those Black Cat irons sank without trace. They were essentially an arty farty, smarter turned-out version of the preceding Parallax irons; which sold pretty well as I recall. As you say though, they were the beginning of the end as far as Lynx were concerned and no doubt slung a fair bit of Freddie's cash onto the proverbial fire back.

[JJGolfPro]

My dad had a set of Browning 440's. He still has the 6-iron, but the rest of the set was in his car when it got stolen in the mid-90's. Not the most conventional design. It looked like a regular iron with the top half cut off. To their credit, they used to go a long way. And the design had some attributes found in today's clubs. The sole was wide and the center of gravity was low.

 

I don't know why the Black Cat's did not do well. My uncle bought a set of them the day I got my Zing 2's. I actually liked them. The elastomer insert in the cavity gave a soft feel. I had the driver and it made a funny sound. My cousin still has it in his bag. I took a shot with it this past fall and hit one crazy duck hook.

 

I don't think the chipper in general was a flop. That Odyssey putting wedge sold quite well last year. I remember only ordering one because I thought it was a risk. It was sold before it even came in.

[arkstorm]

Speeder 757

 

 

:jester:

 

You're kidding, right? Speeder 757 is one of the best shafts ever, sold very well, and still seen in many bags, even on tour.

[Dire Wolf]

i get it. you like your set up. every club has a purpose and you can't think of what to get rid of. you can get on a variety of ways from the bump and run with the 7-i to the masterful flop with an opened up lob wedge. heck, you can even use the toe of the putter when called for.

 

i am talking about the average golfer who gets greenside and either starts with their military golf routine or struggles just to get on and hopefully 2 putt for the bogey. the chipper can save them significant strokes. isn't that what it's about? what do they need four wedges for, especially that lob wedge?

 

I don't carry one, but can't stand the condecension.

 

People are condescending about chippers because they're like training wheels, and the answer is PRACTICE.

 

Higher handicappers need more practice in most phases of their games, and chipping should be one of those phases. A dedicated club for chipping is a band-aid. The kind of shot played best with a chipper is not difficult with other clubs in the bag. It just takes knowledge of lies, what you're trying to do, and practice.

 

But most golfers out there are looking for short-cuts anyway, so let them have their chippers, and let them waste more money every year on equipment that's supposed to replace skill, but doesn't. They probably don't have the separation from club to club to notice a distance gap at any appreciable point in the set anyway.

 

Whatever floats the proverbial boat.

 

 

I'm kinda confused why this is even in this thread. If you could start a company that made chippers, and it sold a bunch of chippers, I'd recommend you do that. Profit is nice.

 

What's to be confused about? People were talking about dud clubs, and the chipper debate started. FYI, chippers are dog sellers. Ask Callaway about their profits on their recent chippers. Bet it's not good news. In fact, I bet there's not a lot of money in chippers PERIOD, and I think that was the point of them being mentioned in the first place, right?

 

 

 

/back to the topic, which apparently was criticizing anything BUT chippers... :fool:

[huskerpower_105]

i feel like the taylormade tour burner was a flop. not the tp model but the normal.

i work at a local golf shop and the 07 burner was much better.

better ball speed, dispersion, everything.

the tb was a step back in my opinion even though so many people still play it...

just my 2 cents

[pro11ace]

Callaway X460 and Hyper X

 

A ton of people bought the x460, the Hyper X didnt sell as well as planned but it still did sell decently. I wouldnt group any of those drivers in the same category as the C4 or the Grip less driver.

 

To be honest, I've never seen either one in anyone's bag. CH3 used one I believe but now he's with Bridgestone.

[stevo222]

How about the Cobra Norman Grinds. Here in Australia they were practically giving them away just to get rid of them!

[SoCalTitleist]

Yeah the Cally Hyper X and their shoes suck well at least the lower model ones.

[touch]

Futura putter

 

All Nike clubs..... their balls are good.

 

 

The graphite tipped steel shafts in Adams irons.

 

 

Goldwin GOLF.

 

The Callaway C4 #1 flop fore sure!

[touch]

Callaway shoes do suck like all the previous posts have stated.

 

 

Foot Joy or forget it!

[JakeBarnes]

Mizuno Mills putters

 

Firesole Irons

 

The C4 obviously

 

Wilson FYbrid

 

TM r7 CGB Max

[JD3]

MAC Powersphere clubs (Woods and wedges) by Burrows Golf. Signed Thomas Bjorn on as a player.

 

 

I don't think they lasted very long as the company went under pretty fast.

lol yeah, and bruce litski (sp?) was their man for wedges.

[JJGolfPro]

Goldwin GOLF.

 

I was trying to think of their name. There was a great deal of marketing behind them. I think Nick Price was playing them.

 

Anyone remember Javelin Blue? Are they still around?

 

What about the companies that once dominated that seem to have dropped off the radar or into the low-priced market?

 

Top-Flite

Ram

Slazenger

Tommy Armour

Lynx

Snake Eyes - they didn't dominate, but the Smith and Wesson blades were nice

Wilson - making a comeback

MacGregor

[highergr0und]

Snake Eyes actually has really great component stuff and their forged players heads are quite good. The used market and OEM advertising kills the component market though. It's tough for a lot of people to fork out $400-500 for a set of "no name" clubs even if they're technically better than most comparable big name sets.

 

Adams drivers are always flops. They've made the big push into LDA now, but while they get good reviews, nobody buys their drivers until they hit the $150-199 price point. Maybe it's the fact that you can buy their low end stuff in Walmart so the name doesn't carry over to the pro line stores.

 

Callaway I-trax putters failed pretty bad too. The bobby grace macgregors didn't fare too well either. I think Furyk used one for a while. Mizuno drivers/fairway woods always fail compared to their irons.

[Got An Itch?]

Anyone remember Porsche Design Golf? That was an engine that never started! One of my buddies played one on the Hooters Tour for a while. It was long, but not long for the world.