What's your opinion of Golfsmith's stuff (Snake Eyes, XPC, etc.)?

[JessN16]

I'll say up front that I play their stuff. I'm just curious to see what others think of them.

 

I've had a set of XTR II irons (game-improvement irons that are similar to but not a copy of older Callaways) for about 15 years. About two years ago, I put together three drivers -- a Snake Eyes Tour Black, a Snake Eyes Mamba 2 and a Killer Bee 6.5 LD. At the same time, I also built a couple of wedges and a set of Snake Eyes Tour Black hybrids.

 

The drivers have been hit or miss, nothing special. The Tour Black is the best of the three. During that same timeframe, I got a chance to swing a friend's Nike driver (don't know the model) and I could hit the Nike about 20 yards further.

 

But the Snake Eyes hybrids were better than the Taylor Mades they replaced, and I love them. They're the three best clubs in my bag. The other two winners were an XPC Sapphire mallet-style putter and something called a Mac Burrows sand wedge. The putter is the best I've owned and the Mac Burrows wedge is the only sand wedge I've been able to consistently hit, and I've tried wedges from all the "big boys."

 

However, I'm curious as to people's experiences with Golfsmith's drivers and irons. Even though I'm not a good golfer, I've hit a friend's blades before and I can do it reasonably well; the GI irons I have don't seem to make a ton of difference.

 

I'm really concerned I'm giving up distance on the driver, and that's a club I can actually hit.

 

I've just never asked anyone before whether they think Golfsmith stuff is legit or whether it's cheap crap. The big issue for me is that I love clubmaking, and I haven't found a way to acquire components from any other company.

 

Jess

[mac94]

[quote name='JessN16' timestamp='1309666357' post='3360543']
I'll say up front that I play their stuff. I'm just curious to see what others think of them.
Ë
I've had a set of XTR II irons (game-improvement irons that are similar to but not a copy of older Callaways) for about 15 years. About two years ago, I put together three drivers -- a Snake Eyes Tour Black, a Snake Eyes Mamba 2 and a Killer Bee 6.5 LD. At the same time, I also built a couple of wedges and a set of Snake Eyes Tour Black hybrids.

The drivers have been hit or miss, nothing special. The Tour Black is the best of the three. During that same timeframe, I got a chance to swing a friend's Nike driver (don't know the model) and I could hit the Nike about 20 yards further.

But the Snake Eyes hybrids were better than the Taylor Mades they replaced, and I love them. They're the three best clubs in my bag. The other two winners were an XPC Sapphire mallet-style putter and something called a Mac Burrows sand wedge. The putter is the best I've owned and the Mac Burrows wedge is the only sand wedge I've been able to consistently hit, and I've tried wedges from all the "big boys."

However, I'm curious as to people's experiences with Golfsmith's drivers and irons. Even though I'm not a good golfer, I've hit a friend's blades before and I can do it reasonably well; the GI irons I have don't seem to make a ton of difference.

I'm really concerned I'm giving up distance on the driver, and that's a club I can actually hit.

I've just never asked anyone before whether they think Golfsmith stuff is legit or whether it's cheap crap. The big issue for me is that I love clubmaking, and I haven't found a way to acquire components from any other company.

Jess
[/quote]

I have quite a bit of experience with GS stuff, esp. Snake Eyes. I've played both the 675 and 600 irons. They are every bit as good as my current Scratch irons. Seriously, they are top notch. The QS hybrids are very good as well. The wedges and drivers are OK. XPC and other brands are more budget clubs and not as good, IMO.

[Hateto3Putt]

[quote name='JessN16' timestamp='1309666357' post='3360543']
The big issue for me is that I love clubmaking, and I haven't found a way to acquire components from any other company.

[/quote]

I play with a guy who uses a square headed snake eyes driver. He hits the snot out of it all the time. If you ask him, snake eyes are the best drivers ever made....

Another component company you may want to consider is [url="http://www.hirekogolf.com/"]Hireko Golf.[/url]

[Tuba]

I have a Snake Eyes black 8802 style putter head. It is a wonderful putter.

[Nessism]

I've made lots of GS clubs over the years and have been pleased with most. I think the company was founded as a component supplier, but after the owner sold out, and Tom Wishon left to start his own company, the component side of their business has been put on the back burner. At this point I don't take them very seriously as a component supplier and much prefer to buy from Wishon when the desire arises.

As far as one driver being longer than the other I think that is greatly overplayed in the industry. The COR has been maxed out at the USGA standard so now the game is to expand the sweet spot and control trajectory (something the shaft controls more than the head). If you want a component head as good as any of the OE products look at the Wishon 919. Wishon has performed countless tests using a robotic hitting machine and that head is pretty much maxed out at the limits of physics and the USGA standards. The only real variable remaining is the shaft and how it works together with the head to provide the optimum launch angle for your particular swing.

[kow_ciller]

I've hit a few snake eyes clubs and thought they felt pretty nice.
The drivers weren't bad at all, and I loved a couple of the fairway woods.

Haven't had a shot with the wedges or irons though.

[phizzy30]

Never have gamed their clubs nor will I ever. Other companies make clubs that are technologically superior compared to them so I feel like I would be giving up strokes on the course. Played the snake eyes balls many years ago because I got 2 sleeves for my birthday. They were hard as rocks around the greens and had almost no back spin. I would rank those balls in the top 3 worst balls I've ever hit.

[JDSPGA]

Used to game the 675xc irons. Awesome set!

[schneck1977]

Snake Eyes makes some very nice stuff, or they use to make some very nice stuff. I am and have been playing a set of 600XC irons for almost five years now. I have tried to replace them with TM, Callaway, Adams, PING and the closest thing that almost kicked them out of the bag was a set of Wishon irons. Snake Eyes also makes some very nice wedges. They have been very lacking these last few years though.
You should take a look at what Tom Wishon has out as well. Very quality stuff from Driver down though the bag. I play a 919 and its the same story as the irons. I try to find something better, but it just dose not happen. They have some new (this year) fairway woods that I have to try, just need to find the time to build.
One more thing is that Maltby made/makes some quality forged iron heads as well.

[golfbum9]

[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309735819' post='3362037']
Never have gamed their clubs nor will I ever. Other companies make clubs that are technologically superior compared to them so I feel like I would be giving up strokes on the course. [/quote]
Where to begin...

[schneck1977]

[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309735819' post='3362037']
Never have gamed their clubs nor will I ever. Other companies make clubs that are technologically superior compared to them so I feel like I would be giving up strokes on the course. Played the snake eyes balls many years ago because I got 2 sleeves for my birthday. They were hard as rocks around the greens and had almost no back spin. I would rank those balls in the top 3 worst balls I've ever hit.
[/quote]

I am not trying to start a pissing match, but how do you figure that Snake Eyes is technologically inferior? Do you feel the same way about Alpha, Geek, Wishon, Maltby etc as well?

[mac94]

[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309735819' post='3362037']
Never have gamed their clubs nor will I ever. Other companies make clubs that are technologically superior compared to them so I feel like I would be giving up strokes on the course. Played the snake eyes balls many years ago because I got 2 sleeves for my birthday. They were hard as rocks around the greens and had almost no back spin. I would rank those balls in the top 3 worst balls I've ever hit.
[/quote]

What a silly post. You admit you have never played them, then pronounce them technologically inferior. I guarantee you they are not. I play Scratch right now, and they are awesome. But really no more than the Snake Eyes 600Cs and 675Cs I used to play. Trust me, you won't be giving up strokes playing them. That's almost laughable. The only thing you are right about is the balls. They were horrible.

[Nessism]

I agree with the others about the Snake Eye's comments, with the exception of the driver heads. They are good, but I doubt they are at the Wishon or Ping G15 level of forgiveness on off center hits.

I currently play two Snake Eyes wedges, two Quickstrike hybrids, and a Wishon driver. All good stuff.

[phizzy30]

[quote name='schneck1977' timestamp='1309738612' post='3362108']
[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309735819' post='3362037']
Never have gamed their clubs nor will I ever. Other companies make clubs that are technologically superior compared to them so I feel like I would be giving up strokes on the course. Played the snake eyes balls many years ago because I got 2 sleeves for my birthday. They were hard as rocks around the greens and had almost no back spin. I would rank those balls in the top 3 worst balls I've ever hit.
[/quote]

I am not trying to start a pissing match, but how do you figure that Snake Eyes is technologically inferior? Do you feel the same way about Alpha, Geek, Wishon, Maltby etc as well?
[/quote]


Let's start out with the fact that they don't offer adjustable drivers. Second, their golf balls are one of the worst in terms of spin, performance and feel. Don't like the look of their wedges and they don't offer them forged the last time I checked. Yeah I would really love to game their products. Listen, I've had a set of Scratch irons and they're definately not mainstream which goes to show you that I'm not just stuck on major OEM equipment. I think I've said enough.

[Nessism]

I believe the Snake Eye wedges are forged.

[honketyhank]

And Snake Eyes golf balls are not exactly premium. (TopFlites are a good comparison). Not sure about their current irons, but their older, pre-GS blades and players' cb's were pretty good. I have a partial set of TC-01 irons from Goodwill that I would love to fill out for dirt cheap, but all I can find is folks who know what they are really worth.

[dsmil]

My 3 wood is an XPC 3000 and I love it, I definitely do not think that I'm giving up distance with this club

[KuroOuji54]

[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309747466' post='3362457']
[quote name='schneck1977' timestamp='1309738612' post='3362108']
[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309735819' post='3362037']
Never have gamed their clubs nor will I ever. Other companies make clubs that are technologically superior compared to them so I feel like I would be giving up strokes on the course. Played the snake eyes balls many years ago because I got 2 sleeves for my birthday. They were hard as rocks around the greens and had almost no back spin. I would rank those balls in the top 3 worst balls I've ever hit.
[/quote]

I am not trying to start a pissing match, but how do you figure that Snake Eyes is technologically inferior? Do you feel the same way about Alpha, Geek, Wishon, Maltby etc as well?
[/quote]


Let's start out with the fact that they don't offer adjustable drivers. Second, their golf balls are one of the worst in terms of spin, performance and feel. Don't like the look of their wedges and they don't offer them forged the last time I checked. Yeah I would really love to game their products. Listen, I've had a set of Scratch irons and they're definately not mainstream which goes to show you that I'm not just stuck on major OEM equipment. I think I've said enough.
[/quote]


not trying to nitpick, but snake eyes has had adjustable drivers. first with weights a few years ago then they have one where u can adjust the face and lie angles. also i dont think their new balls are too bad. the rest of their clubs are top notch and their past 2 sets of wedges were form-forged.

[JessN16]

[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309747466' post='3362457']


Let's start out with the fact that they don't offer adjustable drivers. Second, their golf balls are one of the worst in terms of spin, performance and feel. Don't like the look of their wedges and they don't offer them forged the last time I checked. Yeah I would really love to game their products. Listen, I've had a set of Scratch irons and they're definately not mainstream which goes to show you that I'm not just stuck on major OEM equipment. I think I've said enough.
[/quote]

Just a couple of points of fact I wanted to interject here: Both my Mamba 2 and Viper Tour Black drivers are adjustable via weighting. The newest driver head is also adjustable via weight and I believe angle, as well. Their newest iron series, as well as their wedges, are all forged. Never played their balls, though. In fact, until you said something, I didn't even know they made balls.

Having said that, I wanted to thank everyone for the feedback so far. This has been very helpful to me. Keep the comments coming.

Jess

[MadGolfer76]

Snake Eyes stuff is quality. I kept a back up set until recently. I haven't gamed the drivers, but I gamed the wedges, putters, and irons, and they were all top notch. The (forged) wedges spun the ball more than Cally X-Forged (which I used to own), the Platinum series putters made the Golf Digest Hot List, and the forged 685x irons were as soft and playable as Mizunos.

[swbyps]

I played a set of GS G40 heads with Rifle shafts. I cannot even begin to tell you how many compliments I received on the looks of those irons. And to this day, I have not hit an iron that felt significantly better than those G40 on well struck shots. They were great clubs.

[stg113]

[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309747466' post='3362457']
[quote name='schneck1977' timestamp='1309738612' post='3362108']
[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309735819' post='3362037']
Never have gamed their clubs nor will I ever. Other companies make clubs that are technologically superior compared to them so I feel like I would be giving up strokes on the course. Played the snake eyes balls many years ago because I got 2 sleeves for my birthday. They were hard as rocks around the greens and had almost no back spin. I would rank those balls in the top 3 worst balls I've ever hit.
[/quote]

I am not trying to start a pissing match, but how do you figure that Snake Eyes is technologically inferior? Do you feel the same way about Alpha, Geek, Wishon, Maltby etc as well?
[/quote]


Let's start out with the fact that they don't offer adjustable drivers. Second, their golf balls are one of the worst in terms of spin, performance and feel. Don't like the look of their wedges and they don't offer them forged the last time I checked. Yeah I would really love to game their products. Listen, I've had a set of Scratch irons and they're definately not mainstream which goes to show you that I'm not just stuck on major OEM equipment. I think I've said enough.
[/quote]


So, Ping must be technologically inferior according to your standards. No adjustable clubs, no forged wedges (until this year, so they must be catching up) and they don't even make a ball. Yep, according to you Ping is CRAP. Great arguments you made there.

Sometimes, it's best to leave ignorance to oneself.

[golfbum9]

[quote name='honketyhank' timestamp='1309750954' post='3362605']
And Snake Eyes golf balls are not exactly premium. (TopFlites are a good comparison). Not sure about their current irons, but their older, pre-GS blades and players' cb's were pretty good. I have a partial set of [b]TC-01[/b] irons from Goodwill that I would love to fill out for dirt cheap, but all I can find is folks who know what they are really worth.
[/quote]
Fantastic irons. As a matter of fact, one of if not the best cast "players" iron I've hit. Far more forgiving than they appear to be.

[storm319]

[quote name='schneck1977' timestamp='1309738612' post='3362108']
[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309735819' post='3362037']
Never have gamed their clubs nor will I ever. Other companies make clubs that are technologically superior compared to them so I feel like I would be giving up strokes on the course. Played the snake eyes balls many years ago because I got 2 sleeves for my birthday. They were hard as rocks around the greens and had almost no back spin. I would rank those balls in the top 3 worst balls I've ever hit.
[/quote]

I am not trying to start a pissing match, but how do you figure that Snake Eyes is technologically inferior? Do you feel the same way about Alpha, Geek, Wishon, Maltby etc as well?
[/quote]

Purely based on these company's resources compared to the big OEM's, I will say yes they are inferior.

I do not understand why Golfsmith continues brands like XPC, Killer Bee, Lynx. After buying these brands they have effectively killed off any popularity they once had. Now that they have McGreggor, what is the point of continuing these other dead brand names? Is their really a need for 5 component brands?

[Vintage1976]

[quote name='storm319' timestamp='1309792579' post='3363351']
[quote name='schneck1977' timestamp='1309738612' post='3362108']
[quote name='phizzy30' timestamp='1309735819' post='3362037']
Never have gamed their clubs nor will I ever. Other companies make clubs that are technologically superior compared to them so I feel like I would be giving up strokes on the course. Played the snake eyes balls many years ago because I got 2 sleeves for my birthday. They were hard as rocks around the greens and had almost no back spin. I would rank those balls in the top 3 worst balls I've ever hit.
[/quote]

I am not trying to start a pissing match, but how do you figure that Snake Eyes is technologically inferior? Do you feel the same way about Alpha, Geek, Wishon, Maltby etc as well?
[/quote]

[b]Purely based on these company's resources compared to the big OEM's, I will say yes they are [i]inferior[/i][/b].

I do not understand why Golfsmith continues brands like XPC, Killer Bee, Lynx. After buying these brands they have effectively killed off any popularity they once had. Now that they have McGreggor, what is the point of continuing these other dead brand names? Is their really a need for 5 component brands?
[/quote]

I'd have to disagree. A lot of the major OEM's resources are spent on advertising and marketing (commercials are very expensive). R&D is certainly a big chunk too, but most of these smaller component companies are still alive because they, in fact, do produce high quality products without the aid of mainstream recognition. Without huge endorsement contracts I believe we'd see a lot more TOUR players using the products they like best, and not just Tour Edge and Scratch who already either don't pay endorsements or have very limited payrolls. Ralph Maltby or Tom Wishon aren't going into their own pocket to try to compete with TMAG, but that in it's self doesn't make their products inferior.

[rkangrah]

I had a Snake Eyes driver once. It's called Python XL. The look of the head looks cheap compared to Major OEM. They try to imitate the Taylormade Burner look. The performance of this driver was average. Nothing Special. Personally I think this head is overpriced for a cheap looking clubhead. It should be under $100.

I also had a bad experience at one of Golfsmith Retail store (in San Francisco). One of the staff sold me a DEFECTIVE range Finder. When I tried to refund the product, this staff was very rude toward me. They guy even threw the Refunded cash at me. I had never been treated that way at a Retail store.

Another time, I was looking for a product at this particular store. Another staff directed to visit another Golfsmith store nearby. I even asked the guy if he's 100% sure about it. He said YES. But when I visited the other Golfsmith store (20 miles away), they don't have the item I was looking for. What a waste of my time.

Also This particular store I was referring to is very understaff. The store is big enough for an airplane and there were only 2 staffs including the Cash register.

Golfsmith website is OK. But I wouldn't waste my time at another Golfsmith store again. The staffs are very unfriendly and the store is really understaff.

[golfbum9]

So how do you think you were towards the staff? Going by your post, you got what you put out.
In the Bay Area, people tend to not put up with other peoples s%%t. Yes, even those in customer service...



Just to be clear - No I do not work for Golfsmith.

[rkangrah]

[quote name='golfbum9' timestamp='1309804361' post='3363736']
So how do you think you were towards the staff? Going by your post, you got what you put out.
In the Bay Area, people tend to not put up with other peoples s%%t. Yes, even those in customer service...



Just to be clear - No I do not work for Golfsmith.
[/quote]

You probably not a Golfsmith employee.... but you talk like one.

BTW that experience was the worst I ever had in the bay area. Most people in the bay area are super super nice!!

[rkangrah]

BTW DO YOU THINK Golfsmith clubheads are overpriced???

[mac94]

They have sales all the time so never pay full price. The driver heads, overpriced. The irons and hybrids, not at all.