judging players by their bags

[HoosierHacker89]

On 3/6/2024 at 8:25 AM, von3jack said:

 

I believe you are in your 50's/60's, mid handicap and you use what you know. 1 wedge, not knowing what shaft is in your 5 wood. You're also pretty frugal and not drawn into the latest and greatest. But you play at least twice a week. 

I am 35 and a mid handicap. Barely play anymore. Neurotic cheapskate. 

[bobfoster]

I'll play. Though most regulars here already know who I am and how old I am. Mid- 60s in age, haven't kept a formal cap for a while, but usually shoot high-70s - mid 80s. Not a true WRXer - I don't drive it 300 yards (like, ever). But not a terrible golfer either. Average driver SS ~90. But usually in the fairway. Play the whites instead of the tips most of the time now. Have become content to "play within my game". 

 

This thread is fun. Never occurred to me to think about how my clubs look - usually more OCD fixated on whether tweaking my shafts will give me a bit better performance (have recently gone to lighter shafts), or what adding an additional wrap to my grips will do. What my bag looks like is sort of secondary to how in plays. (Parenthetically, I've just gone to graphite SteelFiber i95 shafts in my long irons, which don't show in the pics, but is by far the biggest change I've made in my recent bag, apart from the Mizzy 245s I just got, and haven't even played a round with yet. Love them.) 

 

This thread reminds me of that old "hot-or-not" website from a decade ago ... 🤣. My bag prolly says "hot, for an old guy" (I hope). 

 

Anyway, have at it. And you don't have to beat up on me too much. Already taken care of. I tried to pull up a sleeve on my shirt yesterday, and wound up accidentally punching myself in the face. But that was okay - I've had it coming for some time. 😎.

 

Edited March 12 by bobfoster

[Jgolfer99]

That I like to keep things clean, organized and that ages of clubs do not matter much to me.  Substance over hype…bought my newest club during the W. Bush administration I do believe although have been gifted a driver more recently. 

Edited March 12 by Jgolfer99
Addition

[bobfoster]

5 minutes ago, Jgolfer99 said:

That I like to keep things clean, organized and that ages of clubs do not matter much to me.  Substance over hype…bought my newest club during the W. Bush administration I do believe although have been gifted a driver more recently. 

Performance is all that matters. 

[Grouchykona]

7 hours ago, bobfoster said:

I'll play. Though most regulars here already know who I am and how old I am. Mid- 60s in age, haven't kept a formal cap for a while, but usually shoot high-70s - mid 80s. Not a true WRXer - I don't drive it 300 yards (like, ever). But not a terrible golfer either. Average driver SS ~90. But usually in the fairway. Play the whites instead of the tips most of the time now. Have become content to "play within my game". 

 

This thread is fun. Never occurred to me to think about how my clubs look - usually more OCD fixated on whether tweaking my shafts will give me a bit better performance (have recently gone to lighter shafts), or what adding an additional wrap to my grips will do. What my bag looks like is sort of secondary to how in plays. (Parenthetically, I've just gone to graphite SteelFiber i95 shafts in my long irons, which don't show in the pics, but is by far the biggest change I've made in my recent bag, apart from the Mizzy 245s I just got, and haven't even played a round with yet. Love them.) 

 

This thread reminds me of that old "hot-or-not" website from a decade ago ... 🤣. My bag prolly says "hot, for an old guy" (I hope). 

 

Anyway, have at it. And you don't have to beat up on me too much. Already taken care of. I tried to pull up a sleeve on my shirt yesterday, and wound up accidentally punching myself in the face. But that was okay - I've had it coming for some time. 😎.

 

Love your bag of clubs. Clean! . . . and based on the pics, guessing you keep them cleaner than your liver   

[Boricua Golf]

On 3/7/2024 at 3:54 PM, MtlJeff said:

 

This is actually really hard. Because in a lot of ways it's like my bag.....and literally no one would guess i'm a +2 looking at my bag 

 

Your driver is a 60g stiff but your 3w has a 80x?

X flex steelfiber in irons

 

Mostly new stuff. Maybe you're a country club member who's pro is a Callaway staffer so they do a lot of demo days there. That would be my guess. You did a Callaway demo day and ordered most of your bag based on that. Age wise could be anything , but i'd guess late 30s.....because you still have to be able to bring some speed, but you probably have a good corporate job that allows you to spend a few G-notes on a single demo day. 

 

i'm gonna say you're between a 3-6 index. probably 39 years old and a country club member somewhere where the head pro is a Callaway staffer

Funny, almost correct, I am not a club member (can't really afford it around here, VA), I do know some Callaway staffers and yes they take care of me, perfect on the index 3-5, age not so much, but I do appreciate it, I am 52, however in great shape and able to still move the clubs, what's even funnier is that I am getting the new Apex CB (7-P)/MB (4-6) with S400 shafts, changing the 80x to a 75S (3W), but was fitted to a Ventus TR 6TX and Diamana BF 60TX for the new AI Smoke TD (10.5*), as a true WRXer we love new shinny things...lol, thank you for the analysis, super fun.

[Kai Slater]

Just curious.....looking into my bag, or at least my signature, what sort of vibes would it give off or how would you all judge me as a golfer?

[MtlJeff]

10 hours ago, bobfoster said:

I'll play. Though most regulars here already know who I am and how old I am. Mid- 60s in age, haven't kept a formal cap for a while, but usually shoot high-70s - mid 80s. Not a true WRXer - I don't drive it 300 yards (like, ever). But not a terrible golfer either. Average driver SS ~90. But usually in the fairway. Play the whites instead of the tips most of the time now. Have become content to "play within my game". 

 

This thread is fun. Never occurred to me to think about how my clubs look - usually more OCD fixated on whether tweaking my shafts will give me a bit better performance (have recently gone to lighter shafts), or what adding an additional wrap to my grips will do. What my bag looks like is sort of secondary to how in plays. (Parenthetically, I've just gone to graphite SteelFiber i95 shafts in my long irons, which don't show in the pics, but is by far the biggest change I've made in my recent bag, apart from the Mizzy 245s I just got, and haven't even played a round with yet. Love them.) 

 

This thread reminds me of that old "hot-or-not" website from a decade ago ... 🤣. My bag prolly says "hot, for an old guy" (I hope). 

 

Anyway, have at it. And you don't have to beat up on me too much. Already taken care of. I tried to pull up a sleeve on my shirt yesterday, and wound up accidentally punching myself in the face. But that was okay - I've had it coming for some time. 😎.

 

 

Some of us may also even remember your old name, Mr Mulligan

[RoyalMustang]

I played with a guy that is in the local tour I'm a member of. He probably does 35 tournaments a year. Guy shows in the 4-7 cap with new bag of T100S irons. New shoes, new gear, new cart bag.  He looks to be wearing $600 of the trendiest clothes on the market; the stuff that makes you roll your eyes at the guy who is trying too hard. And, get this-he shows up with a caddie who he is paying $200 for!

 

The clown proceeds to shoot 97. I don't think he has been under 90 yet in any tournament for our supposedly 4-7 cap range.  

 

The guy is a total D-bag and tries to get me penalized for cheating because he claims that I double-tapped my putt. First off, that hasn't been a penalty for 5 years, and 2nd, nobody else in the group heard-saw it. But he won't back down. Because "he thinks" it should be a penalty, he keeps on about it. Funny thing is; 2 holes later, he hits a shot that looks to be about 80% odds of OB, yet when he and his caddy drive over there, the ball is suspiciously far from the OB fence. It was the 3rd time during the round I noted that the ball sure landed in a much better spot than where it seemed to be headed.  

 

This is my example of the typical D-bag "bag" and "look".  

[bobfoster]

7 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

I played with a guy that is in the local tour I'm a member of. He probably does 35 tournaments a year. Guy shows in the 4-7 cap with new bag of T100S irons. New shoes, new gear, new cart bag.  He looks to be wearing $600 of the trendiest clothes on the market; the stuff that makes you roll your eyes at the guy who is trying too hard. And, get this-he shows up with a caddie who he is paying $200 for!

 

The clown proceeds to shoot 97. I don't think he has been under 90 yet in any tournament for our supposedly 4-7 cap range.  

 

The guy is a total D-bag and tries to get me penalized for cheating because he claims that I double-tapped my putt. First off, that hasn't been a penalty for 5 years, and 2nd, nobody else in the group heard-saw it. But he won't back down. Because "he thinks" it should be a penalty, he keeps on about it. Funny thing is; 2 holes later, he hits a shot that looks to be about 80% odds of OB, yet when he and his caddy drive over there, the ball is suspiciously far from the OB fence. It was the 3rd time during the round I noted that the ball sure landed in a much better spot than where it seemed to be headed.  

 

This is my example of the typical D-bag "bag" and "look".  

There are a few of these, but on the whole, I'd say most (certainly not all, but most) of of the folks I usually play with - and most of the strangers I meet when I walk on as a single - play clubs roughly suited to their games. 

 

Part of it is due to (IMO) one of the most significant trends in the last couple decades: Club fitting. It used to be very expensive, and rare. But the technology has gotten immensely better, and far more widespread. A great number of big box stores now commonly have Trackmans (or something similar). I've seen some stats - in 2000, less than half of serious golfers (defined as 16 or more rounds a year) had anything even resembling a fitting, and even those were relatively rudimentary. That number today is close to 75%. There's even beginners today that are getting fit to buy their first bags. 

 

There will probably always be vanity golfers (such as the guy you are talking about) that try to "punch way above their weight" (as it were) in their club choices simply for show, but in my experience this is more the exception than the rule. I may be a bit naive, but I just think the majority of decent golfers just want the clubs best suited to their game, and the technology now exists to fairly easily determine what clubs (and shafts) those are. 

 

It is a great time to be into golf.

[bobfoster]

10 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

 

Some of us may also even remember your old name, Mr Mulligan

Sometimes I forget how looooong some of us have been here. midasmulligan (from Atlas Shrugged) was my screen name when I first joined - it was my hotmail address (not sure if hotmail even exists anymore). Was also my screen name when I was following bands on ... MySpace 😂.

[RoyalMustang]

13 hours ago, bobfoster said:

There are a few of these, but on the whole, I'd say most (certainly not all, but most) of of the folks I usually play with - and most of the strangers I meet when I walk on as a single - play clubs roughly suited to their games. 

 

Part of it is due to (IMO) one of the most significant trends in the last couple decades: Club fitting. It used to be very expensive, and rare. But the technology has gotten immensely better, and far more widespread. A great number of big box stores now commonly have Trackmans (or something similar). I've seen some stats - in 2000, less than half of serious golfers (defined as 16 or more rounds a year) had anything even resembling a fitting, and even those were relatively rudimentary. That number today is close to 75%. There's even beginners today that are getting fit to buy their first bags. 

 

There will probably always be vanity golfers (such as the guy you are talking about) that try to "punch way above their weight" (as it were) in their club choices simply for show, but in my experience this is more the exception than the rule. I may be a bit naive, but I just think the majority of decent golfers just want the clubs best suited to their game, and the technology now exists to fairly easily determine what clubs (and shafts) those are. 

 

It is a great time to be into golf.

 

Yeah-I did my own fittings, WRX style. Bought and sold a bunch of clubs over the years. Oddly enough, the driver that ended up being my all-time favorite (even after I did a pro fitting and the fitter told me to not even think of another driver until this one cracked) is one I picked up here 2 years ago for $250 new. TSi3, 8 degree, 75x whiteboard shaft in 44.5". 

[SP1984]

Long time reader, first time posting.. Seems like a good spot to start

Driver - Callaway Rogue ST Max 10.5* @ 9.5 w/Tensei Blue 55 stiff

Fairway - Titleist TSR2 16.5* w/Tensei Blue 65 stiff

Hybrid - Callaway UW (1st gen) 21* w/ GD Tour AD DI 7s

Irons - Mizuno JPX 921 HMP 5 and 6 Iron, Forged 7-GW w/ NS Pro 950 Neo Stiff

Wedges - (Firm conditions) Mizuno T22 54*D, 58*X (Soft Conditions) Vokey SM6 54*F, Vokey WW 58*V 2016 - All with DG S400 TI

Putters - Mizuno M Craft I, Gearhart 8802 style with Wilson 8802 shaft and grip

don't use this on course much but roll putts at work.

All Grips except the Putter are GP Tour Velvet Cords

Ball - Z-star X or TP5

Bag - Ping CEL, Shapland Sunday Bag every now and then

 

Edited March 13 by SP1984
spelling

[goalie]

Judge away. 

[fred faldo]

the setup in my signature is current as of Feb.1 and due to a very mild winter in Ohio I have played 22 rounds as of today. Have not had this much confidence over the ball up and down the bag since the early 90's. The younger club snob of myself would never believe that this would be my bag but he also would not believe I played my seventh consecutive round without a double this morning. Play what works for you

[DixieD]

4 hours ago, SP1984 said:

Long time reader, first time posting.. Seems like a good spot to start

Driver - Callaway Rogue ST Max 10.5* @ 9.5 w/Tensei Blue 55 stiff

Fairway - Titleist TSR2 16.5* w/Tensei Blue 65 stiff

Hybrid - Callaway UW (1st gen) 21* w/ GD Tour AD DI 7s

Irons - Mizuno JPX 921 HMP 5 and 6 Iron, Forged 7-GW w/ NS Pro 950 Neo Stiff

Wedges - (Firm conditions) Mizuno T22 54*D, 58*X (Soft Conditions) Vokey SM6 54*F, Vokey WW 58*V 2016 - All with DG S400 TI

Putters - Mizuno M Craft I, Gearhart 8802 style with Wilson 8802 shaft and grip

don't use this on course much but roll putts at work.

All Grips except the Putter are GP Tour Velvet Cords

Ball - Z-star X or TP5

Bag - Ping CEL, Shapland Sunday Bag every now and then

 

Mid fifties, play alot of golf but not a member anywhere. Moderate swing speed, 102 ish with driver, dynamite around the greens, great putter but a little inconsistent ball striker. Handicap around an 8.

[soap1984]

I'm at a club but in general all the good players: are obsessed with golf; has new stuff except maybe irons, every year or two;

Have a stand bag and even the older good players walk;

play an insane amount of golf and events. 

 

I'm not in this group but I do all these things except number four lol. All the guys I play with have a cap below 6. 

[Striker Ace]

It's all just niblicks and mashies, performance is what matters. So if you judge your competitors upon their bags, you are setting yourself up.

[Maroon_19]

I'm sure somebody looking at my bag and recognizing the Artisan star, and then seeing my swing and game would think I'm a poser 🙂.

Somebody looking at my bag and not recognizing the Artisan star would probably think I'm hitting some generic clubs and would think the clubs fit the game.

For me, it's like being a half-@ssed shade tree mechanic with a cabinet full of Snap-On tools.  I just had to have them though...

Mid-50s.  Losing swing speed.  Can still play to a 10 most days.  Sure would like to break through 10. Maybe in retirement.

[AngryGilmore]

Bag 1:  Ping hoofer stand bag

 

Titleist TS2 driver

Ping G410 3 wood

3-U Ping i210 Project X 6.0 stiff shaft

Callaway Mac Daddy 4 56 degree wedge

Odessey Stroke Lab 7S putter

 

Bag 2:

 

College team stand bag

Taylor Made R7 driver

Ping Eye 2 BeCu 1-SW microtaper shaft

Callaway Mac Daddy 4 54 degree wedge

Ping Anser X putter

Edited March 14 by AngryGilmore
Spelling

[eddiebigeddie]

On 3/12/2024 at 12:52 AM, bobfoster said:

I'll play. Though most regulars here already know who I am and how old I am. Mid- 60s in age, haven't kept a formal cap for a while, but usually shoot high-70s - mid 80s. Not a true WRXer - I don't drive it 300 yards (like, ever). But not a terrible golfer either. Average driver SS ~90. But usually in the fairway. Play the whites instead of the tips most of the time now. Have become content to "play within my game". 

 

This thread is fun. Never occurred to me to think about how my clubs look - usually more OCD fixated on whether tweaking my shafts will give me a bit better performance (have recently gone to lighter shafts), or what adding an additional wrap to my grips will do. What my bag looks like is sort of secondary to how in plays. (Parenthetically, I've just gone to graphite SteelFiber i95 shafts in my long irons, which don't show in the pics, but is by far the biggest change I've made in my recent bag, apart from the Mizzy 245s I just got, and haven't even played a round with yet. Love them.) 

 

This thread reminds me of that old "hot-or-not" website from a decade ago ... 🤣. My bag prolly says "hot, for an old guy" (I hope). 

 

Anyway, have at it. And you don't have to beat up on me too much. Already taken care of. I tried to pull up a sleeve on my shirt yesterday, and wound up accidentally punching myself in the face. But that was okay - I've had it coming for some time. 😎.

 

I have to ask because I like your thoughts. What long irons and what iron did you make transition from HM? To 245?

[Grouchykona]

17 hours ago, goalie said:

Judge away. 

Based on your clubs (and garage):

 

-  You’re extremely organized and clean. 

-  You’re extremely handy. 

-  Clutter and mess drives you nuts and you’ve been accused of being ocd. 

-  You know how to fix & build pretty much everything and can’t remember the last time you hired anyone to do anything for you - other than a counselor to help cope with your ocd. 

-  You’re tired in the mornings from losing about an hour of sleep every night wondering why Callaway doesn’t make an Orange Whip. 

[goalie]

19 minutes ago, Grouchykona said:

 

-  You’re tired in the mornings from losing about an hour of sleep every night wondering why Callaway doesn’t make an Orange Whip. 

I literally laughed out loud at my desk.  Thankfully I work from home, so only the cat thinks I'm nuts.......

[jimmygunn]

Good Luck

 

 Taylormade   300 Mini 13.5* Fuji HM4

 Taylormade   M5 5wd 18.5° Speeder 8.3
 Callaway       Apex Pro 16’ 23° Fuji 904HB

 Callaway       Stenson Legacy 6/8/PW 

 Titleist          Vokey WW 51M/56M

 Odyssey       White Hot #2
 

[AdExec]

Titleist Links Legend Bag 

TM QI10LS 9 with ventus black tr 5x

Brnr Mini 13.5 with Ventus red tr 6x

TM s2+ 5 wood with ventus red tr7x

 

Titleist 2021 Black t100s 4-P

Vokey Black Premium 50,54,60 

Cameron Jet Set NP+ 

 

 

Edited March 15 by AdExec
Photo wont upload

[maowv]

Anyone looking at my bag would rightfully conclude that I have more cents than sense.

 

When I played a lot, one of my buddies would always ask something like ... "last week, weren't you using a [insert name here] driver?"

[Lucas6688]

On 3/10/2024 at 6:06 AM, HoosierHacker89 said:

 

Jeff, 

 

My 5 wood has the black and blue shaft that was stock in cobra a few years ago. I pulled it and put it in my ping because I liked it. 

No lob wedge because I don't practice enough to use it. 

Playing 20 years now. 

 

I'm 35. Aquarius! 

I haven't kept score in a few years now. I've got a 2 year old so I rarely play.   

Just sending big props to Jeff for doing A) getting ages, handicaps, and peoples lives on the nose! its talent B) doing this for 12.5 years now.   

 

One day I hope to also be judged.

 

[2Down]

So the way back was do I look and judge a player by his bag.  Yes

if the faces are mud filled grooves I don’t expect much.  
then again I suppose it might be nice knowledge if betting.   
Two others that put an opinion in mind.   

those cleaning systems hanging from everywhere - 

dirty towel +

 

[deadsolid...shank]

@MtlJeff, you are on a roll in this thread. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked at this thread (maybe posted in it a long time ago??). Keep it going, your takes are highly entertaining! Well done. 

[MtlJeff]

58 minutes ago, deadsolid...shank said:

@MtlJeff, you are on a roll in this thread. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked at this thread (maybe posted in it a long time ago??). Keep it going, your takes are highly entertaining! Well done. 

 

I've been taking a few days off here as work was crazy! But it's been a lot of fun getting back into this thread! LOL

 

I literally think it's the best one i ever started here because it's really been like 10 years of good natured fun

 

Also, everyone i just assume is in the mafia or the Yakuza. 

 

I'll get back to work here