Dear angry man at the range

[Kieran123]

This thread makes em feel bad. I have almost all Nike clubs minus driver and wedge....but I bought them all ( including non nike ) because they were cheap...$400 for my irons, $75 for driver, $60 for nike wedge, $40 for powerbilt wedge and $90 for putter, and Nike pd long/sfts are always cheap and do the job fine

Now, If I had the VR Str8 fit, plus TW blades, method and VR wedges and was hacking around, it would be different

What equipment people use doesn't bother me, bad temper and bad etiquette bothers me

[Stretch]

I will say though, it goes both ways. When I golf, I like to look like a golfer. I won't be decked out head to toe in Adidas gear but I do have a number of those Nike Dryfit shirts that I am absolutely in love with. I've been accused by my friends of looking like a douche when I golf (nike hat, nike shirt, generic shorts, nike shoes) but atleast I back it up :)

Haha. Know what you mean. I also find something I like and just stick with it. Easier than thinking. For me it's those stretchy Under Armour polos. I have a bunch of those. Probably over under armoured!

In other news, right now I'm using iron covers on cast clubs (CG7 Tours) -- how's that for uber-douche?

[mdbuschsr]

I know this is off topic to the OP but since it was brought up...

The attitude of sales people, noted above by golfro, gets my goat to no end. I run a small handyman business. As a result my "uniform" is typically a pair of khaki colored shorts and a gray t-shirt both normally have at least one stain or some paint on them. When I walk into a golf shop, the sales people look at me like I'm a leper! I was in and out of a local Golfsmith several times in my work clothes and I could not get a sales person to look at me, let alone try to sell me anything. So, I decided to test my theory. I went in on a Monday wearing my work clothes to look at new irons. Again, there wasn't a sales person in the store that wanted anything to do with me. I went back the next day, wearing a nice pair of shorts and a good golf polo... I could barely walk 15 feet without a salesperson asking if they could help. NICE HUH?

Before I get slammed with all of the 'they are there to make a living' comments... Someone that I know runs a HVAC company and my best guess, having seen his books, is that he nets in the neighborhood of a mil/year, and wears an awfully similar uniform to me. The point is, don't be so quick to judge a book by it's cover. This person could, without thinking twice, walk into a golf shop and buy any set he thought looked nice. He would still suck at the game, but he could carry/wear any gear he wants. The best part about him, is that he knows he sucks at the game and yet still has fun at it when he plays, both times every year .

[zeg]

My dad is one of the guys who went and bought $2k worth of gear as a more-or-less beginning golfer (like me, he'd been playing for many years, but with plenty of multi-year gaps so sort of perennially a beginner). However, he's a very disciplined guy and has been working very hard and is realistic about his skills. He plays from the forward tees because it's more fun to shoot a better score than to puff yourself up and pretend you have a tour-level swing, and he goes out just about every day. So you might look at his bag and infer he's a hack; you might be right, but he's not going to make a fool of himself on the course because of it.

But to me the attire is the real punchline in all of this. Personally, I don't like to wear any logo gear or "golf" attire. It'd be a waste, since I wouldn't want to wear the clothes anywhere else. My only golf-centric clothing, besides spikes, is my tartan tam o'shanter that I like to wear to make a fool of myself when it's not so sunny that I need a brimmed hat.

[NCSU_MSE]

That's kind of the point. People who have the newest, best equipment, all matched, with stock everything are probably hackers. Good players use what they like because it fits them; posers have a bag full of matched gear. Look at my clubs, for example. A hodge podge of different clubs made in different years, but each one selected carefully to fit me.

I don't see the problem with someone having brand loyalty. My first TM-Adidas purchase was a pair of golf shoes that fit me better than any Nike or FootJoy product (both of which gave me blisters). From there I demoed a set of r7 irons, and I've been hooked on TM-A. Will I neglect other equipment based simply on brand? No. But I always give TaylorMade products a look when shopping.

[Boombuilt]

Even though in I had a tendency to make a fool of myself in my early 20’s the ones with a temper are fun to watch.

We were out for round on Sunday and we had a guy rock’n his iPod chipping up on the practice green. I guess he had the volume up too loud because every time he messed up, which was often, he’d start stomping around dropping F bombs loud enough to hear all the way in the bathroom. It was entertaining to say the least.

And as far as what you wear I think Arnold Palmer said it best:

“Your appearance speaks volumes about you as a person, and the neatly appointed golfer, like a businessman or someone headed to church, gives the impression he thinks the golf course and the people there are special.”

[Koth]

I know this is off topic to the OP but since it was brought up...

Yeah, I had the exact same experience. Well, not exact, because it was the opposite for me. I went in wearing my weekend clothes of shorts, t-shirt, and sandals, and no one would help me out. But if I go into a golf shop during the week on my lunch break when I'm dressed in my office attire, I get almost mobbed.

[jamo]

Now, what if I had an R9 Supertri, R9 fairway woods, an R9 hybrid, R9 irons, XFT wedges, and a Rossa putter, with all Adidas clothes, an Adidas hat, shoes, TaylorMade glove, and a Taylormade staff bag? I'd either be a Taylormade sponsored pro, or a poser. Odds are the latter.

Well then ha! The joke's on you! They don't make an R9 hybrid. You would have to be a pro to get it as some sort of prototype.

I see your point, but it really only is true for some brands. People who have all Titleist are generally very good (go to any top tier junior tournament, Titleist wins the ball, driver, fairway, hybrid, iron, wedge, and putter counts). You could say Mizuno is the same way.

[golfro]

Well then ha! The joke's on you! They don't make an R9 hybrid. You would have to be a pro to get it as some sort of prototype.

but why is it that generally people who have all Nike or Taylormade gear usually end up sucking...?

[NCSU_MSE]

but why is it that generally people who have all Nike or Taylormade gear usually end up sucking...?

I've seen people with all kinds of gear hack it up out there. My guess is that you have something against Nike and TaylorMade, so you tend to pin a golfer's lack of ability on his/her equipment brand.

[Stretch]

Oh no you didn't! Cue angry rebuttals.

[jamo]

but why is it that generally people who have all Nike or Taylormade gear usually end up sucking...?

Because the most expensive Nike, Taylor Made, and (I'll throw in) Callaway gear are their GI and SGI clubs.

Also, when you buy all one brand you box yourself in. You like Nike and you see the new Vr driver come out so, without bothering to try the new, say, Cobra driver that fits you better (you hit it longer, straighter), you buy the Nike and stick with it through thick and thin. Another reason is people with all one brand seem to be people who bought all of their clubs at the same time. That's a lot of money at one time for most people, but not for Mr. Fat Paycheck, who is new to golf. So he buys the best his money can buy, throws it in the back of his Porsche, and has a little too much pride to go to the PGA pro to get lessons. He made his money the hard way and dammit if he doesn't get good at golf that way too. Of course these are all sweeping generalizations, and just thoughts. They could be way off base.

[Cornbread]

I watched you come in with your brand spankin new set of Taylormade irons, driver, FW, wedges, with a scotty cameron putter...in your brand spankin new giant Taylormade Staff Tour bag...brand new TM gloves on, brand new Adidas shoes on, and you were dressed head to toe in matching Adidas clothing. Oakley sunglasses. You even had a TM marker clipped on your hat. I am not sure if you borrowed all your clubs from a friend but you seemingly have spent what I'm guessing would be over $2000 on golf gear.

TAYLORMADE Equipment can cause such effects.

[golfro]

I've seen people with all kinds of gear hack it up out there. My guess is that you have something against Nike and TaylorMade, so you tend to pin a golfer's lack of ability on his/her equipment brand.

actually i have a couple Nike and TM clubs that I used quite often.

My guess is that both Nike and TM, amongst other brands, market themselves as a younger, more modern brand. Nike sponsors TW which in it self says a whole lot so a lot of beginners lean towards Nike... TM on the other hand sponsor quite a large group of young golfers including dustin johnson, jason day, justin rose, etc. Take that plus all the Adidas gear they wear, TM and Adidas makes for a popular "cool" and "young" brand amongst beginners.

[moparman426]

Damn, you beat my "Marketing" reply.....

[Koth]

NICKENT! on the other hand, markets to... well, no one.

[bwdial]

Because the most expensive Nike, Taylor Made, and (I'll throw in) Callaway gear are their GI and SGI clubs.

Nope. They're pretty much on the mark.

I was at a driving range in Tampa years ago and this twenty-something guy comes up with a brand new bag of Callaway gear and his hot little girlfriend in tow. My first thought was that maybe this guy was a Tour pro, but then I saw him swing. It was like watching a monkey try and screw a football.

[Bigtank]

Nike and TM are the hot brands right now, it was once Callaway and Ping, thats all. They do a fantastic job with the marketing and their target demographic. Also Nike and TM are established brands to the younger consumers.

On the salemen front...in the past few weeks, I had the salesmen at a large box golf store, scoff at the fact that I wanted a speciefic model Scotty putter and not the method, TW was going to use in the open. Then that same day I was in PGA superstore looking for said putter, and they have lost their ability to sell Titleist products and the associate tells me this long story of how Titleist is on the verge of going out of business and I should look at another more reputable brand, like TM or Nike.