Intimidation

[kennay92]

This is just a question out of curiosity as the other day i was playing with some guy. Someone drove by us in a cart and he said something along the lines of "He must be pretty good, look at his clubs". So the question is do you get intimidated when people have good/ nice clubs? I did when I very first started out, but have learned my lesson that clubs most definatly have no determining factor lol. So whats your answer?

[meenman]

I never look at what anyone else is playing and i have had two comments (compliments) on my clubs in the 3 years i have played. Young or old, I dont see too many people concerned with what the other guys are playing.

[mirv]

i've seen far more people with nice equipment who are total hackers. these are mostly the business executive types who get out and play maybe a dozen rounds a year, but they can afford nice equipment, so... they get it. they'll be like 20 or 25 handicaps and have a bag that's probably worth $1500 or so (meaning everything in the bag, not the bag itself). so whenever i see someone with a really nice set of clubs, my first thought is "probably can't play worth a damn so he's compensating with nice gear."

[whatwhatwhat]

I thought the same when I was younger, until I realised golf is a pretty lucrative sport and people dont mind spending money no matter how bad they are. Way too often I see complete hackers with a brand new R9 in the bag making no difference at all, I still got an callaway ft3 because if its good enough for jeev milka singh its good enough for me lol.

[Bryan SD2]

I love shooting 78 with Wilson Staff irons I have had since 1995, a MacGregor V-Foil driver that was $99 at Dicks (but it is 8.5 degrees and I smoke it), and a nearly 10 year old Cameron Studio Design 2. The Vokey knocked out a
Wilson Staff SW, and the TM rescue knocked out a Ping Eye 2 one iron just a couple years ago.

Dollars vs handicap, I always compare well to about every player out there on any given day.

Agree with the above post re: hacks with nice sticks...

[mirv]

back over the summer, i came into possession of an old set of hogan blades and persimmon 1, 3 and 4 woods. i went out one saturday, played my regular set and shot 80 then played another 18 with the relics and shot 82. after such closely similar scores with sets of clubs made probably 30 years apart, i pretty well subscribe to the idea that, in golf at least, it's the indian and not the arrow.

[sean_miller]

If I cared (which I don't), the only equipment that would ever intimidate me is a setup with excessive wear directly on the sweet spot.

There's no shame in having nice gear.

[Shorty]

I have been playing golf for over 35 years.
The best players I have played with in that time are the ones who are the ones who are the least interested in equipment.
They have clubs that work and don't change them without good reason. They are intersted in playing golf, not golf clubs.
Noone who plays golf at a social level should be intimidated by another golfer no matter how he hits it or what he plays.
I would certainly say that by far the least interesting thing about the hundreds of guys I have plyed with is what they play with.

[zeg]

I've never looked at someone's equipment and even been tempted to form an opinion about their skill.

When I get paired with someone who plays well, I sometimes check out what they're playing just out of curiosity, but I usually don't even pay too much attention to how well they're playing.

[WUTiger]

I'm more interested in the club mix people have in the bag, rather than the brand of clubs. Wedge combinations are a popular topic when I play with people the first.

I've always been interested in golf club design, especially the interaction of clubhead and shaft. Lately I ask people how they like the performance of particular shafts, more so than do they like the club head design.

[TourSpoon]

I really don't get intimidated by golfers and their equipment...but you better beware of the guy who has the old blades with the quarter sized marks grooved into the sweet spot...put your money away!

[Zeph]

Equipment != Skills

So no, I don't care about what people play with. I don't get intimidated either by good players. If anything, I get inspired and it makes me play better.

[ghalfaire]

I believe that most who play this game know "it isn't the bow, it is the archer that counts". Having said that I bet no one plays with more expensive equipment than a PGA Pro so must be something to be said for having the correct equipment.

[mirv]

  ghalfaire said:

i'm inclined to think that the pros are just simply at a level where even a small change/optimization can help them shape the ball better or put more spin on it or what have you. if you give average joe golfer the exact same clubs, he's going to hit them just about as well as he's going to hit some off the rack generic golf clubs. the only reason, i think, that average joe might hit the expensive clubs better would be mental - he would walk up there thinking "yeah baby, these clubs cost a mint, they're super duper clubs! they're what the pros use!" so he walks up there thinking he's going to hit that ball a mile and it'll be just pretty as can be, and maybe that's what he'll get. i mean, everyone here knows how vital a good mental state is in golf. if you walk up to a shot thinking you're Definitely going to hit it, there's just no way you can't, odds are you'll hit it. but anyway, so average joe may get those few good hits out of those clubs just cause he thinks he can, but before too long, i'd bet the rent he hits it fat, tops it, shanks it, slices it, or any other number of screw-ups, and then that positive thought is gone, and those $1000 clubs are exactly as good as the $100 clubs.

[ghalfaire]

I don't disagree with anything mirv said. The Bobby Jones comment about golf being played between the golfer's ears is probably one of the more important aspects of the game. As my Dad used to tell me "no matter if you believe you can or you can't, you're probably right".

[sean_miller]

  ghalfaire said:

Having techs on standby to tweak their gear is expensive. Schlubs spend a lot of money buying new (or used) Tour gear. Some pros play essentially off the rack gear.

[Yukari]

  kennay92 said:

This is just a question out of curiosity as the other day i was playing with some guy. Someone drove by us in a cart and he said something along the lines of "He must be pretty good, look at his clubs". So the question is do you get intimidated when people have good/ nice clubs? I did when I very first started out, but have learned my lesson that clubs most definatly have no determining factor lol. So whats your answer?

Perhaps you've heard of an old saying "don't judge a book by its cover"?

Frankly, of all the years I have played golf, I have never looked at someone's clubs. I couldn't careless if they had the most expensive or the cheapest set of club. When I get paired with someone I don't know (which happens a lot since I go out as a single quite often), I look at how they play the first two or three holes. It tell me about their ability a lot more than the equipment. Plus, I don't get intimidated with anyone on a golf course. I just play my own game. I have hard enough time trying to play well within myself than to be worried about what others are doing.

[Fat Slice]

Only if they're running at me swinging one because the cart girl I am mashing is their girlfriend. Otherwise, no, I am not intimimdated by people's clubs.