Thoughts on Sumo

[redsox75]

I went to my local shop and tried one of these on their indoor range. From the first contact I loved it and new right away I had to have one of these clubs. I heard and read all the bad stuff people were saying about this club and decided I wanted to make up my own mind. Well I have... I got a brand new one off eBay for 100 bucks and I have played it a couple of times and hit it on the range a bunch. All I can say it WOW... The sound is AWESOME, I hold my head high after I hit this thing because I know it has gone straight and where I want it too. People's heads turn because of the sound, but that is because it is the sound of power, not that little wimpy "tink" all other drivers have. The performance is unmatched. No other driver will put as many balls in the fairway as this one does. The shape and look is pure art, who ever said your clubs had to be oval, who wants to play with an a club that looks like it should hold a pair of pantyhose??? This is a great design, great technology, and just plan perfect. Everyone else in the industry is now going to be ridding Nikes success, they are leading and the rest will follow.

[golfbarefoot]

Is the sumo the squared face thing? If it is, I apologize up front if i offend anyone, but honestly...that is the most embarrassing thing that has ever been produced in golf. Its worse than a broomstick putter..People...its a gimmick....

[VanillaEps]

From what I'm reading, this club goes far and it goes straight.

[The Rambler]

first of all why would tiger want it in his bag? he hits it very straight and very far. there would be no purpose for it to be in his bag. second the thing is a brick, it looks ugly at address, and all the bright yellow on the back of the shaft looks like a 3 grader colored it with a sharpie. i hate it. period. oh yeah not to mention the broken softball bat noise that follows each shot with it. nothing like hearing that while putting. bad Nike designers, bad!

[VanillaEps]

first of all why would tiger want it in his bag? he hits it very straight and very far. there would be no purpose for it to be in his bag. second the thing is a brick, it looks ugly at address, and all the bright yellow on the back of the shaft looks like a 3 grader colored it with a sharpie. i hate it. period

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Keep in mind he uses the Sasquatch Tour 460, not the Sumo². The Sasquatch Tour 460 is not as boxy as the Sumo².

[The Rambler]

yes i am aware of the 460 tour that he plays with.

[fusioncal]

Thats like saying I don't like scrambled eggs. I've seen them heard them, seen other people eat them... haven't eaten them myself but I know I wouldn't like them.

I wasn't trying to bash anything, if I did it's just my personal opinion and don't mind me. I'm just saying out loud what I thought of Nike's Sumo driver. Besides, this is "Thoughts on Sumo" thread, isn't it?

first of all why would tiger want it in his bag? he hits it very straight and very far. there would be no purpose for it to be in his bag. second the thing is a brick, it looks ugly at address, and all the bright yellow on the back of the shaft looks like a 3 grader colored it with a sharpie. i hate it. period. oh yeah not to mention the broken softball bat noise that follows each shot with it. nothing like hearing that while putting. bad Nike designers, bad!

yes i am aware of the 460 tour that he plays with.

Exactly! There's a purpose why Tiger doesn't put Sumo in his bag.

I also recall that prior to Sasquatch, Tiger used different brand of driver although he had signed with Nike. Was it Titleist?

[BogeyGolfer19]

I am selling my Sumo2 tomorrow to buy the Callaway FT-5.....Good choice? I think i hit the ft-5 better.

[geezer]

Most pros don't use square drivers, I've heard, because the square driver is shorter off the tee than a conventional shape driver when it is hit on the sweet spot. The MOI of a square driver may make some amaturs think they get extra distance because the sweet spot is bigger (ie; more forgiving on off centre hits). As the pros hit it dead centre every time they doon't need the MOI.

I wasn't trying to bash anything, if I did it's just my personal opinion and don't mind me. I'm just saying out loud what I thought of Nike's Sumo driver. Besides, this is "Thoughts on Sumo" thread, isn't it?

Before the SQ tour Tiger used the Nike Ignite driver. But before he signed with Nike he used Titleist equipment. He even kept his old PT fairway wood for a long time, even after he signed with Nike.

[fusioncal]

Most pros don't use square drivers, I've heard, because the square driver is shorter off the tee than a conventional shape driver when it is hit on the sweet spot. The MOI of a square driver may make some amaturs think they get extra distance because the sweet spot is bigger (ie; more forgiving on off centre hits). As the pros hit it dead centre every time they doon't need the MOI.

I think you're right. I tried Callaway FT-i back then on demo day and it wasn't long. A trade-off between control and distance.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Ignite. Rumor said he asked Nike to make irons that look and perform like his old Mizuno (can't remember if it's MP-37, 33, or...?), hence the Nike Forged Blades. I wonder what would've happened if he signed with Titleist or Mizuno instead of Nike. Hmm... Anyway, thanks for reminding me.

[RichF]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Vanilla, I'm pretty sure he doesn't use (or has

ever used) the Tour version of the Nike Sasquatch 460 driver. If you go to any webpage with photos of him using the driver in competitive play (and this applies to the current President's Cup in Montreal), the sole of the driver displays SQ and the 'Nike-swoosh' symbol....and above that, 460 and the loft just to the right, in Woods' case, 8.5 . This is the regular Sasquatch 460 head. With the Tour version, you also get the word Tour just above the 460 .

[RichF]

I am selling my Sumo2 tomorrow to buy the Callaway FT-5.....Good choice?

Answered your own question.

Have you tried comparing the Sumo2 with the Callaway FT-i ?

[geezer]

Vanilla, I'm pretty sure he doesn't use (or has

Maybe they make his specially to Tigers' own spec but it just doesn't say tour on it. It could be like the Nike SQ460 prototype. He does have his own ball after all.

How could you forget about the Ignite fusioncal !. Best driver there ever was (check my bag). Also I don't think that if TW had signed for any other company they would go to such lengths to keep him happy. Nike know when they've got something good and they want it to stay that way!

[redsox75]

K.J. Choi plays the SQ Sumo2 and the first time he had it in his bag he won a tourny. Tiger has hit/tested/played with the Sumo2 and he says he likes it, but said he is more comfortable with the driver he is using now. He has always been reluctant to try/use other equipment. But Nike forces him to use their product, it is in his contract. When he first signed with Nike, Nike actually went to Titleist and had them produce a set of clubs for him then stamped NIKE on them. Then they sat down with Tiger and devloped clubs for him and the general public. Now they make a much superiour product now...

[iacas]

But Nike forces him to use their product, it is in his contract. When he first signed with Nike, Nike actually went to Titleist and had them produce a set of clubs for him then stamped NIKE on them.

No, they don't, and no, they didn't. He still carries a Scotty Cameron putter and until recently had other non-Nike clubs in his bag.

Then they sat down with Tiger and devloped clubs for him and the general public.

No, they didn't. Tiger's blades are made just for Tiger. His Titleist and now his Nike blades are basically copies of his old Mizunos. They're not available "for the general public" at all. They didn't really "develop" clubs for him and Tiger has little or nothing to do with clubs available for the public.

[redsox75]

No, they don't, and no, they didn't. He still carries a Scotty Cameron putter and until recently had other non-Nike clubs in his bag.

OK I know Tiger had nothing to do with the clubs I buy and that his clubs I could never buy. What I ment by that was that before Tiger came along and Nike signed him there was no such thing as Nike Golf. I know Tiger has non-Nike clubs and has used them, but what I also mean is that Tiger could not, as part of his contract with Nike, abandon Nike clubs for let’s say Taylor Made or any other company. Also that is what I ment when I said that Nike sat down with Nike to get his clubs made, they said what do you want and he told them and they made him. I am not trying to start a pissing match here all I was trying to point out is that Nike has come along way in a very short period of time and im my opion they have made some really great clubs and equipment.

[RichF]

Maybe they make his specially to Tigers' own spec but it just doesn't say tour on it. It could be like the Nike SQ460 prototype. He does have his own ball after all.

Then why would Nike omit the word 'Tour' of his actual driver....yet state on his website that he

uses the Nike Sasquatch 460 Tour driver? That's like Wilson leaving off the number '90' on Roger Federer's Wilson K90 racquet and leaving everyone to guess if he's playing a 90 or 95" sq head. Doesn't make any marketing sense. Plus, in those photos, the driver-head does look larger than the Tour version shown on advertising websites/photos.

[iacas]

I know Tiger has non-Nike clubs and has used them, but what I also mean is that Tiger could not, as part of his contract with Nike, abandon Nike clubs for let’s say Taylor Made or any other company.

Actually, he can. He's one of the few players in the world that's allowed to play whatever he wants to use. His contract covers clothing and general advertising. So long as his smile appears beneath a Nike swoosh when he hoists a trophy, Nike is pretty happy.

There's little upside to the other companies to get TW to play their equipment, though, since TW can't sign a contract with anyone else for promotion. That means the other companies can't use him in PR or ads or even mention "Tiger Woods played our club this weekend." If that were possible, "Tiger Woods uses a Scotty Cameron" ads would be everywhere. TW switches and stays with Nike equipment because his choices become, basically: 1) Use Nike equipment, which Nike personalizes for JUST HIM. In other words, he gets 10x the attention any other golfer gets from Nike. 2) Use someone else's equipment which, though it may be better overall in stock form, won't receive nearly the same level of personalization and fine-tuned tweaking he gets from Nike. In other words, nobody else is going to spend the time and money Nike spends on Tiger without getting any benefits from it. When Tiger was well known to be using his Titleist PT 3-wood, about 0.5% of golfers in the world knew he wasn't using a Nike 3-wood. That's not enough of a return on investment for those companies. Of the third-party stuff Tiger's had in his bag, only his Scotty Cameron putter ever received some attention, because: a) putter fanatics care about that kind of thing a heck of a lot more than "3-wood fanatics" or "wedge fanatics" (as well as far outnumbering those groups as well) b) it's seen on closeups on TV frequently

I am not trying to start a pissing match here all I was trying to point out is that Nike has come along way in a very short period of time and im my opion they have made some really great clubs and equipment.

All due respect, you could have simply said that. Instead, you said things which were wrong. I've corrected them. This isn't a pissing match - it's setting the record straight.