TST Member Review - Custom GolfTags

[billchao]

Product Name:GolfTags
Product Type: Customized Ball Marking Stencil
Product Website/URL: http://www.customgolftags.com/
Cost: $35

Ratings (out of 5):
Quality: 2
Value: 2
Effectiveness: 2
Durability: 2 (first impression, will increase the score if it is more durable than I think it is)
Esthetic Appeal: 1

Link to Discussion Thread

 

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My Member Review

GolfTag is a customized ball marking stencil made by 3D printing. You submit a picture and they work with it to make a design that works within the limitations of the manufacturing process. Once the design is finalized, they make it and you have a stencil that allows you to mark your golf ball in your own unique pattern. It's a pretty simple concept and I was excited for the opportunity to try it out.

The design process was quick and easy for me (the hardest part was actually deciding on the design itself). Once I had my picture, I submitted it to them and they were prompt with their response. It wasn't long before I had approved a design for the final product, it was made, and then shipped to my house.

Unfortunately, I was not impressed with the product itself. It's made from a really thin plastic that looked like it could break fairly easily. In fact, I squeezed it a bit on one side to test it and I heard something crack. While I didn't find any visible signs of damage, I have been handling it fairly carefully since. The company has assured me that it is durable and can withstand the trauma of being inside a golf bag. I will see how it fares in mine during the season.

Durability was not my only concern. The whole product has an unfinished quality to it. There are rough edges around the sides and globs of excess polymer all over the bottom of it. The top surface has these odd ring formations which I'm assuming comes from the printing process. That's purely cosmetic and shouldn't affect the function. The stencil itself however is not as clean and detailed as I would have liked. My design was a simple formation of 5-point stars. The stars themselves are odd looking - they're not symmetrical, the points aren't even, and there is excess material in them that shouldn't be there.

In terms of function, it does exactly what it is supposed to do. It was very easy to get on and off of a golf ball, requiring little force. I was able to use an ultrafine sharpie (per the instructions on their website) and trace out every nook and cranny of the stencil. Unfortunately, since the stencil was less than perfect, it meant my stars were less than perfect. Also it did slide a bit on me when I was marking. It didn't mess up my design at the time, but it could have. I pay more attention to how I hold it now.

I could end my review here and be generally unhappy with the product. However, I took out my micro file set and modified it. First, I cleaned up the stars on the stencil. Then I smoothed out the rough edges on the bottom. Finally, I filed down the excess polymer. The whole process probably took about 30 minutes.

Once I did that, I liked it much better. The durability of it still remains a question mark, but I'm going to let it be part of my golf accessories and see how it fares. The whole thing cleaned up pretty nicely and easily, though my design is pretty simple and therefore was easy to fix. More complicated stencils might pose a greater challenge.

The whole process left me wondering why it wasn't done before I received it. The GolfTag that I received felt like it was still in a raw stage of production. The one I have now feels much closer to finished, though it could probably use some more filing and a couple of thin coats of polymer just to touch it up (which I won't do). You'll see in the picture below, the marking made with the original tag on the left compared to the one I made after I modified it on the right.

Overall, I feel the GolfTag (as is) is an unfinished product with durability concerns and design limitations. I can see it being improved upon in the future, but in its current incarnation, I am unsatisfied with the product. I would not be happy if I paid $35 for it and it is unlikely that I would recommend it to anyone else, either.

[SavvySwede]

Sad to hear it didn't come out as expected. I have a steel one but it is just a stock design, custom ones were a lot more money ($125) . A quality custom option at a lower price point would've been nice.

[billchao]

7 hours ago, SavvySwede said:

A quality custom option at a lower price point would've been nice.

Agreed. I can see the potential in GolfTags, unfortunately I found the execution lacking. Hopefully they will continue to work and improve on the design.