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2013 Most Improved Club Company

2013 Most Improved Club Company

  • Callaway

    Votes: 51 37.0%

  • TaylorMade

    Votes: 4 2.9%

  • Cleveland

    Votes: 5 3.6%

  • Cobra

    Votes: 59 42.8%

  • Mizuno

    Votes: 1 0.7%

  • Titleist

    Votes: 3 2.2%

  • Ping

    Votes: 3 2.2%

  • Adams

    Votes: 2 1.4%

  • Nike

    Votes: 3 2.2%

  • Wilson

    Votes: 7 5.1%

  • Bridgestone

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    138
SuperStroke
I think Cobra as well. I'm surprised with all their success and great clubs they still don't get a lot of respect IMO.
 
Based on my conversation with Rickie F this past week. The cobra we knew with Greg Norman is gone. Rickie raved about the evolution of his driver. The guy drives it well so hearing him gush combined with what I saw, I feel Cobra is the most improved
 
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  • #53
Acuna said:
Do any of y'all view improvement like handicaps? For example, it is easier to go from a 20 to a 10 handicap than it is to go from a 5 to a 0..... Just a thought I had.
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It's a big reason for my final decision on Cobra, Acuna... They came from further back and did it with style.

Certainly not to diminish what Callaway did, which i think was exceptional, but I feel like they were already a staple in many minds.
 
I went with Callaway because of both clubs and company things they did. I do feel Cobra has made great strides with their clubs and is deserving just as much, but my first thought was Callaway with all they've done beyond just the clubs I think was improved this year.
 
Hmmm... That's pretty tough. As an admitted Mizuno and Ping fan, they pretty much just keep doing what they do (and I'm OK with that). I don't have any concrete criteria for this, but the 3 companies I would say improved the most are Cleveland, Callaway, and Cobra. I have Callaway clubs in my bag for the first time in a number of years, and have been really impressed by the 588 Altitudes/MTs/TTs line from Cleveland (also have their 588 wedges as my back-ups). Honorable mention to Cobra, as I really like their AMP Cell driver, and their quality attempts at bringing more "personality" to golf equipment.
 
This might sound like an odd question, but I do want to preface it with saying that I've always considered Callaway a high-quality clubmaker, even when I was pretty much a dunce about equipment (that is to say, my entire life until the past year or so). I knew Phil was a Callaway guy, Els, Furyk, some pretty big names. By comparison, Fowler and Poulter were the only guys I knew bagging Cobra, and I guess I sort of regarded those two players as much about style as substance.

Now, one thing I've seen is that people are saying Callaway is vastly improved due to their interaction with social media and the fanbase as much as also making higher quality products taking advantage of new and interesting technological advances. Let me also say I saw and felt none of that social media interaction until I connected with THP. This leads me to my question:

Would you still say that Callaway has made the biggest strides this year in terms of progressing their product if you weren't part of THP?
 
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Great topic! Cobra made me a believer this year, and they weren't on my radar before the first amp stuff came out in 2012. Then I think they blew it out of the water in 2013.
 
Paladin said:
This might sound like an odd question, but I do want to preface it with saying that I've always considered Callaway a high-quality clubmaker, even when I was pretty much a dunce about equipment (that is to say, my entire life until the past year or so). I knew Phil was a Callaway guy, Els, Furyk, some pretty big names. By comparison, Fowler and Poulter were the only guys I knew bagging Cobra, and I guess I sort of regarded those two players as much about style as substance.

Now, one thing I've seen is that people are saying Callaway is vastly improved due to their interaction with social media and the fanbase as much as also making higher quality products taking advantage of new and interesting technological advances. Let me also say I saw and felt none of that social media interaction until I connected with THP. This leads me to my question:

Would you still say that Callaway has made the biggest strides this year in terms of progressing their product if you weren't part of THP?
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I think if you were looking for it you could still find it from Callaway. They do a ton on twitter and other social media. That being said, I think we might notice it more being active on THP. I still think it is Cobra though haha
 
I'd still feel the same. The driver line in particular was improved by a very large margin. Not neccessarily Xtreme over Fit, because I think both of those drivers were quite good, but last year the other driver in that line was the RAZR Black, which saw little Tour use and was really a profile that didn't have much appeal. In it's place were both X-Hots, which not only performed and looked good (obviously depends on the person), but also gave two distinct options in size, forgiveness, launch/spin under the same umbrella and got Tour use. In general, I thought the entire line of X-Hot metalwoods was a huge improvement, and I believe sales showed that. I think we see the social interaction aspect more than others, but I think they offered a product that was more exciting, appealing, and diverse this year and it paid off (as much as it could have given the state of the industry in 2013).

Here's a question, how much of the opionions here are based on perception/image and how many factor in actual success in the marketplace? Or perceived success?
 
I like both Cobra and Callaway, and agree that they should be the two front-runners in the poll. I think both made great improvements in their club lines, but Callaway gets the edge for me because of the intangibles that they've brought out this year. The sheer level of engagement that they've displayed this year gives them the edge for me.
 
These were really good questions:

Paladin said:
Would you still say that Callaway has made the biggest strides this year in terms of progressing their product if you weren't part of THP?
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Hawk said:
Here's a question, how much of the opinions here are based on perception/image and how many factor in actual success in the marketplace? Or perceived success?
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I don't do social media, so that has zero impact on my opinion of a company. I'm sure that it helps sell gear to a certain demographic.

I really watch what is happening on tour. With 2 young kids, I get virtually no TV time. Thus what happens on Tour and in advertisements really impacts my opinion very little.

I put Callaway down as second behind Cobra, but my feedback is purely based on my experience, reviews (THP, but other sources as well) and what I see out on the course. I saw a lot more people playing XHot and a lot more good feedback than I ever did about the Razr X Black line. Callaway didn't get first though because I personally feel like the Extreme was really a niche play. I saw more Fit line stuff last year (and maybe that is just because people bought Fit over Black). I think the X Hot line is Callaway's best top to bottom since the Diablo Octane/Edge line.

The clear winner to me was Cobra. I saw a lot more people, and people in the 45 and younger crowd, play Cobra than in years past. I also saw a lot of instances of Amp Cell Drivers poking out of bags with TM RBZ fairways. That suggested to me that Amp Cells may have been replacing RBZ drivers or that people picked up the RBZ hype last year and then the Amp Cell hype this year. It's also evident here on THP. Two years ago, Ole Grey was about the only Cobra guy. Now we see a lot of people with a Cobra club in their signatures (and I was that way until very recently).
 
In my mind Cobra was the most improved company in 2013. Over the last few years they have handed out some nice endorsement signings, which in turn spurred the interest in Cobra's equipment. I personally have moved away from carrying only Cobra in the bag, but still fancy some of the new equipment that was released in 2013. I am interested to see where 2014 will take this company.
 
Here's a question said:
I have no idea about who has what market share. I think this question is similar to the one thread the other day about who makes the best equipment and many said everyone makes good equipment and it's about what is best for you. I think Cobra has been great since the S3 line and Callaway with the Razr line. I based my answer off of how well the company did at getting people to put their clubs in the hands of golfers. Ping and Cleveland could be mentioned with their first launch of an adjustable driver but that would only be because they were late to the party.

I think it really comes down to marketing and social interaction and for us on the forum how involved they are with the THP family.
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I picked Nike on a there balls, I switched from Pro V-1x that ive been playing for almost 5 years, to the Nike 20XI-X this year and will never look back. I try a sleeve or 2 every year just to see whats out there. Last year( and better part of my life) I HATED NIKE balls, but a buddy of mine had the 2013 20XI-X and i played with 1. I fell in love and now after the summer i can say WOW.

Club wise I love Cobra, I have a Amp Cell Driver which I LOVE!!!!!! But Cobra and I have always got along. I played the King Cobra Gravity Back woods and irons during high school golf.

With that being said Cobra isnt my 1st choice in this poll. My mind blown WOW club this year is actually a Nickent ( Which wasnt on the list). The 7DX line woods, I have a really good friend that has a friend that works for Nickent. My buddy has always got free clubs from time to time and ive never liked them. Until this year. Dicks sporting goods bought the company and wanted to REBRAND and they did. The face is HOTTTTT i hit my 3 wood around 275, and it goes where i want it to. It has a Aldila RIP Stiff Shaft ( It is a watered down and not a TRUE RIP OMEGA) But I havent changed it because its perfect. ( FYI Im a shaft junkie)

I know a ranted and carried on a little, but hey like i said I WAS MIND BLOWN by both Nickent Golf and Nike Golf Balls!!
 
Callaway for sure. Cobra was a close second, but I think that Callaway stepped it up in every aspect of their line. So much was being delivered that was impressive.
 
I voted Cobra. I've owned Callaway, Taylormade, Mizuno and Cleveland clubs in the past, but would never give Cobra a look. The Amp Cell driver was the 1st Cobra club I had ever purchased, and to be honest, the only reason I hit it was kind of a joke on the colors offered. But once I hit it a few times while hitting the drivers that I was actually planning on buying, I walked out of the store with it thinking: "Damn, a Cobra driver?"...

A few months later, many test sessions later and somehow I ended up with a full bag of Cobra clubs minus wedges and putter..... I am one of those guys who would have scoffed at you if you'd have told me a year ago that I'd have a bag of Cobra clubs, but every time I went in and hit new clubs for purchase, somehow the Cobra ended up coming out on top. This is something coming from an old Mizuno homer.
 
I gotta go with Cobra for #1 most improved and Callaway being the #2
 
I've got Callaway. Even though most of there new equipment technology is simply in response to other companies advancements, I love the styling and playability of there new line (particularly wedges and woods). I think they have made the biggest leap forward. *I am a Taylormade player for a few years now too
 
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