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Golf Digest Hot List

wubears71

wubears71

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Albatross 2024 Club
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I know that the Golf Digest 2021 Hot list drops today. One of my club rep friends is all excited because he heard that Callaway will have a lot of clubs in there. I personally don’t understand the big deal and the purpose of this list. Every year when I look at it every single new release from all the major manufacturers get gold with an occasional silver and then you see the oddball smaller manufacturer in the list.

To me, it’s just been a summary every year one new clubs the manufacturers have released and nothing more. I know I see some advertising that make a big deal about getting gold in the hot list. When I see those advertisements it actually kind of turns me off because it’s a meaningless recognition.

I don’t even need to look at the list to know What clubs will be on the list this year.

My point is that the golf digest hotlist feels like the every kid gets a trophy list. I would really like them to go out on a limb and offer one gold, one silver at one bronze and maybe an honorable mention in each of the categories and that is it. Now that would be special.
 
Totally agree. Seems a bit useless for the gear heads.

Seems more like a what's new list for the average Joe.
 
It used to be a great resource, like, before the internet. It consolidates all of the new releases, and I like how they grouped the skill sets of the players for the testing. Back in the day, I always wanted to be a tester on the panel.

Nowadays, I agree, it's usefulness has been diminished.
 
I never look at the “hot list” Not everything can be awesome. Seems like a bought and paid for review in my opinion
 
I would imagine the companies that spend a lot of money advertising on their website or magazine, will always make their “hotlists”. The list should be renamed, ”Our advertisers list”.
 
I don’t care for the list, never have, but I do present you all with this....

No one is making bad equipment nowadays from the big OEM’s down to most of the smaller ones. With that fact, it’s not really presenting an ability to **** on one versus the other. That’s for the shock and clickbait sites out there to make up.
 
I used to think that GD was the place to go. Then I realized that it is only about what club/shaft combo work for you. It takes some time but it's fun shopping and trying different products. Also I could care less what brand is in my bag as long as i believe in it. I love the reviews at THP but its only a piece in the puzzle.
 
Jman said:
I don’t care for the list, never have, but I do present you all with this....

No one is making bad equipment nowadays from the big OEM’s down to most of the smaller ones. With that fact, it’s not really presenting an ability to **** on one versus the other. That’s for the shock and clickbait sites out there to make up.
Click to expand...
Golf and cigars have a lot of similarities in that finding a truly bad cigar these days is rare - both the big and small mfgs have done such a good job that it’s unusual to get a real stinker. Sure, there are many I don’t like due to flavor profile that others love. Yet, Cigar Afficionado puts out a Top 25 cigars list that still has meaning. The big brands will always have their spot in there, but the recognition is very meaningful.

I guess it’s easier to do since the bands are removed and are truly done in a blind review - kind of hard to do a blind review on clubs.
 
wubears71 said:
Golf and cigars have a lot of similarities in that finding a truly bad cigar these days is rare - both the big and small mfgs have done such a good job that it’s unusual to get a real stinker. Sure, there are many I don’t like due to flavor profile that others love. Yet, Cigar Afficionado puts out a Top 25 cigars list that still has meaning. The big brands will always have their spot in there, but the recognition is very meaningful.

I guess it’s easier to do since the bands are removed and are truly done in a blind review - kind of hard to do a blind review on clubs.
Click to expand...

There is no performance and fitting to cigars. Its a flavor profile and construction (sort of)
 
JB said:
There is no performance and fitting to cigars. Its a flavor profile and construction (sort of)
Click to expand...
Good Point.
 
wubears71 said:
Good Point.
Click to expand...

While people would love a ranking, anybody that does it as black and white, is doing the golfer following a disservice. Years ago, when companies had a single release at a time, it made sense. Now, with full lineups of drivers and irons by every single company, using a ranking is click bait and literally nothing else.

The Hot List is a thankless job, but still their most read issue. Its designed to present what is hot in the industry. While I am not for it, I understand the desire for such a list.
 
I think it's fine. I agree with the above that everyone is making good gear these days so it's hard to state one is better than the others. One of either Golf or Golf Digest started making more discussion about how high, low, and mid cappers hit the clubs. They also talked more about performance characteristics the clubs excelled at. As long as they state the differences a little I don't mind everyone getting a trophy.
 
When I decided to take up golf and get clubs (2015), The Hot List is where I started for info. It was the only source I knew about. It gave me a quick overview of what was available. At that point I only knew a few brands and didn't even know the club type categories. I quickly found resources like THP and some YouTube reviews, but for a new golfer it was a helpful starting resource. As much as I enjoy THP, for example, finding info here requires knowing what to search for. I think the Hot List still serves a useful purpose.
 
I used to rely on the Hot List every year back in the day. Today, of course, not so much. I do read it to see what they rank in their golfing minds & to see what more they could have said about each OEM though. And to think I used to pay for a subscription to GD too. Nowadays I get it free when I go to the Golf Expo here in my area every year. ;) So I've got that going for me, which is nice :ROFLMAO:
 
I can’t say I’ve looked at the Golf Digest Hot List in several years now. I honestly forgot it still existed.
 
I used to rely on it before I was involved here, primarily to keep up on the new releases.
 
To be fair, everyone posting on this forum is beyond what and who that list MIGHT be intended for. When I first started playing, I could only name about 2 brands. I had literally no idea where to start in purchasing equipment, I knew nothing, and so the Hot List was a decent start point for me at that point, to at least understand who and what is out there. I could look at this years list, compare to 2018, 2017 and 2016 to kind of get my bearings on who had what models in each year.

I agree at this point it's completely useless, but keep in mind most of you guys are mature in your golf brand knowledge.
 
Jman said:
I don’t care for the list, never have, but I do present you all with this....

No one is making bad equipment nowadays from the big OEM’s down to most of the smaller ones. With that fact, it’s not really presenting an ability to **** on one versus the other. That’s for the shock and clickbait sites out there to make up.
Click to expand...

you beat me to it. this is my take as well. the gear is so good coming out of almost every manufacturer, i do think gold is warranted among pretty much every release.
 
I have not looked at the hot list in years. It lacks any real content or info.. Basically paid for club advertising that I am not sure is all the valuable any more..
 
I use to read the list in detail but over the past few years, I only look at it for fun just to see what is listed. Many other places to find good reviews. THP stands out as a good resource.
 
I used to look at this list with excitement, to see which clubs would be the ones I'd focus in on. Now, I don't even look at it, because I have found other avenues of information that include much less bias.
 
I look more to sites that review clubs that I already have interest in purchasing. I do look at the golf ball rankings each year to find a new brand to try.
 
I used to depend on the hot list as a big guide of my purchases. Then I found THP. The hot list is a joke in my opinion. The major brands all have their gold medals the same every year and the minor brands have their silvers. While I look at the list every year, it plays no part in my purchase decisions. THP and my own testing are what I use for decisions.
 
I’ll look at it, but I still prefer reviews from people I can text or talk to here....
 
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