Are you open minded to smaller companies?

[LSMO]

I’m getting better, love Exotics metal woods, seemore putter will always end up in the bag even though I do stray now and then. I will admit I am one where tour usage played a big roll and I fell for the marketing machine of the bigger companies. But I now find my self trying to support those who support me (by way of THP, engagement on social and local representation). I’m not one who looks a whole lot into companies who just mill product without the r&d behind it.

 

[Sean]

I am just guessing here, but I would guess that the quality of the smaller shops is outstanding as the competition is so fierce.

 

[Scorp]

I want to say yes, I support small businesses. Looking in my bag though and it's a different story...

 

[Sox_Fan]

My bag is filled with products from what I consider smaller companies in the golf equipment world so I am definitely all about them.

 

[ShanksaloT]

Yes, absolutely I am open to smaller companies - my walk of life is providing health insurance and HR compliance to SMBs (I actually pitched SeeMore Putters last year)....

My wife and I always make it a point to, while its a pain of a drive to go to the town where we first met and buy our holiday gifts from a small store.

As for "larger" smaller companies, I like spending money with Travis Mathew, Dunning, G/Fore, LinkSoul with respect to golf, Charles Tyrwhitt for dress shirts, Taft for my dress shoes, LuLuLemon for active wear, MackWeldon for sweats...

 

[Canadan]

I personally love to see more competition in the market, and enjoy the individual/unique takes that come from smaller fresh companies chasing the big dogs.

That in mind, if you're a small company and you want my buy in, you'd better engage.

 

[oddjob27]

I give a lot of credit to small and "smaller" companies because it does take courage to enter into a marketplace that is almost completely dominated by big entities. Companies like Sub70, Orka, etc., even Ben Hogan have made a lot of strides in providing golfers quality products. My bag is primarily made up of Ben Hogan. I think the difficult part, for me, is to take on the risk of quality and performance because I feel that there isn't enough attention/data around the products, for example golf balls. I appreciate outlets such as THP who will give them the attention in order for us to make better decisions. But I do think as @Canadan mentioned, if you want my buy in, you'd better engage. I think that's such an important part of succeeding as a small brand/company, is how they engage with their customers.

I will note that I wish I saw more engagement coming from Ben Hogan. That being said, I feel like BH has engaged with the THP community pretty strongly, which I really appreciate. As a marketing professional, I look at brands from what they provide for their customers and potential customers that allow them to feel like they are a part of something. I feel that with large brands like TM, you see the association of events, the feeling of pros using the same brand/clubs, etc. I think SeeMore putters does this fairly well with their podcast. As much as we all love free stuff, I think small brands can focus a little more on what they are doing for their customers to keep them. The hard part about this is exactly the struggle of being a small brand, resources to make things like this happen.

 

[justagame]

Absolutely. Over the the years, I've at times played:
- KZG irons and wedges that I loved (though the irons didn't love me back so much)
- Hybrids from Nickent and Dynacraft
- A Zero Tolerance driver that was among the longest I had hit at that time
- Golfsmith irons
- A Snake Eyes driver
- An Adams 3-hybrid that stayed in my bag a long long time
- Various Ben Hogan clubs (mostly irons)
- Current 3h and 4h from Tour Edge
- Putters from Heavy Putter, Von's golf, and others

In terms of quality, I'd rate them equal to or better than the big-name brands. For some of the component brands, it of course depends a lot on the clubmaker.

 

[BigMac]

I'd have to say the one aspect of golf I personally don't have a big interest in small businesses is boutique putters. No knock intended on anybody who's into it, but it's just not my thing. There are some guys doing beautiful work, but I have a really hard time justifying $500+ (sometimes WAY +++) for what's essentially a blinged-out version of an existing putter design. I admire them and love looking at them - some of them are essentially art pieces - but I'm more interested in how my putter performs than how it looks.

If I was going to smoke the credit card for a putter it would probably be from somebody like SIK, where it's more about the tech than the art.

 

[Rexter]

I ordered a shaft from Steadfast and upon receiving it I was alarmed by the craftsmanship. It is very crude, obvious touch-up paint in various places on the shaft and a generic grip.
I read in a few forums wherein people report their driver heads flying off because the tip wasn’t properly prepared for the adaptor.

I emailed Steadfast stating that I wanted to return the shaft and received an email from “Sandra” with a link to their “Refund Policy.” The words Refund isn’t even in the policy! They will not accept returns, only provide exchanges!

Buyers Beware!

Let's see....In 2020 I bought an Indi Putter, Caddy Daddy Claw gloves, Steadfast shafts and some Patriot Golf Clubs. So I'm thinking I'm not very supportive of small, I think I keep them in business.....Ha

s alarmed

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

I’m a review *****. I likely would not be the first to try a new product.

 

[JB]

I ordered a shaft from Steadfast and upon receiving it I was alarmed by the craftsmanship. It is very crude, obvious touch-up paint in various places on the shaft and a generic grip.
I read in a few forums wherein people report their driver heads flying off because the tip wasn’t properly prepared for the adaptor.

I emailed Steadfast stating that I wanted to return the shaft and received an email from “Sandra” with a link to their “Refund Policy.” The words Refund isn’t even in the policy! They will not accept returns, only provide exchanges!

Buyers Beware!

View attachment 9011992


s alarmed

So sorry to hear that. We have a Steadfast thread that has a nightmare of quality issues.

 

[nicklongdrive]

I ordered a shaft from Steadfast and upon receiving it I was alarmed by the craftsmanship. It is very crude, obvious touch-up paint in various places on the shaft and a generic grip.
I read in a few forums wherein people report their driver heads flying off because the tip wasn’t properly prepared for the adaptor.

I emailed Steadfast stating that I wanted to return the shaft and received an email from “Sandra” with a link to their “Refund Policy.” The words Refund isn’t even in the policy! They will not accept returns, only provide exchanges!

Buyers Beware!

View attachment 9011992


s alarmed

Steadfast is right up there with Bombtech junk.

 

[CBaker]

Putters yes, other clubs no.

 

[Rexter]

Isn’t it odd how quickly Steadfast has faded away? I guess they found their projected number of suckers to purchase their garbage (I was one of them), and they moved off to their next con.