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Isolate Your Bias

SuperStroke
I was initially biased on nostalgia, and now incremental developments from the same brand and the great usage and exposure here on THP for my woods and irons.

Having previously owned brands which are no more - the one remaining club I kept from my 25 year old set this last summer was my Callaway X-14 1-iron that my then girlfriend, now wife bought me as a birthday present. I matched that up with a used set of X-14s which was an easy sell for me, to her, given the significance.

Moving to X20's seemed like a logical step given my improvement, and that they were (slightly) newer, and I picked up an Epic driver, and a Rogue hybrid because I liked the brand, had confidence in it and again hadn't previously had branded woods that were still in existence. Fair to say that Callaway pre-owned, and buoyant eBay/Facebook supply of good quality equipment also helped.

Having joined THP in January, and in particular read through the Grandaddy 2023 thread both in terms of the engagement, and the excitement and enthusiasm it was a no-brainer for me to stick with Callaway for the upgrade to my current bag.

I'll admit to being 50:50 influenced by THP / the Tour on the Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser - but other than that I'm not wholeheartedly Tour influenced - if I was I'd probably be playing Taylormade irons.

The experience of the members here, and the Experiences are a great resource, and source of inspiration. I'm likely to give other brands a chance when I get fitted for my next set of clubs, but I'm always going to match them off against the Callaway offering.
 
I originally got fitted in to stuff at an independent fitter. Over time I have swapped some things in and out based on things like the Srixon Experience and other things. I tend to stick with Callaway drivers and 3ws as I have a number of shafts with Callaway tips.

Next year I may go get fit for irons again as I have monkeyed around with stuff and strayed from what I was fit into. I do tend to have a pretty open mind though.
 
For me it’s always been about feel, sound, looks, and dispersion. I’ve always had a bias towards less popular/desirable brands(same with skis, paddle boards, and other hobbies) which has had me mostly in Wilson Staff and Srixon irons since 2003. 10 days ago I put a set of these beauties in my bag and they are maybe the best combination of accuracy, distance, looks, and feel that I’ve ever played. I‘m still tweaking the lofts to get the gaps where I want them but they really are a fantastic match for my swing and I love the shape and brushed stainless finish even more than my Srixon’s.

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Karsten Solheim - the groove fight really got me hooked - carries over till this day.
Ping4LIFE
 
Budget, personal experience, and THP - probably in that order :)
 
Canadan said:
Curious about this one after the last couple days chatting with people;

Where does your golf club bias come from?

Is it based on your friends?
Big marketing?
What the Tour plays?

Are you one of the rare people who can ignore what everyone else is doing and select entirely what works for your bag leaving no stone unturned?

If it's more than one thing, give me a general percentage.

Also, how much does an outside bias define what kinds of clubs are in your bag (think hybrid, woods, long irons, forgiving wedges, etc) and how much is it just your own madness?
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My friends matter a lot, because I have friends who work for one of the bigger OEMs. One of my friends has fitted me for driver + irons going back almost 10 years. I don't play clubs from only that OEM but I will look there first. In the end I have 3 to 4 different brands in my bag (5 counting ball) so I don't just go with that one OEM if something else is better.
 
I tend to support or have bias for brands and people that are under appreciated. I was a MacGregor guy back when Norman owned them. I ran with that until it died.
Jumped over to Wilson. I grew up playing many of their products. Even did a college Senior marketing project on the T-2000 raquet. I have been one of a lonely few saying IF they could get their stuff together it could be a great brand again. Wilson made it hard to stay loyal with their various marketing mishaps.Seems they are going in a good direction. Irons and balls are getting love.DPF is getting great reviews. I have backed off a bit since they don't need me to be the crazy guy saying the stuff is good. Make some decent woods this coming season and they are back in the hunt.
 
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Any bias is 100% driven by THP. I am not swayed by big marketing, tour, or anything else and I try to play what fits my game, but a some THP threads have definitely gotten me to buy a couple clubs blind.
 
THP generally. I only paid attention to tour so much as it’s gonna affect a golfer like me playing what they do.
 
It's like 90-95% marketing. Social media "influencers" absolutely influence me to not buy your product.

Good Good, Barstool/Foreplay & the like turn me away from your product. I'm not your target audience.
 
THP has created all my biases. I never considered Callaway before the Grandaddy and now I’m strongly biased towards them. THP also opened my eyes to the quality of other brands like UST Mamiya and Cobra as well which I never would’ve played before here
 
Canadan said:
Are you one of the rare people who can ignore what everyone else is doing and select entirely what works for you...
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That describes me. I've never been influenced by endorsements, marketing hype, what my friends play, etc. I'd play pink Hello Kitty shafts if that's what gave me the best results.

ps: I don't wear golf shoes, I wear Hoka One One Speedgoat GTX. I don't have golf specific rain gear...my rain gear is from REI and I got it a lot cheaper and it works great. I don't wear golf specific cold weather gear...again, I use the what I picked up at REI. For example, I have a nice down jacket that is very warm, light, and gives me a full range of motion.
 
Playing certain brands in my bag is from brand reputation, like my penchant to play only Cleveland wedges, and now, also one of their putters. A Ping driver, from their rep, and reviews, to be as forgiving a driver as you will find, after a fitting, and trying several different brands. My hybrid irons from GigaGolf was basically a price decision, and it has worked out well for me. Fairways are a revolving door right now, after playing a Cally Diablo 3-wood for 10 years, now with a Cobra in the bag. The ball is always up for change, but that is just me at this point, as I play value priced balls...
 
THP is 75%
Friends are 15%
Marketing is 10%
 
What I think I like or demand in a golf club is my own biggest bias. I tell myself that after years of playing fairly small irons with little offset I am ready to consider going back to some more forgiving irons, but I dismiss a lot of golf clubs when I see photos or put them down on the floor of a golf shop. Worse still, I've done it even after hitting them. Truth be told, I couldn't tell you how a club "feels" except for when I mishit it. The middle of a cast or forged club both feel and sound quite good to me. But then I put it back down on the floor and convince myself it's too chunky or too offset and I won't trust it out on the course.

This has been going on for years.
 
Paladin said:
What I think I like or demand in a golf club is my own biggest bias. I tell myself that after years of playing fairly small irons with little offset I am ready to consider going back to some more forgiving irons, but I dismiss a lot of golf clubs when I see photos or put them down on the floor of a golf shop. Worse still, I've done it even after hitting them. Truth be told, I couldn't tell you how a club "feels" except for when I mishit it. The middle of a cast or forged club both feel and sound quite good to me. But then I put it back down on the floor and convince myself it's too chunky or too offset and I won't trust it out on the course.

This has been going on for years.
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You really need to look at it from a performance aspect. Which clubs are going to give you the best for your game. Need to put your club vanity aside, and go with what is going to play the best for your game. And yes, cast clubs are very good in that respect, with great "feel", just like forged, so it is a matter of what you want to spend.. A lot of folks can't tell the difference, or just can't recognize how a club feels. For me, feel is very important with the short end of my bag, such as the 8 and 9 irons, and wedges for sure. Pitching and chipping is all feel for me. As soon as I execute a chip shot, I can tell by feel if it is going go be good or not, and not just by sight. My CBX2 wedges are very good that way, and they are not forged. Cast club metallurgy is so much better than 20 years ago! When I purchase clubs, I am biased toward feel of that club. It has to feel a certain way in my hands, unless it really outperforms what I have been playing, then I will have to learn to live with it...
 
Being here for as long as i have, not as long as some but the exposure to different brands and types of clubs, i have had the opportunity to try so many different of these. I was pretty much a Titleist Iron guy, Taylormade drivers and scotty putters.

Now i have 6 different names in there, 3 on the top end alone. Would i love to have one fit to me at an Experience, sure but that would kind of like be the pinnacle of my THP career.
 
When I came back to golf in '22, I had an old, used Adams Idea set collecting dust in my closet. They felt nice (even though the regular graphite was clearly not stiff enough) and I wanted a new set of Adams. Apparently they were bought out by TaylorMade, so I bought the P770s instead. I've tried PXG and Ping at certain fitting events and they just weren't feeling right to me. If a PXG iron feels better than TaylorMade, I'll switch to that, but until then, I'm TaylorMade gang affiliated.
 
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