- Staff
- #101
It is human nature to take the path of least resistance, make safe decisions, cover your a** etc...
Mostly golf equipment designs are warmed over versions of previous designs. Sure there are some exceptions, but the the designers typically try to "stay within the box of current conventional thinking", because if they don't, and their original idea did not sell well, they may be out of a job.
Putting out stuff similar to what everybody else is doing is safer , so that is what hired employees tend to do.
I think the two most recent significant changes to the golf equipment industry were Karsten Solheim's perimeter weighting concept, for which he had the conviction to apply to putters and irons. The other recent materially significant improvement change to golf equipment was Ely Callaway's release of the over sized metal wood. Both of these men were not employees thinking about job security, they were business owners willing to take the financial risk of supporting their unconventional products.
You VASTLY underestimate the amount of work these R&D crews do. VASTLY.