Tour issue drivers vs tour issue putters - Why?

[MWard]

So I've been thinking about this since @HipCheck posted the thread about the tour issue PXG driver at a whopping cost of $2500 dollars. The feedback, myself included, deemed that to be relatively ridiculous. But then I started thinking about people buying Tour Issue putters, with pricetags in a similar fashion. To those who can afford it, you guys are awesome and I'm insanely jealous. They're badass looking too. But my question is, why is it that a putter gets the looks and more often the sales, and a driver gets the gawks of way too much money?

 

[ddec]

I feel like it for what those putters are vs what the drivers are, the driver will feel more outdated in a shorter period of time.

 

[MWard]

I feel like it for what those putters are vs what the drivers are, the driver will feel more outdated in a shorter period of time.

Maybe? But do you think it should matter if you feel tour issue drivers are better for your game than a standard head?

 

[McLovin]

there is something very personal about a putter. it's not uncommon to game the same one for a very long time, when old tech can work so well for so long. drivers just aren't the same. not only that, few of us are under any false pretense that we can ever drive it like a tour pro. but there aren't often physical limitations preventing us from putting like a tour pro, so it is more reasonable that a tour issue putter could (news flash: it won't) lead to more pro-like putting than a tour issue driver leading to more tour-like performance off the tee.

 

[ddec]

Maybe? But do you think it should matter if you feel tour issue drivers are better for your game than a standard head?

I think the marketing of drivers will make a $2500 driver make someone feel like its outdated in 2 years. Take Callaway for instance, if you purchased a tour issue XR16 driver I would be willing to bet that the talk of EPIC, when it came out, would make your eyes wander. With putters, I don't think the tech talk gets people to move too much. Even though there is killer tech out there.

 

[Jman]

So I've been thinking about this since @HipCheck posted the thread about the tour issue PXG driver at a whopping cost of $2500 dollars. The feedback, myself included, deemed that to be relatively ridiculous. But then I started thinking about people buying Tour Issue putters, with pricetags in a similar fashion. To those who can afford it, you guys are awesome and I'm insanely jealous. They're badass looking too. But my question is, why is it that a putter gets the looks and more often the sales, and a driver gets the gawks of way too much money?

Driver tech evolves more. A pure putter will always be a pure putter and there won’t be many changes to make them “better”.

 

[ddec]

Driver tech evolves more. A pure putter will always be a pure putter and there won’t be many changes to make them “better”.

thumbs high!

 

[jlew]

So I've been thinking about this since @HipCheck posted the thread about the tour issue PXG driver at a whopping cost of $2500 dollars. The feedback, myself included, deemed that to be relatively ridiculous. But then I started thinking about people buying Tour Issue putters, with pricetags in a similar fashion. To those who can afford it, you guys are awesome and I'm insanely jealous. They're badass looking too. But my question is, why is it that a putter gets the looks and more often the sales, and a driver gets the gawks of way too much money?

One could argue that a putter is going to be "gameable" for longer than a driver right? Meaning I'm not hitting the putter at 100 mph 10-12 times a round, whereas the driver is going to get dinged up from continuous high impact use over time? Putter may be looked at more of an investment than the driver that could be outdated in 6 months to a year.

 

[jdtox]

I feel like a putter is a more personal item and people are willing to pay for that. It can me embellished with stamping or different finishes or whatever. Driver is a driver really the only thing we can change is the shaft. With customs becoming a little more popular we get some of that but a putter is so much easier to manipulate in that regard.

 

[BigMac]

Marketing.

People aren't necessarily spending big money on putters for tech - they're spending big money on putters because they're artsy, collectible and trendy. For some people, it confers status if you have a $1000 Scotty Cameron putter in the bag, but hardly anybody is going to take a second look at your driver. Yet there's no more tech in that $1000 Scotty than there is in the $149 Ping Anser it was cloned from.

 

[KEV]

It's a couple reasons for me. For one drivers get marketed with new technology every year and claims of x yardage gains, x forgiveness gains, etc. While putters get some of that it doesn't seem like it's year after year or huge claims that are pushed and I don't feel like I have to make a putter change to gain any major performance increases. Because of that I'm not going to spend $2,500 on a driver because next year the marketing will claim a 7 yard game with more forgiveness than ever.

The other thing is putters are used almost every hole. It's something that you bond with and use all the time. I'm more willing to hand over money for something that is going to be used a ton and can make such a huge impact on my game.

 

[blugold]

Who am I to tell somebody how to spend their $2500. I can't see a value in either of them, but that doesn't mean that somebody with the money shouldn't buy them.