Vanity With Your Clubs?

I can honestly, 100% say that I would play the ugliest club in the world, if it would help me the most to achieve my playing/performance goals. I wouldn’t even think twice about it. I love equipment. I love to understand the tech behind it. I also love the beauty of certain equipment. However, at the end of the day, the equipment that I am playing is a tool to help me play the very best that I can. If I were convinced that the ugly performed best, it’s in my bag. End of discussion. I really mean this sincerely, too.
There are times I wish I was this way, then there are other times I look down at some behemoth sized clubs and immediately shiver. :ROFLMAO:
 
It's gotta look good at address or there's no chance I'm playing it.

Those square drivers didn't have a chance!!

Love my PXG irons, they look great in the bag and at address ;)
 
Looking through my club history I've played some beauties to get to a level I'm happy with.
Ping Udrainium and Cleveland Smart Sole stand out. Both of which were stunningly good clubs.
Having said that I don't think it's as simple as that. We are the few really that really geek out and find sources like this that put you on the right path. I can honestly say that without THP I wouldn't have found those clubs and 90% of the time the person in store has tried to steer me towards the wrong clubs.


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I’d hit a rock from the parking lot with a frozen damn worm if it helped.

I do not care.

I’m in the same boat. My comfort zone is related to price more than anything else.
 
I definitely try things out but its mainly out of curiosity. I never really go in with the intention of thinking my performance will improve. Ill putt with the L.A.B putters at pga store bc im curious. Last month I bought a center shafted putter and its worked incredibly well vs my other putters, but looks wise I dont care for it

Ultimately it comes down to comfort. If im not comfortable with what im looking at behind the ball then im not gonna have a good day on the course
 
I actually find myself liking what most others would call hideous. I guess I just like the uniqueness of them How many sets of Apex do we really need to see. Chunky doesn't bother me. I'd lovetotry to get into a set of say the Launcher HB Turbo, T-Rail, or Launch pad irons but I honestly don't know if i'd hit them well. I struggle mightily with hybrids and the lower lofted get into the hybrid looking type to me. I even game a Directed Force putter from time to time. Anything that would help my game I'd try for sure, no matter the looks. Of course as I type this i am currently gaming a super sexy set of Miura's with black boron finish.
 
My first 'real' forged clubs I ever played with were Titleist 775CB;s which compared to what I was using (can't even remember) were a leap in looks and feel. Kinda left me on that forged smaller path but if it looks good and it works I'd give it a crack.

In the end we all just want to play better and have more fun right?
 
I actually find myself liking what most others would call hideous. I guess I just like the uniqueness of them How many sets of Apex do we really need to see. Chunky doesn't bother me. I'd lovetotry to get into a set of say the Launcher HB Turbo, T-Rail, or Launch pad irons but I honestly don't know if i'd hit them well. I struggle mightily with hybrids and the lower lofted get into the hybrid looking type to me. I even game a Directed Force putter from time to time. Anything that would help my game I'd try for sure, no matter the looks. Of course as I type this i am currently gaming a super sexy set of Miura's with black boron finish.

My preferences usually go that direction as well. I love the look of the T-Rails and I find most blades to be really boring looking. I rarely care for a “classic” look whether it’s in a golf club, a suit, or a sports uniform.
 
I think we all desire to like equipment we like the look of. Be it any part of the bag of tools we are playing.

Recently I had a conversation with someone about Cobra One Length clubs and they got a chance to test a set out. Played ridiculously well and then we got to talking about going that way and what set and I asked would you go with this set (redacted right now) or Forged TEC and the answer was the latter, because of the look.

That answer resonating with me, because I think it is across the board, but more in line with the core golfer (THPer) than it is as the norm.

Do you test things outside of your comfort zone in appearance? Could you be losing out on performance? Why does smaller attract the core golfer more than technology forward? These are all questions I ponder and wanted to start a thread to serve more as a conversation than just a quick drive by Q&A.
I've been guilty of this in the past but honestly golf is hard enough. I want to play whatever helps me shoot my lowest scores.
 
I still have some misplaced ego that creeps into the bag. My comfort and sweet spot with irons is a players cavity with a medium proportions - topline, sole width, blade length. In longer irons 5-6 part of me thinks I should be playing something hollow bodied, as the PTx Pro are a dream to use. I like blades however, and tend to keep a set or two in the rotation. I don't think the swapping is helping, if the only thing I was trying to do is score. I also swap utilities and hybrids around more than needed.

I know I feel most comfortable in varied conditions with i.e. 3 & 4 hybrid, 5-PW in PTx Pro. Never actually played that combo because I like the PTx Pro 4i so much, that it is always in the bag with the rest of the PTx. I love hitting shots with utilities, long irons, and yes, the look and feel of blades when playing well. The challenge that I think is part of the appeal, however misguided.

The CBX2 wedge video and discussion has got me ready to give the CBX2 a shot at the AW spot.
 
I have some vanity for sure. Some choices aren't based in any sort of reality, just emotional subjective opinions. I like thin top lines and minimal offset and I don't really explore too far outside of that.

At this stage of my life golf isn't really about the grind to improve anymore. I just want to use gear that I love & play fun courses with fun people.
If a set of chunky monkeys could shave a stroke or two I'd probably be happier with gear I love and a higher score.
 
I have tried a few clubs that were out of my comfort zone. Some clicked with me and some didn't.
1. The Pod driver
2. Alien Wedge
3. A Gold painted Kevlar head driver
4. A driver head on a 50" long shaft (when that was legal)
5. A putter that was similar to the Ghost Spider but a few years before the ghost came out.

The last 3 of that list really worked well for me and were in my bag for several years.
Every time I pulled either of the 2 drivers to use, I got a lot of strange looks and comments. But when I would smash the drive down the middle, several yards farther than anyone in the group, the comments changed.
When I played the old Monza Spider putter, it got called a space ship, satellite dish, science experiment gone bad and others. But again, when the putts drained, comments stopped.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder........or club holder.
 
I might not try something because I might think it won't work for me. Examples could be simply beautiful blades or irons that look like garden tools. However if I play it and it performs then it suddenly looks great.
 
When looking for clubs I do only look at the clubs that catch my eye. If the clubs look clumsy or not as clean as I like it is a hard pass. I may leave some yards on the table.
 
I'm happy to try anything in the driver as that is the weakest part of my game. I'm also keen to try high moi putters as they definitely help me with the putts under 6 feet. With irons and wedges, I like that they are more consistent (for me) with distance. I had a set of apex 2016 and never felt comfortable with how far they might go depending on strike. It has definitely put me off changing out of forged cb irons.
 
I bought my irons about 20 years ago. I hit a lot of different kinds during a fitting. The fitter grabbed about six different models off his rack and I picked up a Hogan 1999 Apex, because of its looks. It came down to Ping i3+ and Hogan 1999 Apex. They hit pretty much the same, which was fabulous, but the Pings were downright ugly. The looks of the Hogans was the difference. They were at the time the tuxedos of irons. Maybe they still are.

As for putters, I don't want to see something down there that looks like it came off an alien spaceship. My putter is a Ping G2 Tess, which looks really simple.
 
I absolutely have preferences in looks, but I have and will continue to go out of the box if I can find clubs that help my game. I am surprised as many people have posted about how the look is that important. Be it s chunky head, OL, or a straight hybrid style club all the way down to a PW.
 
I have some vanity for sure. Some choices aren't based in any sort of reality, just emotional subjective opinions. I like thin top lines and minimal offset and I don't really explore too far outside of that.

At this stage of my life golf isn't really about the grind to improve anymore. I just want to use gear that I love & play fun courses with fun people.
If a set of chunky monkeys could shave a stroke or two I'd probably be happier with gear I love and a higher score.

Well said.... this is my feeling as well. Golf clubs are a significant investment and I’ve got to really like how they look, in the bag, standing over the ball, etc. If I am not enamoured with the look of them, guarantee they won’t last so why waste my time testing them. I only test something I know will pass my sniff test.
 
I’m not sure why people like smaller and streamlined but they do. I’m one of them. That said, I do test just about everything. I do not feel like I’m giving up performance at all with my Apex 19s - that’s part of the reason I love them so much, they are reasonably small but offer great distance and surprising forgiveness.
 
Well said.... this is my feeling as well. Golf clubs are a significant investment and I’ve got to really like how they look, in the bag, standing over the ball, etc. If I am not enamoured with the look of them, guarantee they won’t last so why waste my time testing them. I only test something I know will pass my sniff test.
Great point about the cost....I think it’s a very tough ask to expect someone to drop over a grand on irons and not like the way something looks.
 
I take great pleasure in trying and playing every kind of club out there, whether past or current designs. I find it a challenge to play well with a different feeling for each type of club design out there, then mix in the shaft and even grip differences and you’re adding another degree of acclimation required to play each club effectively.

I have clubs from just about every era (from the early 1900’s on) in their era-specific golf bag waiting for me to take them out for a round. Each maintained set, beautiful and stylish in it’s own way, and not necessarily good or bad, just created for the game in a way that the designer saw at that time. From hickory shaft, to early steel shaft, to stepped shafts, up to the current steel and graphite shafts, they all have incredible differences and feels.

Likewise, I look at the putters that line my walls and enjoy their evolution, from the most crude, all wood, club-like appearances to the early steel and aluminum heads, early PING Ansers, to the simple Bullseye brass blade, the early mallet putters, my early Scotty’s right up to the multi-material high MOI, alignment aided putters that we all have come to embrace. I putt well with all of them. The all have their place.

But, the fact is, when it comes to playing my best rounds, and I know I’m playing for a win, I have to have absolute confidence and assurance that the clubs in my bag, every single one of them, matches up not only physically and aesthetically to what I want to look at, but also how they feel, from the grip, to the movement of the shaft right down to the head on the end of that shaft. I have to know that from the moment I make my club selection, pulling it from the bag, feeling it in my hands, and setting it at address, that it’s exactly what I want it to look and feel like. I have had people ask me what my favorite club is, and I can’t help but look at them in almost disbelief, thinking, that’s an insane thought. It’s like asking me which one of my eyes do I like most. I love each and every one of them and have struck up a solid relationship with each of them, as if each of them is an integral family member that belongs in this quest with me. You would never see me toss a club, or shove one into my bag. Each one is cleaned after each shot, and carefully placed back into the bag. Then, once the round is over, they all get a full cleaning...every round. No excuses. These are my tools of the trade. Like a samurai sword, each of them has a spirit. I like that idea. Treat them with care and they will return the favor.

I do enjoy my new hollow-filled PXG players irons, they’re incredible pieces. But, I absolutely love playing my Titleist 620 MBs that have no compensations whatsoever - just pure forged, polished simplicity and beauty. And the fact is, I score as well or better with the MBs. It’s just that the PXGs take a little less effort and focus. With the muscle backs the concentration factor is high. There’s very little room for off center shots. I can get a little sloppy with the PXGs and they still go the distance and land close to where I visualized. With the MBs, it’s like throwing darts precision, and nothing can quite feel like hitting a ProV on the center of that face - nothing. But, off center, ugh...not so much.

Back to the question, I take great pride in my clubs, just like all things in my life. They reflect my joy, passion, my attention to detail, sense of aesthetics, classic design, master craftsmanship, arts, and applied engineering, physics and science. I suppose if I struggled with this game, then it would be a different matter altogether. I may be looking for something to help me score better, or perhaps to simply help me not lose so many balls in a round, or to feel so frustrated and even angry that I can’t hit it consistently. But, I’m fortunate. This game I love, loves me back. The work, study and practice that I put into this game on and off the course, and on the practice field, pays handsomely and with dividends. Playing a blade allows me certain control features that I can’t get with the higher MOI and high velocity club face designs. Looking down at a blade after I’ve been playing the latter, is a little daunting, but as soon as I hit that beautiful buttery fade, draw or straight shot and that ball climbs and falls and hits the green as planned, the doubt and concern all slide towards non-existence. Do I take pride in my clubs...well, duh, yeah!
 
I grew up on blade irons and persimmon woods (and balata balls) so "small" was all I knew for the longest time, and as creature of habit, stayed with that. However as I get older I am enjoying the performance or more game improvement irons. That being said I still prefer a a classic look-even if the club appears to be on steroids.
 
I admit that I caved with my recent Hogan Icons. I just LOVE the looks of them. Luckily, I can play them well enough but there still a lot of room for me to HAVE to improve to maximize the performance. That being said, I have some strong preferences towards a thinner top line and clubs that don't look too techie - specifically on irons. With woods, i don't mind the technology look to them. This is an interesting topic as I have a friend who is roughly a 30 handicap that plays blades (Callaway MBs) even though he can't hit them very well at all but he can't get past the looks of them. I do find that when we have played in fundraiser tournaments, a lot of people look at him and expect him to be a solid player. But in my opinion, if it makes your experience more enjoyable, then go for it. Interesting point and thoughts on the element of looks.
 
At one time for sure. Now I don't care if it looks like a shovel as long as it improves my game.
 
I'm sure it doesn't apply equally to everybody, but the advice I've seen that resonated most with me is "Play the most forgiving clubs you can stand to look at".
 
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