Which club or set of clubs was your biggest game changer?

When THP sent me to the Kingdom Experience with Taylormade back in 2011, the Ghost Spider putter hadn't been released yet, but I met the marketing director for their putter division at that time and we developed a bit of a relationship. They told me about the yet released putter and said they would send me one to test and review. Since the day that putter went in my bag it has not left. While I was already a good putter with my Monza Spider (precursor to the Ghost), something about the Ghost made me an even better putter and I believe that it played a huge part of getting my ghin down to single digits and keeping it there.
 
My fitted Taylormade Tour Preferred CB irons. With the fitting indicating a need for flatter lie, I rarely lost shots left with the correct lies. Previous sets with standard lies would tend to go left on flushed shots. Still contemplating reshafting them with Recoils to see how they would perform now.
 
SeeMore and RST. Easily.
 
My first set. “Northwestern Chi-Chi Rodriquez” model blades in the mid 70’s. It’s what you learned on. No “game improvement” clubs then. You hit it in the middle or your fingers buzzed all day. You want to learn to find the middle? Learn on blades. First set shooting par. The set I broke par were the original Hogan Edge Cavity Back forged in ‘80’s. Any SGI/GI clubs I used weren’t consistent and I could never dial in yardages.
 
I don't know that I've ever gotten a club or set of clubs that lead to any significant change in my game of a positive nature. I have gotten clubs not well suited to my game that have had negative affects. One example is that I had played Ping irons at 2° flat for years and bought a set of Mizuno T-Zoids 2° flat without getting fit for them. What I did not realize when I purchased them was that the lie angles were already comparable to the Ping irons at their standard lie and by getting them 2° flat they were now 4° flat to standard instead! Could not hit them worth a darn! o_O
 
Clubs have NEVER been a big factor in improving my game. Working on making my swing, my short game and putting better has ALWAYS yielded better, faster results than changing clubs ever has.
 
I started out when drivers and fairway woods were made of wood and steel shafts, balls were wound, and the only club performance measuring equipment was this one-of-a-kind machine called "Iron Byron". So, I've seen a lot of equipment changes. Cumulatively, they've changed the game. But individually, not so much.

So, bottom line for your stated goal is this. Get a comprehensive fitting by a skilled brand agnostic fitter with 10,000 or more combinations. Anything less is going to result in a compromise on your equipment and a gap between what your equipment could provide and what it does. An improvement of 3-6 shots per round is not unusual.

But note, equipment isn't going to turn an 18 handicap into a scratch player. That requires a significant improvement in the player.
 
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Not a popular opinion around here... but here goes:

I don’t personally think it matters all that much.

In my experience, it’s the fitting that is impactful, not so much the brand or model of club itself.

Get fit and get a recommendation for what sort of club/shaft suits you - such as, cavity back vs blades, stiff vs soft, grip size, etc, and from there, once you reach a certain level of craftsmanship and quality, I think you’ll find the differences are negligible between brands.

I look at my other hobby (guitars) in the same way... there’s a staircase of functional difference between a $250 guitar and a $1000 guitar, but there’s really not much functional difference between a $1000 guitar and a $5000 guitar. It’s mostly trim and bells/whistles once you get over $1000.
 
The first club I replaced from my box set was the driver. I got a Callaway Rogue and felt like I had been handed Harry Potter's wand. It really delivered longer and straighter drives. It was this club that really started my golf passion.
 
New-to-me TaylorMade R580 driver I got a few years ago now from a friend.

While it came out in 2002 I only got it a few years ago and it was still a big step up from what I had. The head is 400cc, which was much bigger than what I had at the time, but maybe more importantly it has a stiff shaft. The shaft in my old driver (from a '90s Wilson box set) wobbles when shaking the club haha. To be fair I'm pretty sure a senior flex shaft is stiffer than whatever is in that Wilson. So yeah, the R580 really opened my eyes and got me back into golf after a number of years away from the game.
 
I am hoping it will be the RF blades I am going to order for the Morgan Cup.



Actually it was the Mizuno JPX EZ I had. Loved the feel and finally got fit correctly.

Yeah not getting blades FYI. :LOL:
 
Two clubs in my bag come to mind - the Mav Max driver is the longest and most forgiving driver I've ever hit (even though I can still manage to put unforgivably bad swings on it). The PM Grind 58° wedge has made a noticeable (and very enjoyable) difference in my short game, one of my regular golf partners refers to it as my "weapon".
 
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Cobra Speedzone driver is getting me more distance than I am used to without losing the control
 
My Odyssey long putter by far, 2 to 3 strokes improvement from previous putter.
9 years still #1

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idk...i don't think clubs are/were the impetus for the game change. up till now, i woulda said my 565 irons but playing the apex/apex pro combos i have for a few rounds now, it's not the gear
 
My first set of GI irons, Bridgestone J15 cast irons.
It really helped me to hit higher shots that could hold a green.
 
Bridgestone J40 irons. After taking 9 years off the game it was a grea set to reintroduce the game back
 
Though my scoring doesn’t reflect it yet, finally finding hybrids I can hit has transformed the top of my bag.


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Definitely the addition of my G410 driver and 5w, and the Scotty. Totally changed my game from the tee and long shots with the 5w. The Scotty has improved my putting game immensely.
 
the TourEdge EXS Driver has been the biggest game changer for me. I have struggled to hit driver forever and this is the 1st driver I have complete confidence in.
 
The G400 Max for me. I've had other drivers I liked, but it was the first time a driver was my favorite club in the bag. i played the best golf of my life in 2019 with it.

I stupidly sold it, then bought it back from the person I sold it too. But she was mad at me and was never the same.

I ended up getting a G410 Plus. It's a very good driver, but not as good as the G400 Max.
 
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