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Forgive me father for I have sinned....

SuperStroke
Rusty Dave

Rusty Dave

#staffproto
Joined
Dec 1, 2013
Messages
3,498
Reaction score
342
Location
BC Canada
Handicap
10.4
Those of you who know me on here know that I'm a diehard W/S guy ever since #staffproto. I had the pleasure of being the first Canadian to play the C200. I fell in love with that company and went all W/S with my woods and irons. I bought the D200 3H, 4H , 3W and Driver without testing them and had decent success with them. I even play Duo Spin and have a Nexus bag.

Cue this winter. I spent all winter at Golftec trying to improve my swing. I really enjoyed the process. I worked hard on my swing and honestly it will take longer than 6 months to get the constant and repeatable swing that I'm working towards.

As you know, at the end of the process at Golftec is a fitting. We're fortunate here to have the best fitter in the area. So I'm lucky in that sense. We didn't go off what their software said would be the best matches but rather more of a traditional system based on feel and numbers. That's why we went with the CTL's in my C200's which are awesome.

Here's where I've drifted. As much as I love W/S, I can't get any of their gear for a proper fitting. Had I been able to, I might have gone with them for my woods this time around but of course nothing is guaranteed when it comes to a final selection. I did send Vrska an email but never got a response, which I understand. Those guys are busy. Duffy did respond via twitter. Awesome guy. After some thought though, I didn't want to bother him with all the head shaft combo's that are required for a proper fit. I thanked him for getting back to me but felt it was too much trouble to get the stuff sent out.

My woods fitting was today and it was a lot of fun. I'm still working on my swing but it was fun to see the different numbers between shafts and heads. My D200 driver was giving me a lot of spin (3600) and after testing a bunch of different drivers, we settled on the Cobra F7. Combined with a Tensei CKB shaft and I really had a solid winner. I like to keep things consistent so we also went with the 3-4 wood at 14.5* loft and the weight forward. I also was getting great feel with the F7 2-3 hybrid, so I made that order. All 3 have the Tensei shafts which for my swing and tempo are the perfect match.

I've already got a purchaser for the D200 stuff so I will be getting W/S in the hands of someone who never would have played them before. I'm also stoked about coming back to Cobra as I played the Bio Cell prior to the D200's.

I feel bad posting on twitter about this. I feel like cheating on W/S as they have a number of people that follow me however this was such an amazing fitting and I'm super happy with my selection.

Sorry W/S but you're going to have to share my bag with Cobra.
 
I have long been an advocate for Callaway and have played most of the products exclusively since 2014. Having spent some time with a number of manufacturers they are mostly all great people making great product. I have slowly been moving some other brands into my bag because mostly I wanted a change and I wanted to support more companies as well.

Don't feel guilty. Play what works best for your game.
 
for shame!! psst... you're going to love the f7!
 
Don't feel bad bro! Sounds like you have a winner, and it's tough for you to really go with Wilson consistently when you can't easily source their stuff in Canada so it's hard to blame you. Besides, this way you get to support 2 companies who really stick with THP!
 
its okay, W/S and Callaway are currently having a party in my bag. With one lonely cobra 4H in the middle lol!
 
haha, great thread.

We should be playing what suits our games the best. It's fantastic to see companies go out of their way to generate this kind of loyalty, but at the end of the day, we're all unique in the way we approach the game of golf.
 
Hey man, I feel your pain. Look at my WITB, it's all Taylormade. I am a loyalist down to the ball I use and the Adidas clothes I wear. I'm sure I'll feel exactly the same way when I decide to man up and get fitted for the proper equipment. I understand the struggle, you found something you like and want to play but when you finally focus on performance and feel rather than brand loyalty it is a difficult thing to give up. Eventually I will gather the nerve to do so, but not yet.
 
From everything I'm reading the F7 is a great choice. I love W/S as well, but you gotta play what works best. Glad you found something that you're excited about and I hope it works out well for you!
 
I don't think any of the companies want you playing their stuff if it's not the best for you. Ok maybe that's not true, but we all need to play what's best for our games and what makes us excited to get out and play time after time.

You put your Wilson's in the comparison and gave them a fair shot and I don't think any of us owe an OEM any more than that.
 
Rusty, apparently nobody's caught on yet so I will help them.

As I recall you did some serious damage with the W/S stuff and you're saying the top of your bag is now better??? Plus the new shafts in your C200's added 10 yards and helped dispersion.

Yes, you might have dipped your toe in another OEM's pool but you're going to be kicking some serious PNW behind this year.
 
Shame. Shame. Shame.

Seriously though, no one is going to give you heck for playing gear from another OEM. That is the great thing about golf, there is so much to choose from out there, that everyone can find something that works for them.

Options are a heck of a thing!
 
Congrats on the new gear! I'm certain W/S will find more of their clubs back in your bag.

All you can do is give an OEM a shot, if their gear isn't the best for your game, it is what it is.
 
Forgive me father for I have sinned....

I completely understand and I'm sure the W/S crew does too. You found something that fits you and does your game better. Can't fault that. I'm sure that given similar results you would have kept your W/S gear in the bag. Just didn't work out that way.


Having just typed that, I feel the same way with Callaway clubs. Anyone that knows me, knows I'm a Callaway homer til the end. Having srixon and TM in the bag is just killing me mentally but helping me score wise on the course.
 
Hey, if it is going to make the game more enjoyable for you, game them without shame!
 
You know I'm with you on the support for W/S, but in the end it's absolutely foolish for a hacker like us to pass on another company if their gear is proven to be better for our games. We're not getting paid to play stuff with anyone's logo, it all comes down to scoring the best. I'm sure W/S and every other OEM out there know that.
 
DufferToo said:
Rusty, apparently nobody's caught on yet so I will help them.

As I recall you did some serious damage with the W/S stuff and you're saying the top of your bag is now better??? Plus the new shafts in your C200's added 10 yards and helped dispersion.

Yes, you might have dipped your toe in another OEM's pool but you're going to be kicking some serious PNW behind this year.
Click to expand...

I'm really digging the new bag. I'm really excited for this season.


@RustyCasino
 
Well you did voice your concerns about the lack of available fitting options to some pretty well connected people at StaffProto. I would say you've gone above and beyond and there's no sin in adding Cobra to the bag.
 
JohnSinVA said:
Well you did voice your concerns about the lack of available fitting options to some pretty well connected people at StaffProto. I would say you've gone above and beyond and there's no sin in adding Cobra to the bag.
Click to expand...

Sent an email to Vrska.


@RustyCasino
 
No shame in what you did. You went above and beyond, IMHO. I realize the combinations of heads and shafts can become inventory and logistics nightmares for fitters and the Tour Van. But you did what I intend to do in the future - if there is a specific combination or two I want to try, I will email the OEM a few weeks ahead of a demo day to ask whether they can have those combos there. Having come off a demo day in which I auditioned two OEM's 3 woods and ordered one, reps for each OEM said the exact same thing when I asked about no-upcharge shaft options: "Lemme see what they sent me." The answer - not much. Now I'm near Albany, NY - Smallbany compared to the big cities, but a metro area of about one million nonetheless. Last Thursday at the end of a business trip, I took a side trip to the PGA SS in Paramus, NJ. I must have just missed a Cobra Demo Day because a guy was putting at least six Cobra staff bags into the back of a Cobra van. I didn't see all of the bags, but at least one of the bags was crammed with nothing but shafts. Maybe 30? 40? Two days later, in Albany, for 3Ws, "they" sent a stock shaft and two no-cost upgrade options. I don't know that they had 30 or 40 woods at their tent. Tour Edge Exotics had four shaft options there, a higher percentage of what they offer. Both reps were great and helpful, but they could have been more helpful had they had more tools to work with.

Everybody's clubs are good right now. The market is supposedly stagnant at best. I would think there would be an opportunity for the OEM who invested the time and resources in a better stocked fitting cart compared to the competition. Just today, I've read maybe ten posts today about how the choices available made the difference in what the golfer ultimately purchased. I know I bought the club I did because the shaft option that I could try was so much better for me than anything else I was able to try there. Another shaft on another head might have been even better, but I never got the chance to find out.
 
Rusty Casino said:
Those of you who know me on here know that I'm a diehard W/S guy ever since #staffproto. I had the pleasure of being the first Canadian to play the C200. I fell in love with that company and went all W/S with my woods and irons. I bought the D200 3H, 4H , 3W and Driver without testing them and had decent success with them. I even play Duo Spin and have a Nexus bag.

Cue this winter. I spent all winter at Golftec trying to improve my swing. I really enjoyed the process. I worked hard on my swing and honestly it will take longer than 6 months to get the constant and repeatable swing that I'm working towards.

As you know, at the end of the process at Golftec is a fitting. We're fortunate here to have the best fitter in the area. So I'm lucky in that sense. We didn't go off what their software said would be the best matches but rather more of a traditional system based on feel and numbers. That's why we went with the CTL's in my C200's which are awesome.

Here's where I've drifted. As much as I love W/S, I can't get any of their gear for a proper fitting. Had I been able to, I might have gone with them for my woods this time around but of course nothing is guaranteed when it comes to a final selection. I did send Vrska an email but never got a response, which I understand. Those guys are busy. Duffy did respond via twitter. Awesome guy. After some thought though, I didn't want to bother him with all the head shaft combo's that are required for a proper fit. I thanked him for getting back to me but felt it was too much trouble to get the stuff sent out.

My woods fitting was today and it was a lot of fun. I'm still working on my swing but it was fun to see the different numbers between shafts and heads. My D200 driver was giving me a lot of spin (3600) and after testing a bunch of different drivers, we settled on the Cobra F7. Combined with a Tensei CKB shaft and I really had a solid winner. I like to keep things consistent so we also went with the 3-4 wood at 14.5* loft and the weight forward. I also was getting great feel with the F7 2-3 hybrid, so I made that order. All 3 have the Tensei shafts which for my swing and tempo are the perfect match.

I've already got a purchaser for the D200 stuff so I will be getting W/S in the hands of someone who never would have played them before. I'm also stoked about coming back to Cobra as I played the Bio Cell prior to the D200's.

I feel bad posting on twitter about this. I feel like cheating on W/S as they have a number of people that follow me however this was such an amazing fitting and I'm super happy with my selection.

Sorry W/S but you're going to have to share my bag with Cobra.
Click to expand...

Until Wilson starts paying you as a sponsorship I wouldn't worry about it.

Dave
 
dthrog00 said:
Until Wilson starts paying you as a sponsorship I wouldn't worry about it.

Dave
Click to expand...

Would you feel the same way if the grandaddy was sponsored by Wilson and you earned a spot on Team Prestige?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
dthrog00 said:
Until Wilson starts paying you as a sponsorship I wouldn't worry about it.

Dave
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly!! Unless W/S is sending you a check for playing their clubs there's to harm in switching around to different manufacturers. I had my eyes on the Cobra F7 and the Srixon Z565 but since I have had the pleasure of reviewing Cobra Connect on the F7, I am no longer in the driver market. W/S, Srixon/Cleveland, Cobra, Callaway, and TEE are always on my watchlist when I feel like a spot in the bag is up for grabs.
 
dthrog00 said:
Until Wilson starts paying you as a sponsorship I wouldn't worry about it.

Dave
Click to expand...

He denied, it, but after watching me take two swings, I swore I heard a rep offer to pay me to NOT play their clubs.
 
I honestly think that even without having the D200 items in your bag, that you have accomplished what Wilson Staff had hoped for. Getting Wilson Staff into the conversation, recommending them, having friends try them out, and hopefully by word of mouth spread a bit of the Wilson Staff mojo around.

I know for a fact that I looked at the C200 irons because of the feedback that you and the others gave at the Wilson Staff events, and looked at the Triton this year after this year's feedback.

I can't think of a better way to be a brand ambassador than to get people talking/trying the gear. Well, aside from buying it lol.
 
Good luck with the new sticks!


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