Equipment
Forum Thread of the Day: “Most overrated/underrated equipment in golf”
Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from orangeology who asks fellow members to share what they feel are the most underrated and overrated pieces of equipment currently in the sport. Our members divulge, with word one representing overrated, and word two underrated.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire thread and have your say at the link below.
- cliffhanger: “Forgiveness / Having high lofted wedges.
- Christen_The_Sloop: “Practice / Play. Bridgestone golf equipment – that stuff is underrated
- Bubb: “Scotty Cameron putters / Titleist TS2 drivers and fairway woods.
- smithy23: “Major OEMs / Srixon Irons”
- Kevinz: “Most underrated is the motorised caddies, saves at least two shots per round. Most overrated is the driver shaft, not a whole lot of difference distance wise.”
Entire Thread: “Most overrated/underrated equipment in golf”
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- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.
On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.
Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?
Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’
So that’s why I went back.
View this post on Instagram
OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?
It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.
Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.
It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.
Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.
Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.
So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?
Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?
Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.
There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.
It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.
Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.
And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?
Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’
If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’
My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’
I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”
And you’re going with it this week?
Hundred percent.
Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.
Thanks, man.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
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Tully
Jul 23, 2019 at 10:14 pm
Overrated Tiger Woods
Overrated Taylor Made
Underrated – Everything else…
Hank Haney
Jul 24, 2019 at 2:21 pm
Your ignorance is overwhelming.
s
Jul 13, 2019 at 5:52 pm
Over – $300+ shafts
Under – MP-37
Alfredo Smith
Jul 10, 2019 at 4:42 pm
UnderRated, PXG
OverRated PXG criticism and all the hate, LOL
kevin moran
Jul 15, 2019 at 9:32 pm
Very True. Spot on. Expensive? Yep. Excellent? Yep. I cannot afford a Ferrari, but I can appreciate the excellence of the vehicle. I don’t hate the company for making a premium product.
N D Boondocks
Jul 8, 2019 at 2:38 pm
Most over-rated – how far guys claim they can hit their driver
Most under-rated – how far most guys claim the other guy hits his driver
Yomomma
Jul 5, 2019 at 9:18 am
Vokey/the umbrella.
Eric Grafton
Jul 4, 2019 at 7:28 am
Overrated, most instructors. They all “think” they know what they’re doing..but only teach what worked for THEM at ONE moment in time. Go to 10 different instructors, and you’ll get 9 different ways of doing the same thing. They don’t take into consideration all physical limitations and physical differences of everyone they’re teaching.
These instructors also include those “fitting” someone into a $500 driver. PLEASE!!….they are doing this sport and industry a disservice. Nothing is funnier than watching a guy in our league FINALLY get a hold of one at 280+, (with his $500 driver) and proceed to duff the next shot, or turn a great drive into a triple bogie because he doesn’t know how to USE HIS WEDGE or PUTT.
All they do by selling that driver is ultimately frustrate people into not wanting to play and spend more on golf, because that driver didn’t turn them into a 9 from playing off a 25.
d
Jul 8, 2019 at 12:52 pm
nobody forces anyone to buy anything…..fitting is nothing more than intelligently reducing the possibilities while testing to what you hit best….you can fit yourself if you had more time and all the equipment possibilities laying around. but you dont…
if someone wants to hit 280 with their one good drive instead of 250 then so be it….
i think fitting on irons as or more important than driver…
geohogan
Jul 1, 2019 at 10:59 am
Alignment sticks so overrated.
We stand on our legs…legs are attached to the heels of our feet, so why
do golf instructors lay alignment stick across our toes?
Our alignment is to the quadrant of the ball we intend to impact, not the target line. So why do golf instructors have alignment sticks along target line
as if we intend to impact the back of the ball. its no wonder 95 of golfers slice the ball.
We sweep the inside quadrant of the ball with the heel of the clubface. The design of the golf club ensures the clubface squares to the ball.
Never will happen as long as we misuse alignment sticks
Alex
Jun 30, 2019 at 12:23 pm
I think pure shafts make a ton of sense. At very least it gives you less to worry about/ be upset about when you aren’t hitting it well.
geohogan
Jul 1, 2019 at 11:08 am
Golf shafts, off the shelf are worth about $10.
Imperfect is an understatement. Very overrated.
Pureing a cheap shaft is like, “lipstick on a pig”.
There are shafts that are mostly perfectly round and symmetrical due to
the manufacturing process. eg Nunchuk Xi at $50
Dan
Jun 30, 2019 at 4:04 am
Overrated-PXG, Jumbo Maxx grips, anything that promises distance for seniors and ladies, low compression balls for everyone, chippers, pro-v 1’s price, and most of all puring shafts. No real players do it. Look at all the pro’s , all the shaft logos are down in the same spot, not 1 pured. Huge scam to add cost. You trust the $200+ shafts preformance but not how they want it installed? Plus the shaft doesn’t flex in a straight line anyway. It goes toe up and back to toe down and through. Most amateurs can’t make the same swing twice anyway and the ones that can don’t pure them. If you adjust the driver weighting it affects the way the cluhead releases which if it worked you’d need the shaft repured after every adjustment. Totall BS scam.
James Awad
Jun 29, 2019 at 6:59 pm
Titleist & Cameron. Most over rated everything
Underrated? FOURTEEN, Brigestone irons, Srixon irons, Tour Edge proline Wilson proline & Mizuno metal woods – even the hardcore Miz guys won’t even demon them ‘gotta have Titleist driver’????????????
John
Jun 29, 2019 at 5:19 pm
See More putters are so underrated. Such quality !!!
Srixon Irons… or is the word out now?
2putttom
Aug 5, 2019 at 12:19 pm
yep, SRIXON quality words out.
joro
Jun 29, 2019 at 4:53 pm
Under rated, Wilson Golf, quality and lower cost. Over rated, all those that have to spend Millions to convince us that their product is the best and in many cases it is nothing but Bull+++T. And included in the Over Rated krap is those self promoting “GURU Teachers. Does the teacher make the player or does the player make the teacher.
Equipment and teachers are both over rated.
THETadersalad
Jun 29, 2019 at 8:08 am
Over rated – variable length irons
under rated – single length irons
T
Jun 29, 2019 at 2:27 am
460 cc drivers. Complexly under rated and misunderstood.
Who wants to go back to 150cc Persimmons?
Rich
Jun 28, 2019 at 10:04 pm
Overrated? Any irons that promise more distance. That’s jive. They offer more distance by strengthening lofts, making the shafts longer, and keeping the number the same. You don’t want more distance. You want predictable distance and precise gapping.
Any woods that promise anything other than more accuracy. Woods are already limited in length, size, MOI and COR. You simply cannot make a wood hit it farther. But you CAN continue to use exotic materials to move weight out to the perimeter to make them more forgiving, and you CAN make them wonderfully adjustable so they can be fit with precision.
PXG? Maybe. Forget price; are they better clubs? If so, then “overrated” isn’t the right adjective. They may not be worth the price, but if they’re really better, they’re not overrated. But are they really better? If not, they’re overrated.
Blades. Sorry, but those are about ego, not performance. They don’t perform better. But people who play this game for a living can it the sweet spot so precisely that perimeter weighting wouldn’t help them anyway. But for the vast majority of golfers, they’re a detriment to their games.
Anything that creates a distinction without a different. The TM SLDR driver, for example. Or the Twist Face–does it really make a difference?
I hit a driver about 245 carry. I carry an 8-iron about 160. If you offer me more distance than that, I’ll pass. (It probably comes from tricks with trade-offs anyway.) But if you offer me more accurate clubs–even if they’re shorter–I’m listening.
geohogan
Jul 4, 2019 at 7:48 am
@ Rich
Heavier clubheads, with mass further from centerline of the shaft(flywheel)
will increase forces that cause droop, kick and twisting. These are all causes of less consistency and loss of accuracy.
ie larger clubheads are often over rated as more accurate, if and when paired with cheap off the shelf golf shafts, that cannot withstand increased forces causing droop, kick and twisting.
Simms
Jul 12, 2019 at 2:47 am
Do think for one minute a major OEM is going to spend up words of $300,000 to develop a driver head and then put it on a shaft it will not work with, even if the shaft cost $10 it will work with the driver head….sure the highest level player is looking at inches and a high end shaft maybe be 5 yards longer of 3% more on line, but by far the average player maybe a 10 or more is going to be fine with tne OEM standard shaft.
JC
Jul 4, 2019 at 7:55 am
You should be carrying your driver 280+ if you carry 8 iron 160.
Michael Constantine
Jul 6, 2019 at 8:43 am
I carry my driver 275 plus and my 8 iron 155 at most. I don’t think driver and iron swings equate in some amateurs such as myself. I’m a fairly strong guy who played baseball all my life. Swinging a driver is like riding a bike for me. Swinging anything less than a 6 iron feels awkward to me and I struggle the further I go down the line from 8-Lob on full shots. So to say if you carry an 8 iron 160 means you carry a driver 280 isn’t always the case.
Bob Johnson
Jul 8, 2019 at 3:58 pm
JC – I could not agree more…
Rich
Jul 8, 2019 at 6:00 pm
I might be conservative with the driver carry estimate. But I definitely don’t carry it 280.
RP
Jul 9, 2019 at 4:44 pm
Why? Do you know his driver and iron specs?
RGL
Jul 25, 2019 at 1:02 am
RP….It points to a lack of efficiency with the driver. A lot of people struggle with that…myself included but am working on it. Typically with amateurs the gapping narrows and efficiency drops as you move to your long irons and woods. Driver carry average for me is 250 which is up from 235. My driver was only about 10yds longer than my 3 wood at that time. 3 wood carry is at 235 now and 8 iron carry is stable at 150. Ideal goal for me is 265-270 carry with a driver. Confident I’ll be there by end of the year as I usually get 2 or 3 out there at that distance in a round now.
Madeline Morgan
Jun 28, 2019 at 8:47 pm
Scotty Cameron/Evnroll
Distance Compression Dude
Jun 28, 2019 at 12:48 pm
GX7 Hot Metal, Vixa V12, Square Strike Wedge, C3i Wedge, Hammer Driver
All overrated and hot garbage.
MIKE
Jul 9, 2019 at 3:12 pm
You have to yell when you hit the Hammer driver or else it doesn’t perform well. Just like the infomercial. LOL
dj
Jun 28, 2019 at 11:49 am
Pured shafts! Overrated!
James Awad
Jun 29, 2019 at 6:54 pm
No. Proven a thousand times on Trackman & high speed HD video at our place. We don’t build any high end irons or install a driver shaft without doing it. It absolutely works
Dan
Jul 2, 2019 at 9:43 pm
I’ve heard Puring is a must and it’s complete BS. I understand each shaft has a spine and the concept makes perfect sense but people who know a lot more than me don’t think it matters.
Dan W
Jul 25, 2019 at 3:44 am
Look up how high end graphite shafts are made. They don’t have spines. The layers are overlapping. And btw spining shafts find a strong and weak side of the shaft. Either way puring shaft is total BS. I don’t care what someone proves the preformance says otherwise.
David Lehmann
Jun 28, 2019 at 11:21 am
PXG!! PXG!!! PXG!!!
David Lehmann
Jun 28, 2019 at 11:22 am
Sorry Overrated!
David Lehmann
Jun 28, 2019 at 2:20 pm
And Way overpriced!!
2putttom
Aug 5, 2019 at 12:20 pm
same sales philosophy as Cameron