Re: How important is it which pros play a brand
For me I think it comes down to areas of the bag that the general public see as mimic-worthy. For instance, 12 years ago when I first started working in golf retail nobody had a hybrid in their bag and stock sets were 3-Pw. Now, many tour pros are at worst carrying a driving iron thing as a 3 iron and playing their sets 4-PW (I know their are some exceptions to the rule). On the amateur side of things, most people opt for hybrids/easier to hit irons on the long end of the set. You can't even really get a 3-PW set anymore as stock, and many companies have forgone the 3i entirely (M2, G/GMax, and I'm sure there are more).
So amateurs saw that tour pros are hitting easier clubs in the long end and adopted this practice. Same with wedges. Most people would probably benefit from hitting a mega chunky SGI-matching wedge out of the sand/rough. However, tour pros have illustrated how much more finesse you can have with feel and spin and shot flight with a tour-level wedge like a Vokey and Cleveland, which have become a staple in many amateur's bags. Further, putters are an area where the masses mimic the pros. Scotty Cameron built an empire off of Tiger when he was in his prime due to his Newport 2. Every other guy I played with seemed to have a Scotty or at least had given it a fair run. I mean, if the best player ever (or so we thought) was using one, why wasn't I? The only difference was a modified sight dot and the quality of the steel. I bet 9/10 guys wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a GSS and a Studio Stainless in terms of feel unless it was labelled.
We are seeing the same putter trend currently with the Spider Tours. They are selling out like crazy. I can't keep them in stock, and at least 10 people a day try them out. It doesn't hurt that every week you see someone in the final group using one.
While to me it doesn't matter what a player uses, as I play what works best for me, there is definitely some subconscious influence in the style and makeup of a bag that comes from television.
For me I think it comes down to areas of the bag that the general public see as mimic-worthy. For instance, 12 years ago when I first started working in golf retail nobody had a hybrid in their bag and stock sets were 3-Pw. Now, many tour pros are at worst carrying a driving iron thing as a 3 iron and playing their sets 4-PW (I know their are some exceptions to the rule). On the amateur side of things, most people opt for hybrids/easier to hit irons on the long end of the set. You can't even really get a 3-PW set anymore as stock, and many companies have forgone the 3i entirely (M2, G/GMax, and I'm sure there are more).
So amateurs saw that tour pros are hitting easier clubs in the long end and adopted this practice. Same with wedges. Most people would probably benefit from hitting a mega chunky SGI-matching wedge out of the sand/rough. However, tour pros have illustrated how much more finesse you can have with feel and spin and shot flight with a tour-level wedge like a Vokey and Cleveland, which have become a staple in many amateur's bags. Further, putters are an area where the masses mimic the pros. Scotty Cameron built an empire off of Tiger when he was in his prime due to his Newport 2. Every other guy I played with seemed to have a Scotty or at least had given it a fair run. I mean, if the best player ever (or so we thought) was using one, why wasn't I? The only difference was a modified sight dot and the quality of the steel. I bet 9/10 guys wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a GSS and a Studio Stainless in terms of feel unless it was labelled.
We are seeing the same putter trend currently with the Spider Tours. They are selling out like crazy. I can't keep them in stock, and at least 10 people a day try them out. It doesn't hurt that every week you see someone in the final group using one.
While to me it doesn't matter what a player uses, as I play what works best for me, there is definitely some subconscious influence in the style and makeup of a bag that comes from television.
Comment