What bag set-up makes you take notice?

[Mitchell]

Understanding that members here look at things a bit differently than the "average" golfer, what distribution of clubs makes you curious to see if golfer is a good player? Is it the high-end equipment set like Tai's? GI/player's set like MtlJeff? The one manufacturer set like Sean2? Old/new mixed set like Stage? Or the "intimidating" set of clubs like in Golfwrx's article? Now I understand that good players can use any make-up , just curious as to which make-up has you want to say "wonder if that guy's got game?" and take a look when player is hitting to find out?

[patrick421]

It's always interesting when you see a guy pull up to the tee with a box set of women's Ping serene clubs. I take notice and think that guy is in touch with his feelings and emotions and he maybe has never played golf before.

[Yosef]

A driver that's about one model old.
[size=4]A 5-7 year old 3 wood.[/size]
A Fli-hi or similar driving iron.
Older Titleist or Mizuno forged irons (like 680s or MP 32s) with nickel sized wear marks.
Raw wedges and a button back or some sort of boutique putter.
Ping Hoofer bag.

99% chance that guy has game!

[Mitchell]

[quote name='patrick421' timestamp='1391920339' post='8627331']
It's always interesting when you see a guy pull up to the tee with a box set of women's Ping serene clubs. I take notice and think that guy is in touch with his feelings and emotions and he maybe has never played golf before.
[/quote]Lol- One member @ a course I played regularly back in NC played with a set of champagne colored Nancy Lopez irons, with x100s, guy was about 5'4", and a scratch handicap, was always fun to see players who didn't know him have to pay up after the round and go away shaking their heads.

[Apex93]

The most intimidated I've been by a bag setup was my opponent for my last high school match. My coach had told me on the drive over "this guy is going to beat the hell out of you" (thanks, coach!), but I knew which guy he was 50 yards from the range - he was the one carrying a Sunday bag.
When I got closer, I saw his beat up ancient blades (is that... a 1-iron?!) with a burn mark the size of a dime on the sweet spot, an older players driver, and a flanged bullseye putter.
Yikes.

I played out of my skull, lost by 2 shots, but it should've been about 7 more than that given the unbelievable amount of birdie putts the guy hit that lipped out.
The guy went on to play at UVA, reached the finals of the us am, and plays on tour now - James Driscoll.

One of my fondest memories (and it was a loss!), and I'll never forget catching a glimpse at his bag and not really being "intimidated", but absolutely understanding he was better than me.

[BENNYSUPREME]

after being on here for years it takes some old blades that I have not seen before in person, Miura's, Japan Model clubs or custom head covers.

[golfdude300]

I'm too absorbed in my game and usually don't notice or care what is in anyone else's bag. Although I would probably laugh if I saw a guy with a bag full of new Titties scrambling to break 100.

Never met anyone who could buy game.....

[Floris]

I caddie, during amateur and teaching professional tournaments. What I've noticed in almost every bag is that there's always one part of the bag that's older. They might have an older driver, FWW, hybrid, set of irons or wedge here or there. But the putter can be either 3 days old or 30 years old.. Can't pinpoint it on the putter.

I've seen it all I'd almost say. Have had a guy play with a completely new bag and clubs, nothing older then maybe a month or so. But I've also had a guy with an '82 set of Hogan blades, current season driver and woods, hybrid and wedges. I've had a guy with an original PING "ping" putter, had a guy with a driver who's shaft had so much wear from his bag he taped it up, had a guy with a current season set of Wilson's where just the 3/5/7 irons had serious wear from hitting balls: about the nickel sized wear you'd see the very good pro's have. Had a guy whose bag was so old, I had to switch bags literally 15 minutes prior to the start as it just disintegrated on me.

But there's also one thing that really does stand out: they all use what works for them. Always something that makes you feel "this guy knows what he's doing" and it can be everything. It's not that they use just one brand in the bag, or they absolutely don't, it's not that their clubs are always clean or certainly aren't, the bags just have an aura or something.

I must admit: I get asked about my setup quite often too.

[duffer987]

I'll take a look because I'm a WRXer and I just want to see. But I don't apply any expectations for what they are about to shoot based on what I see.

Interestingly, what I've seen the last couple years on walkable courses, is that if a player is walking there is a higher chance he/she is going to shoot a decent score, than if they are in a cart.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

The only two things I notice about somebody else's golf clubs are if they're playing vintage clubs (like persimmon woods) or if I happen to spot exactly the same clubs as mine (G20 irons, G25 woods). Otherwise I couldn't tell you what's in another guy's golf bag other than just golf clubs of some kind. It just doesn't cross my mind to look.

[Micah J]

I usually look at their irons if they're blades or gi cavity backs. It usually has zero bearing on how good they actually are I just like to check. It's amazing how few sets of blades I see on the course yet here on wrx everyone and their brother seems to be bagging thin soled blades that even the best pros wouldn't attempt to hit. Lolll it makes you wonder just how much bull s*** is spouted on these forums.

[Gbyeball]

I do have a look at what other people have in their bags. I have always been a gear head in ever sport or hobbie so it is just a natural curiosity. I have been fooled before by certain equipment in someone elses bag that did not match up to there skill level.

I have seen guys with shiney blades that could not find the centre of the club face. I did play with one guy who had at least 5 different makes and model of iron that comprised his set and his could strip it. The whole bag was a mess of older mismatched stuff and he could play.

The one thing that is usually a good tell is an older driver think Titileist 905 or Ping i15 with a newer high end after market shaft.

[richard t]

New, old, forged irons or GIs does not matter. If it looks like this guy/lady spent a lot of time putting their set together, maybe even looks like club by club ( one OEM or many) I want to see them strike the ball. That does not mean a scratch cannot have a brand new bag of all new clubs, but it's usually the former not the latter.
Folks who can really play don't make many changes.

[IamMarkMac]

I don't get intimidated by bags anymore, you'd have to ask a pretty new golfer about that since it only takes a week or so of exposure to learn that a player's bag often has no relation to his game.

I could still get intimated though by players with great swings.

[jerryo]

A good player with a gi/sgi set up.

[Itsjustagame]

Cant remember the last time I even noticed what someone else was playing unless they point out that they have something new. Always fun to see what your friends have added to their bag.

[Hifade]

Honestly, I couldn't care less what anyone else plays. In the end, the reality is that there are so many posers. I see it at the PGA show (in the individual booth's hitting bays and at the demo days) and at nearly every course around the country that I play at. The amount of testosterone is hilarious. Like others have said, the guy who shows up with less than the latest and greatest but knows how to actually play the game, and does so very well, is who impresses me most.

[bruinsPATSirish]

Lead tape. Beware the player with lead tape.

Honesty though I have worked a day or two a week on the bag drop for the past couple years and being a club guy. almost always take a pretty good look at the clubs in bags and the player that goes with them. Two things that stand out in my mind are the "sunned out" headcovers and the bag chattered forged irons. These guys usually get around the course fairly well. Also generally speaking, it seems like the guys with the lightweight stand bags and Sunday bags have some game.

[azgreg]

[quote name='duffer987' timestamp='1391924412' post='8627675']
I'll take a look because I'm a WRXer and I just want to see. But I don't apply any expectations for what they are about to shoot based on what I see.

Interestingly, what I've seen the last couple years on walkable courses, is that if a player is walking there is a higher chance he/she is going to shoot a decent score, than if they are in a cart.
[/quote]

I always play better when I walk.

The thing that makes me take notice is when I see a guy with older, well cared for clubs with new grips. Don't bet that guy any money.

[2putttom]

I got me cojones handed to me this past weekend from a seventy year old player with twenty year old irons that had wear spots smack dab in the center.

[settling4birdie]

Best golfer in my summer league played an MG ball(Titleist Knock Off), an ancient blade bullseye putter about 4 inches too short and a TaylorMade bubble driver with a rattle because debris was loose in the head.

Worst Golfer in the league looked like he raided the PGA Callaway tour van.

Hard to Judge ppl by their bags but a good candidate to play pins and skins with is anyone with the "Alien".

[Jon H]

There is a guy in my league that has one of those Medicus (sp?) driver training aides in his bag, five alignment rods and a Darth Vader head cover.

I am not afraid of him.

[setter02]

I take notice of the guys with full bags filled with the latest DG Hot List gear, because I know I can sell them anything

[Forged4ever]

A funny story about my bag-

"Someone better've died of cancer for you to have a bag like that"

I'll remember those words as long as I live, LMFAO-

Back in 1998, I was headed to Charleston, WV, to play in a week-end Invitational with a good buddy from HS. I had had him up a few years before, and though family(they had a little girl) had interceded, he had invited me down. So I'm cruisin down 79S in my SUV with my clubs, shag bag(the original, well constructed bag, which I still have, though I hardly ever use it, lol) and my travel bag.

Well, about 40 minutes south of Morgantown my coolent light goes on, then smoke starts to seep out of the side of the hood and my temp guage went to red. I slowed down, pulled off on the burm, and stopped. I opened the hood, and when the smoke cleared, I saw that the hose had blown off of the radiator. As I had nothing to fix this with, I called AAA. Well, when I told em the vehicle make/model, they said a flatbed was needed and while they could send one down from Morgantown, all of the local stations, only had the older, regular trucks, so it would be an hour to an hour and a half.

Well, I had stopped by a field that had a fence, though parts of it were down. The first 20' or so was mowed, say 2nd cut length, then for as far as I could see to a tree line about 4-450 yards out, it was about knee high.

So I figured that I'd "donate" about 20 balls from my shag bag and pass the time. I was propping my third ball up when I heard the distinctive rumble of motorcycles, and I looked up and 6 guys went past me and two looked over at me and they kept going. Well, I had just hit my 6th ball when I happened to look up and one of the bikers was on the median, facing me, waiting to come across the highway.

I walked back through the fence to my bag as he pulled up. As I'm 6'2", and at the time 215lbs, when he kicked the stand down and got off the bike, I judged him to be 6'4", 250-260, slight paunch, though by no means an obese biker, lol. He had a denim vest on with no shirt underneath. He had what I took to be his initials stitched over his heart, "BB."

He had goggles on and seemed to be looking at me, then he looked down at my bag, then to his left, and spit some chaw juice(I chewed Copenhagen), though the wind caught it and it didn't get past his beard. He didn't seem to notice as he looked back at me.

His first words:

"Someone better've died of cancer for you to have a bag like that."

And he spit again, this time facing back down the highway and this time his wad cleared his beard, lol.

My response:

"She didn't die. She's beaten it twice and is still here(My Mother hadn't had her third bout, which she also won)."

He responded:

"Well, God Bless Her. Whatcha hittin?"

I handed him a 7i and he flipped it and looked at the number.

"Mind if I hit a few?"

"Not at all," I responded and we walked back through the fence, him in the lead.

On the back of his denim:

"Pagan's" on top, their logo in the middle and "M" "C" beneath it.

He propped a ball up and I was surprised that he handled the club like a "Player." It was light in his hands, in his fingers, and he moved the ball with ease with my club(Mizzy 14's). He took a few practice swings, then addressed the ball, and "swoosh," a beautiful high ball, probably 180-185 yards. I know, because my 7i was 172-175, and he was easy 10 yards past where mine had landed. He hit another, and though shorter, it was still 170-175.

He turned, handed the club to me and said, "hit a few."

So I did.

Same direction as his, more in line with his second ball distance-wise.

He dropped his goggles, put out his hand, and said, "My name's Big Balls, but you can call me BB, that's what my friends call me."

I introduced myself, then I asked him when he quit playin. He laughed and asked how I knew he ever played, and I just said that he had the swing of a player, a swing that very few golfers have.

He looked down the highway, south ways, and just said, not really to me, "Ah, that was a lifetime ago."

He then told that he was the son of a doctor, and he was the Junior Club Champ at a CC in Maryland, and his mother and father died in a car crash when he was 16yo, when they got hit head on by a drunk driver.

Though his grandparents took him in, and he spoke very highly of them, he said that he was bitter, angry and wanted to either die or kill someone. At 17yo, he bought a bike, hit the road, and never looked back.

Later Ed: Another thing that he told me that I neglected to include in my initial post is that he basically went from NYC to FLA on "club business." He would break away from his fellow Pagans 2-3 times/month to go to a range and hit a bucket or two of balls, to "get away and decompress."

Well, as he was finishing, one of the guys who was with him earlier had ridden back and was in the middle burm, waiting to cross over to us.

BB put out his hand and said, "Well, you take care Bro, and travel safe," and he turned to walk to his bike.

I stood there watching him, and he got on the bike and his last words prior to putting on his goggles,:

"You keep rockin that pink & God Bless your Mother."

And his last words to me:

"Fairways & Greens My Friend"

And his bike roared into the highway.

This is the first time that I've told this story, and yes, this is where my salutory sign off comes from.

However, as I watched him ride off, it hit me that we really didn't have that different of a child hood-

His father was a doctor-

So was mine.

He worshipped his mother-

So do I.

He was a Jr. Club Champion.

So was I.

He was dealt an incomprensibly tragic blow as a teenager.

I am blessed to still have my parents here.

Knowing myself and my personality, if things had been different, I could see myself riding off on that bike.

And as different as we and our worlds were, the common denominator was a golf club and a ball.

Back to the story, lol.

That's the only time someone's ever made a comment about my bag, lol.


Fairways & Greens My Friends

[MtlJeff]

it's hard to say because if you play with a lot of good players, over time you'll see everything. The best player at my club uses Burner 1.0's and newish Cobra woods. Not really the bag you'd expect a top amateur to use...Another guy has 10 year old Titleist cavity backs and no 3 wood. There's another guy who is really good that has a traditional "don't mess with me" bag (beat up Mizuno MP60's, relatively current TM woods, beat up wedges and blade putter) ...

But i've lost to a guy using a brand new 1-brand bag that you might have thought was a poser (though since i played with him the final group of an interclub i didn't really have the luxury of making that assumption, obviously he was good), and i've seen guys use older clubs and everything in between

So it's hard to say. Good players come with all kinds of bags

If i had to generalize, i'd say someone with sock headcovers and beat up players cavities are almost always good

[MtlJeff]

If you're referring in your post to the article written for the site....here it is.....written by yours truly actually

http://www.golfwrx.com/49131/how-to-build-an-intimidating-bag-of-clubs/

[settling4birdie]

[quote name='MtlJeff' timestamp='1391981581' post='8631067']
If you're referring in your post to the article written for the site....here it is.....written by yours truly actually

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/49131/how-to-build-an-intimidating-bag-of-clubs/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...g-bag-of-clubs/[/url]
[/quote]

Well Played !! Good Stuff man.

Just Curious...What are your thoughts about Pink Drivers ?

[jaskanski]

Beware the guy rocking a set of Tommy Armour 845's and a 5-wood of some unknown brand. Never play this guy for money.

[MtlJeff]

[quote name='settling4birdie' timestamp='1391983179' post='8631229']
[quote name='MtlJeff' timestamp='1391981581' post='8631067']
If you're referring in your post to the article written for the site....here it is.....written by yours truly actually

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/49131/how-to-build-an-intimidating-bag-of-clubs/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...g-bag-of-clubs/[/url]
[/quote]

Well Played !! Good Stuff man.

Just Curious...What are your thoughts about Pink Drivers ?
[/quote]

haha, i owned one back when i could swing fast

My take on them is don't have one if people out drive you LOL

[GWD]

If the guy carries vintage blades and persimmon woods it gets my attention.

I've played with two guys with clubs like that. One was an older gentleman that struck the ball beautifully. Must have scored in the middle seventies that day.

A couple of years later the other was a guy that I expected to play similarly to the first gentleman. After topping two tee shots into the water off the first tee while finishing balanced on his back foot, he told me that he had gotten the clubs the day before at a garage sale and this was his third time on a golf course...it was a long day.

It is really hard to characterize how someone plays by just looking at his/her clubs. But it only takes one swing to realize who knows how to play and who doesn't.