Tour Spec Mania

[sammypvt]

I am probably going to get lampooned for this but here goes anyway.
I have been a clubmaker for many years, old school some might say, but I have used the very best components that the industry has to offer with no complaints. Just recently all I am hearing is tour spec this and proto type that. I know the big tour vans alter and tinker with all sorts now, in the hope that a certain set up will suit a certain type of player. Outlets are springing up all over the place offering these so called HYBRID pieces of equipment (second hand, ie discarded, for the most part). Are they really all that they seem, or is the hype attached to the fact that someone famous has had his hands on it, or are people willing to pay up to 3 times the amount of money for something with an altered angle or some fancy badgework. I wasnt aware that the OEM's of the industry actually shut down production to fire out a handfull of "TOUR SPEC" shafts or heads for the chosen few. Isnt this like selling apples whilst promoting pears. Is there someone out there that can explain to me the fundamental difference between tour spec and the normal. My frustration has come to a head because, as a tour pro myself, living and plying my trade in Mexico, I decided to change my shafts (due to the altitude I live at) to a steel shaft that will give me a more penetrating flight trajectory. I have been advised to leave the project x's alone and go for the DG X tours. When I enquired about the price, they reports came back as being as available as rocking horse poo and costing 3 times what the project x's are. Without too much critisism, can someone put my mind at rest on this issue.

[Chieflongtee]

I agree. I also think that anybody should see these dvd's before ever buying another set of clubs. They are ceratinly an eye opener.
I got the dvd's without the tools and I certainly do not regret the purchase.
http://www.golfatthenextlevel.com/

They tell it like it is. NO bs.

[Weirfan]

I am probably going to get lampooned for this but here goes anyway.
I have been a clubmaker for many years, old school some might say, but I have used the very best components that the industry has to offer with no complaints. Just recently all I am hearing is tour spec this and proto type that. I know the big tour vans alter and tinker with all sorts now, in the hope that a certain set up will suit a certain type of player. Outlets are springing up all over the place offering these so called HYBRID pieces of equipment (second hand, ie discarded, for the most part). Are they really all that they seem, or is the hype attached to the fact that someone famous has had his hands on it, or are people willing to pay up to 3 times the amount of money for something with an altered angle or some fancy badgework. I wasnt aware that the OEM's of the industry actually shut down production to fire out a handfull of "TOUR SPEC" shafts or heads for the chosen few. Isnt this like selling apples whilst promoting pears. Is there someone out there that can explain to me the fundamental difference between tour spec and the normal. My frustration has come to a head because, as a tour pro myself, living and plying my trade in Mexico, I decided to change my shafts (due to the altitude I live at) to a steel shaft that will give me a more penetrating flight trajectory. I have been advised to leave the project x's alone and go for the DG X tours. When I enquired about the price, they reports came back as being as available as rocking horse poo and costing 3 times what the project x's are. Without too much critisism, can someone put my mind at rest on this issue.

not sure what these shafts you speak are that cost 3x the PX...try DGX 100 but to truly lower your traj you might need to strengthen your lofts.

there is tour designed equipment....are the heads made with super duper elasticized titanium, no....just different design parameters for a pro versus the ave joe ( higher c of G, square to open face , special sole grind on irons etc etc) essentially all shafts are available to the gen public these days,, Accra, Ozik, GD, UST Tour series etc

tour vans are very busy and work hard

protos are that, dseign tester shafts/heads.....often rejected, modifird after...why they should command more $$$ is beyond logic.

all compaines OEM and component have protos...I have tested some protos for Ashton Golf


with OEM there is alot of confusion....retail heads, tour preferred heads, tour issue heads

there is tons of BS and marketing hype and smoke and mirrors , look no further than bombsquad golf to find masses of people brainwashed into the so called superiority of tour equipment......why one would spend thousands of $$ on a putter that Tiger rejected and likely never touched or a grind that was designed especially for some one else...beats me...these are just customized clubs for someone,, that someone a pro, why they would fit them is beyond me

[BC MIST]

I agree. I also think that anybody should see these dvd's before ever buying another set of clubs. They are ceratinly an eye opener.
I got the dvd's without the tools and I certainly do not regret the purchase.
http://www.golfatthenextlevel.com/

They tell it like it is. NO bs.

A few of us having been "preaching" on this forum for a long time, that off the shelf, OEM equipment is not as good as sets that are custom fitted with good components and shafts where one knows what the flex is at various points along the shaft. Judging from what I see in golfers' bags, ours words have fallen on deaf ears. Readers here should know that the flex label on most OEM shafts is wrong, plus the average consumer does not know and likely does not care, WHERE the shaft is stiff or flexible, even though having it stiff or more flexible in the right section, would improve ball flight.

The pros don't need to know all of this because all they do is hit a gazillion head shaft combinations, free of charge, of course, until they find one that gives them what they want. Most of us don't quite have that luxury.

On their(Golf at the next Level) home page, they make this statement - "Custom fitting seldom helps people play better. In fact, most golfers play worse with custom-fit clubs. Why? Because two key steps are almost always left out." Would it be inappropriate for you to tell us what these two steps are?

I ask this because my "custom fitted" (by me) clubs, are as good as I can assemble, (SFM, MOI...) and I say that because there is NOT ONE club that I can blame for a poor shot and there is NOT ONE club with which I cannot hit the ball high or low or left to right or right to left, if need be. If I miss, er, when I miss, it's me, as I can feel it in my swing.

[jvincent]

Is there someone out there that can explain to me the fundamental difference between tour spec and the normal.

I'm sure the guys at BombSquadGolf can help you out.

The other guys have already covered all the relevant points, so I won't bother adding my two cents.

[fundonny]

Where would one go to get custom fit for non-OEM clubs? With all the gizmos (launch monitor, etc).

[jvincent]

Don at Artisan golf has all the gizmos. There may be some others that have them too.

[John]

Definitely not Golftown Donny!!

[Chieflongtee]

Definitely not Golftown Donny!!

Especially if they turn up the volume

[Chieflongtee]

[QUOTE=BC MIST;142456]

On their(Golf at the next Level) home page, they make this statement - "Custom fitting seldom helps people play better. In fact, most golfers play worse with custom-fit clubs. Why? Because two key steps are almost always left out." Would it be inappropriate for you to tell us what these two steps are?

QUOTE]


I must be drunk or real tired but I don't see that on their home page.