Golf Club Brands To Avoid — (What Makes a Bad Brand)
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Patrick Corley
- 03/04/2023
When it comes to beginners’ golf equipment, golfers are often surprised by the high cost of building a complete set of golf clubs. While it is not necessary to go out and buy a golf bag full of the latest clubs at the highest price point, there are certain golf club brands to avoid.
Golf club manufacturers today offer a variety of different golf club options, ensuring that there is golf gear with the correct price point and forgiveness for every handicap golfer. Finding the sweet spot between high quality and low price is the key for beginning golfers.
What Makes A Bad Club Brand?
When it comes to finding a reputable golf club brand, longevity and reliability are two of the best indicators of quality. Golf clubs are designed to withstand a certain level of damage, as their sole purpose is to smash into a hard golf ball as fast as possible.
Inevitably, even the highest quality and most durably made golf clubs will become damaged at one point or another with enough use.
The best golf club brands have a history and proven track record of standing by their products.
Reputable golf club brands like Callaway, Taylormade, Titleist, and PING all have a long and established reputation for repairing or replacing damaged golf clubs free of charge. High quality golf clubs will also last significantly longer than low quality brands, making a used Mizuno, Cleveland, or Cobra club a better option than an Alien club.
Some off brand golf club manufacturers will attempt to replicate or “knock off” the designs of larger and more established golf clubs. Trying to beat the best at their own game is essentially impossible, as large golf club manufacturers have the resources, equipment, and facilities to produce high quality clubs at the lowest possible price point.
Due to the fact that smaller brands are unable to compete with large golf club manufacturers on a level playing field, smaller brands will often cut corners by using cheaper materials and design or manufacturing processes.
The end result is often a golf club that looks something like the intended inspiration, but performs very differently. When using a newer driver or set of irons from a discount brand head to head with a top tier golf club manufacturer, the differences are almost immediately apparent in terms of feel, sound, distance, and performance.
There is a reason that PGA Tour players use golf clubs from the same half dozen or so manufacturers – it is the best possible equipment that can be used on a golf course. Bad golf club brands will often use cheaper raw materials in clubheads, making them less reactive and leading to a lower ball speed and less consistency.
Aside from performance, the second major drawback of bag golf club brands is their lack of durability. Adhesives are one of the most important materials used when assembling a golf club, and the right adhesive substance and formula is essential for a golf club that will stay held together for years of longevity.
By cutting corners on adhesive materials to save costs, discount and knock off golf club manufacturers are unable to produce a golf club that will last anywhere near as long as the clubs made by major and established golf club manufacturers.
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Worst Golf Club Brands – List
There are many different brands of discount golf club producers that pop up every year, and it can be hard to keep track of all of them:
especially since they tend to go out of business after a few years or so.
While it is impossible to keep track of every different small business that decided to get into the knock-off golf club space, there are a handful of brands that seem to be most popular and pervasive.
A good rule that the team of experts at Tell Me More Golf like to use is – “If you haven’t heard of the golf club brand, and the price looks too good to be true, it probably is.” We have assembled a list of some of the most notorious and popular discount golf club brands that do not offer high quality clubs, or a proven record of accommodating equipment repairs or replacements.
Giga Golf
Giga Golf is a small golf club manufacturer that specializes in knocking off designs from larger and more established golf brands. No clubs that they produce will perform anywhere near the level of the golf clubs that they are designed to mimic.
Their driver is one of the best examples of this quality discrepancy, as it performed very poorly under testing compared to the Taylormade drivers they are clearly designed to look like. The feel of the Giga Golf Pursuit 460a driver was similar to that of a Topgolf rental club, and makes vintage persimmon and hickory golf clubs feel like a dream by comparison.
Yamaha
While Yamaha is a trusted producer of electronic goods as well as motorcycles, four wheelers, and side by sides, they do not carry the same reputation when it comes to golf equipment. Yamaha golf clubs found in the United States are most often older irons and woods from the mid 2000s, and they are all considered inferior by today’s design standards.
Nike
Many people remember Nike golf equipment from its heyday sponsoring Tiger Woods through some of the most legendary and accomplished years of golf the PGA Tour has ever seen. Many golfers purchased Nike golf clubs, balls, and other golf equipment because of its affiliation with Tiger before the company decided to stop producing golf gear in the year 2016. In its day, Nike built great golf clubs, but by today’s golf technology standards, they should be considered outdated and less desirable than current top manufacturers clubs..
Hammer X
The Hammer X Driver is one of the most popular and heavily advertised gimmick clubs in golf history. The commercials for the Hammer X Driver have been played during night time slots for over a decade, and they must produce results because they are still on television today.
The Hammer X Driver commercials feature a former long drive champion smashing golf balls with the oddly shaped club while yelling “Boom!” and “Pow!” The commercials also feature quick cuts to shots of the space shuttle, making for a completely corny and hilarious experience.
The Hammer X Driver is a non conforming golf club according to the United States Golf Association, making it illegal to use in any official format. The illegal design does not lead to better results either, as a modern driver will produce significantly more ball speed and distance.
Alien Golf
Alien Golf is a golf brand that specializes in making wedges that promise to help golfers eliminate bad contact. The large, non traditionally designed soles of the wedges claim to allow for solid ball contact no matter where the club makes contact with the ball or turf.
In actuality, the excessive surface area and high amount of bounce featured in the alien wedge design leads to more thinned shots than a traditional wedge, often leaving the ball screaming over the green. Alien wedges tend to bounce off the turf too high, exposing the leading edge of the club and leading to a “thinned” or “bladed “ shot that can cause golfers nightmares.
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What Types Of Golf Clubs To Avoid
Less than reputable golf club manufacturers produce every type of golf club, from putters and wedges to irons and woods. For this reason, it is better to avoid less trustworthy brands of golf clubs entirely, regardless of which type of golf club they are selling.
FAQ Section
What is the worst golf club brand in the world?
While it is tough to assign one golf club brand with the title of “worst in the world,” the Hammer X Driver would be a top candidate submitted by many golf experts. Not only is their flagship golf club non-conforming, comparison testing shows it does not perform very well compared with top driver manufacturers, leaving it with few redeeming qualities.
Does the brand of golf club make a difference?
While a better brand of golf club will not make you a better golfer, a poorly produced set of golf clubs can definitely hinder performance. Sticking with a reputable golf club brand is the best way to assure top performance, as well as durability and reliability.
What is the least used golf club?
While every golfer plays the game a bit differently, the least used golf club for many players is often their longest iron, hybrid, or fairway wood. Many golfers struggle to hit these longer clubs straight, and will often elect to lay up with a safer club that they are more comfortable with.
Conclusion: Research by Tellmemoregolf.com
While the team of experts at Tell Me More Golf is all for saving a bit of money when it comes to golf equipment, we recommend sticking to models of clubs from reputable golf manufacturers.
This is a great way to spend a bit less while still having the peace of mind provided by a quality golf club manufacturer.
Choosing a less than reputable brand is a risky proposition, and a broken or damaged club needing replacement can be more expensive than just buying a quality club in the first place.
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