Golf Magazine Clubtest

[cbadics]

I know this magazine is viewed as a rag by many here....

Did anyone else find the Golf Magazine Clubtest odd?

For their driver test the Cally FT-I and FT-5 were excluded as an example. The FT-5 was editor's choice in the much more highly regarded Hot List.

Did anybody else find the clubs they reviewed wierd?

[TmacG]

There were a lot of clubs that were excluded in the test. They didnt inlcude any true blades and they excluded a lot of the higher priced clubs. I wanted to see some Titleist Drivers whether it was the 905R or the new D1, or D2, Titleist makes some of the most solid clubs, why are they excluded?

[packerfan1]

And no Cleveland wedges in the test? I don't play their wedges, but their wedges are almost always in the top 2 or 3 of everyone's lists.

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

I'm much more familiar with Golf Digest version but how the hell can you have a club test and omit Callaway woods, Titleist anything or Cleveland wedges? LOL

[bjdrivers]

Yeah i get Golf Magazine as well, was disappointed that they left out blades and a lot of drivers. Pretty worthless review.

[SeldomInTheSlot]

All those club tests are worthless fluff pieces. You need to get out there and do your own testing. Personally, I try to stay on top of my game and my bag by hitting every new club as soon as it comes out with every possible stock and after-market shaft available in every weather condition and under varying states of intoxication. This way I know which clubs to bring along for a bachelor party round with Hooters cart girls and 20 mph wind gusts, for example.

[TmacG]

The Golf Digest Version is 100% better. They cover all the bases. Game Improvement, and Player irons, in the GM version the player irons they show you are the Titleist 755's. Where are the 695 CB, and MB's? The GM version is botched.

TmacG

[bjdrivers]

This way I know which clubs to bring along for a bachelor party round with Hooters cart girls and 20 mph wind gusts, for example.

Damn I need to start golfing with you!!

[cbadics]

Yeah I forgot they left off Cleveland wedges, what a joke! I didn't understand how they chose the clubs they did. In Golf Digest they were very explicit in disclosing how they chose the clubs they did. Maybe on their website they have more information, but after reading that club review I'm not really interested in looking at their website.

I believe the Cobra irons won for best Player's Iron. Are those really even "player's irons?" Seems kind of weak...

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

yeah, Golf Digest explained things well. I know the purists may have been disappointed when they left off blades but at least GD did explain that... and even threw in a blurb about blades, making reference to Cleveland, Nike and Titleist. GD was however a bit pro Callaway because of their opti-fit system. I mean their new Big Bertha fairway wood won editor's choice but didn't even get two stars in performance.

From the sound of it the Golf Mag version is useless but I haven't seen it yet. Is there a link or would I have to buy the magazine?

[cbadics]

I believe their website is golf.com but I haven't really checked it out, I got snookered in to a subscription so I get that mag every month.

GD may be a little pro Cally, but hasn't Cally been on a roll over the past couple years? This year it seems like they have a lot of great products out there (i want a new BB fairway wood!!!) and it seems like an accurate reflection of the market. I don't see people playing Sonartecs and Yonex and Srixon and brands like that. I see people playing Pings, Callys and TM's. So that's what I want to see in the review.

[SeldomInTheSlot]

Here's the Golf Magazine website if you're interested:

http://www.golf.com/golf/

[TmacG]

I believe their website is golf.com but I haven't really checked it out, I got snookered in to a subscription so I get that mag every month.

GD may be a little pro Cally, but hasn't Cally been on a roll over the past couple years? This year it seems like they have a lot of great products out there (i want a new BB fairway wood!!!) and it seems like an accurate reflection of the market. I don't see people playing Sonartecs and Yonex and Srixon and brands like that. I see people playing Pings, Callys and TM's. So that's what I want to see in the review.

I play a Sonartec 3 Wood and its the best feeling club of all the other fairway woods on the market. believe me, i've tried them all! The model is the NP-99

tmacg

[cbadics]

Not knocking Sonartec or any brands like that. But I'm interested in hearing about the brands I know (with a little bit of the brands I don't know sprinkled in). I know a lot of tour guys were playing Sonartec fw's (I think if they tried using fw's with rails on the bottom many would switch to lajolla but that's another story)

[Horseballs]

I haven't checked out the club test, but if doesn't have an entire section devoted to giving the LaJolla clubs a literary blowjob, it's junk. Everyone knows that rails are the next big thing. C'mon, Golf Mag! Get with the times!

[bjdrivers]

what is a LaJolla club? Never heard of it.

[Horseballs]

what is a LaJolla club? Never heard of it.

Cbadics can probably give you a better response, but I'll give it a go. LaJolla is a Central American golf company who makes a unique line of fairway woods with stabilizing rails on the bottom (read, crappy). They eschew modern materials and manufacturing methods and instead rely on monkeys to chew down a coconut until it is somewhat golf club shaped. Rails are added on the bottom for stability. This is glued to a stick. Only true traditionalists dare to play this awesome line of clubs.

[bjdrivers]

It's only a matter of time till Omen has 3-9 in his bag.

[cbadics]

There was an infomercial for the Knife line of fairway woods back in the day. I bought my knifes at a time when I couldn't get a fairway wood off the ground and the stabilizing knife helped. When you hit the fairway wood out of the fairway it leaves three little blade marks in the grass where the stabilizing rails made contact with the ground. Sweeeeeeeeeet

[pingman360]

the clubtest was completely biased and very partial... @ least the ht list tries practically everthing... clubtest tried 8 drivers.... whats up with that???

[MulliparMatt]

Yeah, I agree with others that too many products(mainly Titleist) are left out of the test. I kind of figure the amount of ad money the manufacturers pay the mag might have a lot to do with their choice of clubs they choose to test. Too bad, because it makes the test more than kind of a joke.

[swartzd]

I thought it was really strange that they left out any Nickent hybrids which have been one of the hottest hybrids of all time and they just came out with a new 4DX. Go figure!

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

Just took a look at the site. Pretty useless... buuuuuut, guys, they rated some Titleist clubs (Vokey Spin Milled, 755 and 775 CB to name three). However there is no rhyme or reason as to why they picked the clubs they did. At first I thought maybe it was only items that were released within the past year, regardless if it's the current line or not but then I saw some that didn't fit that criteria. Perhaps they got halfway through there review process and then called it quits. Or their club testers quit... just doesn't make any sense.

[cbadics]

I believe golfmagazine is owned by Sports Illustrated (or the company that owns SI). I think SI has gone downhill bigtime over the last 5 years. Maybe SI's overall decay (swimsuit issue aside) have rubbed off on its crappy golf mag.

Golf magazine's club test sucks. And they brag about how they're attempting to get "objective" results...blah blah blah. How about a little transparency in the selection of clubs! I like how golfdigest admits that the buzz in the marketplace has a factor in it's ratings. As far as I'm concerned, the buzz on the street is an important component.

[Horseballs]

I believe golfmagazine is owned by Sports Illustrated (or the company that owns SI). I think SI has gone downhill bigtime over the last 5 years. Maybe SI's overall decay (swimsuit issue aside) have rubbed off on its crappy golf mag.

Golf magazine's club test sucks. And they brag about how they're attempting to get "objective" results...blah blah blah. How about a little transparency in the selection of clubs! I like how golfdigest admits that the buzz in the marketplace has a factor in it's ratings. As far as I'm concerned, the buzz on the street is an important component.

You've also rubbed off to the swimsuit issue? Wait, maybe I didn't read this right...
Isn't buzz just another way to describe the success of a company's marketing department? I couldn't care less.

[cbadics]

but the hot list achieves its mission. showing you the hottest products on the market by technicaly achievement, buzz on the street, value and playability. it's not just a contest to see what the best performing clubs are (otherwise you'd see a bigger LaJolla representation). maybe that would be a more valuable test, but that's not the stated mission of the hot list.

[Horseballs]

but the hot list achieves its mission. showing you the hottest products on the market by technicaly achievement, buzz on the street, value and playability. it's not just a contest to see what the best performing clubs are (otherwise you'd see a bigger LaJolla representation). maybe that would be a more valuable test, but that's not the stated mission of the hot list.

True, but I still couldn't care less about the Buzz portion of the test. In 2006, they at least had some smaller companies represented like Wishon and Gauge Design. Not so much in 2007. There is zero chance for your beloved LaJolla to get a piece of any future Hot Lists given Golf Digest's blatant homerism of its major ad sponsors.

[cbadics]

True, but I still couldn't care less about the Buzz portion of the test. In 2006, they at least had some smaller companies represented like Wishon and Gauge Design. Not so much in 2007. There is zero chance for your beloved LaJolla to get a piece of any future Hot Lists given Golf Digest's blatant homerism of its major ad sponsors.

Yeah there is a little homerism there....

I agree with your assertion that LaJolla would make the Hot List(editor's choice perhaps?) if they had a larger advertising account with golf digest. Your contention that LaJolla would be among the most represented companies if it were a level playing field is a belief that you and I share.

[Horseballs]

Yeah there is a little homerism there....

I agree with your assertion that LaJolla would make the Hot List(editor's choice perhaps?) if they had a larger advertising account with golf digest. Your contention that LaJolla would be among the most represented companies if it were a level playing field is a belief that you and I share.

LaJolla makes the Hot List every year.
The Hot Pile of **** Clubs to Avoid List. That list is sizzling!!
Also on the HPSCAL...
F2 wedges
Wilson
Purespin
MacGregor

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

I'd like to say I don't care about buzz either but without buzz then I might not know about a club. If I don't know about it then I won't want it.

[cbadics]

How could Wilson make the HPSCAL? I thought they stopped making golf clubs years ago...

those Blackjack golf balls they made a while back were a big hit

[Horseballs]

How could Wilson make the HPSCAL? I thought they stopped making golf clubs years ago...

those Blackjack golf balls they made a while back were a big hit

Wilson is still lighting up the HPSCAL every year.
Unfortunately, Tommy Armour is now a regular contributor to the HPSCAL. 845's used to be the gold standard for good cheap clubs.
Anything by Walter Hagen as well.

[cbadics]

My grandpa was telling me a story the other day about a time when Wilson made sweet clubs...

I was like "whatever gramps, yeah right."

[bdgiant]

It's all marketing! Look at the adds in the magazine - any magazine actually - then look at what is & isn't reviewed, and then look at how it's reviewed. No magazine editor is dumb enough to give a bad review to a product from a company who is giving them lots of money for ads.

Even Golf Digest!! Look at all of their reviews. Apparently, they never give out bad reviews. All of the products tested are either good or great. That is because all of those companies give them crazy amounts of money to print ads and "test" their products (aka, another page for advertisements).

If you don't believe me, pick up ANY kind of magazine with reviews in it and look what I'm talking about. You best bet is to find a golf store and test everything (aka, form your own opinion).

[neophyte]

Any real test would include last years winners going up against the new clubs for this year, so we could see if the new clubs are worth buying.

[MulliparMatt]

EXACTLY! Finally, someone else who can cut to the chase--Look people , the reality is exactly how the previous poster mentioned---it is all about the true nature of how 90% of all magazine businesses are run:--it's all about ad money, not offending your advertisers with even an honestly bad product review, rewarding your highest paying ad customers with increased coverage etc, and doing what it takes to sell mags and ads first, and objectivity and fairness in product reviews really becomes irrelevent in that business model.

[cbadics]

That's a great point neophyte. I know it's hard to stay away from the hype, but i'm sure there are lots of solid golfers who don't know and don't care what the latest club is. let's get these guys to review the clubs without telling them which ones are new and which ones are old.

[Belly]

LaJolla makes the Hot List every year.
The Hot Pile of **** Clubs to Avoid List. That list is sizzling!!
Also on the HPSCAL...
F2 wedges
Wilson
Purespin
MacGregor

Dude that was a great post! Had me laughing out loud!

[bjdrivers]

EXACTLY! Finally, someone else who can cut to the chase--Look people , the reality is exactly how the previous poster mentioned---it is all about the true nature of how 90% of all magazine businesses are run:--it's all about ad money, not offending your advertisers with even an honestly bad product review, rewarding your highest paying ad customers with increased coverage etc, and doing what it takes to sell mags and ads first, and objectivity and fairness in product reviews really becomes irrelevent in that business model.

That is going to break Omen's heart. He can't afford much, and the only thing he can look forward to each month other than his welfare check is his issue of Golf Magazine. He bases his well being and mental state on club reviews, and for you to make a mockery of those is an outrage! This is a dark day for GR.

Omen PM me if you start having suicidal thoughts, I will refill your Prozac prescription.

[Omen2]

look you self righteous bastards... that hot list is the bible from whence i spew forth my truth.... to blasheme against it shall surely bring upon you shanks and slices.... you hacks arent worth of a HOT LIST.... go buy your lajolla's and depart from here ner to post again... thus saith the ALMIGHTY OMEN.


i will need a double fill on that prozac bj and overnight that sh.it please

[bjdrivers]

look you self righteous bastards... that hot list is the bible from whence i spew forth my truth.... to blasheme against it shall surely bring upon you shanks and slices.... you hacks arent worth of a HOT LIST.... go buy your lajolla's and depart from here ner to post again... thus saith the ALMIGHTY OMEN.


i will need a double fill on that prozac bj and overnight that sh.it please

See what you did you jackasses. You should all be banned!!!!