Are looks important?

Imurg

Imurg

The Grinder Of Pars (Semi Crocked)
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There's been a few threads recently where a club has taken some stick for not being the best looker and many have said that looks don't matter, just performance..

Am I the only one who has to like the look of a club to be able to use it?

The Adams current range may be fantastic and I'm not doubting that - but with that slot in the head it looks out of place and clumsy.
The G15/20 range of hybrids - wonderful performance but Pig Ugly to most.
Nike Drone putter - consensus seems to be "it's ugly but if it works..."

There's more.........don't get me started on TM's woods....

Personally, I have to like the look of a club.
I have to like what I'm looking down on to have confidence in it.

Of course it has to perform as well, I'm not going to use a wonderful looking club that hits the ball sideways but equally I'm not likely to use a club I can't stand the look of even if performance is still good....

Discuss!
 
I've just sold my G15 hybrid as it was making my eyes bleed every time I looked down at it. Glad ping av gone back to rounder head shape with the G25. I think looks are definitely important as it gives you more confidence looking down at a club you like the look of.
 
Aesthetics are important but what looks good to one player may look ghastly to another. I do agree though that no matter how well a club performs if it doesn't look good to me it isn't going in the bag.
 
Imurg said:
Am I the only one who has to like the look of a club to be able to use it?
Click to expand...

For anything but putters, there's certainly an element of that.

Even my 'looks nemesis', Ping G10s, could end up making me think 'there's now way I can't hit this well', so actually inspire confidence rather than 'God this club is fugly!'. This is a rather more positive thought than I'd have than standing in 2nd cut rough with a blade 5 iron - even if it looks gorgeous in hand!

But liking the looks of clubs is important to me - especially with Driver or others at the long and wedges.

Putters are different. I've had a couple of what I think is the most gorgeous putter ever made - Bettinardi BB2 with Copper insert. However apart from thinking 'this is too gorgeous to actually use!', blade putters just don't suit my style. Mallets vould never be described as 'pretty' but they work for me. My Bee is definitely fugly - but it works! So no problem for weird looking putters.
 
Really couldnt get over how awful the g25's looked when i tried them! It definitely put me off them. I would have always been in my head how ugly they were looking down to hit a shot. I now own the beautiful i20's
 
Very important but not so much ugliness as whether to my eye it looks like it will get the job done. Hated the weird shape of the G20 hybrid and never felt it could work. Have also struggled with the big head/shallow face of modern fairway woods yet the old Callaway Fusion I bought (thanks for the heads up about steelheads etc Ian) just looks so compact and set up to smack a golf ball...
 
drawboy said:
Aesthetics are important but what looks good to one player may look ghastly to another. I do agree though that no matter how well a club performs if it doesn't look good to me it isn't going in the bag.
Click to expand...


Sums it up for me a club has got to look good and perform but one persons looks good is another's pig ugly.
 
I have to like the look of a club to want it in the bag. Can't count the number of irons that have been hugely praised and recommended that I've discounted due to looks.

That said, I love the Mizuno MP64's, but I know I can't hit them for toffee, so beautiful looking irons are not my only criteria.

Got to be a happy medium.
 
Yep. Can't stand looking down on chunky clubs. Gotta have a thin top line for me.
 
Had a set of Ping S58 irons. Scored well with them but they just didn't suit my eye. Changed to something that did... oh dear. Changed again, to Titliest CB712's, and love 'em and they love me.

Mate had a new set of Callaway irons yesterday, YUK! The top rail looked like it had been nicked from the Forth Road bridge. The ball looked small next to them - I want the ball looking as big as a football, then you just can't miss it.
 
I'm firmly in the aesthetics camp.

I often find the more GI/high MOI equipment becomes, to me, the more clumsy looking it becomes. Take Taylormades Superlaunch irons as an example or Pings K series irons.

Its the same with putters, with the exception of the Yes Morgan.
 
I'd go along with looks being important to give you confidence, and make you feel comfortable over the ball, but ultimately performance is what matters most. I have the Drone in the bag now, and I appreciate it's looks won't appeal to all but if it helps me on the greens, then I'm more than happy to putt with the 'DeathStar'.
 
Pretty much agree with OP, at least in certain areas. Drivers need to be black and pear shaped, irons need little offset, smallish head and thin topline etc, the only area I cross the bounds of aesthetic taste can be with putters. Whilst some of the ones Ive been through arent the prettiest they have been effective, all be it they dont tend to stay that long in the bag if I dont really like the look of them
 
There isn't a club in my bag I don't like the look of. Others might question them but I love them. Especially The Enterprise. You have to be happy with the look of a putter. You have to look down at it more than any other club in the bag :).
 
My TM burner with the gloss black head seemed to be winking at me when the sun glinted off, almost telling me no matter what you do , I'm going to slice you into the trees, so it had to go and I fell into the white is great category and bought the TM R11, looked better at address with no glinting from the crown in direct sunlight, but I never really got on with it, so it went the journey. Now I'm back with the glossy black head of the Titlieist 913, except this time when the sun glints off the crown, its winking at me at as if to say, "lets be naughty and smack one up the middle", not, "do you hear that? that's a woodpecker, that's the sound you ball is going to make when I slice you into the trees"

Even though the Titleist is gloss black, it looks good at address and gives you the confidence that you can smack one up the middle.
 
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