Are you a golf snob?

[Spear-Chucker]

I like good quality. Sometimes you need to pay for that sometimes you don't. Good quality lasts in terms of equipment or creates an abiding memory in terms of an experience. I tend to buy equipment to last (irons are nearly 10 years old and don't owe me much) so am usually happy to fork out if the budget allows. Am I geeky about equipment though - yes. My choice and work hard not to push it onto others.

Don't tend to pay much for green fees at other courses although I've played a few of the Open venues many years ago. Family trips come first these days so large green fees are a thing of the past. Do get to play some great places representing the club and county stuff (OOM, championship events etc) is subsidised fantastically (thankfully).

 

[Hacker Khan]

Are you someone that has to have the latest equipment, designer label clothing and only plays on top end courses? Or are you happy to tee it up anywhere in your budget polo shirt with 14 clubs bought ffrom the local charity shop?

Or somewhere in between these two extreme examples?

I think being a snob is more a state of mind that manifests itself in peoples attitudes in the clubhouse and on the course. You can wear the tattiest clothes but still be a snob and look down on others. And vice versa, you can have the latest equipment just because you choose to spend your disposable income on golf as it makes you happy, it's not that you are a snob.

Having said all that I'm a mixture. I'll happily tee it up at my local course that was built on a pit tip for a quick 18 on my own, but I'll also enjoy playing somewhere like The Grove. I've got the latest TM mini driver but I also have golf shirts bought in the US for $10. I think anyone who only plays top end courses is more likely to be loaded rather than being a snob. I suppose if I had that much disposable income and I could afford it, I would do the same. But I'd hope that would not make me a snob. Just considerably richer than yow.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Probably a snob in terms of liking nice clothes, loads of myjoy icons, decent gear and playing good courses. However it is all done within my budget so family life still comes first and foremost. A big but is playing golf itself. I'll play with anyone, anywhere so from that perspective definitely not

 

[Birchy]

I like to try and buy nice clothing that is comfortable and smart and I like to bring a bit of colour to course Golf is supposed to be fun I have a mix of expensive and cheap stuff though like most people I reckon.

Clubs im not really bothered about too much, I just play with whatever I can find that suits me when I try them. I wouldn't not have a club because of the name on it if it does the job for me I will use it.

I refuse to play at crap courses though as I just don't enjoy it then. If the course is in such bad nick then theres just no point. If that makes me a snob then thanks for the compliment :rofl:

 

[Martin70]

A mix for me. I'll play anywhere and with anyone. I don't buy expensive golf clothes I pick up bargains where I can. I have bought a whole bag of replacement clubs in the last year though - new driver and irons but 2nd hand fairways wedges and putter. I tend not to buy new golf balls either. New pair of shoes too - they are essential.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Actually the simplest test of you are a golf snob is to answer the question 'Do you play a Pro V1 even though in your heart of hearts you know that you could play a ball half the price and in reality it would make no discernible difference to your game'

If you answer yes then congratulations, you are a golf snob.

 

[Hovisbap]

I shop at Sports Direct.................. nuf said?

 

[sandmagnet]

I reckon i am a mix of both of your examples! will play anywhere from manicured top 100 course to the local goat track, have expensive clothes and some cheap clothes, some of my clubs are the latest shiney "big name" versions, some are not!

I would consider myself in the middle then, or to put it another way, Normal.

how I see myself apart from the clothes as I don't really buy golf stuff. Nice polo nice chinos job done.

 

[Foxholer]

Actually the simplest test of you are a golf snob is to answer the question 'Do you play a Pro V1 even though in your heart of hearts you know that you could play a ball half the price and in reality it would make no discernible difference to your game'

If you answer yes then congratulations, you are a golf snob.

That's the definitive test! The ProVs I play are pickups only.

I'm definitely not a snob; slob more likely!

Youngest clubs are the wedges and they are 5 years old and were free! Clothes are comfy practical 'bargains', mainly from SportsHQ, though I'm wearing a club pullover from a club I left almost 10 years ago. Water and windproof gear I am prepared to spend on - though the GG suit is 10 years old.

I prefer to spend the money on playing (almost anywhere, so no snob there either) rather than what I look like when playing.

 

[RollinThunder]

I've always been brought up in the way of "If you've got it, show it", so why not! I'm just an extreme quality over quantity person. I enjoy wearing nice clothes, and better clothes wash better, it's got nothing to do with snobbery, it's just more of a "Why eat burgers when you can have steak" sort of mentality. "Snobbery" is mental, where someone believes themselves to be better than others. Enjoying the finer things is not necessarily linked with snobbery, although a lot of people think that if someone chooses a Ralph Lauren over a Dunlop, then they are a "snob", when they're not, they just appreciate nice things.

I prefer polo shirts for playing in, unless it's exceptionally hot. Lacoste polos are around the £60 mark, they last for ages, look better, and you can wear them in the pub or on the course, so to me they just seem a better purchase than a £5 Dunlop.

The company I work for has corporate Nike golf clothing, with embroidered shirts, jackets and caps that you can buy. I could go for the full bag of mashings and make people think that I'm sponsored

In terms of gear, it's inate for me to always want the best, all the men in my family are exactly the same. Good gear has a better re-sale value too, should I decide to upgrade, so I tend to stick with the big brands.

 

[c1973]

I like wearing nice clothes but wouldn't say I was a snob. I'd play with anyone and anywhere too.

Would I spend a hefty chunk on a green fee? Yes, but only if I really wanted to play the course, had the disposable to do so and wasn't playing with some loudmouth, tattooed, denim wearing, fag smoking, beer swilling, devil dug owning oik from the local council muni.

 

[Airlie_Andy]

My home course choice is based on enjoying the company of the other members there. My equipment is a mix of budget and best tool for the job. Away days is based on budget/company/location.

I would only class someone as a snob when the perceived value/suitability/label is more important than reality if that makes sense.

 

[GB72]

Agreed, I think snoberry raises its head when people start talking about brands they wont wear or use for no pratical reason rather than it being an issue of what they do use.

 

[davidy233]

I don't buy golf specific trousers or sweaters - trousers and jeans (yes I were jeans on the course a lot of the time - though not denim ones) tend to come from Slaters and sweaters from M&S. I do buy polo shirts and they are a mix of cheap (Dunlop) and golf brands from Golf Base - IJP, Oscar Jacobson etc. Got a couple of decent sets of waterproofs though (Footjoy because I din't like Galvin Green when I tried them on).

Courses - most I've paid is £45 for a round, but I'd happily pay lots more if it was somewhere I really wanted to play and if it was a special trip - I fancy Pinehurst at some stage (maybe for my 60th) and that's $400 + for number 2 - luckily up here I can get great courses for dirt cheap prices by playing in opens - I like cheap quirky little tracks too and there's plenty of them

Equipment - most of my gear is pretty much brand new - but that's because I sold a lot of photos of footballers this year and had a bit of disposable income, normally I'd buy a new camera or lens but didn't need anything this year - I've usually kept my irons for on average about a decade.

I don't think that snobbery has anything to do with equipment, clothing or course you'd want to play - it's an attitude rather than any of them.

 

[3565]

I personally go against the grain, I don't have a single major OEM in my bag, as I like to be different to the norm, clothes wise I have major brands but look for the best price I can find.

 

[Coatsy79]

All my clubs apart from my driver and putter are second hand

Like certain types of clothes like UA and nike, because I like and trust the fit of them

I'd never pay more than £20/25 for a polo and never more than £30/35 for trousers no matter what the brand

(Case in point, I loved one of last years J lindeberg sweaters, but not at over £100!, I now have a lambs wool jumper I bought in a sale from Next)

Shoes are always nice but even my last pair I couldn't bring myself to pay £90 for nike lunar 2's so ended up with a pair of pumas that were £32 in a sale

All my other gear is nice I'll admit (clicgear trolley, oakley cart bag etc) but it's all been bought as presents for Christmases and birthdays

And even though I've joined a club I still miss many of the holes I used to play on my old £6 a round muni :rofl:

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

My daughter's boyfriend thinks that being a member of my club makes me 'posh' - but hopefully being seen as a bit 'posh' doesn't make me seem a bit of a snob

In truth - the golf snob for me is the golfer who seems to enjoy telling everyone about the fancy expensive courses he's played; golf holidays he's been on; how marvellous the new set of golf clubs are that he's just bought because the last lot weren't doing it for him - and all that guff. Keep it to yourself. I don't need or want to know. Thing about snobs and other bumptious sorts, is that they tend not to know the meaning of humility - and in playing golf we understand the meaning of that word (or should do) and so should extend that humility beyond just playing the game. So we should celebrate what we have in common and play down what we don't.

But I know I am in the minority having this way of thinking - and so be it

 

[LanDog]

I don't know if I'm a 'snob' I've got good clubs, but they're by no means new, Driver is a couple of years old, 3 wood is the newest club in the bag, but it's still last years model, hybrid is a year and a half old, irons are a few models ago, wedges are a few years ago, the putter is new but an 'out of date' model now I'm fairly sure.

But they're all 'big name brands' and honestly, I wouldn't use Dunlop or the like anymore just because I don't like them and would rather spend my money on what I do like, but I do use whatever club is best for my game.

I don't use super high end balls all of the time.

My waterproofs are Ping so decent but not outrageous

I wear mostly Adidas/Puma/UA tops so again not ridiculous pricing but alright

 

[Doon frae Troon]

I used to be but saw the error of my ways.

 

[Fyldewhite]

I play with a driver that is nearly 8 years old and second hand irons so definitely not a snob in the equipment stakes. I play at a club attached to a municipal and rate a £16 for the day course in Scotland in my best 3 courses played so I'm not a course snob either (granted the other two were Druid's Glen and Turnberry ). Clothing, like most I buy what I can afford and like to be reasonably turned out without having to have the latest of everything so pretty much middle of the road there too. Besides, a snob is not really someone who has nice things but someone who thinks that having them makes them superior in some way.