Can you get what they get ?

[bobmac]

There is talk that the clubs the tour pros use are different to what you can get from your pro.
So, if you order a set of ping, Mizuno or TM irons, do you think you are getting the same clubs the guys on tour are using?
Or do they all have secret club making facilities which make the "special ones" for the "special people"?

Please note, I know the pros have their clubs tweaked for them to the nth degree, but my question is do you think they start with the standard clubs you can buy?

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I think the basic model is the same and then tweaked to specification. I really don't see why it wouldn't be?

 

[MashieNiblick]

I assume we are just talking about the top of the range clubs gfrom the main manufacturers.

My feeling is that although it may once have been true that a top pro would have had clubs specially forged for him, given the improvement in the manufacturing techniques and tolerances, quality control and the sophistication of modern clubs I can't see that is is really necessary unless what we are being sold is misleadingly inferior to what is claimed and I just don't think there is any evidence for that.

However we do know that Westwod and Clarke "endorse Dunlop apparel only" and wear another brand bearing a Dunlop logo.

 

[Ethan]

I am sure Bob knows the answer well, but it depends on the brand.

Some clubs that you can buy in AG or at your local pro, e.g. Mizuno, Titleist, come from the same factory as the ones the Tour players use, although the ones the pros use will have been selected based on tighter specs and may have different tour spec shafts.

Some brands, e.g. TM, are well known to make different lines of clubs for their pros, including different designs, different grinds and in the case of woods, different head sizes. Many of these are available on the net, for example B and C grind irons, and smaller Tour-only versions of the RBZ woods. Some brands call these one-off or Tour only clubs prototypes. Rickie Fowler uses prototype AMP irons, which are blades not yet (and probably never) available to retail. This allows Cobra to give him blades but associate him with the AMP brand-name. Camilo Vilegas plays RBZ irons, but they are quite different to any you can buy.

There are a number of cases where players (Tiger, for example) are rumoured to have played clubs stamped with one brand name but which were in reality copies of their previous clubs from a different brand made in the same factory.

 

[Whee]

I imagine the quality is the big difference.

For a tour player it's personal preference from the grip (true enough for the amateur who can be bothered to change them), to the weight of the shaft.

Everything is fitted for their swing and build.

Us who buy off the shelf are just getting something that is mass produced to fit the 'average' player.

So yes, i'd say what the pro gets is very different to what is available to us.

Much the same as a footballers' shirt. It's made of a different, lighter material altogether, than the replica versions that fly off the shelves every Summer.

 

[Toad]

Ping said that the pro's get the same kit as we do, the main difference being that the driver heads for example are weighed and measured as they come of the production line, they then take the lightest as they can tweak them more and also the ones that are closest to the legal limits on MOI etc.
Other than that the shafts, heads and grips are the same as we use.

 

[Scouser]

I know that in cricket you can buy the same bat that the pros use . The only difference is the bat that get to choose will come from a batch that has already been specially selected for them already so they would pick from what the manufacturer feels is the best of the best. I could also have any bat specially made for me if I had the money as in golf though the make of bat used is not necessarily the manufacturers name on the bat.

Im not sure if the technique for making a club is the same were out of a batch some may perform or feel better than others??

 

[sydney greenstreet]

I think they use the same clubs as we can buy.

 

[6inchcup]

do you remember TONY JACKLIN'S endorsement of some god awful clubs that jjb sports sold and he entered the open endorsed by jjb did he use those clubs NO is the answer same as TORANCE and the driver he promoted what a load of rubbish he would never put it in his bag,just advertising gimmicks.

 

[Neddy]

I don't think it matters one jot. As long as the clubs i buy are good quality and suit me then i don't care if they are the same as the pros use.

 

[MadAdey]

I do think that the tour pros are getting something different to us. Like has been said you can go on Ebay and buy tour issue clubs that you would not find at your local golf Superstore. I think that most of us would not even notice the difference if we tried the tour issue clubs against our normal off the rack clubs.

The TM TP models do have a difference. For one they come with upgraded shafts rather then the rubbish stock shaft you normally get and the woods tend to have a more open address aimed at the better player, rather than the closed face you normally get.

I remember when Tiger first went to Nike. Apparently the bladed irons he used could not be purchased as they were not actually made by Nike. I read something back then saying that they were Mizuno forgings with Nike on them.

 

[munro007]

Bob i think you know the answer to this. No they don't use off the peg equipment. My pro builds a few clubs for a few players on tour. I won't make the same mistake in mentioning names this time, because of contracts etc.....
Miura are/were one of the largest manufacturers of clubs on tour. Use the best i say. lol :clap:

 

[munro007]

I do think that the tour pros are getting something different to us. Like has been said you can go on Ebay and buy tour issue clubs that you would not find at your local golf Superstore. I think that most of us would not even notice the difference if we tried the tour issue clubs against our normal off the rack clubs.

The TM TP models do have a difference. For one they come with upgraded shafts rather then the rubbish stock shaft you normally get and the woods tend to have a more open address aimed at the better player, rather than the closed face you normally get.

I remember when Tiger first went to Nike. Apparently the bladed irons he used could not be purchased as they were not actually made by Nike. I read something back then saying that they were Mizuno forgings with Nike on them.

They were Miura forged nike clubs :thup:

 

[Dave B]

I think the fact that the Razr Fit Driver as used by Quiros is constructed from a different grade titamium to the standard driver may answer thwe question.

 

[Ian_S]

As others have said, very possibly from some manufacturers there would be no difference between the pros clubs and mine. Some the pro will have specially made ones.

Of course, give the pros my clubs and I'll bet they still don't shoot a heck of a lot worse than they do with their special clubs. I guess it would probably benefit them to the tune of only a handful of shots.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I have 2 friends on the tour, sorry to disappoint but the vast majority of pros use exactly the same clubheads that we can buy off the shelf. OK, so they might be tweaked a bit in the workshop to alter loft/lie/bounce etc and quite often they will have their name or nickname stamped on them but the basic head is the same.

What you will see are 'prototype' clubs which in most cases go on to become next year's off the shelf models. The pros also get the latest shafts to try before they become publicly available.

 

[MadAdey]

[/COLOR]They were Miura forged nike clubs :thup:

I knew there was something with them, it was a long time ago I read about it.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Looked at Brett Rumfords Titleist blades a few weeks back and he said they were standard heads which I too to assume were those that would be available to me or anyone else going to their HQ for a fitting. Hasn't done him any good as he's missed the cut this week and last. Curse of the Homer?

 

[Mattyboy]

Nothing too different wth the clubs in general - although they will be tweaked and the shafts might be pured etc.

Big difference with the golf balls they use though. I know this for a fact as there is no other way they can hit a ball 50 yards further than me!