I agree that it’s a combination of things. You are going to tell a difference between a box set of clubs from Walmart and a Taylor Made set from Dick’s just like you can tell the difference between a Top-Flite and a Titleist. From there though the difference starts getting small. I know guys who bought new clubs every year and tried every brand out there and after a certain level it never made much difference. Same with the golf balls. At a certain point I never noticed much difference between the upper level balls. I can tell the difference in a Top-Flite and a Titleist but I can’t tell the difference in a Titleist and a Srixon or Bridgestone. If I was shooting in the 70s maybe I could but in the upper 80s they don’t seem to make much difference.Nah I have to disagree here also.
if you’re consistently shooting par, you can probably get pretty close with knockoffs and Top Flites. I don’t play much, once a week maybe, I never practice, but what God gave me let’s me play to a 10. But I can promise you I can see differences in clubs and balls both; the technology is there. It’s not going to move me to scratch, but they can dang sure move my scores up. If I’ve been playing pro v’s and play a round with a different ball, when I get around a green I’m in trouble.
I guess I can see it both ways. The amount of effort required to get to scratch is not in concert with what I’m willing to put forth, so I’ll take the technology and break 80 occasionally.