By Graeme McLeish

GolfWRX Contributor

The Year is 1998 and time for the annual family holiday. We are going back to Florida, but not to our usual spot. This time we are staying at Marriott’s Grande Vista – The Home of the Faldo Golf Institute!

Growing up Nick Faldo was one of my favourite golfers. I loved the way he approached the game, dedicating himself to improving every aspect of his game and doing what was necessary to get there.

So, for a 16-year-old on his way to spend two weeks next to Nick’s academy was a dream come true. During that holiday I spent 13 out of the 14 days on the golf course and the practice range. I let the rest of the family go to the theme parks. All I was interested in was golf (and lots of it).

The facilities there were like nothing I had seen before. There was an indoor teaching studio with all the cameras and swing technology you could imagine and a workshop to make any adjustments to your club you needed. At the club where I grew up, the practice area was a strip of grass sandwiched between the first and second holes, so best you stay alert for stray tee shots heading straight for you.

Just like any other kid, I wanted to use the equipment that my favourite players were using, and since Faldo at the time was playing with Mizuno clubs, I couldn’t wait to try them out and be fitted for a set.

At the time I was playing with a set of Hogan H40s. I had bought them during a previous trip to Florida from the Edwin Watts on Turkey Lake Road. It was a huge golf shop and I was in heaven every time I went there. We didn’t have golf shops anywhere near as big as that in Scotland. In fact, if the golf shop was bigger than a cupboard you were lucky.

So, upon arrival at the Faldo Golf Institute I quickly booked a custom fitting session with Randy (later during the stay I also booked a lesson with Faldo’s coach at the time, Chip). This was my first taste of custom fitting of any sort. Previously it was a simple case of grabbing a set off the shelf that you liked.

I can’t remember the other club that I tried, but the one that I do remember is the MP-14 (obviously … because I ended up getting a set). It certainly was a great experience and opened me up to a whole new world of possibilities.

At the end of the session, the club that I was hitting the best with was the blade. Who would have thought that I would be going from a set of Hogan H40’s (large cavity backs) to a set of Mizuno MP-14 blades?

It was a dream come true to get a set of Mizuno blades.

That holiday and that custom fitting session was the start of my golfing relationship with Mizuno.

Fourteen years later and I still use Mizuno blades. Why is that and what made me loyal to a brand for so long?

Well, I believe that there are a few contributing factors. First of all, as I mentioned, at the time my favourite golfer was playing with Mizuno, so anything they produced stood out ahead of the competition and any brand that sponsors a player that you like or relate to will get your attention before any other brand.

Their reputation for producing the best irons was also a factor as well as how I played with them and the way they made me feel as a golfer. I perceived that playing with blades made me a better golfer and bought into the idea that you first learn to play with blades and then if you want to change, you can, but your ball striking and your ability will be better off because you played with blades. So far I would have to say that it has paid off.

In 2003 I bought my very first Scotty Cameron putter while I was working in Boston as part of my university degree. I had to save a bit of cash to get it, but I had wanted one for so long. There were a few kids at the club playing with the Terrylium model, so naturally I wanted to own a Scotty Cameron. The name of the shop evades me, but it was on Commonwealth Ave. and I was living just down the road from the old Boston University hockey arena. They were still building the new one at the time.

I remember the day that I bought it. It was the Studio Stainless Newport and I walked out that shop with a big smile on my face. To this day more than nine years later it is still in my bag. I love the way it looks, the way it feels and most importantly the number of putts I hole with it.

So why are golfers so loyal to particular brands?

Well, the game takes up a lot of your time for starters and a fair amount of your cash too. Good equipment doesn’t come cheap and finding good equipment that you like and that fits your game is no easy task, so when you do find something that you like and suits your game, you hold onto it. Maybe it is a way of minimising risk.

Some brands just fit with you better than others.

This is most likely a combination of the colours that they use, the way they present their clubs, their motto, the professionals that they sponsor and the type of clubs that they produce.

Could where you live and grow up be a determining factor?

I made a comment to a golf coach who has helped me out with my swing about why there are so many Scottish touring pros using Mizuno clubs, and his response was that generally the Scottish guys prefer a traditional looking club and there probably is no other brand that produces a more traditional looking club than Mizuno.

Another way you may look at it is, Mizuno has their UK headquarters in Scotland and therefore out of the top manufacturers probably get the most exposure to the Scottish market.

Well, golf is a game of tradition and a game that likes to hold onto and honour that tradition. Other than the technology, golf has changed very little since it began. Maybe the nature of the game creates golfers and people who tend to be loyal and like their traditions.

When you see top professionals changing club manufacturers you hear the commentators start to panic – is it the end of their game? Will they be able to perform  to the same level?

Maybe brand loyalty is an integral part of golf.

Golf is a very visual game. Just like there are courses that suit your eye, there are clubs that suit your eye better than others.

When you set up to the ball, you want the club to look and feel a certain way. You want it to give you a feeling of confidence, excite you about hitting a great shot and assure you that there is nothing else in the world that you would rather be doing than playing golf.

There are so many clubs out there to choose from and lots of good looking blades also, but none of them do it for me quite as well as Mizuno and as they say “Nothing Feels Like a Mizuno”.

So, it is safe to say that I won’t be using any other manufacturer’s blades any time soon and I can’t wait to get a set of the MP-69’s in my bag custom fitted perfectly for no one but me.

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