- 52 minutes ago
Join our dedicated gear tester, Joe Ferguson, as he assembles the ultimate golf bag using only the best direct-to-consumer clubs on the market. From surprising drivers to stunning blades, see which brands offer the best performance and value.
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00:00The direct-to-consumer market in golf equipment has seen significant growth in the past couple
00:04of years with tons of people taking advantage of the potential value on offer now as a dedicated
00:10gear tester i've been able to test a lot of this stuff so stay with me because in this video
00:15i'm
00:15going to pick out my ultimate direct-to-consumer bag right so starting from the top with driver
00:24and this one surprised me a little bit this is the vice golf vgdo1 plus not the catchiest name i
00:30think you'll agree this is the low spin model and the reason it surprised me is when i first pulled
00:34it out there's quite a lot going on with it in terms of this quite bright colorway in the shaft
00:39that came with it there's a busy crown a lot going on on the crown there in terms of the
00:44looks and
00:45underneath we've got these ridges it looked like they're straight off the batmobile it's a really
00:48it's an interesting look looking golf club there's a lot of visual stimulation going on here
00:54and i don't know whether i had my snobby head on but when i put it down in behind the
00:57ball
00:58i really started to like it it sits very squarely it's got quite a neat squat head and it frames
01:04the
01:04ball beautifully at address so from a looks point of view i've really become quite fond of it although
01:09it's quite different and crucially in terms of the raw performance that's what really impressed me here
01:14in terms of launch monitor data so some of the direct and consumer clubs i've tested in the past
01:19can fall down when you're actually measuring the data but this excelled in terms of spin
01:24and this is a low spin driver it was incredibly consistent which is key but also nice and low so
01:30it really does its job as a low spin driver i couldn't spin it above 2400 revs throughout
01:35testing so it gave me a really nice penetrating ball flight and the ball speed was excellent as
01:40well again that's been leveled at some of these direct-to-consumer drivers they aren't quite as quick
01:45as the top manufacturers well this kept up with anything so i was really impressed and that's why this
01:50vice golf driver has made it the first choice in my ultimate direct-to-consumer bag
01:59okay so now for my choice of fairway wood and i've chosen a tor edge product and it is the
02:03tor edge
02:03exotic c725 fairway wood now anyone who saw my driver review of the c725 will probably know why i've
02:11put this in it very nearly made it into the driver spot but the vice just pipped it so i
02:15wanted to get
02:16this model in there somewhere and the fairway wood is quite brilliant when you put it in behind the
02:21ball this is one of the nicest shapes of fairway wood i've think i've ever seen it's beautifully
02:26rounded it's got all the right proportions to give you both a sense of feel of confidence at address but
02:31not too bulky it's just got everything in the right places in terms of curves and proportions it's
02:37exactly what i want to see looking in behind the ball and i think the sort of carbon effect on
02:41the
02:41crown gives it a really premium look as well and then underneath you've got a bit of tech that can
02:46help you've got what they call their flight tuning system so you've got an adjustable weight system
02:50here so we can make it higher or lower spinning and we've got a loft sleeve on here to tune
02:55it into the
02:55lofts that you want from a feel point of view i've got a ball here to demonstrate i hope you
02:59can pick
03:00this up on the audio it's you might have noticed from driver i like sort of a more thudier impact
03:06that's got a real thuddy thuddy strike a dull thud this has got that same dull thud but just
03:11with a little bit more life it really produces a great sound impact now it might not be a ball
03:16speed monster when i put it up against some of the major oems it came out for me around one
03:21and a half
03:22two miles an hour slow but that's not what this is about it's really easy to launch but with no
03:27excessive spin so give me a really solid ball flight both in the 15 degree and the 18 degree five
03:33with
03:33that i've tried this is a real favorite of mine this actually might be making it into my own bag
03:38so that's why it's in my ultimate direct consumer bag now my next choice bridges the gap between
03:46the fairway wood and the main iron set so i wasn't sure whether to go for a hybrid but i've
03:51picked a
03:51utility iron and particularly this one i really like is the tacomo 101u utility iron now tacomo made
03:58a huge splash in this direct to consumer space arguably the biggest disruptors of them all and
04:03the driving iron i think is really cool it's got that real tacomo signature minimalist look not too
04:10much going on which i love if you take the branding away from clubs for me i think they always
04:14look a
04:14little bit cleaner and this is a great example of that one thing i don't love about it the back
04:19edge
04:20sticks a little bit out on the top that's one of my gripes with some utility irons but it's nicely
04:24mirrored so it kind of blends in with the background amongst it and another thing that i do love about
04:29this it is hot it is super quick so a hollow body it comes really quick off the face it's
04:34a really
04:35versatile club the width of sole is very useful as well makes it very versatile from all sorts of turf
04:40conditions and when you factor in it's 119 pounds or 119 dollars this is incredible value and that's why
04:47it's in the bag right so in the irons i've indulged myself a little bit here i've picked some blades
04:55so i know that's not going to be everyone's cup of tea but these are such a great example of
04:59what
04:59direct consumer manufacturers can do now and i picked the hogan fort worth blades these are the mbs
05:06and straight away when you look at them you probably see why i think aesthetically from a shelf
05:11appeal point of view in the bag they're just astonishing all the topography and the shaping of the back
05:16looks absolutely beautiful we've got this blend of old and new as well so we've got that
05:21kind of old hogan scripture written on there the old hogan logos we've got the knurling around the
05:26ferrule there which gives it a kind of old-fashioned look and the ferrules are super long which again is
05:31kind of harking back to the olden days but the rest of the shaping and everything else that's been
05:36done on this head really gives it a more contemporary looks it's that beautiful blend of old and new when
05:42you look in the bag and in behind the ball it just gets better and better for me i would
05:46argue
05:46that these are some of the nicest looking blades in terms of profiles behind the ball that i've ever
05:51seen some blades are very angular some get a little bit more rounded this he's got a nice sort of
05:57squat
05:57boxy look to them and every club from four iron through to pitching wedge a bang on the money and
06:03that's something i don't see all the time in all sets of irons quite often you can like the look
06:06of
06:06some longer irons you like the look of the wedges but the mid-irons might quite not do it for
06:11you it
06:11just be one individual club literally every single club in this set looks exactly as it should in
06:17terms of performance they don't let you down either sure there's not much tech packed in because it's
06:22a blade but the feel is exceptional their kind of dual-cut sole here makes turf interaction an absolute
06:29dream in terms of blades from a direct to consumer there is not much better than this this is a
06:34great
06:34piece and that's why it's in my bag right i hope you're enjoying this video if you are don't forget
06:38to
06:38that like button and subscribe to the channel it really helps us and tell me what you think
06:42about my choices so far do you agree do you disagree and what have i missed get in the comments
06:47down
06:47below okay now so for my wedges of this ultimate direct to consumer bag i've gone a little bit left
06:56field and i've gone with a voda golf now some of you may know a voter from bryson de chambeau
07:01who had
07:01a voda clubs in the bag when he won his us open and more recently jason day's been dabbling in
07:06kind
07:06of the curved face irons but i wanted to shout out these wedges because i think they're absolutely
07:10brilliant in particular the w2 wedge now firstly in terms of the looks again right up my street super
07:17minimal very little branding really clean and neat so that's a good start for me from a shelf appeal
07:23point of view and then again when i put them in behind the ball the profiles are just great
07:27there's very minimal offset slightly rounded leading edge and the shaping is just exactly what i would
07:34want to see they're really really good from that point of view but the main reason i put them in
07:38is the sole technology the grind on these wedges this w2 grind is really interesting now when you
07:45look at it from a sole point of view and i'll pop some b-roll up of it now it
07:49will look like there's
07:50an awful lot of bounce so the angle is quite steep but there's a lot of trailing edge relief and
07:55there's
07:55an awful lot of leading edge relief so you don't get that sharp leading edge you've got a bit of
07:59a buffer
07:59there and i'm not going to say they're duff proof because someone will prove that wrong i'm sure
08:04and send me a video of it but they're very very close this is the most forgiving grind i think
08:09i've
08:10ever seen on a wedge and i really really like it and one more thing i do like about these
08:15wedges now
08:15this is a little silly point again i've said i don't like too much stuff going on on the club
08:19head
08:20in terms of information so at times i feel like i don't need to know the exact laugh i don't
08:24need to know
08:25the bounce i don't need to know the dna or the blood type of the wedge we've just got a
08:29good old
08:30fashioned g s and l on these wedges so it's a gap sand and a lob they're standard lofts within
08:36that
08:37are the gap wedge is 50 the sand wedge is 55 and the lob wedge is 60 so you can
08:41obviously manipulate
08:42that either way but i just like the simplicity of having that letter rather than the exact loft
08:47stamped on there just a thing for me and that's another reason why it's made it into my ultimate
08:51direct to consumer bag of 2025.
08:58so on to the flat stick now this is an important choice i've gone with probably a more little known
09:03brand amongst a lot of people out there this is a brand called kevin burns so we got sent some
09:08stuff
09:08from kevin burns at golf monthly a little while ago and putter tester sam diaf just fell in love with
09:13this stuff so it's super high end it is a little bit more premium in terms of price tag but
09:19it's so
09:19beautifully crafted i think you'll see from the b-roll that i'm running here that maybe that price
09:24tag is justified in the in the craftsmanship and workmanship that's gone into this putter
09:28now a few of you might not know but kevin burns actually designed a putter for jose maria o lathabo
09:33the 9304 i think it was this is the 9307 model so 9304 for jose maria o lathabo when he
09:40won the 1999
09:41masters so it's a major winning brand which is really interesting now there's a few things about this
09:47putter that make it very interesting we've got a little screw piece on the bottom of the sole so
09:51you can actually interchange different necks if you decide you want to feel a bit more toe flow or you
09:56want to get into a plumber's neck we've got a screw that allows us to change those necks in and
10:01out and
10:01the transition from where that goes in and out of the club head you would just never notice it is
10:06beautifully disguised we've also got a pyramid face here which provides a superb roll and again i'm going
10:13to run some b-roll i don't know if i've ever had a putter but as soon as you hit
10:17it the impact ratio
10:18is so small and the ball gets rolling so so quickly so based on that level of performance based on
10:23these
10:24incredibly premium looks and craftsmanship i make no apologies for putting this kevin burns 9307 putter
10:30in my ultimate bag
10:35okay so the final piece of the puzzle is the golf ball and i've brought with me arguably one of
10:39the most
10:39spoken about golf products of the last couple of years this is the kirkland's signature golf ball
10:45and it's probably most widely known for its incredible value for money but behind the value
10:50is actually a really good golf ball we've got a three-piece urethane golf ball and in my testing
10:56i did some testing of this golf ball up against a pro v1 i messed about with different drivers with
11:00the kirkland driver with the tireless driver that's another video you can watch on the golf monthly channel
11:04and it actually really held its own the only thing you're giving up in my opinion
11:08is potentially a little bit of the green side spin you get with a more premium ball
11:13but when you talk about ball speed and the consistency of the flight window and the feel
11:18and also the durability for that matter this is a really good option not just from a value point of
11:23view but from a golf ball point of view as a standalone option so that's why it's in my bag
11:28so there you have it those are my choices for my ultimate direct to consumer bag of 2025 what do
11:34you
11:34think get in the comments down below tell me why i'm wrong tell me what i've missed out these are
11:39my
11:39personal favorites i want to hear what you've tried in that direct to consumer market and what you love
11:48you
11:48you
11:48you
11:50you
11:52you
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