Besides I love the game of golf, I love to cook. Without a doubt, my favorite chef of all time is Jacques Pépin. If you are not familiar with Pepi, I suggest you become one. To keep things short, he is easily one of the greatest chefs of all time (the greatest, in my opinion). Part of his magic and appeal is his approach to cooking. A self-described “stingy” chef, he believes in wasting nothing and that good food doesn’t need to be pretentious or expensive. He is absolutely right.
I forget where I read it years ago, but when asked about his favorite cookware brands and tools, he basically said brand didn’t matter. Cookware, to him, was just a set of tools, and a good tool was a good tool, regardless of price or provenance. This is not to say that premium brands are good or budget brands are automatically bad. It means that across the wide pantheon of things, you can find quality tools anywhere if they do the job well.
That’s the exact philosophy I’ve taken to buying merchandise and it’s been a fun ride. As you already know, Wilson Buckingham it was our best gauge last year and costs $140. For all intents and purposes, this is a “free” shooter, and let me tell you, it’s a great shooter. At the moment, I’m playing Tour Edge Exotics Wingman 801 Slant– another option under $200. At $170, it’s $30 more than the Buckinghambut I’d say they’re totally in the same class ($30 is paltry these days). In short, I love it, and in a day where golf equipment is insanely expensive, we’re living in what I call a golden age for affordable high-quality golfers.
At the moment, you can find amazing shooters from Cleveland, WilsonAND Tour Edge for all under $200. Follow Jacques Pépin’s cooking philosophy – understand that it doesn’t matter how much you spend on your utensils, especially if they are of high quality. Right now, we have more affordable options than ever, and I think that might be a bit of a response to the ever-increasing price of golf clubs (but who knows). Whatever the reason, I love affordable picks and many other players should too.
