Some interesting responses in here and a great topic.. one I probably avoid on other forums that aren't as tight knit as this one.
My 2 cents, worth nothing 😄
Cliff's Notes version of my long journey into whatever classification I might fall into, lol!
- I got my first SC putter in 1995, my uncle was a huge customer of Plaza Golf (now AOP), I was in 8th grade
- Gave up the game through my college years and really go into it again in 05ish
- Started researching equipment, found GolfWRX. Joined TCC shortly after but my ties were all to my "friends" on GolfWRX because at their core, they were equipment junkies like I was, but also golf was the #1 priority.
- Joined TCC shortly thereafter, just to see what it was about. Hated the vibe and the secret society type of vibe.. I had 009s at that point, so really wasn't into the whole politics of "collecting".
- At that point, I decided I would collect Bettinardi, TP Mills, Byron Morgan.. pretty much anything but Cameron, just to see what they were all about.
- Met a few local guys - members of TCC, totally debunked anything I thought of re: the hyper competitive/nerd infested vibe I got initially from TCC.
- This grew my affinity towards TCC and the "real" Cameron world which was about charity, friendships, and golfing together.
- A few years into it, a series of events basically confirmed my initial thoughts - the Aloha Invitational was born and has taken a life of its own.
I think to wrap my thoughts up with that high level context.. my journey started in 8th grade essentially and revolved around golfing and using the stuff I liked the most to help my game. I dabbled in the Bettinardi, TP Mills, and Byron Morgan world and at the end of the day, all of the then "smaller guys" really just made fun of SC but did almost the same thing, even copying his putters/covers/releases etc. I thought that for assuming groups of Anti-SC people, it sure was hypocritical to basically copy him (when the main strike against SC at the time was that he copied everyone) hypocrisy everywhere.
In the end, I shed all my other putters aside from Damascus Byrons and Scotty collection for the simple fact that I like them. Period. I don't care if anyone else does, or who has what, I care about the stuff I like and I'm honored to have been a part of memorable moments in people's lives that would have never happened without the SC world networking.
Lots of flash in the pan types of guys, the #metoo guys, the jumping ship guys, bitter guys, complainer guys, and worst of all the entitled guys. They have ruined the SC game for me - but those same guys existed years ago before Instagram, just with less visibility and no platform.
In the end - enjoying the game of golf alone is a blessing. Having the means to golf and also collect high end golf clubs/putters is a great place to be in life. I have made and lost friends in the SC/golf/country club world - people change, things change, and at the end of it all enjoying the things you like with people you like is the only thing that matters.
