If there were to be such a thing as a golf version of “Top Trumps” for the best golf club brands, who would come out on top?
What would be the categories that would define if there was an undisputed best golf club brand?
Could you define the best golf club brands as the ones that have won the most majors as an example – In that respect, the award would go to Wilson.
It’s undoubtedly a good trivia question and won’t be the first company most people will answer with.
But it’s true. Wilson’s irons have won 61 majors.
This incredible run started with Gene Sarazen winning the 1922 U.S. Open, with the last victory also coming at the U.S. Open when Gary Woodland prevailed at Pebble Beach in 2019.
Wilson still produces fantastic golf clubs, but they aren’t in the league of what you might call the current “big 5,” who all stake a claim to be one the best golf club brands.
Best golf club brands – who makes the list?
Back to our golf version of “Top Trumps – Best Golf Club Brands,” who would our top 5 contenders be?
In no particular order, we will look at the credentials of the following:
Best Golf Club Brands: Callaway
Callaway rose to prominence when it launched the “Big Bertha” driver in 1991.
The driver gained instant appeal with professionals and, subsequently, amateurs as it featured a new hollow stainless steel construction, making it lighter than other metal-headed woods in the market.
Lightness meant making the club head larger.
The larger club head also made it more forgiving as mass could be moved to the perimeters of the face, making it easier on off-center hits.
The Big Bertha driver could also be useful from the fairway. Colin Montgomerie demonstrated perfectly with an astonishing driver off-the-deck approach into the 18th hole at the Emirates Golf Club to set up a narrow victory in the 1996 Dubai Desert Classic.
Callaway doubled down on the Big Bertha by being the first company to introduce a full titanium-headed driver in 1995 in the form of the Great Big Bertha.
Callaway has continued to make woods that feature cutting-edge engineering to make them easier to hit, and with the current favorite material – carbon fiber, make heads that are lighter and stronger than titanium.
Over the years, Callaway’s iron ranges offer players everything from traditional forged blades to pure game improvement, making them more than just a driver company.
Callaway has also made some great strategic alliances over the years to enhance their range by adding the Odyssey putter company and having Roger Cleveland design their wedges.
Over the years, Callaway has also had high-profile golfers such as Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam, and current world number 5 Xander Schauffele using Callaway equipment.
What Callaway has achieved in a short time frame compared to the other companies on this list is commendable and worthy of inclusion in the conversation of the best golf club brands.
Best Golf Club Brands: Titleist
Titleist is a giant in the game of golf.
Its position as one of the best golf club brands has never been doubted.
Titleist has never shied away from the fact that for years, their focus was more on the elite levels of golfers – they are prominent on all the tours and do a lot of work with the elite amateur ranks.
Their golf clubs are packed with innovation and sleek designs that certainly catch the eye of the more demanding player who doesn’t need help striking their ball and requires shot-shaping capabilities.
Titleist can also arguably claim to have produced the most successful golf ball ever in the Pro V1 and Pro V1X.
By the start of the 2019 season, these two balls had accumulated 3000 professional victories since being launched in 2000.
To understand further the success of Titleist, you only need to look at their 2022 season to get a snapshot:
- All four major winners of 2022 used a Pro V1 or Pro V1X ball
- The winners of the Open Championship and USPGA Championship used only Titleist equipment throughout their bags
- The winner of the U.S. Open used a Titleist driver, making it three major victories for Titleist drivers in 2022
To further enhance the idea that Titleist is a brand for elite performers, they also have Vokey wedges and Scotty Cameron putters in their stable.
Both Bob Vokey and Scotty Cameron are famous for the quality of their craftsmanship in producing some of the best wedges and putters in the game.
Best Golf Club Brands: TaylorMade
TaylorMade’s name and heritage in the world of golf can’t be disputed.
TaylorMade introduced the first full-production metal wood in 1979 and has gone from strength to strength since then.
TaylorMade pushed the boundaries further in 2004 when it launched the R7 Quad driver, the first to feature moveable weight technology.
This allowed the head to be dialed in to create a draw or fade-biased flight, depending on what the golfer was looking for.
Drivers and fairway woods continue to be a strong point for TaylorMade and their latest models – the Stealth 2 features carbon face technology they say they have been working on perfecting for the past 20 years.
But like Callaway, TaylorMade are more than just a “driver company”.
They innovated the market by being the first company to introduce what we now know as a hybrid back in the early 2000s.
Their irons and wedges have exceptional design, looks, and feel, offering everything from the sleekest of bladed irons to game improvement clubs for higher handicaps and beginners.
TaylorMade has also experienced success in the putter market lately, with its Spyder range featuring maximum head stability to keep the putter face as square as possible throughout the stroke.
With players like Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, and a certain Mr. Tiger Woods using their equipment, TaylorMade also has some of the best marketing opportunities in the current world of golf.
Best Golf Club Brands: Ping
A company that became prominent through its putters initially makes it unique amongst the other companies on this list.
Ping’s Anser putter has claimed 19 major championships and over 500 tour wins in its still-ongoing career.
When Karsten Solheim set up the company in 1959, he wanted to make the game of golf more accessible to all levels of golfers.
He started with the Anser, but before long, the irons the company was producing were becoming equally legendary.
This status peaked with the Eye 2 and Eye 2 Plus irons in the 80s.
These irons were so popular that they became as hard to get as the latest limited-edition supercars of the same era.
Club professionals couldn’t restock these irons quickly enough, and the factory’s demand to build the Eye 2s was intense.
Tour professionals also enjoyed using the Eye 2s, but some thought the irons almost were a “cheat” because they were so straight long, and the grooves imparted huge amounts of spin even from the rough.
From this period on, Ping has produced clubs that the top professionals continue to use and trust.
Ping has also been clever at adapting its range as well.
Even though Ping clubs ended up in the bags of many professionals, it was believed that they couldn’t compete with Mizuno and produce a blade that would appeal to the best ball strikers.
But models like the i-Blade and S59, S55, and S56 showed they could build sleek irons – they even created a forged iron that carried the company’s famous Anser title.
Ping also has gained a strong reputation for their drivers, with the latest model – the G430, consistently seen as one of the most stable and accurate drivers available in the market.
An engineer founded the company to help make the game of golf easier for everybody, and to that extent, that legacy continues today.
Best Golf Club Brands: Mizuno
Mizuno’s marketing line goes, “Nothing feels like a Mizuno“.
And given the reputation they have built up over the years for producing some of the finest and best feeling blades available, their strap line makes some sense.
Mizuno has been producing forged irons since 1933 – it was the first manufacturer to mass-produce forged irons, which professionals quickly grew to love because Mizuno’s process was more consistent.
Previously, professionals would get up to 10 sets of irons and build their ideal set, cherry-picking which ones they thought were the best.
Mizuno was also the first company to introduce a tour van to the main tours.
Knowing how professionals felt about their equipment, they introduced the tour van to the European Tour in 1984 to provide repairs or to build clubs for professionals.
Back to Mizuno’s claim that “nothing feels like a Mizuno,” the company has been producing its forged irons in the same foundry in Hiroshima, Japan, since 1968.
They use the softest carbon steel to mold their clubs’ heads and hosels, which they state add to the high levels of consistency and feel to the finished products.
Outside of Japan, Mizuno’s highest profile relationship was with Nick Faldo, who used Mizuno irons in all his six major victories.
While most people may think of Mizuno as an iron company, they have produced high-quality drivers and wedges over the years, giving them a strong overall presence.
