In a world where people are becoming freer to express their individuality, I still see an awful lot of dreary, dark, impersonal golf bags everywhere I go... So to add some pizzazz to your gear, here are seven ways in which you can inject a bit more personality into your gear that are (mostly) easy to implement.
1. Stamping
Once upon a time, this was very much a tour only offering but now club stamping is available to the masses on most of the best wedges, so why not get something personal stamped on your favorite wedges? The possibilities are endless, from a nickname, important date, child's name or even an inspirational quote, stamping your wedges is a really neat way of individualizing your golf clubs.
2. Custom ferrules
Some of you may even be asking; “What is a ferrule?!”. Well, a ferrule is the small plastic collar that sits on the top of the neck of the iron and transitions the head neatly into the shaft. They generally serve no performance related purpose, so as they are purely decorative, why not go to town a little?
Custom ferrules have grown in popularity over the past few years with club makers around the globe, as they provide a nice opportunity to put a personal stamp on golf equipment and make it stand out from the crowd.
Companies such as BB&F Co. provide a vast array of color and design options, so you will certainly be able to find something to your taste. You don’t have to be purchasing a new set of the best irons to liven up your ferrule game either. Any reputable club maker will happily pull the heads of your current set and retrofit some cool new ferrules for a relatively small price.
3. Colorful Grips
Golf grips are another component that have developed significanlty in recent years. Gone are the days where your only choice was between a Tour Wrap or a Victory grip, the best golf grips now come in every texture, color, thickness and design you can imagine!
Firstly, be sure to consult a professional to establish the best size and style of grip for you hands, but once you have those parameters established, go nuts! Even the tour pros like to customize their grips.
Ok, so you may not have the option to have your personal logo embossed into the grip like Lamkin do for Justin Rose, but you could coordinate your grips with your shafts like Tyrrell Hatton does. Hatton uses a Golf Pride multi-compound grip which comes in numerous colors, and he likes to match the accent color of the grip with the main color of the shaft it is fitted to.
If cohesion isn’t your thing, then go and find the brightest, boldest grip you can to make you stand out on the tee! You could even check out some of the more risque designs from Australian-based company Ripit…
4. Upgrade your paint fill
It is not just your wedges that can benefit from some color customisation, just about all of the clubs in your bag will likely have some stamping or engraving that you can switch up the color of yourself.
To do so, you’ll need to first carefully remove the current paint fill using a combination of some nail polish remover or acetone and something small and pointy to scrape out the void. Once you have cleared the stamping you wish to upgrade, it is time to fill with your desired color. There are specific paint pens for this job that you can buy from specialist golf club maker sites, however standard nail polish does the job perfectly well.
Apply fairly generously over the area you wish to fill, then give the surface a light wipe to remove some of the excess. Once the polish has dried for a minute or so you should be good to wipe off the rest of the residual paint with a tissue and a light drop of nail polish which should just leave the paint in the stamping where it should be. Then just sit back and admire your new customized clubs!
5. Custom Headcovers
Even the greats of the game like to personalize their headcovers, so why can’t you? You can spot the Tiger on top of the great Mr Woods’ bag from a mile away and the familiar dog driver cover on top of Rory McIlroy’s bag is always present. Whether you are immortalizing a pet or showing support for your football team, there are loads of ways to smarten up this area of your bag.
UK based Glam Golf make some really fun headcovers and will design bespoke to your requests, while PRG Originals create some cool, novelty designs. There are some other fantastic manufacturers in our best headcovers guide. It’s not just the top end of your bag that can benefit here, some of the coolest headcovers out there are on putters, so get out there and personalize those headcovers!
6. Personalized golf balls
Now this is always a big flex on the 1st tee… While everyone else identifies their golf ball by saying the brand, model and whatever mark they have drawn on, if you can identify yours with a printed logo or name then you are sure to stand out.
Personalizing your ball is easier than ever, with many companies such as Titleist, Callaway and TaylorMade offering this service. On a recent trip to the TaylorMade ball plant in Liberty, South Carolina, I was privileged to see some proprietary technology that TaylorMade has developed that is taking ball customisation to a whole new level! The visual technology of golf balls is something they have invested heavily in and there are some seriously cool options coming over the next year.
The MySymbol program from TaylorMade provides huge levels of customisation where you can add symbols, logos and custom messaging amongst many other interesting options. If this is a step too far for you, brands offer plenty of different block colors like yellow balls as well as pink, red or even green. Alternatively, just grab a bunch of colorful marker pens and get creative yourself.
7. Custom golf cart
Now I have left this one until last as I appreciate that not everyone (myself included) has the spare cash lying around to justify a custom golf cart, but we can all dream...
Some of the coolest custom golf carts I have seen have choices of wheels, air conditioning, sound systems, embossed logos on leather seats and much much more.
It seems that custom golf carts are becoming the must-have accessory for the super rich with celebrities such as Michael Jordan, Larry Fitzgerald and Patrick Mahomes all boasting their own bespoke vehicles. For the more extreme among you, why not even consider Bubba Watson's hovercraft golf cart shown below!
There really are countless things you can do to personalize your golf gear... Precision Pro even offer custom skins to jazz up your rangefinder. There are no rules here, just don’t be afraid to express yourself and stand out from the crowd.
