The Zombie Phenomenon

By Anthony Barkley
NZPGA Professional

I heard this expression from a golf company recently and having thought about it, it does make sense in the golf industry. A Zombie in this definition is referred to a golfer that follows the same habits or ways without being open to new methods or goods. In no way is it intended as a personal insult on any reader but let’s find out if you may categorise yourself as a Zombie golfer after this article.
So the first thing you need to ask yourself is why do you use the gear you do? If you have used a certain ball for years and years, why? Why do you use the clubs you have? Why do you support the brands you do?
If the answers are because the brand always make good gear, because I have always used it or because my mate said I should then you as a golfer may be part of the Zombie Phenomenon. If this is you rest assured you are not alone and to be honest is it that bad. What it means is that as a golfer you can be a little closed to potential gains from technology in club and shaft design. And lets face it, there have been considerable changes from companies over the last few years that have changed the way clubs are made.
The thing is, the technology changes will not stop so as a golfer you can either choose to ignore these and keep doing what you have always done or use it to your advantage.
 If you keep doing the same things, if you cant justify why you use a ball or you firmly believe that anything new wont help your game I think you need to break the Zombie cycle and look outside the square a little. You may find yourself something that works.
Here is a great example of a client who admits to have being in the Zombie cycle until he tried something different:
I was a hard core ……. fan, and never thought I’d find a ball that measured up to this leading brand. That was until someone in my group said I should give the new Wilson Staff Duo Urethane a go.
Even though I loved the …….. on approach shots and on and around the green, I found them a bit soft off the tee. The ……… was firmer off the tee, and straighter when I hit a bad shot, but too hard on approach shots and on and around the green.
When I tried the Wilson Duo I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it was a great combination of feeling firm on tee shots and flying far, and being extremely soft feeling on approach shots and on and around the green. For putting, it was particularly nice feeling, and probably softer than the ProV1. For approach shots with short irons the ball had that nice sticky feeling, when you compress the ball and you feel like it sticks to your club face for a fraction of a second.
Probably one of the best features of the ball for me being a father with a young family, is the price.
So, are you part of the Zombie Phenomenon?