You might think you are making the best equipment decisions for your game — but what if those decisions are actually hurting your score more than helping it?

Golfers have assumptions when it comes to their gear. A lot of these assumptions have been passed down over multiple generations, based solely on anecdotal evidence.

Unfortunately, some of them are costing you shots and seriously damaging your enjoyment of the game.

After 15 years of testing, we have disproven many of these myths and are empowering golfers to make better decisions. A more informed golfer is a happier golfer.

In no particular order, here are nine equipment myths all golfers should know.

Myth #1: Forged irons are inherently better than cast irons

The ball and your scorecard don’t know or care if your irons were squeezed (forged) or poured (cast) into a shape.

Contrary to popular belief, a golf ball can fly as far and straight with a cast club as it can with a forged one.

The myth of forged clubs being “better” started back in the day because people thought forged irons felt better and professional golfers played them because they were easier to bend and adjust. Cast irons were also cheaper to produce. Forged clubs needed individual molds which cost upward of $10,000 each.

A more discerning golfer might recognize a feel difference in forged clubs but that generally is not because it is cast. That feel difference often comes from forged irons using 1025 material which is a specific type of metal that is easier to forge because of its relative softness. Cast irons typically use cheaper, harder metals. The difference in the material being used is what can affect the feel of the club.

However, the “forged” label for current-day clubs does not automatically mean softer metal. Multi-material irons may only have a small piece of the clubhead being forged. Manufacturers are creating four- or five-piece irons that mix the forged and cast process so much of this old myth is not relevant anymore.

But the bottom line stands: Forged is not inherently “better” than cast.

Myth #2. Newer automatically means better

One of the most common questions we get is whether new equipment is worth it. Will that new driver make a real impact compared to the one you own?

We have 15 years of data on this exact question. With drivers, there is about a 0.5-1 yard of increase each year. With all other clubs in the bag, there is almost no distance performance difference year-over-year.

Our simple rule of thumb is that if your club is one year old, you most likely do not need a new club. If your club is three years old, you might see benefits. If your club is more than five years old, you most likely will see benefits.

This is, of course, relative to each person. If you have a blade putter that is 40 years old and test it against a newer putter designed to maximize efficiency on off-center hits, you will notice a real performance difference. If you have a driver from 2022 and are wondering if it is already time to replace it, the answer is probably no.

One major caveat is whether you are custom fitted for your equipment. If you have never been fitted for a driver, getting properly fitted with a recent model would virtually guarantee a significant yardage increase.

So does newer mean better? In many cases, the answer is no. But for certain golfers, newer models of clubs could be greatly beneficial.

Myth #3. Putter hosels matter

One of the main functions of a putter hosel—the piece that connects the shaft to the head—is to provide the proper amount of toe hang for a specific putting stroke.

Toe hang refers to the relative weight in the toe of the putter, a factor that causes the putter head to open more on the backstroke. This influences how you get the putter head back to square at impact.

You can get a sense of toe hang by balancing a putter horizontally, using one finger to hold the shaft about three-quarters of the way down the shaft. The more the putter toe faces toward the ground, the more toe hang it has.

Hosels influence toe hang by changing the center of gravity. However, they are not necessary.

You can achieve the exact same effect without a hosel. If you use a direct shaft-in-head method and then bend the shaft from there, you can find your desired toe hang to accommodate the type of stroke you have.

So why do putter hosels exist if they aren’t needed? More for aesthetics than anything.

Most high-end putters have hosels so other putters tend to skew toward having a hosel to have the look of a more expensive putter.

Ultimately, putter hosels are not needed.

Myth #4. Longer equals better

One of the core assumptions golfers have is that if equipment adds distance, that means it is superior.

After 15 years of testing, what we’ve learned is the “longest” club can have the worst Strokes Gained score. That just means the club ultimately adds strokes to your scorecard compared to other equipment.

How could that be? Some clubs sacrifice accuracy and/or consistency to maximize distance.

In our driver testing, we have had scenarios where the longest shot was hit by a certain brand of driver—and then that same driver was also among the shortest of all brands in our test. For instance, this happened with the TaylorMade AeroBurner driver when it came out.

What does that mean? It means that when the driver was hit perfectly square, the length was impressive. But if contact was made somewhere else on the face, a significant amount of yardage was lost. Other drivers may not have the longest drive but are far more consistent over the long haul.

Golfers often think of driver dispersion as a range from left to right rather than thinking about dispersion in length from front to back. We commonly see golfers blame themselves after hitting drives that went much shorter than usual—but the club could play a bigger role in that discrepancy than you might think.

This is true of other clubs. In two of our recent iron tests, the longest irons were by far the worst in Strokes Gained.

Golfers might be swayed by seeing eye-popping numbers during a fitting but added length on perfectly squared-up shots could mean a lot less length or accuracy on mishits.

Myth #5. Putter looks affect performance

How many times have you stood over a putter and had a positive or negative feeling?

Maybe it just looks awkward to your eye despite you being able to put a smooth stroke on the ball. Or maybe something in your mind is telling you a certain style of putter inspires confidence just from the way it looks at setup.

Mentally, it might seem like that feeling over the ball translates to making or missing more putts. In our testing, that is completely untrue.

We took subjective data for years on what golfers would score as the best-looking putter. And then we would compare that information with performance metrics for the same golfers.

There is zero correlation between the two. Enjoying the look of a putter has no bearing on making more putts or vice versa.

Some golfers are shown which putter is best for them from a Strokes Gained standpoint and still decide against choosing that putter because they don’t like the visuals.

What does affect performance in putting? How the putter sets up to your stroke—including the visual alignment aid—is one of the main factors. Weight, length and lie angle are other factors that can affect putter performance. There are a lot of other important variables but the look is not one of them.

Myth #6. Alignment lines on golf balls improve putting

You will regularly see PGA Tour players use an alignment line on their ball while putting.

That has been copied by recreational players who want to shave strokes by using an easy alignment aid.

However, our testing has not shown any correlation between alignment lines and success.

In fact, we found that using a line farther away from the hole actually hurt performance.

If, for example, a golfer was 50 feet away from the hole and lined up the ball slightly off target, that exacerbated the issue and caused their next putt to be from farther away from the hole than if they didn’t use an alignment line in the first place.

Even testers who were 10 feet away, using an alignment line on their ball, performed worse than those with no line. The same could be said for being 20 feet from the hole.

Quite simply, we have found no evidence that alignment lines positively impact golfers. We don’t have enough data on multiple lines (such as the Callaway Triple Track) and will test that in the future.

Myth #7. It’s the archer, not the arrow

A classic (and frustrating) misconception is that great golfers can overcome equipment deficiencies but bad golfers aren’t talented enough for equipment to matter.

The truth is the archer and the arrow are vitally important.

You could give Tiger Woods a set of the worst clubs we’ve ever tested and he probably would still break 80. But it’s unlikely he would shoot his best score.

There is a mountain of data saying that equipment choices are vital. The range of distance in our ball testing is 39 yards between the shortest and longest ball. The difference between the shortest and longest driver in our testing is about 20 yards.

We’ve found a wide range of equipment that impacts scoring, whether it is a shaft, shoes or even a rangefinder.

Does equipment benefit one sector of golfers more than another? There is no clear answer to that.

Repeatable golf swings, even if they are flawed, benefit the most from being properly fitted with gear tailored to that swing.

But it is true that beginners can have a more challenging time maximizing equipment benefits. Their swings are changing more rapidly so it’s hard to get fit for one tendency. It is better to establish baseline tendencies before getting fitted.

Having the right equipment helps all golfers. The archer takes some of the blame but the arrow is a lot more important than many people think.

Myth #8. Rust adds spin

Prior to us doing testing last year, eight out of eight manufacturers confirmed to us that rust does not add spin.

And in the test itself, the “clean” versions of the wedges actually produced slightly more spin than the rusty wedges. Rust might actually reduce backspin.

Rust creates friction but does that friction positively or negatively affect spin performance off a wedge?

For the majority, it most likely affects spin negatively. Rust is dense enough to inhibit the purpose of grooves. Grooves are made to have a specific geometry that enhances spin.

Many wedges utilize face textures to assist with spin consistency, such as micro-ribs, micro-grooves or face blasts.

Rust has the potential to negate all of the positive features of a wedge, especially over time. Additionally, grooves are designed to tight specifications. Rust is unpredictable and most likely will compromise those precise specifications.

Myth #9. Milled putters are better than cast putters

This is similar to the first myth about forged versus cast irons.

The ball doesn’t care if you’re hitting it with a milled face, a cast face or a plastic insert. There is no evidence to prove that a milled putter that costs more money outperforms a cast putter.

We had a Tommy Armour putter, which costs under $100, win past putter tests, beating out high-end milled-face putters.

The technology, or lack thereof, in some of the higher-end putters suggests they are closer to a work of art than a putter designed to maximize forgiveness.

Going back to myth No. 5, the vast majority of golfers skip getting fitted for a putter because they rely more on the looks and feel of it rather than the technology included. Even the majority of PGA club professionals who are performing the club fittings don’t have a custom-fitted putter in their own bag.

However, the tech is just as vital in a putter as it is in a driver.

Most golfers would greatly benefit from getting fitted for their putter. And many would be surprised at how the top-performing putter during testing would likely not be a high-end milled putter.

It’s yet another reason to consider all options and do your research before purchasing golf equipment.

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