I reached Tour Master at level 58. (I was at Master at 42, Tour pro at 30 something, and pro in the teens). Pretty much everyone I play with has better equipment than me because I've advanced rapidly.
Since the difference between TM and Master is negligible, I expect I'll be at legend fairly soon, (I play tourney and championship greens regularly in Ready-Go tournaments and the tee boxes haven't changed).
When I reach legend, I expect it will come around level 65-70 which means, with the parabolic increase in XP necessary to level up, it will be months before I'm not playing with inferior equipment..
My putter, I got in the teens, (I think). My irons and wedges in the forties, my 3w (which I don't usually have because I usually use 4 wedges), in the 40s somewhere, and my driver at level 58.
Little old ladies out-drive me, school children out-drive me, but I still advance because I am always getting better, throwing darts, learning the nuances, playing smart.
I may not have a 400 yd drive under my belt, but I believe I will be competitive, in fact successful, at any tier, even with lesser equipment.
Having a fast car doesn't make you a good driver, having the newest gadget doesn't mean you know how to use it, and having the best clubs doesn't make you a good golfer.
I'm not denying there are sandbaggers and other injustices out there, but that's life. You navigate them as best you can and you always try to be better than them.
Whether it's a 2mph headwind on a level green from 75 yds, or a 30 mph crosswind and a 35' elevation change from 175 yds, I can still put the ball inside of 10'. I know the shot.
The way I see it, a hack with R11s (to be absurd) still only has an advantage over me on 1, (maybe 2), holes. Usually par fives I can't reach in two. Even then, the hack had better make his eagle putt because I'm damned sure going to drop my approach within a yard or two for an easy birdie.
You can give someone a rocket launcher, a magnetic ball, and an iron cup; I still think I can win.
Sidenote:
Steelers75:Matter-of-factly, you've no clue what it's like for Legends until you're there yourself.
As an interesting point of grammar, you only contract "you have" when
"have" is past tense, e.g. "You've won the lottery," or, "you've
advanced to legend tier"
You never contract "you have" when "have" is possessive, e.g. "You've no clue", or, "You've herpes".
The most common misusage is both incorrect and redundant;
"You've got..." e.g. "You've got to be kidding me", or, "You've got bad
grammar". "Have" and "got" mean the same thing.
I don't know why I felt the need to mention that, but there it is.