ct690911:I have to agree there...especially with the excellent equipment available for purchase so early on...this wasn't the case when I joined...I had closer tees, but far less experience and crap equipment was basically the only thing available
Were you around before there were levels? Once upon a time tier was the one and only restriction. People complained that it wasn't realistic, so they changed it to a level-only system. It wasn't long before it was again changed to the hybrid tier/level system you see today.
I thought the tier-only restriction was the best to be honest. You had to tier up to unlock better and longer equipment, not just play a lot. With those better clubs came better competition. Seems to make sense.
Was it realistic to restrict equipment based on tier alone? Eh. People complained it wasn't fair they couldn't hit 300 yards off the Amateur tees. I countered that argument with the fact that it's not fair they can hit 90% of their fairways. It's not realistic to have people hitting the ball 300 yards off the tee AND hitting it straight with relative ease.
Regardless of what you thought of the old system it did a decent job at keeping the inter-tier competition pretty close. You couldn't really sandbag that system too hard. I thought that it was a decent trade-off for a little sacrifice in realism.
Considering we already sacrifice plenty on the realism front for free (draw/fade, change stance, open/close club, hit a damn bunker shot from 150yds) it seemed like a win-win.
What's funny is when I see someone post and ask why equipment isn't tier based only. I can only chuckle to myself.