hmm.. ok ill go.
background. i started about 4 years ago.
discovered ready gos when i was a master.
Started playing in those and as is well known if you win a RG at the master tier you get tiered up to TM immediately.
Same thing with TM. win at TM and you get bumped up to Legend regardless of average and ranked rounds.
i rarely compete in pay tourneys anymore. Not because i can't probably do well in them. They just don't interest me right now and haven't for a while. I do play in the showdowns tho.
BUT i played in a ton while i was a Legend. i don't have a ton of earnings by comparison to many but most all of it was while a Legend. So yes even with lower gear i was competitive. I usually was in the top 10 somewhere. almost never out of top 15 and i won here or there as well.
And unlike what you posted. I could sustain my golf ball habit with winnings. i always came out ahead over time. Even enough to buy the purple XP juice.
so what's the point of this? you're making excuses that aren't valid. yes it's a tad harder without certain clubs. we all agree.
But to say you can't be competitive as a legend to higher level legends is quite frankly a lack of skill not clubs. look no further than 78% GIR.
an option i did was use more expensive golf balls in the 90s. can do that and still come out ahead on credits if have the skill and it closes some of the spin and or distance issues.
As far as leveling speed there are plenty of info on these forums on how to do it faster. 2000xp an hour is easily doable. (not counting the daily bonus streak) the daily streak bonus is huge when it comes to leveling speed.