New Member - Recent Equip. Thoughts

[BGE89]

Hey all!

 

I've been a member of other gof talk forums and thought I would join here.

 

I use to play a large amount of tournament golf as a jr. and was rather successfull. I am now 28 and I really wanty to get my game back in shape and take golf a little more serious for an amateur. I have always maintained a mebership at the club I played at as a jr. and tried my best to play the best equiptment I could afford which leads me to my question for fellow golfers that may be in a similar situation to myself.

 

I am trying to get prepared for this years season here in Canada and I am need of some new equiptment. I find it incredibly difficult to play at a high level without ensuring you are playing with good equiptment. I have used my current set-up for 5 years now (I switch wedges every 2 seasons but irons, fairway wood, driver are all the same) and the clubs have worn to the point where they need to be replaced.

 

I have been getting very discouraged in my efforts to find new equiptment as the prices have seemed to increase significantly in the last few years. It seems to me that the golf world has gone back to wanting the game to be very elitist and only reserved for the very wealthy to play. I've always known that golf was an expensive game to play but with a little advanced planning I have been able to continue to participate in the game and my biggest obstacle the last few years has been time for play/practice. Now that I am in a position in my personal and professional life to put more time into my golf game it seems I am no longer able to afford good equiptment. The prices of top of the line irons and woods has priced me out of the market and the industry trend seems to be rising prices for the higher end product.

 

I am wondering if many other golfers are being priced out of playing this game at a competitive amateur level due to rising equiptment costs and the rising cost of golf meberships and tournanment fee's?

[Kanoito]

Don't buy the newest stuff on the market. Last season's gear is just as good for a fraction of the price.

[MDGolfHacker]

Don't get discouraged! Yeah, prices on equipment is definitely going up every year. When I first started golfing, $500 got you a set of irons, now that's the cost of just one driver give or take. Buy last years stuff (just as good as this year's for the most part as Kanoito mentioned). There are many choices out there.

 

MDGolfHacker

[kyledanford]

Hey all!

 

I've been a member of other gof talk forums and thought I would join here.

 

I use to play a large amount of tournament golf as a jr. and was rather successfull. I am now 28 and I really wanty to get my game back in shape and take golf a little more serious for an amateur. I have always maintained a mebership at the club I played at as a jr. and tried my best to play the best equiptment I could afford which leads me to my question for fellow golfers that may be in a similar situation to myself.

 

I am trying to get prepared for this years season here in Canada and I am need of some new equiptment. I find it incredibly difficult to play at a high level without ensuring you are playing with good equiptment. I have used my current set-up for 5 years now (I switch wedges every 2 seasons but irons, fairway wood, driver are all the same) and the clubs have worn to the point where they need to be replaced.

 

I have been getting very discouraged in my efforts to find new equiptment as the prices have seemed to increase significantly in the last few years. It seems to me that the golf world has gone back to wanting the game to be very elitist and only reserved for the very wealthy to play. I've always known that golf was an expensive game to play but with a little advanced planning I have been able to continue to participate in the game and my biggest obstacle the last few years has been time for play/practice. Now that I am in a position in my personal and professional life to put more time into my golf game it seems I am no longer able to afford good equiptment. The prices of top of the line irons and woods has priced me out of the market and the industry trend seems to be rising prices for the higher end product.

 

I am wondering if many other golfers are being priced out of playing this game at a competitive amateur level due to rising equiptment costs and the rising cost of golf meberships and tournanment fee's?

 

 

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[kyledanford]

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Still learning on how to reply in the correct way.

 

Equipment has become very expensive. The thing with golfers is, they always want the newest and best. One thing I would recommend would be to join on some of the trader pages on Facebook. Many people are unloading relatively new equipment for a fraction of the cost.

 

 

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[ole gray]

Welcome to the BEST golf forum

 

 

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[MrWellingtonINC]

I totally agree. I think the way to do it is to replace one major piece every year or so, or get things from last season or slightly used. Ideally we would all just get a fresh bag with all new sticks every couple years, but thats not realistic. Get a set of irons one year, wedges the next, couple hybrids the following, driver the next year, and repeat as necessary. That makes the transition and learning curve less dramatic too in my opinion. you may have a new 3 wood that you Arent comfortable with, but at least you have your trust hybrid or driving iron and wedges that you can get up and down with. 

 

The pros were still shooting under par with 10 year old equipment, so as long as its not to worn out, top of the line new products aren't super necessary.

 

Just my opinion.

[mrsmith123]

Golf equipment is expensive because of paying players to advertise, r&d budgets that are retarded now (at least Parsons is honest about it), too much marketing, etc. With that said eBay has been my go-to place many times for a cost effective previous model. If you know your specs, then you can search pretty specifically on there.

 

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[Golfspy_CG2]

First welcome to MGS. Glad you found there are other forums out there as you mention, but this one is different and special.  You'll see!!

 

As to your question or deleima.   I think you are right, drivers were at the $299 mark for years, then they seemingly went to $450 to $500 in a matter of a year or two.  A lot of this is due to the newer more advanced technology going into them.   But I think a large part is just a healthy and strong economy allowing companies in all industries to rasie prizes and the public willingly paying for it (guilty as charged myself)  

 

As others have said, you can find very good quality stuff from last year or even the year before at a substantial savings.  heck I have some 2016 stuff I have been just putting off putting online for sale.  But you can find it in the oline fourums, ebay and other used sites such as Callaway and TaylorMade pre-owned.   Some really good deals there. 

 

It might take some work and time, but keep at it there are deals to be found on really good stuff all over. 

[PlaidJacket]

I'm a perfect example of your equipment dilemma. If in fact that's even a good choice of words. Excellent equipment is available all over the place. We all want the best equipment. I do.

 

Just yesterday I received a combo set of KZG forged irons I bought from a guy here in the Forum. These are fantastic high end clubs. I wasn't looking for new clubs but I thought these would be nice to have and eventually play later on. KZG might not be your cup of tee but I'm just telling you about my experience as an example. Go look over in the forum equipment/classified section and take a look. That's the kind of stuff you can run on to now and then around here.

 

Best wishes.

[josmi15]

Welcome to the forum!

 

When I first got back inter game and started taking it more seriously, I got a piece of advice, learn to play on newer used clubs. My swing didn't (still doesn't) know the difference.

 

 

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[Rikki03038]

Welcome to mgs!!! Also depending on what you're looking for but last year's used and the store i go to will sell the demo set for half price at the end of the season. Sometimes they will put new grips on them too

 

Callaway big bertha adilia rogue stiff with 1" tip

cobra f7 3 wood stiff

m2 3 hybrid adilia rogue stiff with half inch tip

Ping ie1 true temper xp 105 s300

mack daddy 2 56 and 60 wedges

stx putter

left handed

Handicap: my swing.

[BGE89]

My hunting on Callaway pre-owned continues... Lol

 

Can anyone tell me where I find the classifieds on here?

[ole gray]

Here ya go:   https://forum.mygolfspy.com/forum/28-free-classifieds/

[ole gray]

My hunting on Callaway pre-owned continues... Lol

 

Can anyone tell me where I find the classifieds on here?

 

Here ya go:   https://forum.mygolf...ee-classifieds/

[DawgDaddy]

Welcome aboard!

[Jay_nick1]

Welcome

 

 

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[deejaid]

You say you are now at a point in your personal and professional life to devote more time to golf, yet are discouraged by the cost of good equipment. You also said you are a member of a club. Are you discouraged because you are trying to keep up with others that are buying the $500 drivers, $1200 sets of irons and $500 Scotty putters? Is there a bit of vanity that makes you feel the need to have expensive equipment? That is completely understandable, people get judged by their bags all the time.

 

If it is strictly performance then there is no reason you can't put together a killer bag top to bottom, Driver, Woods, Hybrid, Irons, Wedges, and Putter for under $1000. Hell, I bet it could be done for $600-700.

 

Ben Hogan is a great example. With the restructuring they are doing you can get a set of clubs from them right now for half the price of new. And with all of the different golf equipment online retailers, you can find tons of close outs, including all the Nike stuff, just got to track it down

 

 

I haven't bought a brand new set of irons, wedges or driver at retail in probably 15 years. I always look for deals on high quality, lesser known clubs or 2-3 year old designs that are replaced by newer models but offer 90% of the performance for 25% of the price.

 

Case in point, my driver is a Cleveland Classic Custom XL I got for less than $100 new last year. It has an adjustable hosel and weight ports. It might not have all the newest tech or sliding adjustments, but I get a nice trajectory, good distance, and I keep it on the fairway most of the time. Could I get 10 more yards with a new driver? Perhaps. But my wallet would be $400-$500 lighter and for me I'd rather use that money for greens fees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Kenny B]

Welcome from the Pacific Northwest!  Glad you joined us.