Alternatives brands

[lagratte]

Hello,

 

I'm a french guy and for my first iron set i don't want to pay for marketing, but i want a set to play more than 6th month or one year.

The first solution is pre-owned or used.

I think the beginner set like cobra xl is not a good idea, but perhaps i am wrong.

The other solution is alternative brand, but in France it's difficult to have reviews on other brand than titleist, callaway,........ We find just some disparate experiences with very differents reviews and purposes.

The alternatives brands "readily" available are maltby, acer and dynacraft with very differents prices between sellers. Acer XV is the cheapest

I don't know if it's a good idea, but i look the us seller for alternative brand.

I see Alpha rx-2, gigagolf trx v11, sub70 and those i previously quoted.

What do you think about my idea to import without trying ? My professor say me it's a very bad idea lol

Could you give me, with your experiences or knowledge, a ranking "best value for money" of brands i quoted ? I have a big doubt about Gigagolf's quality. The price is very low.

 

Regards

 

 

[cnosil]

6 hours ago, lagratte said:

Hello,

 

I'm a french guy and for my first iron set i don't want to pay for marketing, but i want a set to play more than 6th month or one year.

The first solution is pre-owned or used.

I think the beginner set like cobra xl is not a good idea, but perhaps i am wrong.

The other solution is alternative brand, but in France it's difficult to have reviews on other brand than titleist, callaway,........ We find just some disparate experiences with very differents reviews and purposes.

The alternatives brands "readily" available are maltby, acer and dynacraft with very differents prices between sellers. Acer XV is the cheapest

I don't know if it's a good idea, but i look the us seller for alternative brand.

I see Alpha rx-2, gigagolf trx v11, sub70 and those i previously quoted.

What do you think about my idea to import without trying ? My professor say me it's a very bad idea lol

Could you give me, with your experiences or knowledge, a ranking "best value for money" of brands i quoted ? I have a big doubt about Gigagolf's quality. The price is very low.

 

Preowned is always a good option.   

Another option is Sub 70 golf.  They are now in Eurpope/Netherlands.  https://sub70golf.nl/  

 

[myherobobhope]

8 hours ago, lagratte said:

Hello,

 

I'm a french guy and for my first iron set i don't want to pay for marketing, but i want a set to play more than 6th month or one year.

The first solution is pre-owned or used.

I think the beginner set like cobra xl is not a good idea, but perhaps i am wrong.

The other solution is alternative brand, but in France it's difficult to have reviews on other brand than titleist, callaway,........ We find just some disparate experiences with very differents reviews and purposes.

The alternatives brands "readily" available are maltby, acer and dynacraft with very differents prices between sellers. Acer XV is the cheapest

I don't know if it's a good idea, but i look the us seller for alternative brand.

I see Alpha rx-2, gigagolf trx v11, sub70 and those i previously quoted.

What do you think about my idea to import without trying ? My professor say me it's a very bad idea lol

Could you give me, with your experiences or knowledge, a ranking "best value for money" of brands i quoted ? I have a big doubt about Gigagolf's quality. The price is very low.

 

Regards

 

 

Sub70 is great, and can help you get into the right clubs... the ceo is quite responsive and will help you find the right set of clubs.

maltby is great, but you need to know what you want to make it work.

[email protected] send him an email, tell him what you are looking for and see what he says... I’m not sure what’s available in France, but he should be willing to help.

@Sub70

[lagratte]

Hello,

 

In firts, I want to thank you for answering.

Of yours posts, i note that pre-owned and used and sub70 are the two best choices, perhaps maltby in third. It reduces my research.

 

I talked with my coach. He asked me to wait before to buy my set. He believes a lot in the sensations that we can have with the club and he wants me to try before buying.

He will inquire in his knowledge network if he can find a demonstration iron set for a low price (proshop, commercial agent ......).

But, he knows that i don't want to change my set in few years, and it's difficult to select one, for beginner (SGI) with the risk that i must change it quickly or for middle index, with the risk that i have some difficulties to play with in the beginning. And that changes the type of search.

When you have a tight budget, it's allways difficult to make the good choice.

I was able to try different iron (cobra, callaway, wilson, taylormade, ping) and  my best feelings are with a lite regular shaft and a little heavy head.

 

In France, The pre-owned market is less developed than in the US. We have less players.

I would like to take advantage of your participation to ask you for your point of view on the french pre-owned market

I give you some example that it exist in my area (pretty close enough for me to try them) for a beginner or not :

ping g20 5/p : 217,57$ (a little bit old and not in good condition)

ping g700 (5 to w, 7 clubs): 556,03$ ( a little expensive for me)

Taylor made RAC (3-p; driver burner, 3 wood, sw, putter, bag) : 241,71$  (low price but very old)

There are other ads, but not in my area and I can not try them, or too expensive for me.

 

For new, Sub70 and maltby, i can't try them.

I had noted the 739, but it is discontinued and remplaced the next summer.

With the taxes and shipping, the 699 is perhaps a little too expensive. And i'm not not sure that is for beginner.

 

I am glad to have your external point of view, golf being much more developed in your country, your vision is different

 

Regards

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cnosil]

My suggestion is that you continue to work with your coach to find a set.  He will be able to identify the best set for you. 

[lagratte]

we have to do a basic "fitting" session, my swing is not stabilized, to refine the research. if we arrive at more precise criteria, it will indeed be easier to find the right equipment.  New or used.

I will try to contact sub70, to see if it is possible to be loaned a club

[Kansas King]

I would recommend continuing to work with your coach. However, if you are out looking, the Maltby heads are great and you really can't go wrong with any of them. If cost is a concern their STI2 heads are great and fit a very wide range of skills. If you can spend a little more, the TS2 heads are fantastic also. Acer and Dynacraft seem to get mixed reviews and tolerances can be a little loose but for the price, they aren't bad. 

The custom club makers like Maltby get a lot of grief because they don't spend much on marketing and they aren't widely available in pro shops. However, they are just as good as everything else out there performance wise. Plus, Maltby's customer service is top notch.

If you're looking to go used, the Ping G and i series are great starting as old as the G2s. Any of the used Callaway X series irons are great for beginners. The Titleist AP1s are a great beginner set. I would be cautious about Mizuno stuff as most of their older used forgings aren't that forgiving. Some of the newer Mizuno JPX lines would make a good starter set but you would want to ask your coach to make sure. 

[Kanoito]

Callaway recently launched their pre-owned website for Europe (not sure of Brexit affects shipping and tax). It's still not as cheap as in the US, but better than nothing.

https://eu.callawaygolfpreowned.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwyZmEBhCpARIsALIzmnIvKqSqT0DHZs9D28txa2Omi_yR1smRlACy1n2Fg6hiDDqsoioeuB8aAhJPEALw_wcB

You can also check eBay in neighboring countries. I find the selection to be OK here in Germany, but still can't compare to US prices. Shipping for a set to France should go for EUR 20 maximum.

If you can narrow it down to a few choices, I can check locally and ship to France for you from Germany.

[lagratte]

Thank you for your messages. 

I have noted the different set on occasion.

I will continue my research. 

I saw the new callaway site yesterday. Unfortunately nothing for me, but I will monitor him regularly.

I watch eBay as well. 

I showed my coach the alternative brands.

of course, for him, difficult to form an opinion with photos.

but from his point of view

Sub70 and maltby forged are good products. Less convinced about other.

but he really wants me to try before I buy. so it's complicated for brands like sub70 and maltby.

I will continue to test some différent produits and look pre owned.

And perhaps contact sub70 Europe if it's possible to test club.

 

 

 

[myherobobhope]

I know they have a presence in England, but I’m not sure how that works now... reach out to jay. 

[myherobobhope]

@GolfSub70sorry, I didn’t have the correct user name! I blame jay.

 

what’s the status for clubs to France? And when are the new sgi clubs coming?

 

also, the 699 are great clubs and would be good to learn with... enough forgiveness for a beginner but easy to grow into as well.

[lagratte]

The 739 is discontinued.

It will be replaced by 799 in summer 2021.

The US site ship to France.

I don’t know how it works on the European site

 

[Kanoito]

Keep in mind that shipping from the US you might be taxed heavily + expensive shipping.

They have distribution in the UK:

https://www.golfsub70.com/sub70-international-distributors.html

and in Netherlands as well http://sub70golf.nl/

 

[benb1989]

Have you looked in Decathlon? Their Inesis range seems to get positive reviews and all their stuff is very reasonably priced. 

[Pandaman]

1 hour ago, benb1989 said:

Have you looked in Decathlon? Their Inesis range seems to get positive reviews and all their stuff is very reasonably priced. 

This ^^ is exactly what I was going to say.

[lagratte]

After verifications, the US site does not send the clubs to France

"The Sub 70 Demo Program is currently available to golfers located in the continental United States. Unfortunately the cost and time required to ship demo clubs outside of that area will not allow us to do so."

So, I will have to contact the European retailers.

 

For inesis, my coach doens't like, for two reason : durability and resale. But it is on the old range, it does not know the new series 400.

I think I will try it anyway.

 

Alternative brands was, for me, also, a way to stand out from the other players

 

 

 

[lagratte]

I saw the new 799 sub70. Very interesting design. Different from the others.

I just see, sub70europe.com ship to France. 20£

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by lagratte
to complete my post

[Stuka44]

7 hours ago, lagratte said:

I saw the new 799 sub70. Very interesting design. Different from the others.

I just see, sub70europe.com ship to France. 20£

 

Not sure what the cost would be to get them to France.  In one of your first posts you mentioned Gigagolf.  I bought a set of irons from them because I didn't want to pay $500.00 + for a set of irons to begin playing with.  I used the ones I bought for 5-7 years.  Never had any problems, no heads came flying off or anything.  Their website gives you some basic measurements to see if you need a little longer than standard, a few grip upgrades if you want them.  I am still presently using a Gigagolf 3w, 2h, and 3h

(eight years old, and when I purchased them they were each $35 including shipping and handling) in my present set.  They are inexpensive, and not fancy to look at, but as a beginner I liked them to get started.  I have not purchased from them in a while, their quality was good when I purchased 10 years ago), unless recent comments seem to indicate otherwise.  As stated the 3W, 2H, and 3H I am still using are 8 or so years old, and still going strong.  With new hybrids by "mainstream" manufacturers going for 250 and 300 dollars, I have no intention of replacing them until the head flies off of one.  And then I may go back to Gigagolf for the replacement.  Just for information

[lagratte]

There is two european website, England and Nederland.

The shipping to France cost 20£=28$
If i don't find anything in France, i will contact them.

 

Thanks for your review on your experience with gigagolf. The price IS very low, the review on the website are very good, but i don't find anything elsewhere on the web

 

[Stuka44]

On 4/29/2021 at 3:48 PM, lagratte said:

Thanks for your review on your experience with gigagolf. The price IS very low, the review on the website are very good, but i don't find anything elsewhere on the web

Your Welcome:  They were good quality, I expect would still be.  More than sufficient I would think to get you started, for the right price.

[lagratte]

Thanks
My preference remains certainly the pre-owned club to be able to try them, but I keep this possibility if I find nothing.

[Kanoito]

I think you can't go wrong with Sub70 Europe... look at all the positive reviews from MGS members here:

Perhaps contact their UK branch and ask if they have anything preowned? But now have to consider Brexit and all that crap.

https://www.sub70europe.com/

[lagratte]

22 hours ago, Kanoito said:

I think you can't go wrong with Sub70 Europe... look at all the positive reviews from MGS members here:

Perhaps contact their UK branch and ask if they have anything preowned? But now have to consider Brexit and all that crap.

https://www.sub70europe.com/

I know. these are  all the positive reviews that makes me want to. But without trying, for a beginner, it's a lottery. And the brexit complicates a bit but there is the Dutch site.

Moreover, it's the 739 set that interested me. But it is not for sale on European site, and will be replaced by the 799 set this summer.

Otherwise, I become an importer

 

[Letthebigdogshunt]

Maltby or Dynacraft are good choices as well.

[lagratte]

I don't like dynacraft. But Maltby is a brand that i considere too

[Letthebigdogshunt]

19 hours ago, lagratte said:

I don't like dynacraft. But Maltby is a brand that i considere too

May I ask why. I have played their clubs and built clubs for others using Dynacraft equipment and have not had any complaints about the equipment. 

 

 

 

 

[lagratte]

It's just their design, i don't know why, but i don't like it. i never tried them

[russtopherb]

Wilson/Staff has a European presence from what I've seen online, they may be an alternative as well.

Like the others have mentioned, work with your coach. If this is your first set of irons, whatever you buy should work for you for a few years at least.

[lagratte]

5 hours ago, russtopherb said:

Wilson/Staff has a European presence from what I've seen online, they may be an alternative as well.

Like the others have mentioned, work with your coach. If this is your first set of irons, whatever you buy should work for you for a few years at least.

indeed, Wilson is present. but new it's too expensive.  the D9 range is very beautiful I find and perfect for a beginner. I spotted the Infinite putters, not too expensive.

I ask myself a lot of questions, because I'm afraid of making a bad second-hand purchase and having to change it quickly. the idea of buying for example a sub70 799 or 699 would be to keep it until a very low index if I succeed.  for a lower price than well-known brands

[lagratte]

I continue my reflection on my future beginner bag. after having spoken with my coach, I go to a new / used mix

-driver: pre-owned. difficult club for a beginner, no need to put money in it for now

-hybrid: pre-owned

-putter: new. need to try several to find out what suits me

-wedge: new. the streaks must be in good condition. too random on occasion.

My first idea, https://www.hirekogolf.com/professional-open-series-690-wedge-custom-assembled-xi128.html, in europe 70€ but i have an opportunity on new vockey sm8 for 110€.

- iron series: the big question remains.