New Hybrid head with stock shaft offering VS Old hybrid head with custom shaft?

[Goodgravy]

Hi all,
Couldnt find a similar post on here so hope im not doubling up!
I had a hybrid fitting at Club Champion yesterday, first time ive been fitted for custom clubs. Little bit shocked at how expensive custom clubs are if im honest!
The best 2 I hit were a Cobra King Tec and a Titliest TSR1. An Oban Devotion 85g Stiff flex shaft was the best shaft I hit, felt very nice and was very consistent. However, the quote i got was for the Cobra King Tec and it was $800 (Aud) which for a single club, for me, is well outside my budget.
I currently have a Titleist 816 H1 Hybrid with a stock, light, reg flex shaft in it and I cant hit that thing consistently to save my life so it doesnt live in my bag.
My question is this. Am i better off just going the stock, heaviest stiff shaft option the Cobra King Tec comes with, or getting an Oban Devotion shaft and putting it in my Titleist 816 H1 Hybrid?
Cheers!

[NM01]

Sounds like you didn’t let the fitter know your budget so they went with their normal business model of using upcharged shafts and the devotion is their favorite.

When buying randomly your guess is going to be as good as anyone else’s on whether it will work or not. And you can’t base it of a fitting if another shaft. Flex has no standard across the industry so a reg flex in one brand may not be a reg flex in another brand and could be either softer or stiffer.

how a shaft feels to one may feel different to another even for two golfers with the same swing speed and perceived smoothness or aggressiveness in transition.

 

[Dweed]

Hey there @Goodgravy. Glad to see you took the plunge and did a post. Welcome to the forum. RB laid it out pretty well. I'm one of those I really need to watch the budget so I 100% get the sticker shock. Nothing wrong with going to a couple or few other stores that will let you do some test shots in their bays. Hopefully you'll be able to get some numbers to compare but go with what you feel fit the best. Only you can decide that. If you find one and that still is out of the budget realm definitely look at pre/used clubs in that set up. But make sure you test that one as well before you leave the store. Good luck and let us know how you did.

[ctg44]

If you were here in the USA, I'd say grab this shaft from Callaway Pre-Owned and have your local shop change the tip out:

https://www.callawaygolfpreowned.com/more/more/shafts/optifit-3-shafts/shafts-optifit-3-graph-design-tour-ad-iz-7.html

The IZ will match the Oban pretty closely, and you can have the tip changed out relatively cheaply at a local golf shop (at least you can here), if you don't have the ability to do that yourself.

If you want to try another option, you can buy this hybrid from 2nd Swing.  The G425 has a really good reputation as a forgiving club, and this has the shaft for which you were fitted:

https://www.2ndswing.com/golf-clubs/hybrids/ping-g425-hybrid/right-handed-stiff-graphite-40dot5in-w-72332225933

I know for me, the shaft is always a very important piece of the puzzle.  All of my "woods" have the Tensei White AV shafts (incidentally, all bought stupid cheap from Callaway Pre-Owned...all brand new and combined under $350 for a 70 gram TX driver, 80 gram X stiff 3W, and 80 gram X stiff Hybrid shaft).  I am not perfect with those clubs by any stretch, but I'm way better than I was with the stock shafts, and at the prices I paid, I almost got them for free because I was able to sell the used shafts in my clubs for enough on eBay to make most of what I paid for them back.

[TG8]

If you go cobra king tec be patient on ebay as you can get them new for under $100

[hckymeyer]

First question, would the new hybrid and your old hybrid be the same loft/number?  Mostly asking that to see if they are playing the same length?

Honestly my advice would be to start looking around used sites to see if you can find something similar.  A used Oban Devotion should be $100 (US) or less and save a bunch of money.  

If your current hybrid has a light regular flex shaft and you were fit in to a heavier, stiff flex I can absolutely understand why you are having trouble hitting it.  The Oban Devotion is a fairly stout shaft as well.

Given your two options I would first look for a used Oban Devotion and see if you can plug that in to your existing hybrid.  Down the road you could always upgrade the head.

If you can't find anything then you would most likely be better off going with a stock stiff (heavier if available) shaft in the Cobra.  You should be able to go in to any regular golf store and hit the stock shafts too, give that a shot and see how different it feels compared to the Devotion you hit during your fitting.

[Goodgravy]

Thanks for the replies all!
I actually ended up testing out a fair few 5 and 7 woods. Found them both to be alot easier and more consistent to hit than the Hybrid (even with the up-charge shaft) and roughly the same distance, 5 wood goes a bit longer than the 3 hybrid did, which works out well in my bag.
Went with a Tour Edge E723 5 wood with the stock stiff shaft (Cheaper than just the shaft by itself where I live). Am now looking to replace my pesky 4 iron with a 7 wood of the same.

[NM01]

On 1/5/2024 at 10:43 AM, ctg44 said:

If you were here in the USA, I'd say grab this shaft from Callaway Pre-Owned and have your local shop change the tip out:

https://www.callawaygolfpreowned.com/more/more/shafts/optifit-3-shafts/shafts-optifit-3-graph-design-tour-ad-iz-7.html

The IZ will match the Oban pretty closely, and you can have the tip changed out relatively cheaply at a local golf shop (at least you can here), if you don't have the ability to do that yourself.

If you want to try another option, you can buy this hybrid from 2nd Swing.  The G425 has a really good reputation as a forgiving club, and this has the shaft for which you were fitted:

https://www.2ndswing.com/golf-clubs/hybrids/ping-g425-hybrid/right-handed-stiff-graphite-40dot5in-w-72332225933

I know for me, the shaft is always a very important piece of the puzzle.  All of my "woods" have the Tensei White AV shafts (incidentally, all bought stupid cheap from Callaway Pre-Owned...all brand new and combined under $350 for a 70 gram TX driver, 80 gram X stiff 3W, and 80 gram X stiff Hybrid shaft).  I am not perfect with those clubs by any stretch, but I'm way better than I was with the stock shafts, and at the prices I paid, I almost got them for free because I was able to sell the used shafts in my clubs for enough on eBay to make most of what I paid for them back.

The Tensei shaft is cheap because it’s a stock shaft in most of the OEMs offerings. 

[ctg44]

The White AV line is not stock. The Blue series is stock, but White is almost always a paid upgrade, especially at 70G TX.