Price verse Quality

[Dan Underwood]

I get that the dollar doesn't go near as far as it used to, however it seems that golf has way out paced inflation by quite a bit.  Not that all the quality has gone down and yes there is new tec in today's  equipment that rightly should increase the price but I also expect that if I pay more then it is should last longer.  I also get that nothing has the quality of the old days, and i may just be an old guy complaining that things are not the way that they used to be.  That being said im not focusing on the steel clubs ( irons/ wedges) because i get that the price of steel has way out paced inflation also.  Last year i got a new bag(taylormade), shoes (adidas), Driver (Cobra rad speed), all of which lasted less than one season.  I play 6 times a week and walk almost every time without a cart. 

The bag- (NEW) straps are wearing out, has several small rips, along with the rain cover, the stand now the falls and hits me as I'm walking (20 year old)  comparing with my highschool ping bag.  stand is still supper tight, no almost no marks and straps still perfect and the padding.  To be honest I would still be using my one from High School since it still looks almost perfect but my son is going to the rival school and I went to and I want to support him.  

The shoes - (New)  Last years Adidas the soul is breaking down starting to separate , the fabric just is breaking down.  (20 year old Adidas) still  comfortable  just last year the right foot inside soul came loose but had that not happened I would not gotten another pair of shoes.  I have fixed them with a little amount of Shoe Goo because i do really love the feel of them. Trying Puma this time and keeping the fixed pair just in case.

Driver- I get not apples to apples but I exploded the face half way through the season. Disclaimer cobra did replace the head actually sent me an entire new club shaft and everything so I'm not complaining that i got a new club and they didn't fix it also the tec i get that there is a carbon crown and face allowing to transfer energy way better.  But i have a callaway big bertha that I used and could still use.  No matter if it was off the deck, tee, ruff, small rocks in the way never was worried that it wouldn't make it to be hit again.

Why is it that we are paying so much more for so much lesser quality (excluding drivers in that statement as previously stated i get the difference in tec of the clubs ) but the things that really dont change they are being made cheaper dont last near as long and cost way more and have out paced inflation in terms of cost to other sports. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

I dunno if I agree. 

The shoes I have had for the last 8 years are still good. Sure I have replace insoles but they are good.

I still have my bag from 2012, 2016, 2020 and this year and all are in good shape. 

Or maybe I am just lucky.

[StrokerAce]

while I certainly don't play as much as you do I have never experienced anything like you're describing. I have several pairs of shoes, multiple bags and sets of clubs. I think the quality of the products today is top notch as this is what golfers demand. The R&D departments of these manufacturers are very good.

But maybe I'm also lucky?

[Dan Underwood]

2 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

I dunno if I agree. 

The shoes I have had for the last 8 years are still good. Sure I have replace insoles but they are good.

I still have my bag from 2012, 2016, 2020 and this year and all are in good shape. 

Or maybe I am just lucky.

It may be just me that i truly am hard on things, or maybe i'm just unlucky with the things that I got last year.   I treated the old equipment likely worse than I did the new because i know that as a kid I cared way less about damaging stuff than I do now.

[cnosil]

Most of my stuff lasts what I consider a long time.   I play once a week plus league during the spring and summer so about 60ish times a year.    I go through a pair of shoes about every 5 years,  bags are 5+, and my current driver was put into the bag in 2018.   I don’t leave any equipment in my car and bring it indoors after use.   

[Erin B]

I haven’t had the same issues as @Dan Underwood. I just like new things. I’m probably going to stick to my irons for a while and really like my driver, but I still have a 4 wood that I use that’s older than my golf career.  My Great Big Bertha is still in use and so are my DCI 990s. My Ping 410 still works, in fact I don’t think I’ve broken anything except an olimar 3 wood and a couple shafts. My shoes just got replaced this year. They were Big 5 Nikes that lasted 3 years and last year I played 100 rounds in them. Granted I did replace spikes and insoles. 

[Dan Underwood]

I am not easy.  I do keep everything in my truck as i always have in the summer.  since i go and play at 5/ 5:30 am then go to work.  It's also not like i expect my normal shoes to last since i replace sneakers every 6 months but that is a standard that I have always had that i mess them up.  Maybe just unlucky i guess   

[RickyBobby_PR]

34 minutes ago, Dan Underwood said:

I am not easy.  I do keep everything in my truck as i always have in the summer.  since i go and play at 5/ 5:30 am then go to work.  It's also not like i expect my normal shoes to last since i replace sneakers every 6 months but that is a standard that I have always had that i mess them up.  Maybe just unlucky i guess   

Leaving things in the car during the summer time is going to degrade things alot quicker like the glue on the soles of the shoes. Can affect materials on the clubs. 

[Dan Underwood]

No I totally get that.  And I live in Wyoming so not as hot as some of the other states.  But I always leave them in my truck from 20 years ago to today taking them out during the winter because most of the time don't plan on using them because  often it is -20.  Actually now they are probably more babied because they are not ever in the direct sunlight because they are covered.  When I was a kid they were always just in the back of the bed or in a SUV with sunlight and heat trapped in on them.  And I agree with other things that have been said too some things are better my new irons seem way more durable than the set that I had when I was a kid.  And because I got takomo irons they were similar in price to what I remember that I got from the pro shop when I was a kid.  I don't know it seems to be just me or I got a bad pair of shoes and bag

[GolfSpy_APH]

My big concern for anyone leaving clubs in a truck or truck is the epoxy on club heads. It may seem far fetched but I have seen club heads fly off and it's because the epoxy had been weakened due to the heat. 

I don't know Wyoming at all. But that was the case for us in Nova Scotia Canada and while not known for being a hot for, it does get warm. 

[Josh Parker]

7 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

My big concern for anyone leaving clubs in a truck or truck is the epoxy on club heads. It may seem far fetched but I have seen club heads fly off and it's because the epoxy had been weakened due to the heat. 

I don't know Wyoming at all. But that was the case for us in Nova Scotia Canada and while not known for being a hot for, it does get warm. 

I'm pretty sure in Texas during summer, the epoxy may end up on the floorboard ready to be used again.... haha.  I can't even leave anything in the garage during the summer that contains epoxy or glue.  It would dry out and fail.

I wish I could get shoes to last 5/6 years @cnosil  

Here is my take on things not lasting as long.  We have become generally speaking a throwaway society.  TV breaks, new one is cheaper than fixing, washer/dryer, same thing.  The manufacturer wants to produce the most for the least amount of money so they can make more profit.  Now that's not the case in everything but a good amount.  We are also using new technology and with anything new, you typically find some faults in the first several batches and then things get tweaked and corrected.  

[Dan Underwood]

I'm just going to go with that I was frustrated that the new bag that I got last year was breaking down when I looked at it this morning. I know I kill shoes fast, maybe the old ones that I have were the exception and the new ones were normal considering I go through normal shoes and boots about every 6 months 

Edited April 3 by Dan Underwood

[TJ Hall]

I haven’t had any issues…my irons are from 2011, bag is probably 5 years old, shoes vary from 4 years old  to brand new (cycle through a few pairs).  I don’t play every day, but I also clean my clubs/shoes after every round/range session.  

[Rob Person]

I'll agree on one thing, stuff (in general) is not made to the same quality as 20+years ago. They traded off bulky, heavy, sturdier products, for lighter, higher tech, more compact design and production.

This also affects longevity. Like was said,  it's cheaper to buy replacements (again, in general ) than to get parts amd fix them. Warranty lengths have also diminished on the same spectrum.

You are playing golf at what seems to be AT LEAST 2x more than others. Most of these golf product manufacturers know the average weekend warrior/casual player will not put them through the paces you do.  And for the prices we pay for the equipment,  you would think they would last longer.

The materials are different,  and the costs associated with them cost more.

[USMCSnyper]

My stuff lasts....however my ability to purchase new things without need is stronger than my desire to keep things for a long time lol

[Stuka44]

 

On 4/3/2024 at 1:14 PM, Dan Underwood said:

Why is it that we are paying so much more for so much lesser quality

I have had good luck with almost all of the equipment I have purchased.  I did have a zipper handle come off a bag after about a year, but I just replaced it with a shower curtain ring.

I believe there is  one primary reason for the cost of equipment.  IMHO it has ALMOST nothing to do with inflation or R&D, or actual cost of producing the equipment.  It simply boils down to they charge what they do, BECAUSE THEY CAN!

As long as there are sufficient numbers of golfers, who  EITHER  believe that every club manufacturer, comes up with a NEW, AND INNOVATIVE, technology, EVERY SINGLE YEAR, and this will help them get better, OR people who have money to just buy new clubs every year BECAUSE THEY CAN,  and  year after year  they sell enough to make huge profits, then they have learned, that they can simply keep increasing the price, and charge as much as they want.  And I think they are learning, they can be on occasion a little lax on quality, because golfers are just going to buy them anyways.

The laws of probability would suggest that at some point in the last 20 years, some club manufacturer, should have come out and said.  "Sorry we couldn't come up with anything new, we just changed the color of last years version."  NOPE  every year "we got something better, and longer, and faster, more controllable".  ALSO  doesn't LOGIC SUGGEST, that after 20 years of every year being better than the last, that the amount of improvement, Since there are restrictions on club design,  one is paying for NECCESARILY, has been declining year after year.  Many have pointed out on this forum, I think its just me!