Local Golf Stores?

[CaptainHook]

Hey everybody,

I'm new-ish to the area and am just returning to golf after a 5 year hiatus. Are there any other good golf spots to check out and drool over besides Golf Town (which blows my mind...) and Sportchek (I think they took over Nevada Bobs golf). Any local pro-shops worthwhile? Any hole in the wall virtually unknown golf stores?

[golfisforfun]

Well, the short answer is no... It is nearly impossible for independent golf shops to operate selling the same brands as Golf Town and Sport Chek.
As someone who currently sells to Forzani Group (SportChek, Sport Mart etc) it is scary to see the discounts they DEMAND and get from their suppliers. An independent shop has no chance to survive!

[iggsplode]

If you're looking to buy stuff for now just check the Buy/sell/trade forum here. Lots of quality stuff at a fraction of the original price. Go spend as much time at golf town as you need to figure out what you like then check around for it used. I love golf but I find it very overpriced for the most part.

[CaptainHook]

That is not a foreign concept to me, I'm also a motorcyclist. Canadians are gouged usually 20-40 percent extra from our American counterparts. Hard to justify sometimes. But for now, I've piked up a set of clubs to do me for the summer, I just need shoes..and for the weather to co-operate with my days off.

[Kyle_B]

I'm very surprised no one has mentioned this shop yet. I only buy things from GolfWorks. It's a little far from Kanata but very worth it. I like to make my own clubs so this spot is great. It has all the lowest prices I have found . They also sell complete clubs for someone that doesn't want to bother with putting together a club.

Here is their link for the Canadian location: http://www.golfworks.com/default.asp?SID=CANADA

It's a bit of a small shop so drool over the website until you know what you want, then go in and pick it up. Most of the stuff is in the back so nothing like GolfTown.

[golfisforfun]

If you're looking to buy stuff for now just check the Buy/sell/trade forum here. Lots of quality stuff at a fraction of the original price. Go spend as much time at golf town as you need to figure out what you like then check around for it used. I love golf but I find it very overpriced for the most part.

I agree, this site is great for finding deals on used equipment. Golf clubs lose their value quickly, so you can often find sweet deals here.
That being said, I am not sure what you find overpriced about golf equipment.
Do you mean overpriced compared to the US prices? Or do you mean that you find golf equipment more expensive than you think it should be?
Golf is actually one of the worst sections of the "sporting goods" industry in terms of mark-ups. They don't get nearly the mark-up that other sports do.

[golfisforfun]

That is not a foreign concept to me, I'm also a motorcyclist. Canadians are gouged usually 20-40 percent extra from our American counterparts. Hard to justify sometimes. But for now, I've piked up a set of clubs to do me for the summer, I just need shoes..and for the weather to co-operate with my days off.

I know this is not the topic of the thread, but the "gouge" that Canadians face is very justifiable. Most of the suppliers are USbased and Canadian prices are based on the established US prices. To get products in Canada, we need Canadian head offices which add to the product cost. We need Canadian sales reps which add to the cost. We often need Canadian warehouses which add to the cost. We have to account for currency fluctuation, duty and customs broker fees which all add to the costs. Warehouse space and retail space in Canada is much more expensive than in the US which adds to the price.

Here is an example...

Cost of Product A is $1000 US and retails for $2000 US in stores in the USA.
This product in Canada costs $1300 Canadian and retails for $2600 Canadian.
The distributor in Canada has to pay for their office space, broker fees on shipments, their 10% to sales reps who do the work getting the product into the stores, the cost to attend trade shows in Canada, cover any currency differences, advertising and marketing etc...

If we want the same prices as the US, we need to eliminate all sales and distribution agencies in Canada.

[northern33]

I know this is not the topic of the thread, but the "gouge" that Canadians face is very justifiable. Most of the suppliers are USbased and Canadian prices are based on the established US prices. To get products in Canada, we need Canadian head offices which add to the product cost. We need Canadian sales reps which add to the cost. We often need Canadian warehouses which add to the cost. We have to account for currency fluctuation, duty and customs broker fees which all add to the costs. Warehouse space and retail space in Canada is much more expensive than in the US which adds to the price.

Here is an example...

Cost of Product A is $1000 US and retails for $2000 US in stores in the USA.
This product in Canada costs $1300 Canadian and retails for $2600 Canadian.
The distributor in Canada has to pay for their office space, broker fees on shipments, their 10% to sales reps who do the work getting the product into the stores, the cost to attend trade shows in Canada, cover any currency differences, advertising and marketing etc...

If we want the same prices as the US, we need to eliminate all sales and distribution agencies in Canada.

Don't mean to interfere and answer this question for him...as I obviously don't know exactly what he meant when he said "overpriced".

But I do agree with iggsplode that golf equipment in general is quite expensive when purchasing new. Many consider golf to be a "rich man's" game...and much of that stigma has to do with the cost of equipment involved (clubs, bag, balls, shoes etc.). I don't know if it is necessarily "overpriced" because I don't know the production costs but compared to other sports golf can get quite pricey. Hence the reason to buy used equipment (from this site) that is 1 or 2 years old for a fraction of the cost of new clubs...which makes the game more affordable.

Sorry to the OP as this thread seems to be getting a little off topic. But to answer the OP...this site will save you tons of $$ when it comes to golf equipment.

[golfisforfun]

I am not sure if Golf is actually more expensive than any other sports (other than sports like tennis or soccer with minimal equipment).
If you are cyclist, you easily spend $1,000 on an average bike.
Hockey players spend well over $1,000 on equipment. And look at the cost of hockey sticks now!!!
Skiers spend over $1,000 on equipment.

And I also like to point out that if you golf 40 rounds at $50 each, at an average of 4 hours per round, it works out to $12.50 an hour.

I play soccer year round and it costs me $13 an hour for field time.
Hockey is much more than $12.50 an hour.
Skiing at places like Tremblant is around $80 for a day (around 4 hour average maybe).

Anyways, golf can be very expensive if you go with high end equipment and high end courses!!!
But it can also be affordable.

I will agree that

Don't mean to interfere and answer this question for him...as I obviously don't know exactly what he meant when he said "overpriced".

But I do agree with iggsplode that golf equipment in general is quite expensive when purchasing new. Many consider golf to be a "rich man's" game...and much of that stigma has to do with the cost of equipment involved (clubs, bag, balls, shoes etc.). I don't know if it is neceessarily "overpriced" because I don't know the production costs but compared to other sports golf can get quite pricey. Hence the reason to buy used equipment (from this site) that is 1 or 2 years old for a fraction of the cost of new clubs...which makes the game more affordable.

Sorry to the OP as this thread seems to be getting a little off topic. But to answer the OP...this site will save you tons of $$ when it comes to golf equipment.

[northern33]

I am not sure if Golf is actually more expensive than any other sports (other than sports like tennis or soccer with minimal equipment).
If you are cyclist, you easily spend $1,000 on an average bike.
Hockey players spend well over $1,000 on equipment. And look at the cost of hockey sticks now!!!
Skiers spend over $1,000 on equipment.

And I also like to point out that if you golf 40 rounds at $50 each, at an average of 4 hours per round, it works out to $12.50 an hour.

I play soccer year round and it costs me $13 an hour for field time.
Hockey is much more than $12.50 an hour.
Skiing at places like Tremblant is around $80 for a day (around 4 hour average maybe).

Anyways, golf can be very expensive if you go with high end equipment and high end courses!!!
But it can also be affordable.

I will agree that

I'm talking equipment...not field/gym rental costs compared to green fee costs...that is what this thread was asking...equipment. My comparison is to sports like soccer, basketball, tennis, football (most teams rent the equipment out), baseball. Of course there are sports that are more expensive but MOST "mainstream" (i.e. not equestrian, car racing etc.) " sports are definitely cheaper.

All I'm trying to say is generally speaking golf is expensive...especially when buying new for retail prices....so use this site to save lots of money on used equipment.

[CaptainHook]

Ok...

Did not mean to start a price argument. Just lookin for places to shop..

[northern33]

Ok...

Did not mean to start a price argument. Just lookin for places to shop..

haha...sorry about that. But like I said...this site is an awesome place to buy equipment.

[iggsplode]

yea, sorry for the threadjack captainhook.. but northern33 was bang on with his assessment of my statement.. i just find that golf is expensive to get into. sure you could buy a 200.00 set like i did when i started but then you're looking at replacing it a year later when your 6 iron shatters into a million pieces in mid swing. true story. golf also has a higher upkeep/recurring cost than any other sport i play. im an ice hockey goalie year round and at the end of the year I still spend ALOT more on golf than i do hockey, in fact I spend more on golf than i do with all of my other sports combined, probably even close to double. not trying to disagree with your statements golfisforfun, it's just the way it is. my buddies are all in the same boat as me.

anyways, enough of that, we'll start another thread if we wish to continue this side-discussion

you could always try the play it again sports type stores around the area as well, kijiji and usedottawa.com are a couple local websites, and you could always check out ebay as well, but be warned of counterfits. i do find this site to be the best source of equipment i've found yet for golfing, bought a few things here and have been 100% satisfied each time. either way, good luck!