Buying first set of pricey clubs - Advice please :)

[mpowers]

(For all who don't feel like reading this whole expose, need a recommendation for clubs for a mid 80s player who tends to have too much vertical ball flight!)

I'm Hello all, long time lurker - first time poster, graduating from university this month and my parents said that they would buy me a set of clubs as a graduation present, so I need a little advice on what I should be looking at. I'm about 5`11 and 190 lbs and in decent shape (with a slight beer belly) and have been told I have a pretty high club head speed although I have never actually gotten it measured.

I only picked up golf again in the last few years and have been pretty steadily improving, shot in the 100+s 3 years ago, in the low 90s year after that and I usually shoot in the mid 80s as of last summer. I use a set of Jazz irons/woods off I picked up off kijiji for $100 and an old school Big Bertha (circa '00 or something).

I tend to hit all my clubs really high, indeed incredibly high; it often seems like a 7 iron goes just about as far vertically as horizontally (which is about 145 yds atm). I used to slice but I'm hitting the ball pretty straight consistently these days.

With all that being said, I've been looking at a couple of sets over at Rock Bottom Golf, namely Cobra S2s, Callaway X20 and Taylor Made Burner Superlaunch. Now I guess most of these are a few years old, but they fit my budget of <$400 for the iron set. I don't really want to spend too much more than that on irons, although if someone could make the case as to why I needed to I could be persuaded rather easily. Also definitely willing to buy used!

Fairway woods I have no idea what to look at, I`ve played with the Jazz woods which are pretty big and bulky and have had much more success when I`ve used other people`s hybrids or Tight Lies style woods.

Same thing with driver, very open to any suggestions. I`ll be heading into the store next week to rip around a little bit, but I`d love to hear some ideas from someone other than the guy trying to sell me something!

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to help out, relatively large purchase for a broke student so want to take my time.

Cheers!

[Rego]

I would go to golftown and try them because golf is feeling thing. Every high end club are similar so go with the one that feels better.

[Chambokl]

Why don't you try to do a club fitting (example MATT system)... it will cost you $150 but will give you all the infos you need. Kevin Haimes in Ottawa does club fitting I think... I think Taylor Made has a MATT site in Montreal...

What they will tell you is the loft, shaft, etc... that you need. With that infos you can now order whatever set that you like with the correct specs... good luck and congrats on graduating from Ottawa U.

[mpowers]

Well I dropped out of Ottawa U to go to school in Nova Scotia but thanks!

So does club fitting largely focus on things like swing plane, speed etc? Do these change greatly over time? I've got a bunch of lessons coming up so maybe I would be better off waiting.

[fourlights]

I would go to golftown and try them because golf is feeling thing. Every high end club are similar so go with the one that feels better.

They are not all similar. Blades are going to be much more difficult to hit than cavity backs. The big names all have quality products with different performance characteristics. I agree with trying several irons at Golf Town. With the help of their staff, they should be able to sort you out.

[adam]

Also as far as fitting goes wait until the tour vans and fitting days start coming around to ranges and courses this summer.
You can get a fitting for free to see what kind of clubs and shafts are right for you (without the $150 charge)

[Chambokl]

He will tell you what type of shaft you need, at what angle you hit the ball, you will get a CD with your swing that you can analyze from all different angles, loft of your driver (9,5° or 11° etc...), angle on putter, etc...

More information than you think... it is awesome... 1 hour 1 on 1 with all kind of cameras...

[goley]

If you are going to be getting lesson, I would wait and have the pro help fit you during the lessons. If you are going to get lessons from a reputable place they will more than likely have several fitting carts with different lie angles and different lenght/ weight shafts for you to try. As far as the lessons go... I almost guarntee that you are flipping the club throungh impact and have the shaft leaning backwards which adds loft to the club. Once you get yourself on video with your lesson you will see what Im talking about.

[mpowers]

Thanks for the tips folks, I'll have to get my swing analyzed and move on from there!

[Kiwi]

Fitting...
Some good advice in the Forum. As a broke student you may think the $150 fitting is a bit steep, but think of it this way. That's three or four rounds of golf vs having clubs in your hands for years wondering if it's the club or you? I had a basic fitting by the guys at the OAC Golf School, out at the Raceview course, when I retired. I hit enough different clubs to know what I liked, what felt good, and what worked for my swing. I also did it after a year of Golf School, with video swing analysis. Don't look at the fitting as an expense, it's an investment. Good luck, any maybe I'll look you up in a few years for a lesson.

[mpowers]

Yes, after reading this advice I'm leaning more towards waiting to buy after a few lessons and a fitting. I doubt my swing will be consistent as I've only ever had 1 lesson and that was 2 years ago.

I think the clubs I have at the moment do hurt my game though, is it possible that an overly flexible club could be the cause of my height problem? There graphite shafts and the irons often feel like they're about so snap when I take shots; I take a pretty solid divot and they really whip around a lot. I might just try to get a cheap used set of irons in the meantime for <$100 which I can pass along to a friend later.

Thanks again for the tips!

[nokids]

When you're done getting lessons, fitted, and know the clubs you want, you can save a lot of money by buying those clubs off a US store on ebay. Canadian golfers are gouged by retail stores like Golftown.

[Kiwi]

When you're done getting lessons, fitted, and know the clubs you want, you can save a lot of money by buying those clubs off a US store on ebay. Canadian golfers are gouged by retail stores like Golftown.

While this is not directly related to the original thread topic, since you raised it... I've not shopped much in the states so cannot comment on the "savings". It is an old debate, but if you don't buy locally, then some day you won't be able to buy locally. Don't ever want to see the situation develop that local cannot compete and have to close. Then you have to go to the e-bays of the world and there goes your quality and service. I'd at least give the local retailer the chance to price match. And, if you need service, repair, etc how you going to walk it into the store where you bought it and demand a fix or replacement? May be dreaming in techicolour, again, but you have to support your local market, or risk losing it. Amen...

[nokids]

The OP said he wants to save money, so if he wants to buy clubs for $400 or less, buying locally he doesn't have the option of a high end set of clubs. But if he buys on Ebay he can get a new set of high end irons for around that price. The local retailers can't match those prices. I bought a new set of Callaway X-forged irons (2009) from a store in New Jersey selling them for $550 shipped to my door, no taxes from customs either. At Golftown, they were going for over a thousand. When I need a single club, I'll buy locally because I want the item right away and don't mind paying a little more; but for a big purchase I'm not paying hundreds of dollars more.

[fourlights]

The OP said he wants to save money, so if he wants to buy clubs for $400 or less, buying locally he doesn't have the option of a high end set of clubs. But if he buys on Ebay he can get a new set of high end irons for around that price. The local retailers can't match those prices. I bought a new set of Callaway X-forged irons (2009) from a store in New Jersey selling them for $550 shipped to my door, no taxes from customs either. At Golftown, they were going for over a thousand. When I need a single club, I'll buy locally because I want the item right away and don't mind paying a little more; but for a big purchase I'm not paying hundreds of dollars more.

You have to be REALLY careful about buying fake golf clubs on eBay.

[nokids]

You have to be REALLY careful about buying fake golf clubs on eBay.

I wouldn't buy from an individual off ebay or kijiji or craigslist or usedottawa. I buy online from stores that have guarantees that I'll be reimbursed if their clubs are fake. These stores are distributors and they're usually powersellers on ebay. Once I receive the club I'll still verify that the clubs are real; I call Callaway and give them the serial number, I also go to Golftown to have their pros look at the clubs to tell me if they're real or not, and if they turn out to be fakes I paid through paypal and my credit card which both have fraud protection. In the end, I'm very confident buying golf clubs online.

[mpowers]

If I bought a set I would likely be buying from Rockbottomgolf, I've had friends and family who have dealt with them in the past and been very satisfied.

After some more thought though I figured I might as well consider custom clubs as well; not to make this thread run on forever but could someone toss out a few pro/cons of each approach and what a realistic cost projection would be for a custom set of irons? Obviously there's a huge range but if I can get a set made for $5-600ish that will last me for several years then I'd be pretty happy.

[jvincent]

The biggest pro with custom clubs is that if you buy them from a fitter they will be the best set for you based on your abilities at the time.

That's one of the down sides. If you game changes significantly then you would need to be re-fit, although the same would be true for off the shelf clubs.

The other downside for getting custom is that you have a somewhat limited selection of clubs to choose from. Having said that, the custom clubs you can buy are every bit as good as the OEM ones you can buy assuming you find one that suits your eye.

[adam]

I went the path of buying used brand name clubs that suited my eye. Good thing about this is that you can use them for a year or two and re-sell them without too much of a loss if your game changes and they don't work for you any more.
If you're starting out and getting lessons I would suggest waiting on getting a full set of custom clubs until your game has stabilized a little bit.
I'd suggest trying some clubs out at demo days and seeing what feels good and then maybe get a used set of clubs off the forum here. Spend the extra money on lessons and playing more and worry about custom fitting when you feel a bit more comfortable with your swing.

Just my two cents.

[nokids]

The biggest pro with custom clubs is that if you buy them from a fitter they will be the best set for you based on your abilities at the time.

That's one of the down sides. If you game changes significantly then you would need to be re-fit, although the same would be true for off the shelf clubs.

The other downside for getting custom is that you have a somewhat limited selection of clubs to choose from. Having said that, the custom clubs you can buy are every bit as good as the OEM ones you can buy assuming you find one that suits your eye.

the other problem is it will be tough to sell your custom clubs when they are tailored specifically for you.

[OutOfTheRough]

I purchased a set of clubs recently at Golf Town and was working with Robin. He was awesome and patient as we went through several different types of irons over 2 trips to the store. He was very good with selecting the right types of irons that suited my swing. Also he was working with the variances and showing me the differences between the shots with each type of iron. He also checked the loft/lie, as well as shaft length. I agree with the price difference but you can't get great customer service and 1 on 1 attention & knowledge when buying through Ebay.

[sandbagger]

you would fix your ballflight if you spent half of your budget on lessons instead of clubs