Things that are worth spending money on?
Had a golf talk with someone at the cigar shop, who told me that the most important item in your bag is the putter and is worth spending money to get one that works for you.
Someone last week said, that the irons should be your key clubs and someone else said the driver since it's guaranteed to be used in every round.
I'm content with my wilson starter set and won't be looking to purchase anything until I'm more comfortable and consistent (probably many years down the line) I hear a lot of the, "you get what you pay for" in golf, but what would you say, if limited to only a few, are the items worth spending the extra money on?
Answers: I'd say the putter is the most important club in the bag. But, the amount of money one has to spend may bear little resemblance to the clubs value to you. Just get one with which you feel comfortable and start building a multi-year relationship. Practice time is the biggest investment you'll make with any club.
Answers: " The putter " That does not mean you have to pay $300 dollars for one. It could be a $10 one out of a barrel. As Billy said it is how it feels in your hands and how it performs that counts.
Bob
Answers: The putter is definitely important, but that doesn't mean that it has to be a Scotty Cameron. It's more important to find a putter that's right for you, and that could literally be anything. This is the best putter I've ever owned, and it can be built from Golfsmith components for under $60.
The key is to try a lot of putters. Try to feel the difference. Match it to your putting stroke. If you putt a few balls with your eyes closed it will help you to feel the club, even if you are just hitting balls on the carpet in a store.
Answers: I agree with everything that's been said on this thread. The putter it is, and the right putter is the one that feels best to you and gives you confidence.
And don't get hung up on how a putter looks. Looks don't matter - a lot of people think my putter's ugly (they say it looks like something a Romulan or a Klingon would design, which is why I grinned at the picture Fourputt attached to his post). Truth is, I could care less what they think... when I switched from a classic blade to my "Klingon" putter, my putting improved. That's all that matters.
Answers: I think a good set of quality irons are right up there in importance for scoring well. Same can be said for some good fairway woods and a driver. Same for a good putter. Only difference in my opinion is that you can get a good quality putter for less than $20 if you are look. I've got a $10 Wilson brass putter that works just fine. Not my favorite putter, but it works fine when I do my part. Can't really say that about a set of irons and woods very often. There you need to spend more to get good quality clubs. Not a fortune, but a decen't amount is required. And as SoCalBob mentioned, looks of a putter don't really matter very much, Fact is you should be able to get used to the look of ANY putter with a little time. So if it performs for you, that's what really matters, not the look of it. My current OEM putter is the Sabortooth. Not exactly plain Jane putter, but it's the best performing OEM putter I've ever tried.
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Shoes. The have to be comfortable. Really, that's it. There are many sources for getting good equipment at VERY good prices (Hireko, Golfsmith being two of them). This is speaking from experience- my Acer XK driver is NOT worse than my original Nike SQ, Nike SuMo 5000 or Callaway FT-5. Overall, it was $210 cheaper than each, but it is NOT worse. Same can be said for my XK 3h being on par with my Adams A3. The only variance is my 3w- the Acer XK is 15*, my Nike SQ is 13* (both 43"), so it is a touch longer than the XK.
I also have a Nike SV 52*, Taylormade RAC 56* (RAC TP 52* as well), Callaway Forged+ 56*, Cleveland 588 and CG12 (both 60*) and they don't outperform the Acer XB's.
The same can be said for grips. Karma is a very good brand at awesome prices. If you like the "multi compound", get Sharpros- $40 for a set of 13. Sharpro actually holds the patent (and are the originators, not Golf Pride), yet they don't charge anywhere NEAR as much as GP does.
Here we go again: I'd put shafts in there, as well. I have True Ace Cadence Red (FW and Hyb) in my 3w and 3h to go with a True Ace Blue Crush in my driver- I feel they can match up with anyone. I have Apollo Standard Stepless iron shafts for my irons (Acer XK) and wedges and would compare them to FSTs and True Temper.
I'm going to try and wrap this long post up by saying this: you don't get what you pay for, you get what you DEMAND. The game of golf is dowsed in integrity, but the equipment side (and the majority of those that cover it) don't have any. It's my belief that they will trick you and make fun of you (a la Mike Stachura of Golf Digest) until you believe their hype.
Let's look at Scratch wedges. They had a cult following on the 'Net, yet never got a sniff from any of the major media reviews. Alluvasudden Ryan Moore comes in to prominence with Scratch wedges, validating what the "net had been saying. GD finally reviewed Scratch, giving it a Silver (that's it?) medal. They did the same with Fourteen's wedges.
Let's also take a look at Taylormade. They came out with their original r9 with a head size of 430cc's. It had the FCT and MWT. The r9 460 was 460cc's and had FCT, but not MWT. Then the SuperTri came out with all the bells and whistles. Why couldn't they do that with the original r9? It's all hype- they tricked most of us- the ones that went out and bought all three models got tricked the worst. If you think they'd do it with technology you can see, you better believe they'd do it with the stuff you can't. How can faces get "hotter" if they're already at the USGA's limit of .83? Why don't they publish this information, when they have tests for it?
Ok, here's the wrap up to the wrap up: the average golfer is the most uninformed consumer on the market. You wouldn't buy a car just because they said it had a better safety feature- you'd want to see it. Why aren't more people asking for this with their golf equipment?
Answers: Shak,
I am not a pro, but I am quite seasoned,(and good) at the game. I probably practice putting about 75 percent, and the rest about equal with my woods and irons. I use a 20 dollar putter. These 300 dollar putters will not make you a better putter. There is no magic here. Get some lessons from your pro. Make sure you have a good grip. and good basic fundemendels. Pay more attention to hitting the ball, instead of where you want to hit it. If you do your part at hitting it, it will go where,(or around) where you wanted it to go...Have fun
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You are the model for the ideas I've talked about. I've known guys like you: very good to excellent putters but not sporting the latest "it" models (or anything over $50). Like the guys at GolfTec said when I asked them about this stuff: it's not how much you spend, it's about being properly fit.
Answers: Its all statistics my friend. How many strokes do you take with a driver and how many does it save you in a round. Well at most you will hit your driver 14 times per round, and it will not save you one single stroke. If you are a good driver of the ball, it doesn't really matter which driver you use.
But the putter on the other hand is a completely different situation. It doesn't have to be expensive, it just has to fit your style and make you comfortable and confident.
There is no good reason to spend a lot of money on any of the equipment in your bag. To do so is just falling for the marketing and being duped.
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Thanks for the compliment Blair...
I dont consider myself a good putter though. I try to make everything, and I seldom 3-putt. My success from 3 foot in is probably around 85% or so. My buddies always tell me that everyone wishes they putted as bad as I do...LOL...
Answers: Drivers/irons/putters are all about feel and comfort. The most expensive club is almost certainly not the best for your game. I mean, it could be, but probably not. To the average 20 handicapper, a $400 driver is not going to do anything differently than a pre-owned model for $99 at Golfsmith. You still have to swing the thing!
But someone mentioned it here already, and I've actually been told this a couple times, too: spend money on shoes. Good ones last, keep out water, and most importantly are COMFORTABLE. Any serious runner spends money on quality shoes, so why shouldn't a serious golfer?
Answers: "what would you say, if limited to only a few, are the items worth spending the extra money on?"
1) A good club fitter would be one.
2) A golf coach/instructor would be another.
3) A golf exercise program
4) Great looking golf apparel, so you at least look good
5) Lastly, a good pull cart. That way, you can enjoy the walk in the grass chasing after that bleepin golf ball that just does not listen. Riding a cart is a lazy man's approach to the sport.
Answers: Custom clubs is a great suggestion. I've learned to play with my off the rack Callaways, but if I could start over I'd have a custom set made.
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That's what the OEMs want from you-to "learn to play with" your off the rack gear. You think "it's the archer, not the arrow", but I've found it's hard to shoot an arrow missing a feather, or what turned out to be a crossbow bolt in disguised (figure of speech... I know the difference LOL). But what kind of compensations are you making? There shouldn't be any... if you're properly fit to your gear, you'd be able to make a more consistent, natural motion. It won't solve all your ills, but it will DEFINTELY help, at the very least, offset them.
Take driver loft, for example. It takes >100mph clubhead speed to use a 9* driver effectively. The slower the speed, the higher the loft (to maximize carry). What about it's length? If it's too long (which is 99.9% of all OTR drivers nowadays) it's much harder to square the face at impact. You might get long drives, but what good is it if they're in the woods to the right? Shorten the shaft to something more manageable, and you'll hit it straighter (maybe even longer, if face-centered impact is greatly improved).
The same length issue applies to irons and wedges, as well. Get something fitted to your natural swing, face-centered impact should improve. There's the lie angle issue, as well... The higher the loft of the club, the more lie angle has an impact (7, 8, 9 and PW are most important IMO, though some have ALL irons bent, some just the short irons, some short irons and wedges... you get the idea). Anyway, if the lie angle is too upright for your swing, you'll always hit shots to the left (assumong you're RH), while lie angles that are too flat will always go right. This will happen even if you're 100% properly aimed at the target. This is, of course, unless you're making concessions to your setup and/or swing, which you shouldn't have to do.
Think of it this way: Tiger Woods, among a very large group of other Tour pros (OK, ALL of them LOL), have their clubs custom-fitted. Tiger himself uses a 44.5" driver (1.25" shorter than the stock option at the stores). He can still bomb it out there. Yes, he has accuracy issues, but how much worse would it be if he was using a driver too long for him? Going back further, he was more dominate when he was using a 43", steel-shafted driver.
You can take your current clubs to a fitter to be retrofitted. Maybe the only thing you need done is a lie angle change, or lie/length, or who knows what. Point is, you will DEFINITELY see an improvement. It can, if anything else, take away a variable, so you can home in on any swing deficiencies more accurately. Or, if you're just out to have fun, it will definitely help there, as well.