Buying new clubs in America

[Ye Olde Boomer]

That was more aimed at Boomer believing clubs are still made in the US. They may be assembled there but the component parts will all be produced in China now, sadly.

It's a few years since I was in Orlando. There were 2-3 huge golf stores next to each other, it was golfers heaven. Never seen so many clubs in one place, putters in particular. Great fun to walk around. As you say, it's all about the exchange rate. It was against us when we were there so there were no bargains to be had. If it is the other way...............

If you haven't been in one yet, go into a Dick's Sporting Goods store. Mind blowing. Tennis racket, baseball mitt, golf driver, crossbow, rifle. All in the same place . Heck of a place to wander around.

When I was a boy, high end golf equipment was only sold at on-course pro shops.
There were store model clubs, but they weren't professional grade models.
Those were only available in pro shops, and the manufacturers didn't allow current models to be discounted, even one penny.
The club pro was the fitter, fitting was included in the base price, but those prices were fixed.
Of course, fitting basically included only lie angles on irons, grip sizes, shaft flex--simple stuff like that.

Further, those "super-expensive" pro-shop prices were usually twenty-five bucks an iron and forty bucks a wood!

That didn't change until the 1970s.

As for Dick's, you don't have them there? Or a domestic equivalent? That's a little surprising.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

@Ye Olde Boomer Dicks is a US only shop. We don't have anything near the scale or quality. We have a chain called Sports Direct but that is more about sports clothing and shoes. If you want equipment you need to find a specialist. You will probably find a specialist tennis shop, golf shop, cricket etc, rarely one shop covers all.

The thing that really staggered me in Dick's, remember I'm British, was the mix of sports equipment and lethal weapons

 

[Bratty]

@Ye Olde Boomer Dicks is a US only shop. We don't have anything near the scale or quality. We have a chain called Sports Direct but that is more about sports clothing and shoes. If you want equipment you need to find a specialist. You will probably find a specialist tennis shop, golf shop, cricket etc, rarely one shop covers all.

The thing that really staggered me in Dick's, remember I'm British, was the mix of sports equipment and lethal weapons

Closest we have is Decathlon, but it ain't really close.

 

[Paperboy]

Spent a fortune in Dick's on clothing as so much cheaper with the deals they had going on.

 

[3 jabber]

@Ye Olde Boomer Dicks is a US only shop. We don't have anything near the scale or quality. We have a chain called Sports Direct but that is more about sports clothing and shoes. If you want equipment you need to find a specialist. You will probably find a specialist tennis shop, golf shop, cricket etc, rarely one shop covers all.

The thing that really staggered me in Dick's, remember I'm British, was the mix of sports equipment and lethal weapons

Forget Dicks for golf equipment, check out a few PGA Superstores

 

[Arthur Wedge]

When I was a boy, high end golf equipment was only sold at on-course pro shops.
There were store model clubs, but they weren't professional grade models.
Those were only available in pro shops, and the manufacturers didn't allow current models to be discounted, even one penny.
The club pro was the fitter, fitting was included in the base price, but those prices were fixed.
Of course, fitting basically included only lie angles on irons, grip sizes, shaft flex--simple stuff like that.

Further, those "super-expensive" pro-shop prices were usually twenty-five bucks an iron and forty bucks a wood!

That didn't change until the 1970s.

As for Dick's, you don't have them there? Or a domestic equivalent? That's a little surprising.

We have Sports Direct which has most sporting items but no Lethal weapons

 

[Lord Tyrion]

But @3 jabber can you buy a crossbow or assault rifle at the same time as picking up some bamboo tees from a PGA super store? Thank you for posting this, I could not remember the name of the really big one out there. Heck of a shop.

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

We have Sports Direct which has most sporting items but no Lethal weapons

That's a start, Arturo!

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

@Ye Olde Boomer Dicks is a US only shop. We don't have anything near the scale or quality. We have a chain called Sports Direct but that is more about sports clothing and shoes. If you want equipment you need to find a specialist. You will probably find a specialist tennis shop, golf shop, cricket etc, rarely one shop covers all.

The thing that really staggered me in Dick's, remember I'm British, was the mix of sports equipment and lethal weapons

Without going into an inappropriate political discussion,

I personally have no problem with a sporting goods store selling sporting arms like shotguns or deer rifles,
even though I don't personally hunt.
I'm not a vegetarian so I can't criticize people as long as they actually eat what they shoot.

I certainly do agree that my own country's attitude about para-military weapons belonging in public hands
is absolutely stupid, dangerous, and a national humiliation. I have a hard time understanding how we have any tourist industry at all.

 

[Raziren]

I'm just back from the US and the bargains are not what they once were imo. Even Walmart felt very expensive this time compared to the UK. It has very few deals or offers compared to UK supermarkets and was much more expensive. if you want to pick up some smaller packets of anything, crisps, snacks, washing liquid etc, try dollar tree instead

If you are getting a car hire, i'd also recommend signing up for the florida toll pass which can be collected at orlando airport. It covers all toll roads and should work out to be a lot cheaper than the car hire company offering.
If you have a phone that can take an esim, i'd also recommed airalo so you can have access to data when out and about if you dont have US coverage from your provider. greta if like most people you mostly use internet, maps and whatsapp.

There are 3 decent golf shops I visited, all close to one another fairly close to Universal.

Golf Galaxy (which I believe is commercially linked to Dick's sporting goods) had a few half price deals on clothing but most normal priced stuff felt more expensive than what we pay in the UK via the online golf stores.

PGA superstore has a very good practice putting area although i personally felt it was a bit rigged. Putts that were missing kept dropping in. PGAST also felt very expensive.
It seemed the bays were mostly for paid fittings with available times listed at the front of the store.

My favourite golf store was Edwin Watts which is behind the PGAST but requires a short drive in reality. It feels a bit darker & dated than the other two. Still expensive but you can just pick up 2nd hand clubs out of the large bins and try them on one of the 3 bays all equipped with GC quad i think it was. Take a glove and your own club(s) so you can compare. I forgot my club but maybe let them know as you're entering.

I was disapponted with Dick's sporting goods. Previously it seemed to have a more interesting & bigger product range. And there were virtually no offers, and their golf section (clubs) is poor.

For clothing and footwear I'd recommend trying the Vineland Premium outlets and International premium outlets. All have adidas, nike, puma, under armour etc.
The same sport shops were also at another outlet place abount half a mile from the international premium outlets.

I also tried a goodwill store having watched 'Stacked Golf' find many a club in them on youtube. They didn't have any clubs, and it strongly smelt like a second hand charity shop (which it is) but I did pick up an junior NFL helmet for just $6.99

I'd also recommend a visit to Bay Hill Golf club. It's only 2 or 3 miles west of the golf stores mentioned above. The shop is nice and you can walk partly in to the clubhouse to use the toilet from the pro shop where you can see the trophies, some memorabilia etc and the nice bar areas. Outside by the first tee is the arnie statue.

I hope this provides you with some useful information