Good Gear

[WeekendHacker]

Do you think good gear is more important for a high handicapper/low handicapper - I mean clubs and balls. As a high handicapper i've spent quite a bit on both and although I'd say it's made the game more enjoyable, it's hard to see any major change in scores, other than consistency wise. Are high handicappers being "hoodwinked" into buying the £200 driver, without the ability to get the use out of it, or do the benefits mean bigger leaps in performance compared to the low handicappers?

 

[lyden]

I got better since I purchased a full bag of titleist gear but then again I did spend a fortune on lessons. If I could pick one? It'd be the lessons.

 

[Coatsy79]

This notion that if your a high handicapper you can't have nice stuff is annoying

I have a nice set up, you could say "all the gear no idea" even

But I wanted decent stuff I could learn to use and last for years

I could've bought a cheap set up then end up having to change it after a year or 2 which costs more money

That said the most expensive thing in my bag is my driver which was £100 everything else was bought used for really sensible money

 

[Beezerk]

I've been building a set over the last few months, buy the odd bargain here and there.
My ethos has always been, if you can afford it then why the heck not.

 

[WeekendHacker]

I'm the same. I always thought don't really want to get te best gear cuz then ppl expect you to hit it 300 yards. added pressure. But then I thought why not. I enjoy it much more and there's definately an argument for paying a bit more for quality, but for full bag it adds up to stupid money. Most ppl can only buy one or two big things a year. I just get the feeling the golf company's could do it much cheaper. No way a club costs £100 - £200 to make. I'd like to know cost price of them clubs and what the markup is.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

As long as you have the money and aren't sending the wife and kids down the road spending cash on gear, then how you spend it is up to you. If you want to get some decent gear then crack on. If you get some lessons along the way and the technique improves then so much the better but as long as you enjoy your game of golf go with what makes you happy

 

[karlcole]

That said the most expensive thing in my bag is my driver which was £100 everything else was bought used for really sensible money

You got ap1s for under £100??

 

[ScienceBoy]

I know my potential improved when I moved from:

A 9.99 putter to my Ping Redwood
A Fazer Firepower Driver to a Ping G15 Driver and 5 wood
A set of Power Bilt Oversize wedges to Mizuno MP 57s
A Progen 60* to Mizuno Wedges

Still took a while to realise it but the old clubs where seriously holding me back, none were brand new anyway and were just to get me started in golf.

My current set is 1/2 new and 1/2 2nd hand, its pretty much perfect for me at the moment.

So in other words a change from aging or poor quality clubs to any of a decent build quality is good, 2nd hand or brand new it matters little.

Since then I have dropped my new Ping G15 5 wood for a TM Rescue (new) and Cobra S3 3 wood (2nd hand). I also replaced the draw biased G15 with a Cleveland Custom XL as my swing had grown out of the G15s spec.

 

[GreiginFife]

Buy what works, not what looks good.

If you play well with irons like shovels, so what. Equally if you lay better with the most exquisite hand crafted forged bats then so be it.
Don't just buy something because it looks "the part" and promises xyz to your game.

 

[Crow]

I'd always go down the second hand route, top end equipment doesn't change that much from one release to the next so by buying slightly used you're getting quality qear for small money.

See my bag below, all bought second hand over time, the driver is probably the most recent release and that's a few years old now. All in it was probably just over £300